The red Jacobins: Thermidor and the Russian revolution in 1921
Stalin was the gravedigger of the Russian Revolution, as conscious agent of the bureaucratic elite that stole power and bloodily repressed opposition. But did Lenin and Trotsky’s earlier suppression of party factions fatally secure his passage to total power? Mark Hoskisson argues that the anti-Stalinist left has underestimated the significance of 1921 in sealing the fate of the revolution
Stalin was the gravedigger of the Russian Revolution, as conscious agent of the bureaucratic elite that stole power and bloodily repressed opposition. But did Lenin and Trotsky’s earlier suppression of party factions fatally secure his passage to total power? Mark Hoskisson argues that the anti-Stalinist left has underestimated the significance of 1921 in sealing the fate of the revolution
The Unhappy Elitist: Victor Serge's Early Bolshevism - Peter Sedgwick
Submitted by Steven. on Sep 23 2010 17:11
Peter Sedgwick examines the early, often seemingly contradictory, politics of anarchist-turned Bolshevik Victor Serge.
From History Workshop Journal 17 Spring 1984:
Jan Waclaw Machajski: A radical critic of the Russian intelligensia and socialism - Marshall S. Shatz
Submitted by Steven. on Sep 22 2010 10:53
A biography of Polish-born Jan Waclaw Machajski and account of his radical critique of the role of the intelligentsia in Soviet Russia's political life which was known as Makhaevism.
Poor Lenin - Bob Darke
Extracts from the 1952 book "The communist technique in Britain" by a former leading member of the Communist Party exposing their authoritarian, power-seeking methods.
Introduction
Critical review of the ABC of communism - Mouvement Communiste
Mouvement Communiste critically review the politics of the ABC of communism, by Nikolai Bukharin and Evgenii Preobrazhensky of the Third International. In PDF format.
B*llocks to clause four - Subversion
Communist critique of leftist support for nationalisation and worker co-ops.
What a sight, 239 miners, relatives and their supporters marching up the hill singing triumphantly (in Welsh), the Internationale and the Red Flag, as Tower Colliery was re-opened under employee ownership’ . . . just as their predecessors had in 1947, when the coal mines were nationalised!
Old left, new left, what's left? - Root and Branch
Paul Mattick Jr. takes a look at the 'New Left' and student movement at the end of the 1960s.
The last six months of the sixties presented American radicals with an apparently incongrous pair of events: a massive revival of the anti-war movement and the disintegration of the organization which has for some time been justifiably identified with the "new left" itself, SDS.
Bi-Polar economics in Venezuela
Submitted by Caiman del Barrio on Jun 21 2010 23:53
In another inversion of leftist determinism, an attempt by Chávez' embattled administration to expropriate Venezuela's largest remaining private company was thwarted earlier this month, in part due to organised opposition by employees looking to protect both their jobs and their hard-won working conditions.
Empresas Polar is as central to Venezuelan capitalism as Coca Cola or Ford are to the American version.
Indefinite general strike in Bolivia continues
Submitted by Steven. on May 17 2010 11:11
In spite of condemnation from the "socialist" government of Evo Morales, the general strike launched on May 4 against a 5% wage cap continues.
On Tuesday May 4, the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB; Bolivian Workers’ Centre), the chief union federation in Bolivia, launched an indefinite general strike against Evo Morales’ Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) government.
Venezuela and the postcolonial post-racism of the international left
Submitted by Caiman del Barrio on May 16 2010 21:31
A recent exchange with a particularly unpleasant member of the international prochavista left resulted in me meditating on the rhetoric and arguments behind the leftist cheerleading of distant regimes.
The individual in question appeared to be a Leninist, which may explain her tone of argument.
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