The Party

Lessons of the Russian Revolution

Party substitutionism is death to a revolution

October 1, 2017 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

The following is based on my notes for the April 8, 2017, convention of the Platypus Affiliated Society, for a panel on the meaning of the 1917 Russian Revolution for today (the original closing plenary entitled: 1917-2017). I did not give the presentation due to a thunderstorm and flight cancellation. An earlier version of this write-up appeared at www.Anarkismo.net. REVOLUTIONARIES STUDY REVOLUTIONS. Many lessons might be learned from looking at the 1917 Russian Revolution and its aftermath. [Read More]

What is socialism? International social democracy

June 5, 2017 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

On March 23rd, 2017, the Platypus Affiliated Society organized a panel discussion, “What is Socialism? International Social Democracy,” at the London School of Economics. Moderated by Nunzia Faes of Platypus, the event brought together the following speakers: Jack Conrad of the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Weekly Worker; Adam Buick of the Socialist Party of Great Britain; and Robin Halpin, translator of works by the Exit! group. What follows is an edited transcript of their discussion. [Read More]

Labour Party (UK) The Party

What Is Political Party For The Left?

May 25, 2017 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

Recording of a panel hosted by the Houston Chapter of the Platypus Affiliated Society at the University of Houston, May 24, 2017. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Panelists Michael Leone (Communist Party, USA) Brian Harrison (Socialist Alternative) George Reiter (Green Party) Description Perhaps the most significant question informing the Left today is the issue of the political party. In the aftermath of Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, and the increasing proliferation of right-wing nationalist movements across Europe—such as La Pen’s Front National in France, Wilder’s Partij voor de Vrijheid in the Netherlands, and Alternative für Deutschland in Germany–, various left unity initiatives have sprung up across the world. [Read More]

The Party

Build political independence, don't tail after the ruling class!

A response to John Bachtell

July 11, 2016 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

COMMUNIST PARTY USA (CPUSA) chairman John Bachtell argues that the main danger – overriding all – is the danger of the extreme right.1 Bachtell points out that the CPUSA has been sounding the alarm on this danger since the 1980s. In doing so, the CPUSA has consistently urged people to vote for the Democratic Party candidates and not support third party efforts in the cause of defeating the extreme right. [Read More]

The Party John Bachtell CPUSA Communist Party USA

Rosa Luxemburg and the party

May 3, 2016 | The Platypus Affiliated Society • Other languages: Ελληνικά

IN ONE OF HER EARLIEST INTERVENTIONS in the Social-Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), participating in the notorious theoretical “Revisionist Dispute,” in which Eduard Bernstein infamously stated that “the movement is everything, the goal nothing,” the 27 year-old Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) clearly enunciated her Marxism: “It is the final goal alone which constitutes the spirit and the content of our socialist struggle, which turns it into a class struggle.”1 Critique of socialism What did it mean to say that socialist politics was necessary to have “class struggle” at all? [Read More]

Rosa Luxemburg Eduard Bernstein Socialism The party

What is a political party for the Left?

August 30, 2015 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

ON APRIL 11, 2015, at the closing plenary of the 7th annual Platypus Affiliated Society international convention in Chicago, Chris Cutrone of Platypus, Mike Macnair of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), Adolph Reed, Jr. (University of Pennsylvania), and Tom Riley of the Internationalist Bolshevik Tendency (IBT) spoke on the topic “What is a political party for the Left?” The panel description reads as follows: In spite of many different political currents and tendencies, the most significant question informing the “Left” today is the issue of “political party. [Read More]

The Party

What is political party for the Left?

March 1, 2015 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

ON JANUARY 21ST, 2015, the Platypus Affiliated Society hosted a discussion in Halifax, Nova Scotia, under the title, What is political party for the Left? The panel consisted of Leo Panitch, author of Renewing Socialism and a member of Socialist Project; Jackie Barkley, a founding member of Solidarity Halifax; Antoni Wysocki, member of the organization STAND; and Carlos Pessoa, author of Post-Marxism and Politics: The Case of the Brazilian Workers’ Party. [Read More]

The Party

What is political party for Marxism?

Democratic revolution and the contradiction of capital: On Mike Macnair's 'Revolutionary Strategy' (London: November Publications, 2008)

November 4, 2014 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

MIKE MACNAIR’S REVOLUTIONARY STRATEGY is a wide-ranging, comprehensive and very thorough treatment of the problem of revolutionary politics and the struggle for socialism. His focus is the question of political party and it is perhaps the most substantial attempt recently to address this problem. Macnair’s initial motivation was engagement with the debates in and around the French Fourth International Trotskyist Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire prior to its forming the Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste electoral party in 2009. [Read More]

The Party CPGB Mike Macnair