Revolutionary Communist International: Difference between revisions

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People Leon Trotsky Martin Abern Tariq Ali Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko Daniel Bensaïd Hugo Blanco Alex Callinicos James P. Cannon Isaac Deutscher Ross Dowson Hal Draper Chen Duxiu Tony Cliff Pierre Frank Ted Grant Duncan Hallas Joseph Hansen Gerry Healy C. L. R. James Lal Khan Pierre Lambert Livio Maitan Ernest Mandel Nahuel Moreno David North George Novack Michel Pablo J. Posadas Yevgeni Preobrazhensky Christian Rakovsky Lev Sedov Max Shachtman Ivan Smirnov Tạ Thu Thâu Peter Taaffe Alan Woods
Theoretical works 1905 (1908) Terrorism and Communism (1920) Trotsky's military writings (1923-1925) Literature and Revolution (1924) New Course (1924) Lessons of October (1924) Towards Socialism or Capitalism? (1925) Leon Trotsky on China (1925) History of the Russian Revolution (1930) The Spanish Revolution, 1931-1939 (1931-1939) The Struggle Against Fascism in Germany(1931-40) The Revolution Betrayed (1936) Their Morals and Ours: The class foundations of moral practice (1938) Transitional Program (1938) In Defence of Marxism (1942) Thesis of Pulacayo (1946) The Stalinist Legacy (1984) The Dilemmas of Lenin (2017)
History Russian Revolution October Revolution Joseph Stalin's rise to power The Declaration of 46 Left Opposition Lenin's Testament Trotskyism in Vietnam Bloc of Soviet Oppositions French Turn Minneapolis general strike of 1934 Great Purge Moscow trials Proletarian Military Policy New York Intellectuals May 68 1968–1969 Japanese university protests 1970s Hong Kong student protests Militant in Liverpool
Parties Current Internationalist Workers' Left (Greece) Lanka Sama Samaja Party Lutte Ouvrière Organisation of Communist Internationalists People Before Profit Socialist Action (Hong Kong) Socialist Alternative (Australia) Socialist Alternative (U.S.) Socialist Equality Party (U.S.) Socialist Party (England and Wales) Socialist Workers Party (UK) The Struggle Pakistan Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Workers' Cause Party Workers' Left Front Workers Revolutionary Party (UK) Historical Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma Communist League of America International Marxist Group International Socialist Organization League for Socialist Action (Canada) Militant tendency Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1944) Socialist Appeal (UK, 1992) Socialist Workers Party (U.S.) Young Socialist Alliance Workers Party of the United States
Internationals Current Committee for a Workers' International (refounded) Fourth International (post-reunification) International Committee of the Fourth International International Communist League International Revolutionary Left International Socialist Alternative International Socialist Tendency International Workers' League Internationalist Communist Union League for the Fourth International Revolutionary Communist International Trotskyist Fraction – Fourth International Historical Committee for a Workers' International (1974–2019) Fourth International Fourth International Posadist Permanent Revolution Revolutionary Workers Ferment
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The International Marxist Tendency (IMT) is an international Trotskyist tendency based on the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky. Ted Grant was its chief theoretician and the person who built the organization since its beginning. Currently, Alan Woods and Lal Khan are its main leaders and theoreticians. It was founded as the Committee for a Marxist International, but has referred to itself as the IMT since 2006.^[1] The tendency is active in over 30 countries worldwide.

Ted Grant was a long time leader of the Militant tendency in the British Labour Party until it split in early 1992 over whether to try to continue working in the Labour Party. The majority formed Militant Labour outside the Labour Party, which subsequently became the Socialist Party. Grant argued that leaving Labour would amount to throwing away many decades of patient work and maintained that Marxists should remain within the party. However, he and his supporters were expelled from the tendency and together with Alan Woods, so they formed Socialist Appeal in Britain.

In 1974, Militant and its co-thinkers from Sweden, Ireland and elsewhere around the world formed the Committee for a Workers International. The faction fight within the Militant tendency that led to the expulsion of Grant and Woods also played itself out within the CWI with supporters of the Grant minority leaving to form the Committee for a Marxist International in other countries than Britain, which later became known as the "International Marxist Tendency". Since its World Congress 2006, the organisation was renamed the "International Marxist Tendency". The Marxist Tendency claims sections in many countries world wide with its biggest sections being Socialist Appeal, The Struggle in Pakistan, Esquerda Marxista in Brazil, and FalceMartello in Italy.

The IMT adhere to orthodox Marxism, emphasising the education of cadres of workers and youth. One can recognize a strong emphasis on the following issues in their theory:

So-called "Socialist" states born after World War II are defined by Grant as "deformed workers' states", ie "proletarian Bonapartist" regimes. Thus he denies a qualitative difference between Stalin's USSR and such countries. In particular, Ted Grant deepened Trotsky's theory on proletarian Bonapartism: he foresaw the likelihood, in the 1945-1991 world situation, of the establishment of new bureaucratised "workers' states" in backward countries, also on the basis of left-wing military coups and peasant guerrilla wars. According to this premise, variants between such regimes have a minor importance and the clashes counterposing their leaderships are just instrumental in supporting the interests of conflicting bureaucracies.

Unlike most Trotskyist groups, the IMT believes that Burma and Syria, though their leaders were not delivering Communist speeches, were also to be included in that same category when they had a planned economy. For all these countries, he supported a classic Trotsky's demand: a workers' "political revolution" aimed at restoring or establishing "workers' democracy" while preserving economic planning, as asked by the workers' wing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

The Tendency developed an original concept of entrism (which was described as being a different concept than the classic entryism and also an opposing vision to Michel Pablo's "deep entrism" or "entrism sui generis"): the revolutionists should have worked "inside, outside and around the mass organisations" for "workers begin to move through their own traditional mass organisations" and therefore "outside the workers' movement, there's nothing". This stance resulted in the Grantist groups on a world scale leaving the Fourth International after 1965, since Grant considered other Fourth Internationalists as having degenerated into sects under the influence of the ideas of the petty bourgeoisie (guerrillaism, left-wing nationalism, studentism, third-worldism, feminism etc.).

IMT supporters are unapologetic about their intellectual evolution and hence are candid and their support for Bolshevism and the legacy of the October revolution.

Just as the Socialist Appeal tendency pursues a policy of working in the British Labour Party which is the traditional mass organization in Britain, IMT groups outside Britain pursue this method in equivalents of the Labour Party (where they exist), some Communist Parties such as those in France and Italy and, in some countries, mass party such as the Pakistan Peoples Party. This work, however, is always combined with independent work outside these parties and with a strong observance of not liquidating the organization inside these parties.

The IMT has spread to parts of Latin America, where it now has groups in Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil and El Salvador. At the end of 2002 it promoted the launching of the solidarity campaign at Hands Off Venezuela, which is now active in 30 countries and has had resolutions passed within the trade union movements in Britain, Canada, Italy and other countries. The IMT activists also play an important role in FRETECO (Front of Factories Under Workers' Control) movement in Brazil^[2], Venezuela^[3] and have been very active in Venezuela, where their section supports the popular revolution and spread the ideas of Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky^[4].

Every year all the sections of IMT take part in a large event that is either a World Congress or a World School of Marxism. The difference is that the congresses are held mainly to discuss the progress of IMT in the world, present reports and plan the future activities, while the World School is aimed mainly to deepen the knowledge of Marxist theory, history of workers' movement and the actual situation of the struggle for world socialism.

In the first days of March 2009 the International Marxist Tendency organized a Marxist School in Mexico, where revolutionaries from all over North, South and Central America gathered in order to discuss the work done in each country, Marxist ideas and perspectives for the movement. Notably present at one of the Meetings was Esteban Volkov, Grandson of Trotsky who described Alan Woods as one of Trotsky's best followers. Also in this event, a new theoretical magazine was launched, called "America Socialista", which is now published in Spanish, but will eventually come out in Portuguese, English and French.^[5]

In late 2009 a dispute developed between the IMT leadership and the leaderships of its sections in Spain and Venezuela. In January 2010, these organisations, together with the group in Colombia and part of the section in Mexico, broke with the IMT and established a new international body, the Corriente Marxista Revolucionaria, the same name as the former IMT section in Venezuela.^[6][7] Minorities in Venezuela and Spain choose to remain with the IMT and set up new sections.^[8][9] The new Venezuelan section launched their newspaper, Lucha de Clases, in April 2010.^[10]

In Defence of Marxism is the website of the International Marxist Tendency, found at http://www.marxist.com. The site is multilingual, with articles chiefly in English or Spanish. The site publishes international current affairs articles written from a Marxist perspective, as well as publishing a large number of historical and theoretical articles.

There is also a quantity of audio and video material on the site. In Defence of Marxism has an online socialist book store at http://wellred.marxist.com. Additionally, Wellred publishes a number of books by Leon Trotsky and other authors.

The site's name, In Defence of Marxism, is derived from the title given to a collection of essays by Leon Trotsky.

Der Funke is the newspaper of IMT supporters in Austria who are members of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). In 2009, an IMT supporter, Lukas Riepler, ran in the Vorarlberg provincial elections as an SPÖ candidate on a socialist platform.^[11] Der Funke is German for "the spark", in reference to Iskra, the Russian socialist paper started by Lenin.

Vonk is the organisation of IMT supporters in the Flemish Community. It was established in 1974.^[12] Vonk publishes a monthly paper carrying the same name, which is the Dutch translation of Iskra ("spark"). Its militants are active in the students' movement and as members of the Socialist Party – Differently (SP.a) and of the General Federation of Belgian Labour (ABVV/FGTB). The student organisation of Vonk is called VMS (Vonk Marxistische Studenten).^[13] A well-known member of Vonk in Belgium is Erik De Bruyn who is the spokesman of SP.a Rood (SP.a Red), the left wing of the SP.a.^[14]

Unité socialiste ("Socialist Unity") is the organisation of IMT supporters in the French Community.

Socialistisk Standpunkt ("Socialist Standpoint") is the Danish section of the IMT. It was a fraction in the Socialist Youth Front (SUF) until most of its members were expelled in 2007.^[15] It now works as part of the Socialist People's Party (SF) and its youth organisation SFU.

La Riposte ("The Fightback") is the newspaper of IMT supporters in France who are members of the French Communist Party (PCF). ^[16] In discussions prior to the 34th congress of the PCF in 2008, La Riposte supported an alternative document titled "Renforcer le PCF, renouer avec le marxisme" which received the support of 5428 or 15% of voters.^[17]

Der Funke ("The Spark") is the newspaper of IMT supporters in Germany who are members of the Left Party.

Marxistiki Foni ("Marxist Voice") is the newspaper of IMT supporters in Greece who are members of Synaspismós.

Fightback is the newspaper of IMT supporters in Ireland who are members of the Irish Labour Party.

FalceMartello ("HammerSickle") is the Italian section of the IMT. It is a recognised faction within the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC). Their long-standing leader is Claudio Bellotti. In the 2008 PRC congress, the faction obtained 7.7% of the delegates and supported the election of Paolo Ferrero, leader of the Refoundation in Movement–Being Communists motion, as party secretary, thus joining for the first time the majority of the party. It moved back to an opposition stand within the party in 2009.

Vonk ("Spark") is the Dutch section of the IMT.

Socjalizm is the Polish section of the IMT.

Brag Kapitala is the Russian section of the IMT.

Crvena Kritika is the Serbian section of the IMT.

IMT Spain is the Spanish section of the IMT.

Avanti ("Forward") is the newspaper of IMT supporters in Sweden who are members of the Left Party. ^[18]

Der Funke, l'Étincelle, and la Scintilla are the newspapers of IMT supporters in Switzerland in German, French, and Italian respectively. ^[19] All three names mean Iskra ("the spark").

Socialist Appeal is the newspaper of the British section of the IMT which is active within the Labour Party. The section is popularly known as the Socialist Appeal group. It was founded in 1992 by Ted Grant and his supporters who opposed the Militant tendency's decision to abandon work in the Labour Party.

El Militante is the newspaper of IMT supporters in Argentina.

El Militante is the newspaper of IMT supporters in Bolivia who are members of the Movement for Socialism (MAS).

Esquerda Marxista do Partido dos Trabalhadores ("Marxist Left of the Workers' Party") is the Brazilian section of the IMT. Its official publication is Luta de Classes ("Class Struggle"). Esquerda Marxista was formerly a section of the Lambertist Fourth International, but split with them over the issue of factory occupations. In 2008, their annual congress voted unanimously in favour of affiliating to the IMT.^[20] In the 2009 internal election of the Workers' Party (PT), the Esquerda Marxista slate received 3407 votes and won a position on the national leadership.^[21]

Fightback is the newspaper of IMT supporters in English Canada who are members of the New Democratic Party. In 2003, supporters of Fightback were elected to the National Executive of the New Democratic Youth. Additionally, the leadership of the British Columbian and Albertan provincial NDP Youth have been held by Fightback supporters. In 2009, Fightback supporters in British Columbia launched a broad campaign to "take back" the BC NDP for the working-class grassroots.^[22][23]

IMT Quebec is the organization of IMT members in Quebec. It is a recognised collective within Québec solidaire. Its official publication is La Riposte ("The Fightback").

Bloque Popular Juvenil ("Popular Youth Bloc") is the Salvadoran section of the IMT. Its official publication is BJP Militante. The BPJ was founded as the youth wing of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). It voted to affiliate to the IMT in 2008.

Militante is the newspaper of IMT supporters in Mexico who are members of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

Fuerza de Izquierda Socialista ("Socialist Left Force") is the Peruvian section of the IMT. Its official publication is El Militante.

The Workers' International League is the US section of the IMT. Its official publication is Socialist Appeal. Unlike IMT supporters in most countries, the WIL does not support any existing political party, but rather calls on the trade unions to break with the Democratic Party and build a "mass party of labor". ^[24]

IMT Venezuela is the Venezuelan section of the IMT. It is a recognised faction within the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Its official publication is Lucha de Clases ("Class Struggle"). It was founded in 2010 after the Revolutionary Marxist Current left the IMT over disputes about how to approach the PSUV and expelled its members who opposed this move, including most involved in the PSUV youth. ^[25]

Militan is the Indonesian section of the IMT.

Mobareze Tabaqati ("Class Struggle") is the journal of IMT supporters in Iran.^[26]

The Struggle is the Pakistan section of the IMT which is active within the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Its leader and best known theoretician is Lal Khan. The Struggle is the largest section of the IMT. As of March 2010^[update] it has 2492 members ^[27]. It has been active in the worker's movement through the Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign (PTUDC)^[28], while also being involved in the student movement^[29]. In 2002 one member of The Struggle, Manzoor Ahmed, ran as a candidate of the Pakistan Peoples Party with a clear socialist program and was elected to the National Assembley. Manzoor lost his seat in the 2008 elections; the IMT claims this was due to electoral fraud.^[30] He subsequently took a job as mediator for labour disputes, which the leadership of The Struggle felt was incompatible with building a left opposition within the PPP and led to his expulsion.

The Communist League of Action is the Moroccan section of the IMT. Its official publication is The Communist.^[31]

The Campaign for a Workers' Alternative is the Nigerian section of the IMT which is active within the Nigerian Labour Party. Its official publication is Workers' Alternative.

Fightback is the newspaper of IMT supporters in Australia who are members of the Australian Labor Party.

Socialist Appeal is the newspaper of IMT supporters in New Zealand who are members of the New Zealand Labour Party.

Sources:^[32],^[33]

• Militant Tendency
• Ted Grant
• Alan Woods
• Lal Khan
• Trotskyism
• Bolivarian Revolution
• Labour Party (UK)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to International Marxist Tendency.

• In Defence of Marxism Official IMT website
• Hands off Venezuela
• Pakistan Trade Union Defense Campaign
• Youth for International Socialism
• Marxy.com Arabic website
• Ted Grant Internet Archive