Marxism Archives - John Riddell https://johnriddell.com/category/marxism/ MARXIST ESSAYS AND COMMENTARY Sun, 03 Apr 2022 14:21:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.10 https://i0.wp.com/johnriddell.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-John-Riddell-Icon-Final-1.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Marxism Archives - John Riddell https://johnriddell.com/category/marxism/ 32 32 22825446 Debates in the Second International https://johnriddell.com/2022/04/03/debates-in-the-second-international/ https://johnriddell.com/2022/04/03/debates-in-the-second-international/#comments Sun, 03 Apr 2022 14:00:24 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=7714 The following is an edited version of a talk given at the Online Communist Forum, based in London UK, on 27 March 2022. In it Mike Taber discusses a new book he is preparing, to be published by Haymarket Books. By Mike Taber: Thanks for the invitation to speak at the Online Communist Forum. Some […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2022/04/03/debates-in-the-second-international/feed/ 4 7714 Reform or Revolution? The Lessons of Chile https://johnriddell.com/2021/11/12/reform-or-revolution-the-lessons-of-chile/ https://johnriddell.com/2021/11/12/reform-or-revolution-the-lessons-of-chile/#comments Fri, 12 Nov 2021 15:32:09 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=7523 The following article first appeared on World-Outlook.com, a website for online political analysis and interpretation of events. It is a contribution to a debate on the lessons of previous revolutions that was begun with articles by Eric Blanc and Mike Taber. Both earlier articles appeared on this website and were reprinted on World-Outlook.com in two parts: see part 1 and part 2. By Geoff […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2021/11/12/reform-or-revolution-the-lessons-of-chile/feed/ 2 7523 ‘International Manifesto Group’ Founded https://johnriddell.com/2021/09/12/international-manifesto-group-founded/ https://johnriddell.com/2021/09/12/international-manifesto-group-founded/#comments Mon, 13 Sep 2021 01:16:19 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=7346 A Report on the Manifesto’s 5 September Launch The newly formed group International Manifesto Group, convened by Radhika Desai, unites socialists on six continents. The text of the group’s declaration: “From Pluripolarity to Socialism: A Manifesto,” is available at the International Manifesto Group website, along with a listing of its more than 200 signatories and […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2021/09/12/international-manifesto-group-founded/feed/ 9 7346 What Are the ‘Right Lessons’ for Socialists? https://johnriddell.com/2021/08/16/what-are-the-right-lessons-for-socialists/ https://johnriddell.com/2021/08/16/what-are-the-right-lessons-for-socialists/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2021 12:48:53 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=7263 A Reply to Eric Blanc By Mike Taber: Eric Blanc is a serious and dedicated socialist historian and activist who doesn’t hesitate to jump into the fray and take positions he knows are controversial. Such an attitude is commendable, even if I disagree with his conclusions. His latest article, “Socialists Should Take the Right Lessons […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2021/08/16/what-are-the-right-lessons-for-socialists/feed/ 8 7263 Socialists Should Take the Right Lessons from the Russian Revolution https://johnriddell.com/2021/08/09/socialists-should-take-the-right-lessons-from-the-russian-revolution/ https://johnriddell.com/2021/08/09/socialists-should-take-the-right-lessons-from-the-russian-revolution/#comments Mon, 09 Aug 2021 14:38:00 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=7212 The following article was first published in ‘Jacobin’ and is reposted by permission. Eric develops here themes discussed more fully in his new book, Revolutionary Social Democracy: Working-Class Politics Across the Russian Empire (1882–1917). A list of related posts by on this website is appended to the article. A comment on this article by Mike […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2021/08/09/socialists-should-take-the-right-lessons-from-the-russian-revolution/feed/ 2 7212 Socialist Participation in Capitalist Governments https://johnriddell.com/2021/07/19/socialist-participation-in-capitalist-governments/ https://johnriddell.com/2021/07/19/socialist-participation-in-capitalist-governments/#respond Mon, 19 Jul 2021 16:54:16 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=7139 A Debate in the Second International, 1900–1904 Introductory Note by Mike Taber Should socialists accept positions as ministers in capitalist governments? What stance should they take toward bourgeois parties?  These questions, which remain the subject of debate today, have aroused heated controversies in the socialist movement for over 120 years. The Second (or “Socialist”) International, […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2021/07/19/socialist-participation-in-capitalist-governments/feed/ 0 7139 New Book on Second International’s Marxist Years https://johnriddell.com/2021/07/05/new-book-on-second-internationals-marxist-years/ https://johnriddell.com/2021/07/05/new-book-on-second-internationals-marxist-years/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2021 19:03:54 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=7119 Comments by Socialist Historians Haymarket Books has just published ‘Under the Socialist Banner: Resolutions of the Second International, 1889-1912’. Edited by Mike Taber, this book is the first collection ever assembled in English of all the resolutions adopted by the Second International during its Marxist Years. Despite weaknesses and contradictions that led to the Second […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2021/07/05/new-book-on-second-internationals-marxist-years/feed/ 1 7119 A Bold New Dimension of Socialist History https://johnriddell.com/2021/06/28/rev-soc-dem-1/ https://johnriddell.com/2021/06/28/rev-soc-dem-1/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2021 14:40:37 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=7074 ‘Revolutionary Social Democracy: Working-Class Politics Across the Russian Empire (1882-1917)’, by Eric Blanc Eric Blanc’s new book, Revolutionary Social Democracy: Working-Class Politics Across the Russian Empire (1882-1917) re-examines the development of revolutionary politics in Russia from an empire-wide perspective. By expanding our geographic scope to include the imperial borderlands, the Eric’s book challenges long-held assumptions about […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2021/06/28/rev-soc-dem-1/feed/ 1 7074 How Democratic Centralism Was Applied https://johnriddell.com/2020/11/10/how-democratic-centralism-was-applied/ https://johnriddell.com/2020/11/10/how-democratic-centralism-was-applied/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2020 14:41:37 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=6329 Part 2 of ‘Party Organization in Lenin’s Comintern’ See Part 1: Shaping a Policy By John Riddell: The Comintern’s 1921 organizational theses, discussed in Part 1 of this study, were next mentioned in a world congress by Lenin himself, in his address to the Fourth World Congress in 1922. At the end of what was […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2020/11/10/how-democratic-centralism-was-applied/feed/ 3 6329 Party Organization in Lenin’s Comintern https://johnriddell.com/2020/11/08/party-organization-in-lenins-comintern/ https://johnriddell.com/2020/11/08/party-organization-in-lenins-comintern/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2020 01:07:57 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=6286 Part 1: Defining Democratic Centralism See also Part 2: Applying Democratic Centralism By John Riddell: Many socialist groups today seek to shape their organizational principles in the spirit of “democratic centralism” identified with V.I. Lenin. Yet as historian Lars Lih has demonstrated (“Fortunes of a Formula” and “Further Fortunes of a Formula”), Lenin himself used […]

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