In the discussion of his recently published books, North stressed the essential role of Marxist theory in the analysis of world events and the development of socialist strategy.
Top Stories
“What struck me was the emphasis on the urgency to pave a new way forward for the working class because the alternative is catastrophe.”
Perspective
NATO-Ukrainian murder of Russian General Kirillov and the escalating global imperialist war
The killing is the latest in a series of extremely provocative measures taken by the United States and NATO with the intention of escalating the Ukraine war in the weeks before the inauguration of incoming President Donald Trump on January 20.
The horrific damage caused by Cyclone Chido is due to decades of official neglect of infrastructure and the overt, fascistic contempt of the French government for its overseas territory.
The PSOE and its pseudo-left government allies like Sumar and Podemos are promoting Meloni, the political descendent of Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Party in Italy.
Amazon workers must insist that their strike not be limited in advance by the Teamsters to only three days, which severely limits its impact during the height of the holiday shopping season. Instead, the strike must be guided by a strategy worked out and democratically enforced from below by workers, through rank-and-file committees made up of representatives from every Amazon facility.
To diffuse anger, the UAW bureaucracy claims it has cut job cuts by half but workers fear even larger layoffs.
We are publishing the opening report delivered to the Seventh National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (UK) by Chris Marsden, its National Secretary. Marsden was re-elected to his position by the Congress, held November 29-December 2, 2024.
Last week, at the request of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), Humboldt University student parliament passed a resolution condemning the massive cuts being planned at universities. The result of the vote is an expression of growing opposition to the militarisation of German society and the cuts with which it is to be financed.
The pay cuts and job losses announced are a down payment by the Treasury on far worse to come and the trade unions will impose these attacks in alliance with Starmer.
The collapse of the previously agreed-to funding measure portends massive incoming spending cuts under the new Trump administration.
While the gunning down of the UnitedHealthcare CEO has exposed widespread public opposition to the criminal practices of the health insurance corporations and capitalism generally, Jacobin has published an interview with Bernie Sanders aimed at reviving illusions in the Democratic Party and reform of the healthcare system.
“I feel that we are giving up our power and momentum by following this order. I do want to find other ways of defying and sticking it to the one percent, where it actually hurts them and not the Canadian public,” one Ontario postal worker told the WSWS.
The Michigan Educators Rank-and-File Committee insists that there are plenty of resources to pay educators what they need and deserve.
Book Review
Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
Aidan Beatty's new book is not a biography, but rather a political diatribe against Gerry Healy and Trotskyism.
“I’ve been very impressed by the articles you’ve published”
Historian Kerby Miller discusses Aidan Beatty and the writing of Irish history
Miller, the preeminent American historian of Irish history, was recently interviewed by the World Socialist Web Site.
Socialist Equality Party exposes Aidan Beatty’s falsifications in Institute of Historical Research seminar
After Beatty delivered a lengthy diatribe, Barbara Slaughter, David North and Eric London exposed his slanderous allegations against Gerry Healy and the history of the Trotskyist movement.
Slander vs. biography: Aidan Beatty’s falsification of Gerry Healy’s family and childhood in a decade of rebellion and civil war
This essay is devoted to a detailed review of Gerry Healy’s family background and youth, based on research conducted in Ireland, including visits to the relevant archives in Dublin and in Galway where the Healy family lived.
Government-imposed strike ban at Canada Post: The way forward in struggle against austerity and war
The state-led crackdown on workers’ rights underscores the ruling elite’s embrace of authoritarianism to enforce its class war agenda of austerity and war, and that to defend their jobs, workplace benefits, right to strike and public services, workers in Canada and around the world confront a political struggle over which class controls society’s resources and to what end.
The deep rift in the global economy and its significance
As major economies struggle to maintain even positive growth, money is pouring into US financial markets from the rest of the world.
Student general assembly at Berlin’s Humboldt University adopts IYSSE amendment, agrees to fight right-wing shift and pro-war policies
With around 1,500 students–divided between five lecture halls at three locations, which were connected via livestream, the gathering was the largest general assembly at the university in years.
ABC settles defamation lawsuit as media moves to accommodate Trump
The corporate media, dominated by billionaires and giant corporations like Disney, the owner of ABC, is dropping any pretense of a critical, let alone adversarial, relationship to the incoming administration.
Free Bogdan Syrotiuk!
This emergency resolution was passed unanimously by the Seventh National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), held November 29 – December 2, 2024.
“We will redouble our efforts to build a mass campaign for Bogdan’s release”
We are publishing the speech delivered by Tom Scripps introducing the resolution “Free Bogdan Syrotiuk” passed unanimously at the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (UK).
Russian Militant group supports campaign to free Bogdan Syrotiuk
More than six months have passed since Bogdan's arrest. During this time many organizations, parties, intellectuals and scholars have expressed their support for him.
WSWS readers demand freedom for Bogdan Syrotiuk
In the past few weeks, we have received around one hundred letters from 25 different countries from readers defending Bogdan and highlighting the political motives behind his imprisonment.
Free Bogdan Syrotiuk!
Six months after his arrest, Bogdan Syrotiuk, the courageous Ukrainian socialist arrested for opposing the war, remains in prison awaiting a drumhead trial in a legal travesty.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein calls for release of Bogdan Syrotiuk
Stein has made this statement calling for the release of socialist and anti-war activist Bogdan Syrotiuk, who has been imprisoned by the Zelensky regime in Ukraine.
"We must fight for Bogdan's freedom!"
Ukrainian youth speaks out in support of Bogdan Syrotiuk
This statement in support of Bogdan Syrotiuk was submitted to the WSWS by a Ukrainian youth who fled the war and is now working and studying in Germany.
Artists protest Gaza genocide in Toronto and Miami
Outraged protests by artists against the genocide and institutions with connections to the Zionist regime continue.
Leonardo and the human potential: An appreciation of Ken Burns’ series Leonardo da Vinci
The life story of Leonardo (1452–1519), one of history’s most extraordinary intellects and artistic geniuses, always stirs the imagination.
1,100 books purged from public school libraries in Tennessee as districts comply with the reactionary Age-Appropriate Materials Act
It is only one step from banning books to burning them, as the Nazis did.
Alam: A Palestinian youth steps out “of the safe zone of passive fear into the light of freedom”
To dramatize an individual’s political awakening, or perhaps more accurately, in this case, his decision to act despite serious risks, to accept that sacrifices are part of a life of struggle, is a complicated matter.
Class “justice” in America
Biden commutes sentence of judge jailed in Pennsylvania “kids for cash” scandal
The Pennsylvania judges involved in the scandal, both Democrats, pocketed millions for selling children to for-profit prisons.
Justice Department Inspector General report confirms FBI had over 2 dozen informants in militia groups during January 6 attack
Prior to January 6, 2021, well placed informants provided detailed information to their FBI handlers on the violent plans of leading members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys militia groups, which were ignored by the FBI and in follow-up investigations into the failed coup.
In run-up to Trump’s inauguration, University of Michigan ends major component of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs
UM, a leading architect of DEI programs, is accommodating itself to the incoming fascistic Trump administration, which is spearheading an “America First” ideological offensive that falsely links identity politics with Marxism.
Donald Trump’s threat to abolish birthright citizenship
The proposal by Donald Trump to eliminate birthright citizenship by executive fiat on “day one” of his second administration would mean the formal repudiation of the bedrock democratic principle underlying the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments: that citizenship and the panoply of democratic rights attendant to it are available to all persons born in the United States, and that no branch of government can strip them away.
Fed cuts interest rate but Wall Street slides
While in the end there was only one dissenting vote, there are divisions in the Fed’s policy-making body.
The deep rift in the global economy and its significance
As major economies struggle to maintain even positive growth, money is pouring into US financial markets from the rest of the world.
The speculative Bitcoin frenzy
The total size of the crypto market is estimated to be larger than the combined worth of Mastercard, Walmart and JPMorgan Chase.
Trump will launch tariff war to defend dollar supremacy
Countries in the BRICS group must make a commitment not to try to create an alternative to the US currency or face the imposition of 100 percent tariffs.
US, UK hail murder of Russian lieutenant-general in charge of nuclear defense
The bombing is the latest in a series of assassinations of high-ranking Russian military and political figures carried out by Ukrainian forces and marks the highest-ranking Russian military figure to have been assassinated.
Biden administration pledges “massive surge” of weapons to Ukraine
Since the November 5, 2024 presidential election, the Biden administration has enormously expanded the scale of direct US military intervention into the Ukraine war.
Stop Starmer’s escalating war against Russia! Build a socialist anti-war movement!
By agreeing to Ukraine firing Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russian territory, Starmer has made a de facto declaration of war without so much as a debate in parliament.
Dubious “bomb scares” in UK, as de facto war is declared on Russia
This has all the hallmarks of a black propaganda campaign. Police and state forces are being mobilised with the explanation that there is an ongoing terror threat and that Russia is likely pulling the strings.
Australian budget crisis deepens even before Trump escalates economic war against China
The MYEFO predicts that the federal budget will be in deficit for at least a decade, and that cumulative deficits over the next four years will be almost $22 billion larger than forecast in the Labor government’s budget in May.
Mass casualties feared from Vanuatu earthquake
Social media videos showed rescue efforts through the night trying to reach some people yelling under the rubble, including in a three-storey structure that collapsed onto its lower floors.
Australian corporate voices call for “Milei-style” assault on working class
Demands are emerging for a historic, all-out assault on the jobs, social services and living conditions of workers along the lines of that being mounted by Argentine President Milei and planned by US President-elect Trump.
South Korean president impeached, suspended from office
Whether or not Yoon is finally removed from office, the underlying economic and social crisis will continue to fuel political instability and the resort by the ruling class to anti-democratic methods to impose new burdens on working class.
Federal judge orders UAW to stop obstructing ongoing investigation into corruption within Fain administration
On Monday, federal judge David Lawson of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ordered the UAW to produce records and documents the union had been withholding in an effort to block an investigation into ongoing corruption within the UAW bureaucracy presently led by UAW President Shawn Fain.
Government-imposed strike ban at Canada Post: The way forward in struggle against austerity and war
The state-led crackdown on workers’ rights underscores the ruling elite’s embrace of authoritarianism to enforce its class war agenda of austerity and war, and that to defend their jobs, workplace benefits, right to strike and public services, workers in Canada and around the world confront a political struggle over which class controls society’s resources and to what end.
36-year-old worker killed on multi-billion dollar Australian wind farm project
Jess Patience’s death came after numerous complaints were reportedly made to management and the government safety regulator about safety at the site in Rokewood, Victoria.
SEIU calls off George Washington University resident doctors strike at the 11th hour
The resident staff was scheduled for a three-day strike this week, seeking relief from poverty wages, burnout and other workplace hazards.
Florida woman arrested for saying “delay, deny, depose” to Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance representative on phone
Briana Boston, 42, was arrested on charges of “written threat to kill or injure—conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism” and faces up to 15 years in prison.
Canada’s Liberal government implodes
Justin Trudeau’s prime ministership and his Liberal government hang by a thread after his Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, resigned from the cabinet Monday morning in a manner calculated to inflict maximum political damage.
Yet again, horror in an American school: Two dead, six injured in Madison, Wisconsin shooting
The alleged killer's case paints a chilling portrait of a deeply pessimistic and fascistic worldview.
Disney’s wage theft settlement: A drop in the bucket amid corporate exploitation
For workers, this payout represents an infinitesimal fraction of the wealth they generate and will not change unbearable living conditions.
Trump stokes right-wing hysteria over alleged drone sightings
For the past several weeks, panicky reports and conspiracy theories have proliferated of “mystery” drones along the eastern seaboard of the US. They have been spearheaded by far-right political forces and social media influencers and facilitated by wall-to-wall coverage by the corporate media, including the broadcast networks and the cable news channels.
Trump declares intent to privatize US Postal Service
Trump’s plans, published as the Canadian government began moving to ban the Canada Post strike, demonstrates his government is preparing historic attacks on the working class.
Trump taps ex-Green Beret, CIA operative as ambassador to Mexico
The nomination of Johnson makes clear that threats of military operations and a reckless tariff war against Mexico are not just bluster, as US imperialism resorts to the most brutal methods to recolonize Latin America.
Trump promotes “America First” nationalism to head off potential second strike on US East Coast docks
The same president who has promised to deploy the military to deport undocumented immigrants and even their citizen relatives will use similar ruthless methods against the working class, against whom such measures are ultimately aimed.
Turkish government bans metalworkers’ strike as war in Middle East deepens
The metalworkers defending their right to strike and the millions of others demanding a decent minimum wage must be mobilized on the basis of a programme of struggle against war and genocide and in defence of democratic rights.
US-sponsored war of regime change devastates Syria
The pseudo-left groups backed a war in which nearly 500,000 people lost their lives, nearly half of all the conflict-related deaths worldwide over the same period.
Blinken visits Ankara with Israel and Turkey on collision course in Syria
After the regime change in Damascus, while Israel was invading Syria and destroying its defense infrastructure, Blinken visited Turkey and Turkish intelligence chief Kalın went to Damascus to meet with HTS leader al-Jolani.
US, Israel launch mass bombing campaign against Syria after fall of Assad
Israeli statements make clear these bombings aim to shatter Syria’s ability to militarily defend its territory and, thus, to initiate the carve-up of the country by NATO-backed forces.
Australia: Victorian Labor government unveils sweeping crackdown on anti-genocide protests
The measures, including a ban on face masks at protests and restrictions on where they can be held, are an attempt to criminalise public opposition to the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
New York University bans pro-Palestinian faculty and students
The IYSSE in New York and New Jersey demands that New York University’s bans on pro-Palestinian faculty and students be lifted immediately.
MIT student effectively expelled for opposing Gaza genocide
Prahlad Iyengar, a second-year PhD student student at MIT, has been effectively expelled from the Cambridge, Massachusetts based university for the offense of opposing the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Right wing groups in California use bogus claims of antisemitism to launch legal attacks on education and free speech
A series of lawsuits have been launched by pro-Zionist outfits against California teachers and school districts in an attempt to stifle opposition to the genocide in Gaza.
Starmer visits British-NATO troops in Estonia, pushes war agenda
Starmer has made 16 international trips since Labour formed a government in July, with the most common reason being to escalate the imperialist-backed war against Russia.
Romania’s Constitutional Court annuls presidential elections
The decision, intended to block an expected win by Calin Georgescu, a neo-fascist candidate who had expressed skepticism of the war against Russia, shows bourgeois democracy is rotting on its feet.
Macron names new French minority government based on New Popular Front support
The installation of François Bayrou as prime minister with the support of the NFP hands the mantle of official parliamentary opposition to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally.
All parties back war and cuts as German Chancellor Scholz loses confidence vote
The early election does not serve to let voters decide on the big issues of the future, but to bring a government into power that is stable enough to enforce highly unpopular measures—social cuts, mass layoffs, lower wages and longer working hours, the deportation of migrants, more rearmament and a further escalation of war.
Official death toll in Gaza genocide tops 45,000
Over 45,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its war of extermination in October 2023, Gaza's Health Ministry said Monday.
UNRWA suspends humanitarian aid to Gaza after Israel allows armed gangs to rob convoys
Not only do the Israel Defense Forces refuse to intervene against these armed criminals, but they also open fire on local police attempting to stop the looting.
US threatens to investigate Spain’s partial port denials of ships carrying arms for Gaza genocide
By letting US defense contractors send weapons to Israel through Spanish ports, the PSOE-Sumar government is making itself complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Amnesty International documents genocidal intent of Israeli leaders
In its exhaustive 296-page report, Amnesty International demonstrated that this mass killing was motivated by genocidal intent, which permeated from the top of the Israeli government to the soldiers doing the killing.
House select committee gives bipartisan approval to the Wuhan “Lab leak” lies about the origins of COVID-19
The report of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic embraces the baseless campaign fomented by the fascist right blaming a Chinese lab for starting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden administration places profits over lives, fueling the spread of H5N1 bird flu
The Biden administration’s response to the spread of the bird flu among dairy cattle across the US over the past year amounts to nothing short of criminal negligence.
House select committee gives bipartisan approval to the Wuhan “Lab leak” lies about the origins of COVID-19
The report of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic embraces the baseless campaign fomented by the fascist right blaming a Chinese lab for starting the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Zealand COVID-19 inquiry endorses abandonment of elimination strategy
The Royal Commission of Inquiry presents the Labour government’s abandonment of New Zealand’s COVID-19 elimination strategy, which has led to thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of hospitalisations, as inevitable.
Trotsky's assassination was the greatest political crime of the 20th century. Alongside Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky was the leader of the 1917 October revolution in Russia, which led to the establishment of the first workers’ state in history, and the preeminent strategist of world socialist revolution.
US high official visits Sri Lanka to enhance strategic ties
The JVP, a petty bourgeois organisation based on a mixture of Maoism, Castroism and Sinhala populism, jettisoned its pro-Chinese and anti-US rhetoric long ago.
Arrested School Development Officers in Sri Lanka given bail and ordered to return to court next year
The police attack on protesting SDOs is yet another indication that the JVP/NPP regime will ruthlessly suppress all those coming into conflict with its savage International Monetary Fund (IMF)-dictated austerity program.
Sri Lankan parliament unanimously approves IMF austerity measures
The next budget will mean further increases in taxes, utility rates and fuel prices, as well as slashing vital public services and a fire-sale of state-owned enterprises, destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Sri Lankan SEP/IYSSE holds successful meeting on the US and Sri Lankan elections
Jerry White, vice presidential candidate of the SEP in the US, addressed the Colombo meeting through the internet, arousing an enthusiastic discussion about the significance of the US election.
Argentine President Milei’s first year in office: Self-delusion and a frontal assault on the working class
The delusional trust and praise by the ruling class in the fascist “loco” Milei and the social devastation wrought by his first year in office make clear that capitalism has reached a fatal dead end and offers nothing but disaster.
Argentine trade union bureaucracy deepens partnership with fascist President Javier Milei
US imperialism has not only encouraged a partnership between the CGT union apparatus and Milei, but sees it as a model for the incoming Trump administration.
Peru’s corporate chiefs rattled by deepening crisis
Peruvian media coverage of the CADE 2024 conference touted as a model President Javier Milei’s fascistic economic program in Argentina, which has left half of the population in poverty.
Argentina’s fascist President Milei hailed as a “beacon” at Buenos Aires CPAC conference
Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican Party, hailed Milei’s measures in Argentina, proclaiming, “We are going to do the same thing in the United States.”
This lecture was given by World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board Chairman David North at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, March 12.
Namibia elections see declining support for ruling SWAPO
SWAPO’s decline and that of other anti-colonial national movements have exposed the organic incapacity of Africa’s bourgeois nationalists to realise the aspirations of the African masses for freedom from foreign domination, democracy and social justice.
Chad ends longstanding military cooperation with France
Chad, a former African colony of France, has for decades been central to its military operations in Africa, but it is developing closer ties to Russia amid the NATO war with Russia in Ukraine.
Mozambique bans demonstrations after weeks of protests following general elections
Protests against the ruling FRELIMO party continue as opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who is linked to Trump and Portuguese fascist circles, appeals for support from imperialism.
South Africa’s ANC government employs police blockade to trap illegal gold miners underground
The police’s murderous tactics, dubbed “surrender or starve”, have caused outrage in South Africa where unemployment has soared to 42 percent and economic desperation is widespread in the world’s most unequal society.
This week in history: December 16-21
This column profiles important historical events which took place during this week, 25 years ago, 50 years ago, 75 years ago and 100 years ago
Book Review: The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
Contemporary lessons from the slave power’s plot to overturn the 1860 election
Erik Larson’s new book The Demon of Unrest, published this year by Penguin Random House, contains critical lessons for the fight against Trump and the threat of dictatorship today.
Reflections on the death of Lt. Willam Calley Jr.: Imperialist atrocities, from My Lai to Gaza
Calley spent only three days in prison for his role in directing the mass murder of 504 Vietnamese men, women and children. He is now reported to have died April 28 at the age of 80.
80 years since the liberation of Lublin-Majdanek concentration camp: From Hitler’s war in the East to the Holocaust
The history of the Majdanek camp reveals the links between Nazi Germany’s war of aggression against the Soviet Union and the Holocaust, and the extermination of the Jewish population, which primarily affected Poland and Eastern Europe.
COP29, climate change and the normalization of mass death
The latest climate summit embraced the same policy that has been adopted since such climate talks began in 1995: the subordination of Earth’s environment and the lives of those impacted to the corporate and economic demands of the United States and the other major capitalist powers.
COP29 ends with empty deal, as 2024 set to be warmest year on human record
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, “The average temperature anomaly for the rest of 2024 would have to drop to almost zero for 2024 to not be the warmest year.”
Current emission reduction pledges by governments internationally will result in disastrous global warming
A new United Nations report shows that the world is headed towards up to 3.1℃ of warming by the end of the century, with devastating consequences for billions of people worldwide.
New study warns of the dangers in “overshooting” climate targets
This research reinforces the scientific consensus that the only viable strategy to limit catastrophic climate change requires drastic and immediate emissions cuts.
The weaponization of student absenteeism: Lies to justify school privatization under Trump
The incoming administration intends to use the crisis of "chronic absenteeism," a product of the intense social crisis in the US, to justify vast new attacks on public education.
Student parliament at Berlin’s Humboldt University approves IYSSE motion opposing state attacks on freedom of expression and academic freedom
On November 11 the student parliament (StuPa) at the Berlin Humboldt University approved a resolution introduced by the International Youth & Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) entitled "Condemn the attack on academic freedom by the Federal Ministry of Education."
Western Sydney University IYSSE Annual General Meeting elaborates socialist perspective against war and genocide
The meeting at the working-class university outlined a socialist perspective, based on the mobilisation of the working class against the Gaza genocide and imperialist war.
Australian IYSSE clubs hold anti-war Annual General Meetings in Melbourne and Newcastle
The meetings included lively political discussion on the IYSSE’s perspective of building a global anti-war movement in the working class against Israel’s assault against the people of Palestine and Lebanon, and broader eruption of imperialist war.
Fifty years after Chile’s horrific September 11 coup, its political relevance is becoming ever more urgent as the specter of dictatorship once again haunts the political life of Latin America.
Premiere in Berlin of a new documentary–Julian Assange and the Dark Secrets of War
The most telling episodes of the film include the testimony of Ethan McCord who relates that witnessing the savagery of the American military on that day in Iraq had changed his life forever.
Julian Assange delivers first speech since release from UK prison: “I pleaded guilty to journalism”
Assange told the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe: “I am not free today because the system worked, I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism.”
Australian spooks and their media mouthpieces bemoan Assange’s freedom
The complaints have a pathetic character to them, but also underscore the fact that the assault on democratic rights associated with the persecution of Assange persists and deepens.
The Australian Labor Party’s record in the Assange case
The Australian government's involvement in the plea deal arrangements was the result of mass popular pressure. It followed years of Labor actively assisting the persecution of Assange.
Mehring Books, the publishing arm of the Socialist Equality Party (US), is proud to announce the publication of Volume 1 of COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic, a compilation of the World Socialist Web Site's coverage of this global crisis.
Seminal documents of the Soviet Trotskyist movement from the early 1930s published for the first time
Published for the first time 90 years after they were written, the documents are an irrefutable vindication of the century-long struggle by the Trotskyist movement against Stalinism and for historical truth.
Analyzing a World in Chaos from an Island of Tranquility
This speech was given by David North at the second international commemoration of the work of Leon Trotsky on Büyükada (Prinkipo), Turkey, during the first period of his exile from the Soviet Union between 1929 and 1933.
A reply to an anarchist’s falsification of the Leon Trotsky commemoration on Prinkipo
The event was covered by many national and local media outlets and widely discussed on social media before and after the event in Turkey. However, a former Maoist and current anarchist published an article on his website denouncing and misrepresenting David North’s remarks.
On the anniversary of the assassination of Leon Trotsky
Eighty-four years ago today, on August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky was assassinated by an agent of the Stalinist secret police, the GPU, in his villa in Coyoacan, Mexico, where he spent the final three years of his life as a political exile.
Opening report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)
We are publishing here the opening report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US), given by David North, the national chairman of the SEP. The congress was held from August 4 to August 9, 2024.
Report to the SEP (US) Eighth National Congress
16 years since the Founding Congress of the Socialist Equality Party
We are publishing here the report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) given by Joseph Kishore, the national secretary of the SEP.
H5N1 Bird flu, climate change, and the social rights of the working class
The threat of pandemics and the deepening climate crisis raise existential concerns for all life and well-being on the planet, with capitalism bringing the world to the brink of annihilation.
Report to the SEP (US) Eighth National Congress
The barbarism of “forever COVID” and the fight for socialist public health
We are publishing here the report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) given by Evan Blake. The congress was held from August 4 to August 9, 2024.
Warning strikes at nine VW plants in Germany
The head of Volkswagen’s works council Daniela Cavallo has made it clear that the IG Metall union and the works council do not want to fight but “let off steam”.
Thai autoworkers face mass layoffs
As the largest producer of vehicles in South East Asia, tens if not hundreds of thousands of jobs in Thailand are potentially on the chopping block.
Defeat Unite’s collusion with Stellantis and Labour government! Organise rank-and-file action to defend jobs!
United and effective action by Stellantis workers worldwide can only be achieved by the rank-and-file in direct opposition to the economic nationalism and corporatism of the trade union bureaucracy.
UAW president in damage control as rank-and-file anger mounts over Stellantis layoffs
According to the Detroit News, the automaker has laid off nearly 4,000 workers in Detroit and Toledo metro areas since September alone.
January 21 marked 100 years since the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. This page includes a collection of essays reviewing the life and ideas of the great Marxist theoretician, founder of the Bolshevik Party, and co-leader of the Russian Revolution.
Socialist Equality Party (UK) holds its Seventh National Congress
The congress unanimously passed two resolutions, “War, the class struggle and the tasks of the Socialist Equality Party” and “Free Bogdan Syrotiuk!”, after extensive and engaged discussion. All delegates spoke with the evident benefit of the last two years of intense political activity and theoretical education.
War, the class struggle and the tasks of the Socialist Equality Party
This resolution was passed unanimously at the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), held November 29--December 2.
SEP meeting in Australia calls for building worker rank-and-file committees to fight CFMEU administration
This report includes videos of speeches delivered by SEP members, explaining the administration and outlining a perspective to fight it.
SEP in Sri Lanka commemorates second anniversary of death of Trotskyist leader Wije Dias
Wije Dias belonged to the group of young people who took up the initiative in 1968 to form the Trotskyist party in Sri Lanka and he played a leading role in the movement for 54 years until his death.
May Day 2024: The working class and the struggle against imperialist war
This is the text of the introductory speech delivered by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The political significance of the 2024 May Day Online Rally
This is the text of the speech delivered by Johannes Stern, editor of the German-language edition of the WSWS, as a summation to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The struggle against imperialist war among students and youth
This is the text of the speech delivered by Dilaxshan Mahalingam, an IYSSE member in Sri Lanka, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The fight against imperialist war in New Zealand and the Pacific
This is the text of the speech delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
Helen Halyard (1950-2023), a tribute to a life dedicated to the victory of world socialism
We are publishing here the tribute given by David North to Helen Halyard, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International for more than half a century, who died suddenly at the age of 73 on November 28. North’s remarks opened a memorial meeting for Helen held Sunday, December 3.
Remarks by David North at the conclusion of the international memorial meeting for Helen Halyard
We are publishing here the summation given by David North to the memorial meeting for Comrade Helen Halyard held on December 3.
“Building the world party was Helen’s goal in life, to which she made an indelible contribution”
We are publishing here the tribute to Helen Halyard written by Patrick Martin, a member of the US editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site and a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 52 years, and Esther Galen, a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 53 years.
Tribute to Helen: Beverly Lozano, a supporter from California
A tribute to Helen Halyard written by Beverly Lozano, a supporter of the WSWS.
Report to Sri Lanka meetings
Imperialism, the genocide in Gaza, and the world struggle for socialism
Socialist Equality Party (US) National Secretary Joseph Kishore delivered the following report to a meeting titled “Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the 21st Century” in Colombo on December 10.
University of Michigan IYSSE protests attack by pro-government thugs on Sri Lankan SEP members
We are publishing here a letter being sent by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at the University of Michigan condemning the violent attack on two members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka by pro-government thugs.
Magistrate court hearing on violent assault on Sri Lankan SEP members
While police have visited the crime scene and recorded witness statements they requested more time to obtain hospital medical reports.
Academics denounce pro-government thug attack on Sri Lankan SEP members
The SEP is calling on all those who are concerned to defend democratic rights of freedom of expression to register their opposition by sending protest letters to the relevant authorities.
The essays in this book, though written over the span of more than 40 years, are connected by a central argument: Leon Trotsky was the most significant figure in the history of socialism during the first four decades of the twentieth century, and his legacy remains the critical and indispensable theoretical and political foundation of the ongoing contemporary struggle for the victory of world socialism.
Order your print or epub version of the book from Mehring Books today.
Wisconsin documents reveal details of strategy behind Donald Trump’s 2020 fake elector scheme
A trove of court documents released on Monday show Wisconsin attorney Kenneth Chesebro and former judge Jim Troupis were instrumental in formulating the strategy of Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 elections through court cases that generated “a cloud of confusion” combined with the appointment of “alternative” electors in seven key states.
Appellate court rejects Trump’s claim that he cannot be prosecuted for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled against Donald Trump's assertion of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election.
Third Trump coup lawyer pleads guilty and agrees to testify in Georgia election case
Jenna Ellis is the third lawyer and fourth defendant to plead guilty in relation to the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Trump coup plot accomplice Chesebro pleads guilty in Georgia fake elector case
Kenneth Chesebro, attorney and close associate of Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Friday to one felony charge in exchange for his agreement to testify against the former-president and 16 other defendants in the fake elector scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
The Inquest is necessary to break through the cover-up, lies and misinformation that have been used to justify policies responsible for the avoidable deaths of millions.
1985-86: The victory of Trotskyism within the ICFI
The following lecture was delivered by Chris Marsden, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), and Ulaş Ateşçi, a leading member of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu (Socialist Equality Group) in Turkey, to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The Workers League’s defence of the Theory of Permanent Revolution against the opportunism of the Workers Revolutionary Party
The following lecture was delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group of New Zealand, and Thomas Scripps, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
1982: Marxism, the revolutionary party, and the critique of Healy’s Studies in Dialectics
The following lecture was delivered by Christoph Vandreier, the national secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) of Germany to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The role of Security and the Fourth International in the fight for the continuity of the International Committee of the Fourth International
The following lecture was delivered by Eric London, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (US), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
Vadim Z. Rogovin (10 May 1937 – 18 September 1998) was a Soviet Marxist sociologist and historian. Working in close collaboration with the International Committee of the Fourth International, Rogovin helped lay the foundations for the Trotskyist movement’s fight against the post-Soviet school of historical falsification, including in his six-volume Was There an Alternative? This page collects major essays and commemorations on Rogovin as well as links to his own writings.
Former Montgomery, Alabama teacher testifies about the forced reopening of schools in 2020-21
In this interview, Tynisa Williams, former teacher in Montgomery, Alabama, describes the experience of being forced to teach in-person in the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. She and her coworkers waged a courageous struggle to stop the deadly return to in-person learning that cost the lives of eight educators in the district.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 1
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found sharp expression in their universal demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 2
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found its sharpest expression in their demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Immunocompromised mother in Manhattan speaks to Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Melanie, whose children attend public schools in New York City, spoke to the WSWS about the toll the “let it rip” policy toward the pandemic has taken on her and her family.
The definitive left-wing critique of the 1619 Project. This volume includes interviews with eminent historians and essays from the World Socialist Web Site exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of history.
The Wuhan “lab leak” fraud: A political witch-hunt against science and public health
The hearings before the House subcommittee have been a bipartisan effort to foment anti-Chinese hysteria.
Democrats join with Republican fascists to witch-hunt scientist Peter Daszak
During Wednesday’s House Subcommittee on COVID-19 with Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, Democrats joined ranks with fascistic Republican colleagues to promote the Wuhan lab-leak lies.
The Wuhan lab lie: “Weapons of mass destruction” redux
In an uncanny instance of history repeating itself, the lies used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on false claims about “weapons of mass destruction” are being used to promote the United States’ unprecedented military buildup around China.
A discredited conspiracy theory about the origins of COVID-19
The Wuhan Lab Leak slander being resurrected to bolster US war drive against China
The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the Department of Energy has shifted its opinion on the origin of the coronavirus to it being most likely a result of a lab leak. However, unnamed sources who have read the report indicate the evidence is of low confidence.
Nikole Hannah-Jones’ Center for Democracy and Journalism: Racialist politics in the service of US imperialism
After one year, the Center’s main accomplishment has been to deepen the mutual embrace between sections of the upper middle class and the military-intelligence apparatus.
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ promotion of the racialist ideology of Ukrainian nationalism
The racialist historical revisionism of the Times and the racialist ideology of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis share a common premise: the mythological reimagining of history as a struggle of “the nation” and “the race.”
Oppose political censorship of antiwar views at Howard University!
We call on all students, faculty and staff members at Howard University to oppose this censorship and demand that the IYSSE be allowed to hold its planned meeting on campus.
Marcus Garvey and the reactionary logic of racialist politics
More than one hundred years after the formation of his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Marcus Garvey's legacy remains highly relevant in the struggle to overcome efforts to divide the working class along racial lines.
Comrade Wije Dias, the longtime general secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), died in Colombo on July 27, 2022. This exhibit includes two tributes to Wije by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North as well as a selection of Wije’s most significant articles and speeches.
The arrest of journalist Richard Medhurst and the fight to defend democratic rights
Medhurst said of his detention at the UK’s Heathrow Airport, “I believe I'm the first journalist to be arrested under this provision of the Terrorism Act.”
Instagram shutters account of Palestinian publisher Quds News Network
Instagram shut the account without explanation. Quds is one of the most popular Palestinian networks and has featured on-the-spot exposures of the war crimes in Gaza.
WSWS readers demand Facebook reverse ban on SEG in New Zealand
Readers have expressed outrage at the social media company’s anti-democratic censorship of the Trotskyist Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand.
Facebook blocks Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand from advertising
We call on readers to oppose Facebook’s blatant political censorship of the Trotskyist movement in New Zealand.
October 16 marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Tom Henehan, a member of the Political Committee of the Workers League—the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party in the US. We are republishing here a tribute delivered by David North at a meeting in 1997.
Over 80,000 sign petition against NYU Langone’s termination of a pro-Palestinian resident physician
Over 80,000 people have signed a petition opposing the anti-democratic termination of Dr. Zaki Masoud by NYU Langone.
Report exposes fraudulent antisemitism accusations at UK universities
The report concludes that critics of the Israeli state, advocates for Palestinian rights and those teaching the history and politics of the region have been “subjected to false allegations of antisemitism.”
An interview with Harvard anthropology Professor John Comaroff—Part one
We spoke recently to South African-born John Comaroff, the Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African-American studies and of Anthropology, and Oppenheimer Research Fellow in African Studies, Harvard University.
Harvard UAW, pseudo-left groups organize provocation against professor John Comaroff
The right-wing witch-hunt of John Comaroff at Harvard University continued Tuesday with a stage-managed protest during his first class of the semester.
Israel murders 274 Gazans in a further escalation of the genocidal war
For a demonstration on July 24 in Washington D.C. to protest congressional invitation for Netanyahu
The World Socialist Web Site calls on workers and youth to respond to Congress’ invitation to the war criminal Netanyahu with a demonstration in Washington D.C.
Leaders of London rally issue dead-end call for Sunak and Starmer to reverse support for Israel’s genocide
The determined opposition of workers and young people is being corralled into a dead-end, with calls that the only way to stop Israel is to put pressure on the Tories and, above all, the Labour Party of genocide apologist in chief, Sir Keir Starmer.
TikTok bans video demanding Bogdan Syrotiuk’s freedom, branding it “hate speech”
The TikTok ban comes just days after the Zelensky regime issued an order banning access to the World Socialist Web Site across Ukraine. The order was issued by the Ukrainian State Special Communications Service, a wing of the country’s military-intelligence apparatus.
Australian government, opposition launch hysterical attacks on the Greens over Gaza genocide
The Greens are serving as something of a placeholder, with the real target the mass opposition to the genocide among workers and young people.
This interactive timeline presents some of the most important events that have brought humanity to the brink of World War III. It includes links to critical articles and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International over the past 30 years.
Orbital: Samantha Harvey’s award-winning novel about problems of climate and social change
The Booker Prize winner has struck a popular chord in a world poised between the immense potential of scientific advances and the threat of military and ecological catastrophe.
Aidan Beatty’s hackwork: The Israel-Zionist connection
The academic career of prominent DSA member Aidan Beatty, the author of a slanderous trash biography of long-time Trotskyist leader Gerry Healy, has been funded by Zionist institutions and Israeli-state sources.
A comment on David North’s review: Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
The following letter was sent by Steve Long, a former member of the Socialist Labour League/Workers Revolutionary Party who writes for the World Socialist Web Site as Stefan Steinberg.
Book Review
Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
Aidan Beatty's new book is not a biography, but rather a political diatribe against Gerry Healy and Trotskyism.
The WSWS is publishing the report delivered by David North 25 years ago, on February 1, 1997, motivating the proposal to end publication of the SEP’s printed newspaper and replace it with an international website; as well as North’s reply to the National Committee ‘s discussion of the proposal.
NATO-Ukrainian murder of Russian General Kirillov and the escalating global imperialist war
The killing is the latest in a series of extremely provocative measures taken by the United States and NATO with the intention of escalating the Ukraine war in the weeks before the inauguration of incoming President Donald Trump on January 20.
Government-imposed strike ban at Canada Post: The way forward in struggle against austerity and war
The state-led crackdown on workers’ rights underscores the ruling elite’s embrace of authoritarianism to enforce its class war agenda of austerity and war, and that to defend their jobs, workplace benefits, right to strike and public services, workers in Canada and around the world confront a political struggle over which class controls society’s resources and to what end.
ABC settles defamation lawsuit as media moves to accommodate Trump
The corporate media, dominated by billionaires and giant corporations like Disney, the owner of ABC, is dropping any pretense of a critical, let alone adversarial, relationship to the incoming administration.
Elon Musk’s wealth approaches half a trillion dollars: Capitalism and oligarchy
The wealth of Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, SpaceX and social media platform X (Twitter), has reached a staggering $442 billion, according to the latest estimate from Forbes magazine.
Review the most critical essays, lectures and letters produced by the ICFI in the course of its intervention in response to the crisis of Stalinism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
14 years after New Zealand’s Pike River mine disaster, no justice for victims’ families
For 14 years, successive governments, state agencies, the judicial system and the union bureaucracy have worked to prevent anyone being brought to justice for the avoidable deaths of 29 workers in Pike River Coal’s underground mine.
New Zealand: Court action continues over Pike River mine disaster
Families of some of the 29 workers killed in the 2010 coal mine disaster are continuing their fight for answers about why authorities dropped charges against Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall over the extremely dangerous conditions in the mine.
Police locate more bodies in New Zealand’s Pike River mine
The police investigation into the 2010 disaster that killed 29 mineworkers has been dragged out until at least the end of 2023, with no guarantee that anyone will be charged over the avoidable deaths.
New Zealand police extend investigation into Pike River mine disaster until the end of 2023
Police are delaying their decision on whether to lay charges over the 2010 Pike River mine disaster that killed 29 people, until after the October election.