Party & Programme > The left
Another split, another sect
26 Apr 2012
The left must organise on the basis of genuine democratic centralism, argues Ben Lewis
weapon forged in lies
09 Sep 2021
Derek James calls upon the left to show courage and refute every false accusation with the truth
Manufacturing consensus
02 Sep 2021
We do not want to unite the whole of the anti-racist movement, if that means uniting all prepared to mouth anti-racist platitudes. In fact, writes Paul Demarty, so far as such ‘unity’ exists, our role is to destroy it
Reasons for Afghan debacles
12 Aug 2021
Daniel Lazare reviews: Rodric Braithwaite ‘Afgantsy: the Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89’ Oxford University Press, 2011, pp448, £10.28; Artemy M Kalinovsky ‘A long goodbye: the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan’ Harvard University Press, 2011, pp290, £22.95; Bruce Riedel ‘What we won: America’s secret war in Afghanistan, 1979-89’ Brookings, 2014, pp189, £17
Centrality of class independence
12 Aug 2021
Khomeini and the clergy completely outmanoeuvred the left. But it need not have been that way. In his second and concluding article on the role of oil workers in the 1979 revolution, Peyman Jafari stresses the complex nature of ideology and class consciousness
Through a feminist filter
05 Aug 2021
Gaby Rubin reviews 'Ethel Rosenberg: a cold war tragedy' by Anne Sebba
The Imam, the strikers and the black, black oil
05 Aug 2021
There are rich lessons for today in the experiences of the oil strikes of 1978. In the first of two articles Peyman Jafari charts the incredibly difficult struggle for organisation, hegemony and strategy
Into the light of hope
22 Jul 2021
Biggest oil and gas strike. A rebellion against neoliberalism. Economic and political demands combine. Ruben Markarian, of the Organisation of Revolutionary Workers of Iran, sees a historic turning point. This article is based on his July 18 Online Communist Forum talk
Modernisation with typical characteristics
22 Jul 2021
Is the People’s Republic of China really such an odd social formation? Mike Belbin finds the answer in history
In spite of everything
22 Jul 2021
Left illusions in cheap populist rhetoric risk splitting the vote and handing victory to the right. Paul Demarty argues in favour of a clear-sighted and long-term strategy
Sir Keir’s road to Brighton
22 Jul 2021
Organisations can be banned, but powerful ideas still live and flourish. Derek James of Labour Party Marxists reports on the growing opposition to the latest stage of the witch-hunt
Looking back over the ruins
15 Jul 2021
The final withdrawal of American troops must be put in the context of the April 1978 revolution and the subsequent reaction. The USA and Saudi Arabia armed, financed and promoted a counterrevolution, which included Osama bin Laden and al Qa’eda and ended in the triumph of the Taliban. This is an edited version of an article written by Jack Conrad and first published in June 2003. Its main target is Sean Matgamna, patriarch of the social-imperialist Alliance for Workers’ Liberty. Nowadays, the AWL describes the Taliban as “Islamo-fascist”; back then, though, they were “our kind of people”
What did England expect?
15 Jul 2021
Following narrow defeat at the hands of Italy, the meaning of it all is being hotly fought over. Paul Demarty urges the left to think beyond gesture politics
Poverty of solidarity
08 Jul 2021
The failure of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign to oppose Zionism and the Jewish supremacist nature of the Israeli state renders it politically incoherent, argues Tony Greenstein
A strange amalgam
08 Jul 2021
In light of George Galloway’s strong showing in Batley and Spen, Paul Demarty asks if his new organisation has any kind of serious future
Loyal foot soldiers
08 Jul 2021
The CPGB-ML siding with George Galloway over voting for the Brexit Party laid the ground for founding the Workers Party of Britain in December 2019. But Lawrence Parker expects the romance to prove fleeting