THE LENINIST UNDERSTANDING OF THE STATE AND HOW TO MAKE THE TRANSITION TO A SOCIALIST SOCIETY

TROTSKYIST PLATFORM

Leninism, Social Democracy and Left Unity.

The Nature of the State and How to Fight for the Transition to a Socialist Society.

Appendix: Theses on the Communist Parties and Parliamentarism.

PDF format of this article. 46 A4 pages, 1.62mb

Rome, Italy, September 2012: Workers from aluminium maker Alcoa’s Sardinia factory try to break police lines to storm the Industry Ministry in an attempt to defeat threatened job losses.

Leninism, Social Democracy and Left Unity

25 February 2013 – Why can’t the Left all get together? This is a refrain repeated by many within left-wing activist circles. Such a viewpoint is especially in vogue right now when there are unity talks underway between several far-left groups. Unity negotiations between Socialist Alternative and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) are at an advanced stage. At the same time, the Socialist Alliance is also pursuing unity talks with Socialist Alternative and is at an early stage of discussions with the Communist Party of Australia (CPA.) Those that argue for unity point out that most nominally socialist groups share the same vision of an egalitarian society where the economy will be under collective ownership and control. Yes, socialist groups largely do, in an abstract way, share this vision of an ideal society. However, the key issue remains: how do we get there? And it is this question of what needs to be done – and especially what needs to be done right now – that determines a political organisation’s program and practice. Continue reading →