Socialist Worker was the publication of the International Socialist Organization (U.S.) from the group’s founding in April 1977 until its dissolution in 2019. Many hundreds of ISO members and others contributed reports, analysis and education to the newspaper and website over four decades.
SW was published and distributed nationally in newspaper form throughout its 42-year history. It began as a monthly and was published biweekly starting in 1994 and weekly starting in 2001. With the launch of a daily website in 2008, the pace of the paper edition gradually slowed to a monthly. SW’s website was launched in 2001 and began publishing daily starting in May 2008, becoming a significant voice of independent media in the U.S.
SocialistWorker.org was committed to giving a voice to those struggling for a better world, seeking out the stories of struggles of workers and the oppressed that are seldom reported in the mainstream media--and never reported on from the point of view of those fighting back.
From interviews with striking miners in Kentucky in the 1970s to debates about how to rebuild a fighting labor movement, SW tried to bring workers’ experiences and opinions to a wider audience. It reported on campaigns for social change and economic justice in the U.S. and around the world — from the movement against South African apartheid in the 1980s to the Palestinian struggle against Israel’s apartheid today; from the struggles for Black liberation and immigrant rights to organizing for women’s rights and LGBT liberation, and much more.
SocialistWorker.org also sought to provide a forum for discussion and debate of the political questions facing activists and socialists. Key to this goal was presenting a Marxist analysis of important questions of the day, socialist analysis of world news and events, and keeping alive the rich and too-often-hidden history of working-class struggle and the socialist tradition.
Though SW has stopped publishing, its archives of paper editions dating back to 1977 and its website dating back to 2001 are available at this website and the Marxists Internet Archives.
Thanks to all the many hundreds of people who contributed to SW over the years, and in particular to its main editorial, production and web development staff in its last years: Geoff Bailey, Dorian Bon, Nicole Colson, Danny Katch, Eric Kerl, Zakiya Khabir, Alan Maass, Khury Petersen-Smith, Eric Ruder, Elizabeth Schulte and Derek Wright.
