The French Revolution is one of the greatest events in history. It set the world on fire and ushered in a completely new epoch. In this episode, Jeremy Swinarton of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party discusses the epic drama of the revolution. He illuminates a wealth of lessons on the dynamics of the class struggle, lessons that are essential for every revolutionary today.
This week, Joel is joined by Holly Quilty of the Communist Revolution editorial board to discuss the communist approach to the federal election, our opinion of the Vote Palestine campaign and the communist approach to combating the unfolding crisis. The Communist Program to combat the crisis: https://www.marxist.ca/article/the-communist-program-to-combat-the-crisis"Ruling class places its bets on Mark Carney" article: https://www.marxist.ca/article/ruling-class-places-its-bets-on-mark-carneyDo you want to fight for a communist future? JOIN US! https://www.marxist.ca/join
The left is in crisis. Having adapted themselves to the capitalist establishment, both the New Democratic Party and Quebec solidaire fail to inspire. The NDP is headed for its worst electoral defeat in a generation and QS is 5th place in the polls and their leader, Gabriel Nadeau Dubois has now resigned.This week, Joel Bergman is joined by Julien Arseneau to discuss what this all means.Read about the crisis in Québec solidaire: https://www.marxist.ca/article/quebec-the-significance-of-gabriel-nadeau-duboiss-resignation
If you agree with our ideas and want to fight for communism, join us! https://www.marxist.ca/join
Can history be understood scientifically? Modern science shows us that all realms of nature are dictated by objective laws—from quantum physics to molecular biology. But most mainstream historians refuse to admit that the same is true about human society.
As Marx famously said: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please.” History isn’t merely driven by the free will of great individuals. Nor is it a senseless mess, as postmodernist thinkers would have you believe. The economic structure of a given society sets the stage for historical development. Great changes in politics and culture are driven by changes in production. By studying this relation, we can develop the tools we need to leave our own mark on history.
Therefore, we are proud to release a presentation by Marcus Katryniuk, an activist of the RCP, on the Materialist Conception of History, and how workers and youth can make history.
Further Reading:
What is Historical Materialism?
Canada now has a former banker, never elected to any political post in his life, in the most important seat of the country. He has miraculously resuscitated the Liberals, capitalizing on the fears raised by Trump’s threats. But while Carney may fight against Trump, the question remains: In whose interests?
In this week's episode of the Revolutionary Communist Podcast, RCP activists Joel Bergman & Marco LaGrotta provide a Communist perspective on what is happening.
If you liked this episode of the podcast, be sure to check out our latest article on marxist.ca - Ruling class places its bets on Mark Carney
The trade war has begun. Or has it?
The trade war with the US threatens to rapidly shift the situation in Canada and its consequences will destroy the living standards of average workers on both sides of the border.
"Team Canada" would have us believe that the only way out of the crisis is by rallying behind Canadian businesses and Canadian capitalists.
Communists on the other hand believe that we need a working class response to the impending economic dislocation.
In this presentation, Communist Revolution editor Joel Bergman explains the communist position on the trade war and the way forward for workers and youth.
Capitalism’s defenders love to attack communism by pointing to the atrocities perpetrated by the Stalinist regime in the USSR. Bolshevism—the ideas and methods of Lenin—can only ever result in a totalitarian dictatorship, we’re told. As for capitalism, there is no alternative.
In reality, a river of blood separates Bolshevism and Stalinism. This presentation will reveal the real traditions of Lenin and his Bolshevik Party, traditions with which the Bolsheviks led the Russian working class to vanquish capitalism on one sixth of the planet. And it will explain how the regime set up by the Russian Revolution—the most democratic regime in history—was hollowed out, replaced by the grotesque caricature of the Stalinist regime.
Read More:
Together with Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx forever transformed the landscapes of philosophy, political economy, and history. As the founder of scientific socialism, he laid the theoretical foundation on which the oppressed and exploited could free themselves from the shackles of class society once and for all.
Marx’s method is, to this day, essential for anyone who wishes to understand and change the world. That is why we are proud ro publish this presentation given by Josh Holroyd, editor of the In Defence of Marxism magazine, from the 2025 Montreal Marxist Winter School, on the question of how Marx became himself "a marxist".
And if you would like to steel yourself in the ideas of marxism, then subscribe to In Defence of Marxism today!
Trump is once again at the head of the world’s strongest imperialist power. One month after his innauguration, he has already provoked a trade war with Canada and Mexico, and threatened to invade Panama and Greenland. His presidency has ushered in a new period of uncertainty and chaos into politics all over the world.
As revolutionary communists, we must understand what Trump's actions represent on a world stage, and how his approach to American foreign policy reflects the relative decline of American Imperialism on the world stage, alongside the rise of smaller regional powers capable of challenging American influence.
For that reason we are proud to releasse a presentation by Jorge Martín, a leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, from the 2025 Montreal Marxist Winter School on Trump and the Crisis of American Imperialism.
What to read next:
The U.S.-Canada trade war has become the central question in Canadian politics. As Trump pivots U.S. foreign policy to attempt to assert the dominance of U.S. capital on the continent, politicians and business leaders are panicking, trying to avoid disaster.
In response, there has been a developing mood of Canadian nationalism with widespread support for counter tariffs and buy-Canadian policies.
But what is the position of communists faced with this situation?
RCP activists Joel Bergman and Marco La Grotta discuss how communists must respond to this unprecedented situation.
Join the RCP: https://www.marxist.ca/join
On January 19, a ceasefire took effect, ending Israel’s onslaught in Gaza. This has not meant the end of the Palestinians’ suffering; many are not able to return to their homes in North Gaza and the IDF has unleashed a new wave of attacks in the West Bank. Then, on February 4, Donald Trump proposed that the US should take over Gaza and force the whole of its population to relocate to other “plots of land” so that Gaza could be rebuilt as “the Riviera of the Middle East”. In this talk, recorded on February 5, Joel Bergman from the Revolutionary Communist Party discusses what these developments mean, how they change the situation, and what our response is here in Canada.
Register for the Montreal Marxist Winter School:
https://www.marxist.ca/schoolIf you agree with our ideas, join us!http://www.marxist.ca/join
British Columbia in 1983 was brought to the verge of a general strike. The workers were fighting back against the draconian attacks of premier Bill Bennett who was doing the dirty work for the capitalists. The conditions that led to Operation Solidarity bear a striking resemblance to the ones we face today with economic crisis, inflation and a capitalist class which is moving to offload the cost of the crisis onto the backs of the workers. It is therefore vitally important for us to learn the lessons of the tragic defeat of Operation Solidarity so that we can prepare for a new 1983 - and this time we will win! Read more here: https://www.marxist.ca/article/operation-solidarity-british-columbias-aborted-revolution
Donald Trump is back in power and this time around he is threatening 25 per cent tariffs against Canadian goods. He has even gone so far as to threaten to annex Canada, turning it into a 51st state.
Joel Bergman and Rob Lyon from the Revolutionary Communist party met for an episode of the Revolutionary Communist Podcast where they break down what this means, from a Marxist point of view.
Join the RCP: https://www.marxist.ca/join
Register for the Marxist Winter School: https://www.marxist.ca/school
If you want to transform the world, first we must understand what role individuals can play in the development of history. That is why the question of freewill and determinism is of fundamental importance to revolutionaries today.The following presentation, by Revolutionary Communist Party activist Holly Quilty, explores this age old philosophical debate about the relationship between historical development and human agency.
With the threat of Donald Trump hanging over them, the Trudeau government is in shambles, unable to meet the crisis of Canadian capitalism.
In this episode, Joel Bergman and Marco LaGrotta discuss what this means, what we can expect in 2025, and how communists should respond.
Join Us: marxist.ca/join Donate: https://www.marxist.ca/article/winter-fundraising-campaign-175000-for-the-war-to-end-all-wars
Tomorrow, on November 22nd, the NATO Parliamentary summit opens in Montreal. We have been inundated with speeches from politicians and articles in the bourgeois press of how NATO is a force for peace in the world, a pillar of democracy against the tyranny of Russia and China. But how does this compare to NATO’s real history, and to the role that it plays today on the world stage?
Especially now, as tens of thousands of students take to the streets to protests the complicity of western imperialism in Israel’s ongoing slaughter in the Middle East, these questions are of vital importance for the movement.
To answer these questions and more, we’re joined this week by Benoït Tanguay, editor of Communist Revolution and Révolution Communiste, for a discussion on why communists oppose NATO.
Read More: marxist.ca/article/why-communists-oppose-nato
Join Us: marxist.ca/join
In recent years, Canada has appeared to be an island of stability against the sea of wars, crises and class battles taking place all over the world. Canadian capitalism, however, is quickly approaching a reckoning. Debt is reaching astronomical heights, productivity is declining, and the Canadian ruling class is looking for ways to unload the burden of the crisis onto the shoulders of working people. We can say without question that great class battles lie ahead.
As revolutionary communists we must ground ourselves in a correct appraisal of the period that we are living through, to understand the general course of the Canadian class struggle and predict the impacts that events will have on mass consciousness. The most pressing task in front of us today is that of building the forces of communism here in Canada, of building a revolutionary party capable of leading the working class to the transformation of society.
Join us: marxist.ca/join
Subscribe: marxist.ca/subscribe
Netanyahu's latest escalation of violence in Lebanon risks dragging the Middle East into an all-out war. In Palestine the number of dead and displaced continues to rise with no end in sight. This is the nature of capitalist imperialism in the 21st century: horror without end. That’s why we say – down with the warmongers! If we are to achieve peace, we must overthrow the rotten system at the root of imperialism and war. 🍉The Fight to Free Palestine: store.marxist.ca/products/fight-to-free-palestine
✊Student Strike Campaign:
linktr.ee/studentstrike4palestine
🛠️Join the RCP:
marxist.ca/join
As the Israeli war machine launches its ground invasion of Lebanon, the struggle against imperialism intensifies. The Student Strike for Palestine Campaign has reached its first month of activity, and with it hundreds of students have been drawn into active resistance to the brutality unfolding in the Middle East and the complicity of our imperialists here at home.
But activity alone isn't enough - we need to be able to learn the lessons of these first few weeks and continue to build the movement to shut down Canadian imperialism's ties to Netanyahu and the Israeli regime. For that reason we have collected submissions from students across the country to share those lessons which can help us build our movement and cut imperialism at its root.
We are not out-numbered, we are out organized. Only the students and the working class have the power to end the genocide.
As Israel's assault on Gaza drags towards a year, the disgust and anger felt by millions of Canadians has only grown. Already the movement to end the genocide has seen protests of tens of thousands and encampments on every major campus in the country. But still the genocide continues, as does the unwavering support of the Canadian ruling class for the atrocities inflicted on the Palestinian people.What we need is a militant mass movement, what we need is an escalation. That is why this fall the RCP is mobilizing for a student strike on every Canadian campus to stop the genocide. If every organization, every student and worker who stands with the Palestinians rallies behind a student strike for Palestine, we could build a movement that could not be suppressed or ignored. We could paralyze our imperialists at home and take matters into our own hands.
Help build the student strike for Palestine!
marxist.ca/article/open-letter-to-all-pro-palestine-groups-unite-for-a-student-strike
marxist.ca/article/towards-a-student-strike-for-palestine
