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
How to be gaslit
08 Apr 2021
Anger is an insufficient response to the Sewell report, argues Paul Demarty. The left needs its own critique of liberal anti-racism
Anti-racism as a straitjacket
01 Apr 2021
Boris Johnson's government boasts of its anti-racism, the UN boasts of its anti-racism, the SWP boasts of its anti-racism. Paul Demarty detects more than a whiff of popular frontism
Blasphemy laws old and new
01 Apr 2021
Freedom of speech includes the right to criticise, explain and even mock, insists Eddie Ford
End of a dead end
25 Mar 2021
Last week’s general election saw big losses for the Socialist Party. Predictably, the leadership’s purge of the left has backfired. Emil Jacobs of the SP’s Communist Platform reports
Lamb dressed as mutton
18 Mar 2021
Lawrence Parker reviews 'A centenary for socialism: Britain’s Communist Party 1920-2020' by the Communist Party of Britain, edited by Mary Davis
The afterlife of Bobby Sands
11 Mar 2021
Glowing leftwing tributes to the hunger-striker contrast markedly to the prevailing attitude 40 years ago. Paul Demarty looks at the modern-day paradoxes
A minimum-maximum programme
11 Mar 2021
This is the mission statement of the Marxist Unity Slate - a set of proposals for the 2021 convention of the Democratic Socialists of America. The aim is to achieve democratic discipline and principled election campaigns, as well as uniting Marxists around a vision of a mass working class socialist party
The misuses of Gramsci
25 Feb 2021
Quoted by charlatans to provide an air of magic, praised for his ambiguities, more revered than read: David Broder calls for a serious engagement with a political strategy that still has considerable relevance
Mario Draghi? No, thanks!
18 Feb 2021
The political establishment has put differences aside to support a government that is committed to making workers, pensioners and the petty bourgeoisie pay for the Covid-19 crisis, reports Toby Abse
From symbol to failure
11 Feb 2021
On February 8 1971, 50 years ago, the geurrillaist left began its armed struggle by attacking a gendamerie post at Siahkal. Three police were killed and two comrades rescued. Yassamine Mather spoke to Ardeshir Mehrdad. He was a member of the Organisation of Iranian People’s Fadai until 1980 and later became editor of Iran Bulletin
Principle, confusion and hope
11 Feb 2021
Having looked at the birth and early years of the guerrillaist left in her first article Yassamine Mather turns to the internal struggles within the Fedai
SUPPLEMENT: Three waves of protest
04 Feb 2021
Feelings of injustice, a lack of rights and a sense of betrayal have become universal and act as psychological and subjective drivers of protest, writes Ardeshir Mehrdad. But how can protest be forged into a movement than can topple the regime?
SUPPLEMENT: Limits of guerrillaism
04 Feb 2021
Mohamad Reza Shalgouni was a founder-member of the Organisation of Revolutionary Workers of Iran (Rahe Kargar). He spoke to Yassamine Mather about his strategic reassessment as a prisoner of the shah and experience of the revolutionary years of 1978-79
Disputed heritage
28 Jan 2021
The pathetically weak remnants have been marking the centenary of the Partito Comunista. Toby Abse reports from Livorno
Stay, fight and win
14 Jan 2021
Attempts to wreck the youth section have been met with a growing tide of resistance. Emil Jacobs reports on the ongoing battles in the Socialist Party (Netherlands)