The Russian revolution in retreat, 1920-24: Soviet workers and the new communist elite - Simon Pirani
Submitted by subprole on Apr 14 2011 13:58
This critically acclaimed book, published in 2008, focuses on the retreat from the revolution’s aims in 1920-24, after the end of the civil war – and specifically, on the turbulent relationship between the working class and the Communist Party in those years.
An open letter to Socialist Worker on autonomism and the fight for change
Submitted by Steven. on Apr 7 2011 12:04
An open letter to Socialist Worker newspaper in response to possibly the most ill informed smear of anarchism I have ever seen: "Autonomism and the fight for change" by Estelle Cooch.
I can rarely be bothered to address the numerous smears of anarchism by the Trotskyist press. However I felt that this one really took the biscuit just in terms of the absolute ignorance of the author, and bashed this out quickly1
- 1. Disclaimer: this article is intended to point out the flaws in the SW article as opposed to going to the differences between anarchism and Trotskyism in general.
The Beginnings of the Workers' Movement in Russia - Denis Authier
A critical survey of the emergence of Russian working class politics and the historical role of Trotsky's pre-Bolshevik theory, including its anti-Leninist tendencies.
Draft Translators Introduction
Pages of Socialist History: Teachings and Acts of Social Democracy - Warlaam Tcherkesoff
In this book published in 1902, anarchist-communist Warlaam Tcherkesoff, a fervent anti-Marxist, criticises the doctrine of Social Democracy and attacks Marx and Engels, showing the "utopian" roots of "Scientific Socialism", contesting the dialetical method and the theory of the concentration of capital, and even saying that the origin of the "Manifesto of the Communist Party" is the "Manifeste de la Démocratie au Dix-Neuvièm Siècle", by Victor Consideránt, a Fourierist.
Venezuela: the Curious Tale of Rubén González, the imprisoned then liberated union activist
Submitted by Caiman del Barrio on Mar 5 2011 21:01
Just days after being sentenced to seven and a half years' imprisonment for supporting a strike, Rubén González, General Secretary of the Ferrominería miners' union, has seenting his custodial sentence annulled and his freedom partially restored.
Below is a translated version of the El Libertario statement on González' release:
The poverty of statism: Anarchism vs Marxism
Anarchist Luigi Fabbri debates Bolshevik Nikolai Bukharin on the relative merits of anarchism and Marxism. With an introduction by Albert Meltzer.
Victor Serge: Totalitarianism and State Capitalism - Philippe Bourrinet
Complete text of Bourrinet’s presentation at the Victor Serge Symposium held in Moscow, September 29-30, 2001.
Victor Serge: Totalitarianism and State Capitalism (Socialist Deconstruction and Collectivist Humanism)
Translated from the Spanish translation by Margarita Díaz. Source: Online Edition,Andreu Nin Foundation, March 2002.
State socialism - Jan Waclaw Machajski
Often discussed but seldom read, the writings of the maverick anarcho-syndicalist Machajski have largely been inaccessible up till now...
Translator's Introduction
The following essay by the Polish revolutionary Jan Wacław Machajski (1866–1926) is part of a larger work, "Scientific Socialism", written in 1900. Machajski refers to this work as a "brochure" although it is almost book-length; it is an extended critique of Volume II of Marx's Capital.
Anti-cuts fronts: A left wing disease
Submitted by Rob Ray on Jan 25 2011 14:40
One of the more entertaining elements of hanging around on the political left is the insistence of the various leftie parties that they are “open and democratic,” usually moments after they’ve been caught out playing silly buggers within a broad church movement.
"Open and democratic" is a phrase which obviously has a lot of baggage when it comes to any democratic centralist (Trotskyist, Stalinist, Socialist etc) outfit, tarred as they are by years of capitalist propagandising on the failings of the Soviet Union.
TrotskiLeaks: How not to engineer a sectarian split
An email exchange between members of the SWP and others in the Brighton Stop the Cuts Coalition (BSCC), where an SWP activist accidentally 'reply alls' whilst planning a sectarian split on the pretext of the outcome of an unrelated conference of the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN).
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:03:35 +0000
Subject: [BrightonStopTheCuts] leaflets for the 29th (London) & 31st
Dear all,
See attached leaflets for the student demo in London next Saturday and one (that can be used in conjunction) for the following Monday's activist meeting.
If you can use them, feel free to download and print off.
Best regards,
‘Comrade A’
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