Joint meeting with the Free Communist in the Sheffield Anarchist Bookfair.

This year is the one hundredth anniversary of the first great imperialist slaughter of 1914. The fiftieth anniversary was greeted in 1964 with a wave of anti-war cultural and historical events and comment. In the wake of the rising militarism at home (how many military charities have mushroomed in the last decade), and the changing nature of war (we don’t need to directly suffer over a war in Afghanistan or Iraq whereas every family was touched by the slaughter of the First World War) that this will be repeated. The current crisis in the wake of the nationalist orgy of last year’s Olympics mean that celebration rather than reflection are what the ruling class are what the ruling class want. In the face of all that would it not make sense to revive the idea of revolutionary defeatism, of “no war but the class war” amongst the revolutionary groups of today? Who knows we might even collectively make a small contribution to fighting the wave of nationalism which the ruling class are already swamping us with?

Toronto, Friday June 20th 2014, 7pm, 55 Gould Street, Thomas Lounge.

The global economic crisis, a marxist perspective

Austerity is everywhere. The capitalist recovery is a myth. But this crisis is not a product of debt. Debt is a product of this crisis. It is global and it will not spare the workers of Québec and Ontario.

The speaker, Jock from the Communist Workers Organization (UK), will be presented by Richard St-Pierre of the Internationalist Workers Group (Canada/USA)

For a more up-to-date list, see our Catalogue.

The Platform of the ICT - In English, French, Italian, Farsi and Spanish versions. £1

For Communism - An Introduction to the Politics of the ICT. £3

Class Consciousness and Revolutionary Organisation - The issue of “consciousness” is one of the most important for the working class and for revolutionaries. Our approach is unashamedly historical and attempts to draw out the real experience of the working class in its struggles of the last two centuries. £4

1917: Party, Class and Soviets in the October Revolution - The Russian Revolution of October 1917 was unique. It was the only time in history when workers themselves took over the running of the state in a conscious attempt to build socialism. The fact that it eventually failed does not diminish its power to inspire. out of print

1921: Beginning of the Counter-Revolution? - Kronstadt, adoption of the NEP, banning of factions, the failure of the March Action in Germany and the adoption of the united front policy, made 1921 a highly significant year in the degeneration of both the Russian and international revolution. £3

Sylvia Pankhurst's Revolutionary Years - Pankhurst’s time in the East End (1912-24) spanned some of the most traumatic years of capitalism’s existence. 50p

Trotsky, Trotskyism, Trotskyists - How Trotsky, who made such an enormous contribution to revolutionary practice, ended up giving his name to a movement which returned to the counter-revolutionary errors of Social Democracy. £3

Stalin and Stalinism - The lie that the former USSR was “really existing socialism” remains a potent weapon against the working class. This pamphlet not only examines the origins of the regime that emerged from the defeat of the October Revolution but also explains the motivations of Stalinism. £1

Holocaust and Hiroshima - Examines how the nature of imperialist warfare comes to inflict mass murder on the world through an examination of these seminal events. 50p

Capitalism and the Environment - Translated from Prometeo these articles were written some time ago but show that our late comrade was ahead of his time in analysing the unsustainability of capitalist production. £1

Spain 1934-39: From Working Class Struggle to Imperialist War - Reprint of key CWO articles long out of print and translations of contemporary documents from the Italian Left in exile. New introduction. £3

Platform of the Committee of Intesa 1925 - (new edition) The start of the Italian Left’s fight against Stalinism as Fascism increased its grip. £3

South Africa’s New Turmoil - An analysis of class relations in the period after the fall of apartheid thrown into relief by the strike wave which followed the Marikana massacres. £2

For anyone who has bought our pamphlet of this title we apologise for the fact that on p. 36 part of the text has been obscured by the photo of Lenin. The missing lines should read

... "topple the Provisional Government. However the rest of the class was not yet ready. The consequences of the failure of the June Offensive had not yet sunk in to a wider layer of the class. This the Bolsheviks, present in the factories, understood so the sailors action left them in a terrible dilemma. Here demonstrating below the balcony of the Kseshinskaia Palace, where the Bolsheviks had their headquarters, were thousands of armed sailors demanding that the Bolsheviks put themselves at the head of the demonstration (which, after all, only repeated the Bolshevik."

CWO (North East) monthly meeting, DURHAM. Anyone interested welcome to join the discussion. Please note new date

Wednesday 7 March - 7.00 pm - People's Bookshop

The Attic - Saddlers Yard - 70 Saddlers St - Durham - DH1 3NP

Up alleyway. Ring number below if you arrive late and gate is locked. We're still in there! Tel. 0191 384 4399

The Communist Workers’ Organisation (North East Section) holds regular meetings in Durham open to all who are interested in defending the independence of working class action These are usually on the first Wednesday of every month at 7.00 p.m. in the

People’s Bookshop - The Attic - Saddlers Yard

70 Saddler St - Durham - DH1 3NP

All Welcome!

The next meeting will (exceptionally) be on Wednesday November 16. Topic: "Occupy the World" Anti-Capitalism and the Working Class.

For more details email: uk@leftcom.org

Spain 1934-39 - From Working Class Struggle to Imperialist War

With a new preamble it contains many articles that have long been out of print on the Asturias Soviet of 1934, on Anarchism, Trotskyism and the Communist Left as well as the Barcelona May Days plus reprints from Octobre the organ of the International Communist Left during the war in Spain.

40 pages A4 £3.00/€4/$4 plus £1/€2/$2 postage from the group address

After the Cuts and Riots - What Next for the Working Class?

CWO (North East Section) Durham Open Meeting

19:00-21:00 - Wednesday 7 September 2011

People’s Bookshop - The Attic - Saddlers Yard - 70 Saddler St - Durham DH1 3NP

All Welcome. For more details email: uk@leftcom.org

The Midlands Discussion Forum is holding an open meeting to debate:

The Current Economic Crisis. What has caused it and what is the solution?

Delegates from the Internationalist Communist Tendency and the International Communist Current will give presentations on the subject, with ample time for discussion afterwards.

Date: Saturday, 5 February, starting at 1.30pm.

Venue: The Directors Room, Bennetts Bar, Bennetts Hill, Birmingham city centre.

This month we have produced 4 new pamphlets. Apart from Class Consciousness and Revolutionary Organisation [see separate advertisement] we have also produced the following (all prices include postage)

• Stalin and Stalinism £1 - The lie that the former USSR was “really existing socialism” remains a potent weapon in the capitalist arsenal against the working class. This pamphlet not only examines the origins of the regime that emerged from the defeat of the October Revolution but also explains the motivations of Stalinism.
• Holocaust and Hiroshima 50p - Examines how the nature of imperialist warfare comes to inflict mass murder on the world through an examination of these seminal events.
• Capitalism and the Environment (by Mauro Stefanini) £1 - Just translated from Prometeo these articles were written some time ago but show that our late comrade was ahead of his time in analysing the unsustainability of capitalist production.

We're publishing three texts, from Revolutionary Perspectives 54, which has just been published. The issue also includes articles on

• The growing global resistance to austerity and exploitation around the world
• The impending austerity programme of the new UK Government
• The crisis in the Eurozone
• The Russian Communist Left 1918-28
• The role of German Imperialism in the Armenian Massacres of 1915
• A review of Michael Moore's "Capitalism - A Love Affair"

To obtain the full issue whilst it is still current why not take out a subscription (see side panel)?

Left Communist literature will be on sale in Birmingham city centre on Saturday, 4 July, 11.30-12.30pm, outside the Pavillions shopping centre. Make contact there with the street-sellers if you wish to buy copies of Internationalist Perspective, Revolutionary Perspectives and World Revolution. Afterwards, you may wish to go on to the next meeting of the Midlands Discussion Forum in Bennetts Bar, Bennetts Hill (1.30-5.00pm) to discuss the ramifications of the current economic crisis.

RP 50 is now out. To receive a copy send £3 to our group address (BM CWO, London WC1N 3XX) . Or to receive whilst each is current why not subscribe (£15 UK, £22 elsewhere). It contains the following articles:

• Capitalism is a State-sponsored Ponzi Scheme
• The Working Class are Paying for the Crisis
• MP’s Expenses Scandal: The System is Bankrupt in Every Sense
• No2EU? Yes to British Capitalist Exploitation!
• The Bankruptcy of General Motors = The Bankruptcy of Capitalism
• Fiat
• Fiat-Chrysler Agreement - Workers Pay the Price
• The Anti-Union Protest in Turin
• Corporate Terrorism at Pomigliano
• The Great Game in Central Asia: US Imperialism Increases its Stakes
• Obama Speech - New Words, Old Policies
• Midlands Discussion Forum Meeting
• The Commune: A Radical New Grouping or Old Left in a New Form?
• The Italian Left - A Brief Internationalist History