"The 1970s were a period of political questioning and reawakening. As capitalism’s post-war boom drew to a close the working class as a whole suddenly faced economic hardship and, increasingly, unemployment. For a critical minority from a new generation of working class youth, a whole panoply of questions was raised — from the nature of the USSR to the possibility or otherwise of the overthrow of capitalism. Now the evidence that capitalism, even with state protection, was still subject to economic crisis, and the reappearance of workers battling en masse in both the East and the West, sparked a wider political rethink. The formation of Revolutionary Perspectives, forerunner of the Communist Workers’ Organisation, was part of that. The following leaflet which we distributed in Glasgow in 1974 gives a flavour of the time."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-11-21/blast-from-the-past-revolutionary-perspectives-on-strikes-in-scotland
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-11-21/blast-from-the-past-revolutionary-perspectives-on-strikes-in-scotland
Leftcom
Blast From the Past: Revolutionary Perspectives on Strikes in Scotland
(The 1970s were a period of political questioning and reawakening. As capitalism’s post-war boom drew to a close the working class as a whole suddenly faced economic hardship and, increasingly, unemployment. For a critical minority from a new generation of…
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"Labour’s turn to do the political managing coincides with a batch of results of public enquiries over scandals that go back years. The trick is to prolong the whole process until the original issue is out of the public eye and there are other, more pressing matters to hit the headlines."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-11-23/the-real-scandal-is-capitalism
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-11-23/the-real-scandal-is-capitalism
Leftcom
The Real Scandal is Capitalism
After winning one of the dullest elections in history, where less than 60% bothered to vote, Labour has quietly slipped into office to carry out the task of managing UK incorporated. The main job is to reassure international capital markets that their investments…
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"This is the barbarism that unites Russia, Ukraine, the USA, Iran, the whole gamut of Islamic jihadism and Israel, against which we have to fight. But not with phantom and impracticable "solutions" of peace, or sentences of an International Criminal Court which will never be put into practice, but with the class struggle, the only force that can act on an international scale, as the crisis of capitalism is international, and reverse the inertia of the current course towards generalised war."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-11-25/the-middle-east-crisis-an-update
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-11-25/the-middle-east-crisis-an-update
Leftcom
The Middle East Crisis: An Update
(The article below is a translation from Italian of an update, written just after the Israeli attack on Iran, to the Internationalist Communist Party’s document already on our site entitled _Unending Barbarism: The Causes that Led to the Middle East Crisis_…
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"Today, after decades of class retreat we are not starting from a great place. However, start we must. We do not know how long we have, but we must use the time to prepare a response. Thousands of workers already understand that the system is failing – capitalism’s peace fails them every day. Internationalists everywhere have to reach out to them to give a lead in building a movement capable of achieving enough critical mass to reach every section of the working class in all lands."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-11-27/against-imperialist-war-against-capitalist-peace
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-11-27/against-imperialist-war-against-capitalist-peace
Leftcom
Against Imperialist War! Against Capitalist Peace!
These are dangerous times. The post-war boom ended half a century ago. With it went capitalism’s last promise of a relatively better life. In the 1970s and ‘80s workers resisted the first attempts to make us pay for the crisis.(1) Yet despite the militancy…
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"A lot of Western analysts are applauding the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel as a moment of stasis in the bombings, and as a premise for a peace process. It is possible but only if a series of conditions that have not been fully evaluated are met. In the Middle East, it is not just another war between Zionism and Islamist-style anti-Zionism that is being fought. It is a war of multiple scenarios with the direct involvement of regional interested parties plus the indirect presence of imperialist powers outside the area who play a significant role."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-11-30/the-ceasefire-between-hezbollah-and-israel
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-11-30/the-ceasefire-between-hezbollah-and-israel
Leftcom
The Ceasefire Between Hezbollah And Israel
A lot of Western analysts are applauding the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel as a moment of stasis in the bombings, and as a premise for a peace process. It is possible but only if a series of conditions that have not been fully…
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"As the date indicates, the article below was written by our Italian comrades before the fall of the Assad regime, but has been updated since. It gives some indication as to what this latest piece of the imperialist puzzle might mean for the future."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-12-08/syria-imperialist-barbarism-flares-up-again
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-12-08/syria-imperialist-barbarism-flares-up-again
Leftcom
Syria: Imperialist Barbarism Flares Up Again
(As the date indicates, the article below was written by our Italian comrades before the fall of the Assad regime. What this means for the future will be the subject of the next article but this piece gives some indications as to what this might be. (CWO))…
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"On Saturday 9 November, the CWO held a public meeting in London on the topic of anti-fascism. We publish here the presentation followed by notes from the discussion."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-12-13/anti-fascism-against-the-working-class
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-12-13/anti-fascism-against-the-working-class
Leftcom
Anti-Fascism Against the Working Class
(On Saturday 9 November, the CWO held a public meeting in London on the topic of anti-fascism. We publish here the presentation followed by notes from the discussion.) == The Presentation We are now in early November and today is the 106th anniversary of…
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"On Monday 18 November, the CWO held a public meeting in Manchester on the topic of imperialism. We publish here the presentation followed by notes from the discussion."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-12-14/imperialism-what-it-is-what-it-isn-t-and-how-it-ends
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2024-12-14/imperialism-what-it-is-what-it-isn-t-and-how-it-ends
Leftcom
Imperialism: What it Is, What it Isn't and How it Ends
(On Monday 18 November, the CWO held a public meeting in Manchester on the topic of imperialism. We publish here the presentation followed by notes from the discussion.) == The Presentation ‘Imperialism’, in Marxist terms, has a specific definition. It is…
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In 2024 we published 85 articles on the English section of our website. Here’s a rundown of the 5 most read ones.
1. Workers Have No Country: Fight War with Class Unity and Class Struggle!
2. Two Parties, One Rotten System
3. Marx's Newly Unearthed Letter Reaffirms the Necessity of Internationalism and the Party
4. Revolutionary Communist Party: Out With the Old, In With the Old
5. May Day 2024: Down with Nationalism and War - Workers Have No Country!
1. Workers Have No Country: Fight War with Class Unity and Class Struggle!
2. Two Parties, One Rotten System
3. Marx's Newly Unearthed Letter Reaffirms the Necessity of Internationalism and the Party
4. Revolutionary Communist Party: Out With the Old, In With the Old
5. May Day 2024: Down with Nationalism and War - Workers Have No Country!
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"The world stands at a crossroads. Economic crisis, the drive to war, ecological disasters, and societal collapse signpost a future full of suffering and destruction which is already the reality for many around the globe. Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine serve as a warning of what's to come. As new horrors confront us each time we switch on the TV, listen to the radio or check our social media, it is easy to become despondent. The one question that few seem to be asking is: what's the alternative?"
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-04/communism-an-idea-whose-time-has-come
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-04/communism-an-idea-whose-time-has-come
Leftcom
Communism: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?
"Despair is typical of those who do not understand the causes of evil, see no way out, and are incapable of struggle. The modern industrial proletariat does not belong to the category of such classes." (Lenin, 1910) The world stands at a crossroads. Economic…
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"The movement of workers outside the trade union framework is promising, but we need to move from words to action. Moreover, demands and strategies must be designed in a way that can draw in more workers from different sectors and workplaces – building on our strength in the short term and paving the way for stronger solidarity and steps towards greater class consciousness in the longer term."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-06/class-struggle-in-sweden-anger-and-dissatisfaction-with-trade-unions-and-then
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-06/class-struggle-in-sweden-anger-and-dissatisfaction-with-trade-unions-and-then
Leftcom
Class Struggle in Sweden: Anger and Dissatisfaction with Trade Unions - And Then What?
It is now over fifty years since the return of the economic crisis, which marked the end of the reconstruction phase after the end of the Second World War. It triggered a wave of class struggle that culminated in the class struggles in Poland and the militant…
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"January 2025 marks 120 years since the 1905 revolution broke out across the Russian Empire. For this occasion, we publish here an article which originally appeared back in 2005 in Revolutionary Perspectives 34 (Series 3) but had been previously unavailable on our site in text form."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-08/a-majestic-prologue-the-russian-revolution-of-1905-part-i
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-08/a-majestic-prologue-the-russian-revolution-of-1905-part-i
Leftcom
"A Majestic Prologue" - The Russian Revolution of 1905 (Part I)
(January 2025 marks 120 years since the 1905 revolution broke out across the Russian Empire. For this occasion, we publish here an article which originally appeared in 2005 in Revolutionary Perspectives 34 (Series 3) but had been previously unavailable on…
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"It is obvious that the bourgeoisie will more readily allocate the resources it has at its disposal – or that it hopes to have at its disposal – to things that strengthen its class domination as well as its position on the imperialist chessboard. Just as obvious, at least for us, is that the war on wages did not begin with the attack on Ukraine, but rather a few decades ago. If anything the wars that are now bloodying the former USSR, Palestine, Sudan, Congo and other areas of the world are a harbinger of the greater carnage to come. So far capitalism is winning this war on the working class, but it is not winning the war within itself, against the inescapable contradictions of the capitalist mode of production."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-20/war-the-economy-the-proletariat-notes-on-the-war-economy
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-20/war-the-economy-the-proletariat-notes-on-the-war-economy
Leftcom
War, the Economy, the Proletariat: Notes on the War Economy
== Introduction "The contrast shown in these figures give us a picture of the characteristics of a war economy which today takes the form of a real war on wages.(1)" The above quote is taken from a USB (Unione Sindacale di Base, a rank and file union) document…
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"To commemorate the 120th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1905 revolution we publish here some translations of contemporary flyers released by the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) during the course of that revolution. They are a historical document of the events as they happened."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-22/1905-in-poland-documenting-the-revolution
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-22/1905-in-poland-documenting-the-revolution
Leftcom
1905 in Poland: Documenting the Revolution
"That is why — we greet you, 22 January, as a day of remembrance of the great past — and a day of hope for the great future!" (SDKPiL, 1907) To commemorate the 120th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1905 revolution we publish here some translations of contemporary…
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"Whether it is the further extension of the effects of global warming or the prospect of nuclear war capitalism offers us only an increasingly uncertain and unsustainable future. The alternative today remains the same as in 1905 – socialism or barbarism. Either a world where all humans can have a dignified and worthwhile existence without social classes, exploitation and war, or greater subjugation of the mass of the population to the whims of the world’s richest as they take us towards armageddon."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-07/a-world-on-fire
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-07/a-world-on-fire
Leftcom
A World on Fire
(Editorial for _Revolutionary Perspectives 25_ (https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-01-20/revolutionary-perspectives-25) (Series 4).) As the troubled year of 2024 drew to a close, Pope Francis threw open the holy doors of Rome’s four basilicas on Christmas…
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"One might think that the behaviour of the Biden Administration and Trump's arrogant statements on the future destinies of Canada, Mexico, Greenland and the Panama Canal, to which Russia has already raised opposition as China surely will, are a sign of power. Yet they rather hide the symptoms of an intrinsic weakness deriving from a structural crisis that has affected the entire capitalist world for decades, starting with the US."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-09/trump-and-the-new-golden-age
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-09/trump-and-the-new-golden-age
Leftcom
Trump and the New "Golden Age"
Let's start with what the terrible images of Trump's investiture as 47th president of the United States tell us. Surrounded by an attentive court of billionaire vassals, as rich as they are opportunistic (they were also present at Biden's coronation) Trump…
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"Days of mourning were declared and vigils for the victims were held. But grief quickly turned to anger. As the first mass demonstrations, student occupations and road blockades started, the authorities responded with violence and provocation – tear gas, arrests, and attacks on protesters (including a few cases of government sympathisers ramming their cars into crowds). This only inflamed the tensions and brought more people out onto the streets."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-11/serbia-protests-politicians-resign-the-problems-endure
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-11/serbia-protests-politicians-resign-the-problems-endure
Leftcom
Serbia Protests: Politicians Resign, the Problems Endure
The railway station in Novi Sad, the second largest city of Serbia, was constructed in 1964. Completed in just 18 months, with a distinctive saw-shaped roof, the station was a flagship building for the city and railway modernisation in the state capitalist…
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"For us, victory never looked like a US-brokered ceasefire, or a military ousting of a dictator. For us, victory will only be won in the class war that ends all wars. Palestinians will only be free when all workers around the world are free. And to this end, the working class must become an independent social force that sides with no national flags or imperialist camps."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-12/as-regimes-fall-and-ceasefires-begin-the-capitalist-crisis-continues
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-12/as-regimes-fall-and-ceasefires-begin-the-capitalist-crisis-continues
Leftcom
As Regimes Fall and "Ceasefires" Begin, the Capitalist Crisis Continues
As Trump takes office, announcing America’s “rightful” undisputed place at the top of the imperialist world order is under threat, the Doomsday Clock moves ever closer to midnight. Despite all the talk of “peace” and “hope” in the Middle East the battlelines…
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"A number of comrades in Sweden sympathetic to the Internationalist Communist Tendency (ICT) have, after years of contact with the organisation, decided to formalise their work in a group. We have taken the name Kompass-gruppen after the broadsheet Kompass, of which we have already produced two issues."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-13/welcome-to-kompass-gruppen
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-13/welcome-to-kompass-gruppen
Leftcom
Welcome to Kompass-gruppen
== New group of sympathisers in Sweden A number of comrades in Sweden sympathetic to the Internationalist Communist Tendency (ICT) have, after years of contact with the organisation, decided to formalise our work in a group. We have taken the name _*Kompass…
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"As Bordiga once famously noted, human affairs cannot be understood as a photograph, as something frozen in time, but have to be understood as a film, a series of almost imperceptible shifts in every frame but which add up in the end to a complete change in reality. Recent events in the Middle East and their consequences (both intended and unintended) only underline the validity of that methodology when trying to understand the complicated “reciprocal interactions” in the current world order."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-17/regime-change-in-syria-another-twist-in-the-imperialist-kaleidoscope-another
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-17/regime-change-in-syria-another-twist-in-the-imperialist-kaleidoscope-another
Leftcom
Regime Change in Syria: Another Twist in the Imperialist Kaleidoscope, Another Step on the Road to a Third World War
As Bordiga once famously noted, human affairs cannot be understood as a photograph, as something frozen in time, but have to be understood as a film, a series of almost imperceptible shifts in every frame but which add up in the end to a complete change in…
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"Thus, for the new American Administration, it is incumbent on Ukraine to accept the American diktats and for Russia to find a favourable peace solution, even if this puts it in debt to the White House for the "gifts" received. Europe must manage on its own, because the US has to play its own game with China and this involves cutting, and/or completely terminating, spending in support of anyone else to concentrate all its economic and financial resources on the primary military objective: the "threat from the East"."
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-20/munich-security-conference-the-worst-is-yet-to-come
https://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2025-02-20/munich-security-conference-the-worst-is-yet-to-come
Leftcom
Munich Security Conference: The Worst is Yet to Come
We are still only going through the preliminaries but the guidelines have already been drawn up. Before the negotiations on “peace” between Russia and Ukraine began, JD Vance’s words, echoing those of his voluble president, are clear and unequivocal. First…
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