Marxist Voice

In this talk from last month's MSF conference, Fiona Lali - lead organiser of the MSF - discusses need for leadership in our present-day struggles, and why we should look to the ideas of Lenin and Trotsky as inspiration. With mass movements taking hold in every corner of the world, it has become clear that the masses possess plenty of energy and initiative. But spontaneous outbursts of anger are o...

In this talk, Fiona Lali discusses the importance of remembering the crimes of the ruling class. While almost all African nations have official independence, they have no independence at all from imperialist exploitation. The only way forward is militant struggle against the exploiters of all lands, based on the principles of socialist internationalism. The idea that the British Empire ‘civilised’...

In this podcast, we share with you a talk given by Fred Weston - editor of marxist.com - given at the recent Marxist Student Federation Conference, on the perspectives for world revolution in 2021. As the pandemic drags on and the crisis of capitalism deepens, any illusions in the stability of the current system have been crushed. All around the world, the working class are awakening to the realit...

In this talk, Alan Woods - editor of marxist.com - discusses the relationship between Marxism and art, noting the nature of art under class society and how we can create a world where everyone can express themselves freely through art. Marxists are sometimes accused of only being interested in pouring over economic data and political analysis; that we have no interest in art and culture. Nothing c...

At a meeting of leading members of the International Marxist Tendency at the end of January, Alan Woods (editor of marxist.com) provided an overview of the dramatic events unfolding at the start of 2021. The crisis of world capitalism is causing eruptions, dislocation and class polarisation in one country after another. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to inflict misery and hardship on ordinary peo...

In this talk, Ben Gliniecki discusses the history of the capitalist state and the police, and why a workers’ state would offer a clear socialist alternative to the repression and violence seen under capitalism. The ruling class has always tried to give the state and the police an appearance of neutrality and justice – a force for preserving peace and stability. But since 2008, the crisis of capita...

In this talk, Daniel Morley explains why ‘academic Marxism’ is incompatible with the real revolutionary ideas of Marxism. To paraphrase Marx’s famous aphorism: The academics have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it. Ever since their inception, there has been a war waged against the genuine ideas of Marxism – not only by the ruling classes and by Stalinis...

In this podcast, Fred Weston – editor of marxist.com – discusses what attitude Marxists should take to the Beijing regime, and outlines the future perspectives for China, its working class, and the coming Chinese revolution. China has risen rapidly to become a major global power. It now represents a serious challenge to US imperialism, which only 20 years ago claimed hegemony over world capitalism...

In this session, Natasha Sorrell discusses how it is the working class who produce all the wealth in society. The capitalists, meanwhile, are mere parasites. That is why we need to fight for a socialist economic plan – one where workers are in control. In ‘normal’ times, the capitalists would have us believe that it is the bosses and ‘entrepreneurs’ who are essential to society. But the pandemic h...

For this week's episode of Marxist Voice, we are joined by Fiona Lali - lead organiser at the Marxist Student Federation - who will be interviewing Olive and Tori - two Marxist students playing a leading role in the ongoing rent strike movement. With young people being lured back into universities by the Tory government and corruption university management, rent strike movements have exploded on c...

In this recent talk to Socialist Appeal supporters, Antonio Balmer (from the Socialist Revolution USA editorial board) discusses the recent dramatic events in Washington, which are yet another symptom of the decline of American capitalism - and a harbinger of revolutionary explosions to come. The storming of Capitol Hill by a mob of Trump supporters on 6 January is a graphic illustration of the de...

In this session, Ellen Morton of the Glasgow Marxists discusses how these crises are laying the basis for revolution in these islands. The task ahead is to build a Marxist leadership in Britain and beyond. The coronavirus crisis has hit Britain harder than most. The UK is a world leader in terms of ‘excess deaths’ from the pandemic, and is experiencing a deeper recession than almost any other deve...

In this session, John McInally – former vice president of the PCS civil servants’ union and veteran trade union activist – will discuss how, in these conditions, we can build a revolutionary trade union movement. The coronavirus crisis has accelerated class consciousness. Workers are getting organised to resist the tsunami of job cuts and austerity that is coming. Already, tens of thousands have j...

In our latest episode of Marxist Voice, we speak to Dr Raj Mistry - a junior doctor in a hard-hit hospital in South East England - about the COVID catastrophe that is currently pushing the NHS to breaking point. The Tories have attempted to blame a new, more infectious strain of the virus for the current crisis. But, in reality, it is Tory cuts and privatisation that have created this dire situati...

In our latest episode of Marxist Voice, we're joined again by Natasha Sorrell - a teacher and NEU activist - to discuss the ongoing battle between the teachers and Tories over the reopening of schools. Thanks to a mass campaign by the National Education Union, the teachers have forced the Tory government into another U-turn, with remote learning now due to take place until the February half-term....

The Black Death resulted in up to 200 million deaths in the 14th century, making it the deadliest pandemic ever recorded. To many at the time, the plague seemed like the end of the world. What we now know is that it was not the world that was ending, but the decrepit feudal system, which was dying on its feet even before the plague hit. Out of the contradictions and class conflicts that were ruthl...

Six years after the beginnings of the Black Lives Matter movement, the death of George Floyd in the USA has sparked an international movement against racism and police violence. The repression and injustices experienced by BAME communities day-in, day-out was captured by the last words of George Floyd and Eric Garner: “I can’t breathe!” The protests against institutional racism have spread like wi...

Labour’s election defeat last year, followed by a sharp shift to the right in the party under Keir Starmer, has opened up a period of introspection and questioning on the Left. Many are asking: what now? Into this context, self-appointed advisors to the movement have been quick to put forward their own ‘new’ prescriptions. One such idea – put forward by Paul Mason and other ‘left’ commentators – i...

In this talk from the International Marxist University, Ben Gliniecki - a leading activist of Socialist Appeal - discusses the Marxist morality and the question of whether Marxists should aspire to be pacifists. Visit podcast.marxist.com for the full recordings. One of the many slanders hurled at the Bolsheviks is that they were bloodthirsty intriguers who got their way through violent means. This...

To celebrate Engels' 200th birthday, we are republishing this talk from 2014, in which Rob Sewell discusses Engels' life and ideas - and in particular his outstanding contributions to Marxist theory. The greatest birthday present we can offer Engels is to learn from his legacy: to continue the struggle for socialism and build the forces of Marxism today. Join us in the fight for socialism: Join -...

28 November this year marks the 200th anniversary of Engels’ birth. To commemorate this, Adam Booth discusses the vital role that Friedrich Engels played in developing the revolutionary ideas of Marxism. Alongside Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels was one of the founding fathers of ‘scientific socialism’. Though often considered as playing second fiddle to Marx, there can be no doubt of Engels’ extensiv...

In this talk from the International Marxist University, Yola Kipcak - a leading activist of Der Funke, the Austrian section of the IMT - provides a Marxist analysis of Queer Theory. Visit podcast.marxist.com for the full recordings. Marxism defends the unity of peoples across all gender and sexual lines in the fight against the oppressive capitalist system. But Queer Theory holds that our gender a...

In this talk from the recent International Marxist University, Alex Grant - a leading member of Fightback, the Canadian section of the IMT - analyses the role of religion in society. Visit podcast.marxist.com for the full recordings. One of Marx’s best-known quotes is “religion is the opium of the people”, but that is not the end of the question. Marxism rejects all forms of superstition. Religion...

The revolutionary traditions of the British working class are glossed over by the establishment. One such tradition is that of the Chartists. Decades before the formation of the TUC, the British working class dramatically entered onto the stage of history, threatening the ruling class with a mass insurrectionary movement and a general strike. In the process, the Chartists succeeded in building the...

In this talk from the International Marxist University, Hamid Alizadeh - a leading activist of the International Marxist Tendency - explains the problems with postcolonialism and combats the view that Marxism is 'eurocentric'. Visit podcast.marxist.com for the full recordings. Marxists are often accused of ‘Eurocentrism’ and ‘class reductionism’ (particularly in academic circles) when we argue for...