I came across this well-written piece on the role of social media in social change, written by Jesse McLaren. I’ve often thought that the role of new media, social media etc etc has been under-theorized by Marxists. You tend to see stuff that goes in one of two directions: either
Continue readingTag: SWP
RedBedHead: Blogging, Democracy and Revolution
I came across this well-written piece on the role of social media in social change, written by Jesse McLaren. I’ve often thought that the role of new media, social media etc etc has been under-theorized by Marxists. You tend to see stuff that goes in one of two directions: either
Continue readingRedBedHead: Blogging, Democracy and Revolution
I came across this well-written piece on the role of social media in social change, written by Jesse McLaren. I’ve often thought that the role of new media, social media etc etc has been under-theorized by Marxists. You tend to see stuff that goes in o…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Deflected Marxism: The Poison Of The Intelligentsia
I was thinking recently of an apocryphal story that was told to me many years ago as I sat in a dank basement drinking from a keg of beer. Apparently Lenin was listening to Beethoven with the Russian novelist Gorky and commented something along the lines: “ah, the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia. Sometimes they produce such beauty that one wants to reach out and pat them on the head. But you
Continue readingRedBedHead: Deflected Marxism: The Poison Of The Intelligentsia
I was thinking recently of an apocryphal story that was told to me many years ago as I sat in a dank basement drinking from a keg of beer. Apparently Lenin was listening to Beethoven with the Russian novelist Gorky and commented something along the lines: “ah, the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia.
Continue readingRedBedHead: Deflected Marxism: The Poison Of The Intelligentsia
I was thinking recently of an apocryphal story that was told to me many years ago as I sat in a dank basement drinking from a keg of beer. Apparently Lenin was listening to Beethoven with the Russian novelist Gorky and commented something along the lines: “ah, the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia.
Continue readingRedBedHead: Is The SWP A Dead Duck: Part 2
It isn’t only in the nations, like the former USSR, that bureaucracy can use its control of wealth and power to defeat grassroots challengers. What happened with the rise of Stalinism was an historically profound human tragedy. But the process of bureaucracy developing independence from its original base can occur
Continue readingRedBedHead: Is The SWP A Dead Duck: Part 2
It isn’t only in the nations, like the former USSR, that bureaucracy can use its control of wealth and power to defeat grassroots challengers. What happened with the rise of Stalinism was an historically profound human tragedy. But the process of bureaucracy developing independence from its original base can occur on a much smaller scale and this holds lessons for revolutionaries grappling with
Continue readingRedBedHead: Is The SWP A Dead Duck: Part 2
It isn’t only in the nations, like the former USSR, that bureaucracy can use its control of wealth and power to defeat grassroots challengers. What happened with the rise of Stalinism was an historically profound human tragedy. But the process of bureaucracy developing independence from its original base can occur
Continue readingRedBedHead: Is The SWP A Dead Duck: Part 1
I’ve come across more than a few obituaries for the SWP in the last week or so, particularly since a number of people split from the party and are now forming the IS Network. This article on the Left Unity website, for instance, starts with the following statement: “The SWP
Continue readingRedBedHead: Is The SWP A Dead Duck: Part 1
I’ve come across more than a few obituaries for the SWP in the last week or so, particularly since a number of people split from the party and are now forming the IS Network. This article on the Left Unity website, for instance, starts with the following statement:
“The SWP – one of the most successful organising forces on the British left over the last few decades – is close to death…”
But
Continue readingRedBedHead: Is The SWP A Dead Duck: Part 1
I’ve come across more than a few obituaries for the SWP in the last week or so, particularly since a number of people split from the party and are now forming the IS Network. This article on the Left Unity website, for instance, starts with the following statement: “The SWP
Continue readingRedBedHead: SWP Bureaucracy & The IST: Part 2
The debate with the US ISO remains a source of much controversy, having ended with the biggest split from the Tendency to date. This makes it worth exploration and, I believe, it is an example of the way in which the SWP’s growing bureaucracy negatively impacted the IST. However, both
Continue readingRedBedHead: SWP Bureaucracy & The IST: Part 2
The debate with the US ISO remains a source of much controversy, having ended with the biggest split from the Tendency to date. This makes it worth exploration and, I believe, it is an example of the way in which the SWP’s growing bureaucracy negatively impacted the IST. However, both of the dominant narratives of the events leading up to the ISOs expulsion are, in my view, one sided. The main
Continue readingRedBedHead: SWP Bureaucracy & The IST: Part 2
The debate with the US ISO remains a source of much controversy, having ended with the biggest split from the Tendency to date. This makes it worth exploration and, I believe, it is an example of the way in which the SWP’s growing bureaucracy negatively impacted the IST. However, both
Continue readingRedBedHead: SWP Bureaucracy & The IST: Part 1
The tradition in the IST is to not intervene in the controversies and debates of other organizations. This was explained to me as a reaction against the practice amongst the early Trotskyists & within the Fourth International to involve every affiliated organization in the debates of every other national section.
Continue readingRedBedHead: SWP Bureaucracy & The IST: Part 1
The tradition in the IST is to not intervene in the controversies and debates of other organizations. This was explained to me as a reaction against the practice amongst the early Trotskyists & within the Fourth International to involve every affiliated organization in the debates of every other national section.
Continue readingRedBedHead: SWP Bureaucracy & The IST: Part 1
The tradition in the IST is to not intervene in the controversies and debates of other organizations. This was explained to me as a reaction against the practice amongst the early Trotskyists & within the Fourth International to involve every affil…
Continue readingRedBedHead: The SWP & Revolutionary Bureaucracy or No One Here Gets Out Alive
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the international working class suffered a series of decisive defeats. This put to a halt and set in reverse the post-war tendency for living standards to rise and a more recent phenomenon of rising worker militancy. It led to years of a downturn
Continue readingRedBedHead: The SWP & Revolutionary Bureaucracy or No One Here Gets Out Alive
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the international working class suffered a series of decisive defeats. This put to a halt and set in reverse the post-war tendency for living standards to rise and a more recent phenomenon of rising worker militancy. It led to years of a downturn
Continue reading