The Necessity of Marxists’ Convergence and the Marxist Revival Project

The Necessity of Marxists’ Convergence and the Marxist Revival Project

The following is Maziar Razi’s speech at the Marxist Revival seminar in Cologne, Germany, on November 22, 2013.

In the current situation the convergence of Marxists at the international level is on the agenda. The concept of convergence, from a Marxist perspective, is to break with the existing series of distorted views and traditions in the labour movement and, on that basis, to determine the components for Marxist convergence for the purpose of intervention in the Labour movement and preparation for the socialist revolution.

In order to determine the components of convergence, Marxists must return to Karl Marx’s own theories, analytical approach and method.

Open letter to Jeremy Corbyn on repression in Iran and payments from Press TV.

Dear Mr Corbyn

Your tireless work as a Member of Parliament for over thirty years includes supporting many causes that go unreported by the capitalist media or are not supported by other politicians, groups or organisations.

The Crisis of World Capitalism and the Tasks of the Left

In the past few years, especially since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the crisis of “left-wing” tendencies throughout the world has become deeper than ever before. Some of the supporters of the Soviet Union have become so weak, hopeless and pessimistic that a few have committed suicide, and even the optimists, have given up their “left-wing” pretences. Others have no plans and are involved in a search for “new” theories so that they can justify their continuing political existence. Centrist [Centrism meaning to swing between a revolutionary and reformist position] tendencies have mostly sought refuge in the arms of social democracy and have brought their whole past into question.

Concept of Program

One aspect that shows the necessity of having a revolutionary programme is what is happening on the streets in Europe today, particularly in Britain. 20 to 30,000 students are reacting to the proposals on the right wing government in Britain to increase tuition fees and put further pressure on the poorest layers of students. We are seeing similar attacks all over Europe and seeing workers and students coming to the streets.

The Marxist Case for Revolution Today

Introduction by Maziar Razi

 The centrality to the revolutionary process is the fight of the only revolutionary class, the working class, to topple the whole machinery of the state.

After the Paris Commune, Marx specifically said that there is no other way to achieve prosperity for all but having a world socialist revolution and that the world was ready for this. This can only come about through the seizure of state power by the working class, to smash all elements of the bourgeois state. These ideas were developed after Marx. The Russian Revolution was based on the theories of Marx and developed under the Comintern. Trotsky developed this further, in particular in the Transitional Programme, explaining the objective readiness of the world for revolution but that it’s prevention was due to the subjective factor. When we talk about revolution we are talking about the fight for state power by the working class in to order to begin developing the productive forces for the benefit of all of society.

More specifically, an upsurge or revolt, a movement for democracy, is not necessarily a revolution. We need to analyse all the elements, the objective situation and the subjective factor. Are the conditions present for a revolutionary situation? Are the rulers able to rule in the old way? Do the ‘ruled’ accept the rulers? Is there a deep economic crisis in the society? Most importantly, is the working class ready to take power? When we talk about revolution we mean socialist revolution. Are the conditions ripe for a socialist revolution? Revolutionary situations – when the conditions are ripe- arise often, particularly in the underdeveloped world, where the bourgeoisie is incapable of developing society, carrying out the minimum bourgeois-democratic tasks. 

Ernest Mandel, in “The Marxist Case for Revolution Today”  published 1989, explains the concept and necessity of  revolution. We are republishing this article to initiate a debate on this subject. Re-publication of the article does not necessarily indicate the agreement of the entirety of the line put forward by him.

1 October 2011

Why Do Marxists defend Wikileaks ?

On 4th February 2016, the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of Julian Assange was announced. Once again the case of Assange has come to centre of International news. The following interview  which was done 7 December 2010 is re-published to debate this important issue.

Why internal democracy is a precondition for building an international organisation

Maziar Razi discusses why internal democracy is a precondition for building an international organisation.

Why internal democracy is a precondition for building an international organisation

Although in discussions about internal democracy tendency rights are accepted in words by many organisations both from Trotskyist and other backgrounds, in practice, however, they are not implemented. In my opinion this question is not a trivial or secondary issue, but is the precondition for building a healthy organisation both on the national and international level that are preparing for socialist revolutions.