Leon Trotsky
Culture and Revolution: Trotsky’s Debates on the Transition to Socialism
During the 1920s, when the Russian Revolution was struggling with new problems — international isolation, the introduction of the NEP, and the open political struggles within the party after Lenin’s death. In the public debate about how to reckon with these problems, Trotsky intervened through various writings on the cultural problems of the transition. This article addresses one of these interventions, focusing on Trotsky’s writings in Literature and Revolution (1924)
Ariane Diaz
June 28, 2020Capitalism is a Virus: Value Chains, Class Struggle, and the United Front
The coronavirus has spread around the world through the circuits of capital and value chains, dividing the working class and putting millions of frontline workers at risk. Reorganizing the forces of the proletariat to respond to this threat is the only way forward.
James Dennis Hoff
May 11, 2020The Revolution Is a Moment of Inspired Frenzy in History: Notes from Trotsky
How should revolutionaries organize, and what role does a party play? A party cannot simply "fatten up" until at some point it represents the entire working class. It has to insert itself into the class and be part of its victories and defeats.
Ariane Diaz
March 28, 2020Trotsky as a Guide for Analyzing the World Situation
Trotsky developed a method to analyze “capitalist equilibrium” and the perspectives for socialist revolution. This is a useful tool to help us orient ourselves in today’s convulsive times.
Esteban Mercatante
March 9, 2020The Testament of Leon Trotsky: In Illustration
On this day 80 years ago, while in exile in Coyoacán, Mexico, Trotsky penned his last Testament, well aware that he might soon be killed or will die because of his deteriorating health. This short text was written a few months before his assassination by Ramón Mercader, a Stalinist agent. In it, Trotsky reflects on his life and his hope for future revolutionary generations.
Sou Mi
February 27, 2020Castro, the Cuban Revolution, and the Permanent Revolution
The Cuban Revolution impacted 20th Century politics, and pushed the formation of alternative left policies that were critical of Soviet hegemony as well as updating the debate on Trotsky’s Permanent Revolution.
Facundo Aguirre
February 27, 2020From Fragmentation to Hegemony: Turning Points in Class Struggle Today
With class struggle erupting across the world—from Chile and Bolivia to Iraq and Algeria—how does the working class use this momentum to unite mass movements and build a force capable of toppling existing regimes?
Matías Maiello
December 11, 2019In the Conjuncture: Trotsky, Gramsci and Machiavelli
A review of the new book “Hegemonía Y Lucha De Clases” (Hegemony and Class Struggle) by Argentine Marxist Juan Dal Maso
Warren Montag
December 4, 2019The Transitional Program: A Manifesto for Urgent Struggle
The Transitional Program was drafted in 1938 by Trotsky and includes democratic demands (such as for the struggle for the agrarian revolution and national independence of colonized nations), minimal demands (such as for the eight-hour workday and wage increases), transitional demands (like those for the abolition of trade secrets, workers’ control of industry and nationalization of the banking system, and for workers’ and peasants’ governments), and organizational demands (such as self-defense pickets, the creation of a workers’ militia, and for workers councils or soviets).
Juan Dal Maso
September 28, 2019Trotsky, Latin America, and U.S. Imperialism
Workers in the U.S. and Mexico need to unite against their common enemy. Leon Trotsky explained this in the 1930s, when he proposed that workers in the U.S. and Britain support the expropriation of imperialist oil companies in Mexico.
Pablo Oprinari
September 3, 2019