The kick inside: Revolutionary opposition in the CPGB, 1945–1991 (2012) | .pdf, buy
Written by comrade Lawrence Parker, published by November Publications
A study of the Communist Party of Great Britain’s post-war revolutionary oppositions, from the inner-party rebellion of 1945, the various
pro-Chinese factions of the 1960s, the factional struggles of the 1970s, through to The Leninist group of the 1980s.
This second, expanded edition, includes new chapters and a preface from comrade Mark Fischer (CPGB National Organiser)
Communists and Labour: The National Left-Wing Movement 1925-1929 (2018) | buy
Written by comrade Lawrence Parker, published by Rotten Elements
The National Left-Wing Movement (NLWM), set up by the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in 1925–26 to pull the Labour Party rank and file towards Communist politics, was one in which Marxists worked in a largely open fashion to promote specific programmatic principles.
This publication sheds new light on how the early CPGB approached its work inside the Labour Party and points to a more variegated picture of the CPGB in the mid-to-late 1920s as still capable of producing rational and principled responses to the class struggle — albeit, in the case of the NLWM, partially flawed and unsuccessful ones.
The NLWM had another goal forced upon it of protecting Communists and their sympathisers from a Labour leadership intent on expelling and disaffiliating such elements in a pursuit of respectability. This monograph seeks to qualitatively measure the impact of that disaffiliation process on the CPGB, the NLWM and Labour sympathisers.
Anti-Postone (2021) | buy
Translated by comrade Maciej Zurowski, published by Cosmonaut Press
Written shortly after the spell breaking years of the global “Occupy” protest movement, this text rigorously challenges the antisemitism theory of late Canadian academic Moishe Postone and analyzes its influence, especially as it pertains to the nominal “left” in Germany.
In an introduction by Weekly Worker contributor and author of Revolutionary Strategy (2008) Mike Macnair, this Marxist analysis of the troubling legacy of Postone is discussed in relation to the history of the workers’ movement and recent political trends in Great Britain. As a thoroughly evidenced intervention into the debate around Postone’s theory of antisemitism, structural and otherwise, Michael Sommer’s contribution stands out and reads as a convincing defense of the continued relevance and necessity of working class politics.
Homer And The European Epic (2011) | buy
Written by comrade Chris Gray, published by November Publications
This pamphlet aims to situate Homer’s ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’ in the context of the development of ancient Greek society from Mycenaean times down to the early classical period (around 600 BCE) and in the context of the common European epic and tradition.
It draws on recent anthropological theories concerning the ‘human revolution’ and the origins of culture among hunter-gatherers in a pristine female-led coalition. Special focus is laid on Odysseus as the centre of an early bear cult and (hence) as frequent visitor to the world of the dead, and on Penepole as fully his equal in cunning.
Israelis and Palestinians: Conflict and Resolution (2012) | buy
Written by comrade Moshé Machover, published by Haymarket Books
These essays, written between 1966 and 2010 by lifelong Israeli activist and theorist Moshé Machover, cover diverse aspects of Israeli society and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Elaborating on the ideas of the Socialist Organization in Israel (Matzpen), two interrelated themes appear throughout the collection: the necessity of understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a regional context and the connection between Palestinian liberation and the struggle for socialism throughout the Middle East.
“It is no exaggeration to say that this book is the best possible introduction to the topic for English-speaking readers. Its inestimable virtue is that it affords a historical overview of the whole Zionist enterprise, without which it is impossible to situate the struggle in any meaningful sense, much less reach a conclusion as to how it might successfully be resolved. Machover does both these things, and the result is a volume which Anglophone socialists must read.” — Chris Gray, Weekly Worker
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