The Spanish Civil War was one of the greatest revolutionary struggles of the 20th century—and one of its greatest betrayals.
At the RCP Summer Camp, Joe Russell explained how the working class of Spain rose against fascism and capitalism, only to be betrayed by the Stalinists, the reformists, and the centrist leadership of the POUM.
Joe outlines the main lesson of 1936–39: without a revolutionary party rooted in the working class and Marxist theory, even the most heroic struggles can be defeated.
From the Stalinist counterrevolution to the betrayal of the Popular Front, this talk highlights the burning need for a genuine communist leadership.
For revolutionaries today, the Spanish Civil War shows the dangers of reformism, centrism, and class collaboration, and the necessity of building a revolutionary organisation. This talk is essential for anyone interested in anti-fascism, communism, and the history of the class struggle.
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The struggle against South African apartheid is a source of inspiration across the world. However, the understanding of how it was overthrown is limited, especially in the West.
With the struggle to free Palestine, this topic holds a particular importance, as many on the left explain their support for the Boycott, Divest, Sanction movement on the lessons of South Africa.
But what does this period really tell us about how our struggle today can be successful?
In this talk from Revolution Festival 2024, Fiona Lali explains the view of communists on this vital struggle.
The genocide of Palestinians over the last 2 years has become a lightening rod for all the accumulated anger in society. People have been exposed to the bombing of hospitals, videos of mothers pulling their babies from the rubble and the vile response from governments internationally - that Israel 'has the right to defend itself'.
Since October 7th 2023, millions across the world have come out to defend Palestine with demonstrations and encampments. It is clear that more is needed. The general strike in Italy has shown the way forward.
Speaking at a meeting of the RCP in Central London, Fiona Lali lays out how the Palestine movement can be successful and the job of communists in achieving this.
Is artificial intelligence truly conscious—or is it just hype? At Revolution Festival 2024, Daniel Morley applies the Marxist method to cut through the illusions surrounding AI. While tech billionaires claim AI is a revolution on par with human thought, Marxism shows that consciousness is not simply data processing but a product of labour, society, and material conditions. By examining the difference between artificial intelligence and human consciousness, the talk explores what makes humans unique and why bourgeois science misunderstands the nature of the mind.
This talk is essential listening for anyone following debates on AI, automation, and the future of work under capitalism. From the standpoint of Marxist philosophy, Daniel explains why only communism can unlock the real potential of technology—freeing it from profit and placing it at the service of humanity.
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Marxism is not just a political programme—it is a scientific world outlook. At the RCP Summer Camp, Khaled Malachi explains the role of Marxist philosophy and why dialectical materialism is the most advanced method for understanding reality. From physics to biology, science confirms the revolutionary insights of Marxist dialectics. While bourgeois philosophers remain trapped in idealism and formal logic, Marxists uncover the processes of contradiction, transformation, and revolutionary change at the heart of nature and society.
This talk draws on the classic works Anti Duhring and Reason in Revolt, showing how Engels and Ted Grant applied Marxist philosophy to the latest developments in science. For those seeking to understand the unity of Marxist theory, modern physics, and revolutionary politics, Khaled’s talk demonstrates why dialectics is indispensable for communists fighting to overthrow capitalism today. It is a powerful introduction to the Marxist method, science, and the fight for socialism in the modern world.
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The rise and fall of the Fourth International is one of the most important lessons for communists today. At the World Congress of the Revolutionary Communist International, Rob Sewell explains how the degeneration of the leadership of the Fourth International left the working class without a revolutionary party. Ted Grant’s sharp criticisms of the opportunism and sectarianism of the leadership are more relevant than ever for revolutionaries seeking to rebuild genuine Marxism.
By revisiting the successes, failures, and betrayals of the Fourth, we gain the necessary clarity to understand why a mass revolutionary communist international is essential in the fight against capitalism today. For listeners interested in the history of communism, Trotskyism, and revolutionary strategy, this talk offers key lessons on how Marxists must organise, study the ideas, and assess perspectives, and why the method of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky, and Ted Grant remains the indispensable guide for overthrowing capitalism in the 21st century.
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Fiona Lali and Khaled Malachi discuss the deepening crisis in Britain — from the failure of Starmer's government to growing political disillusionment across the country. Why is public trust collapsing? Why does everyone seem to hate Starmer? And what does the future hold as the UK becomes increasingly polarised between left and right?Agree with the ideas in this show? Then join the fight for communism!✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join📰 Subscribe to The Communist and In Defence Of Marxism: https://communist.red/subscribe💸 Donate to the RCP: https://communist.red/donate🔗 Head to The Communist website for daily news and analysis: https://communist.red🌍 Read the latest international news and analysis from the RCI: https://marxist.com
THERE WERE TECHNICAL ISSUES WITH THE RECORDING OF THIS PODCAST. WE APOLOGISE FOR THE MISSED CONTENT
The Haitian Revolution was the first successful slave revolt in history and remains one of the most inspiring chapters in the struggle against oppression. Speaking at Revolution Festival 2024, Keelan Kellegher explains how enslaved Africans in Haiti, under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, rose up against French colonialism and struck a blow for freedom that shook the capitalist world.
Using the Marxist method, this talk places the Haitian Revolution in its global context: a revolutionary struggle against slavery, racism, and exploitation that offers vital lessons for communists today.
While the bourgeois historians distort or ignore this heroic revolution, Marxists draw the real lessons: the importance of decisive leadership and class struggle. For those interested in anti-colonial struggles, Black liberation, and the fight against capitalism, Keelan’s talk shows why the Haitian Revolution is not just history, but a living guide for revolutionaries battling oppression in the modern world.
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In the 1950s and 60s, while the so-called Marxists couldn't understand the post war boom, Ted Grant used the Marxist method to analyse what was happening. From this, he was able to understand that capitalism had not solved its contradictions but was destined for slump again.
At this year's RCP summer camp, Nelson Wan explains Ted Grant's article 'Will there be a slump?' and the method which allowed him to have this foresight.
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Most ‘mainstream’ historians tend to reject the Marxist view that the course of historical development has been fundamentally determined by laws that we can grasp scientifically. Many also reject the idea of progress as a whole as merely a ‘point of view’. To them, history is little more than a series of accidents, or the choices of great individuals. But if this is the case, then why can we recognise so many common processes across human history, in which similar institutions, events, and even characters arise independently of one another, all over the world? And has there really been no progress at all between stone tools and spacecraft?
Josh Holroyd, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International and editor of the In Defence of Marxism magazine, discusses the topic.
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What is value? This question has perplexed the human mind for more than 2,000 years. The classical bourgeois economists grappled with the question, as did Marx.
Joe Russell, Executive Committee member of the RCP, discusses Marx’s completion of the Labour Theory of Value, and provide a defence of his economic ideas against attacks from modern day critics.
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As British capitalism’s first colony, imperialism cut its teeth in Ireland. The domination of Ireland by British capitalists, landlords, and financiers resulted in untold horrors; from the artificial famine of the 1840s and 50s, to the war for national liberation, through to the murder of unarmed civilians on Bloody Sunday.
In this session from the Revolution Festival 2024, Shaun Morris, Central Committee member of the RCP, discusses the cruel legacy of British imperialism in Ireland.
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In this episode of Communist Radio, Ben Gliniecki and Daniel Morley discuss the prospect of a new left party and the role of the communists.
In this episode of Communist Radio, Khaled and Fiona discuss where next for the Palestine movement in Britain. After months of action, the words of the British ruling class changed but their actions and their backing of the Israeli war machine did not. Then only to come out in full support of Netanyahu again with the recent escalation in the Middle East with Iran.
This has left many thinking "what is the next step?", Khaled and Fiona talk about the need for a class based program that connects the question of Palestine to the need to overthrow the capitalist system that breeds war and austerity.
Agree with the ideas in this show? Then join the fight for communism!
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In this episode, Ben Gliniecki and Lotta Angantyr talk about the recruitment campaign, Revolution Against the Billionaires, and how this is connecting to the mood among young people today. Hearing reports from across the country and getting into what it means to join the RCP
Agree with the ideas in this show? Then join the fight for communism!
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The Transitional Programme by Trotsky is a prime example of the method by which Marxists can connect with the struggles of today and raise workers' sights to the ultimate goal of socialist revolution. Rather than incessant abstract calls for a revolution, Fiona, Sean, Harry and Peter discuss how to skilfully connect this task with the demands of the day. This must begin with an objective analysis of reality to set out a correct perspective, from which balanced demands can flow.
This podcast series is in no way a replacement for studying theory for yourself.
To help you start your own reading group we link here RCP's reading guide on the text: https://communist.red/the-transitional-programme-a-reading-guide/
Head to Wellred Books Britain to get your copy of Classics of Marxism: https://wellredbooks.co.uk/product/the-classics-of-marxism-volume-one/
In this episode of Communist Radio, Ben Gliniecki and Khaled Malachi discuss the 'No to Austerity 2.0' national demo that has been called for June 7. They talk about how communists can connect with the mood in society and how to end austerity, we must overthrow capitalism.
Agree with the ideas in this show? Then join the fight for communism!
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Ben, Lotta, Mia, and Peter sit down to discuss Lenin's masterpiece: The State & Revolution. Written just before the events of October 1917, with Lenin having been forced underground, it is the sharpest analysis of the state, and a rebuttal of reformist and anarchist illusions.
It answers the state's role and demystifies its purpose in the hands of the ruling class, and lays out a clear alternative: of socialist revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat, and a future communist society.
This podcast series is in no way a replacement for studying theory for yourself.
To help you start your own reading group we link here RCP's reading guide on the text: https://communist.red/the-state-and-revolution-a-reading-guide/
Head to Wellred Books Britain to get your copy of Classics of Marxism: https://wellredbooks.co.uk/product/the-classics-of-marxism-volume-one/
In this episode of Communist Radio, Sarah Taylor, campaigns coordinator for the RCP, discusses the student union elections we ran in with our communist candidates, Alice from Cardiff, Adam from Lancaster and Anton from Sheffield.
Agree with the ideas in this show? Then join the fight for communism!
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In the second episode of our series on the Classics: Daniel, Nye, Georgina & Peter discuss the ideas of Engels' Socialism: Utopian & Scientific.
Covering the historical development of scientific socialism and its precursors, it is however far from a text of mere historical value to us. The method of Marxist analysis applied here by Engels to Marxism itself is one of the fundamental skills every communist must possess.
This podcast series is in no way a replacement for studying theory for yourself.
To help you start your own reading group we link here RCP's reading guide on the text: https://communist.red/socialism-utopian-and-scientific-a-reading-guide/
Head to Wellred Books Britain to get your copy of Classics of Marxism: https://wellredbooks.co.uk/product/the-classics-of-marxism-volume-one/
