Issue 41 of In Defence of Marxism magazine is available to buy now! Alan Woods’ editorial (published here) explores the alienation of human beings under class society, a theme that connects all the articles in this edition. These include a piece on the origins of women’s oppression; the impact and implications of artificial intelligence under capitalism; the reactionary nature of Malthusianism and its modern guises, such as the notion of so-called overpopulation; and a letter, from one of our editors, commenting on the profound insights of James Joyce’s Dubliners. 

US officials are reeling from a major leak of over 100 pages of highly sensitive intelligence, uploaded to the internet by persons unknown [now alleged to be 21-year-old Air National Guardsman, Jack Teixeira – 14/4], and first shared by gamers on Discord. The wide-ranging documents lift the lid on the extent of US involvement in the Ukraine War, the serious difficulties faced by the Ukrainian side, the role of the Israeli secret services in fomenting mass protests against the Netanyahu regime, and much more besides.

This week’s episode welcomes Adam Pal, leading comrade of Lal Salaam, the Pakistani section of the International Marxist Tendency, to discuss the ongoing turmoil in Pakistan. 

On the weekend of 24-26 March, the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) in Spain held its 2023 Congress in Madrid. In the opinion of all those present, it was a magnificent gathering, with an excellent mood and a high level of discussion. We all left conscious of our tasks and more eager than ever to build the organisation.

This week, 25 years ago, the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) was signed in Belfast. Heralding it as nothing less than the beginning of a new epoch for the North of Ireland, the British and Irish government signatories – along with its American architects – were inebriated with their own ‘success’. ‘History’ had been made!

It is no secret that the class struggle in the Baltic states has been stagnant since the restoration of capitalism in 1991. But now, we are beginning to see a change in the situation, with a national, three-day strike by education workers in April. This is a sign of things to come.

South Africa is currently experiencing one of its worst energy crises in its history. Rolling blackouts have become part of daily life because Eskom, the country’s energy supplier, is battling to keep the lights on.

In stormy times, correct orientation is necessary. This is exactly the function that the annual national congress of Der Funke, the German section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), serves for the local groups of the IMT all over Germany. More than 100 comrades took part in the highest body of the German section of the IMT in Berlin from 24 to 26 March. The focus was on two documents that were discussed and adopted: “German Perspectives”, our analysis of the forthcoming convulsions and class struggles in Germany; and “Building the Organisation”, i.e. the concrete tasks arising from the perspectives for our tendency.

In this article, published in issue 39 of In Defence of Marxism magazine last autumn to celebrate the book’s centenary, John McInally looks at James Joyce’s revolutionary novel Ulysses, challenges the view that it is apolitical, and explains why it should be on your reading list.

In yet another sign of the growing instability of US bourgeois politics, criminal charges have been filed against a former president for the first time in American history.

Since the emergence of the Gazte Koordinadora Sozialista (GKS), [click here to read more about the emergence of the communist youth movement, GKS] the official leadership of the Nationalist left (EH Bildu) in the Basque Country has treated them as a nuisance; maintaining an official appearance of ignoring them. Last year, Arkaitz Rodríguez, the general secretary of Sortu (the largest party in the EH Bildu coalition) described the group as

This week’s episode welcomes back Niklas Albin Svensson, a leading member of the International Marxist Tendency, to discuss the ongoing turmoil in the global banking system.

This week, Labour’s ruling body voted to prevent Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour MP. Subsequently, many on the left have raised the idea of a new workers’ party. The key unresolved question, however, is that of revolutionary leadership.

Over the weekend of 17-19 March, over 50 delegates met for the annual Congress of Revolutionære Socialister (RS), the Danish section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT). At the congresses and other democratic structures of the IMT, no time is wasted discussing details or secondary questions. For us, the focus is firmly on political questions. The purpose of all discussions is always to collectively raise the political level.

On Monday 27 March, at around 10pm a humanitarian catastrophe occurred at a migration detention centre, run by the National Migration Institute (INM) in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, which resulted in (at the time of writing) around 40 deaths and more than 20 people being left in critical condition.