Organization Archives - John Riddell https://johnriddell.com/category/marxism/organization/ 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 Organization Archives - John Riddell https://johnriddell.com/category/marxism/organization/ 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 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 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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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2020/11/08/party-organization-in-lenins-comintern/feed/ 5 6286 The ISO’s Collapse: ‘A Political Assessment’ by Lance Selfa and Paul D’Amato https://johnriddell.com/2019/11/26/the-isos-collapse-a-political-assessment-by-lance-selfa-and-paul-damato/ https://johnriddell.com/2019/11/26/the-isos-collapse-a-political-assessment-by-lance-selfa-and-paul-damato/#comments Tue, 26 Nov 2019 16:40:58 +0000 http://johnriddell.com/?p=5534 Introductory Note by John Riddell: The unexpected dissolution of the U.S. International Socialist Organization in April 2019 has provoked wide concern and debate among socialists. The ISO had long been the largest and most effective revolutionary socialist group in the U.S. Until the last few months before its demise, it was at its peak in […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2019/11/26/the-isos-collapse-a-political-assessment-by-lance-selfa-and-paul-damato/feed/ 1 5534 What happened to the International Socialist Organization? by Paul Le Blanc https://johnriddell.com/2019/05/26/what-happened-to-the-international-socialist-organization-by-paul-le-blanc/ https://johnriddell.com/2019/05/26/what-happened-to-the-international-socialist-organization-by-paul-le-blanc/#comments Sun, 26 May 2019 22:03:16 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=5340 QUESTION: What is historical materialism? ANSWER: A defeat we’re transforming into a luminous victory. — Victor Serge, April 17, 1941 (in Notebooks 1936-1947, p. 72) What happened to the International Socialist Organization (ISO) is that it self-destructed. The outgoing leadership of the outgoing organization presented this fact to the world in its statement of April […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2019/05/26/what-happened-to-the-international-socialist-organization-by-paul-le-blanc/feed/ 4 5340 RWL/LOR: Explaining a failed fusion https://johnriddell.com/2018/11/26/rwl-lor-explaining-a-failed-fusion/ https://johnriddell.com/2018/11/26/rwl-lor-explaining-a-failed-fusion/#comments Mon, 26 Nov 2018 17:12:32 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=5182 The Revolutionary Workers League of Canada/Ligue Ouvrière Révolutionnaire (1977-1990): Part 2 For Part 1 of this article, see RWL/LOR: Inquest into a failed socialist fusion By John Riddell. During the 1980s and 1990s, as neoliberal reaction tightened its grip, left-socialist activists in Canada fell into disillusion and inactivity. The traditional Communist Party broke apart; the […]

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]]> https://johnriddell.com/2018/11/26/rwl-lor-explaining-a-failed-fusion/feed/ 1 5182 RWL: Inquest into a failed socialist fusion https://johnriddell.com/2018/11/19/rwl-inquest-into-a-failed-socialist-fusion/ https://johnriddell.com/2018/11/19/rwl-inquest-into-a-failed-socialist-fusion/#comments Mon, 19 Nov 2018 17:04:10 +0000 https://johnriddell.com/?p=5176 The Revolutionary Workers League/Ligue Ouvrière Révolutionnaire (1977-1990), Part 1 For Part 2 of this article, see “The RWL/LOR: Explaining a failed fusion.” By John Riddell: Forty years ago, four significant far-left groups in Canada came together to form the Revolutionary Workers League/Ligue Ouvrière Révolutionnaire (RWL/LOR). At the time the RWL/LOR showed promise of becoming the […]

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