Marxism, in simple terms, is the science of the liberation of the proletariat. It then follows naturally that one of the key questions which this field of analysis grapples with is how to do that. At the heart of this question is the need for a revolutionary party. As Italian […]
The Party Form
Works discussing the organisational form, methods and goals of the communist party
We Defend the Italian Left, Damen
Every so often we need to check our own political assumptions in order to critically evaluate our conduct in relation to what is currently going on. We also need to examine the behaviour of those who believe they are the repositories of who-knows-what coherence, with principles and methods that should […]
Against the concept of the “brilliant leader”, ICC
In politics, there’s nothing new in a group radically changing its way of seeing and acting once it has become a big organisation, a mass party. One could cite several examples of such metamorphoses. One could to some extent apply it to the Bolshevik party after the revolution. But what’s […]
The System of Communist Representation, Bordiga
In launching our communist programme, which contained the outlines of a response to many vital problems concerning the revolutionary movement of the proletariat, we expected to ace a broad discussion develop on all its aspects. Instead there has been and still is only furious discussion over the incompatibility of electoral […]
Centralised Party, Yes – Centralism over the Party, No!, Onorato Damen
A 1951 work outlining Damen’s view of ‘dialectical centralism’ as a synthesis of the Bordigist ‘organic centralism’ and Leninist ‘democratic centralism’ as a method of organising the Communist Party.
What is to be Done?, Vladimir Lenin
A 1902 work arguing for a centralised and disciplined vanguard party to lead the revolution, in a polemic against the newspaper Rabocheye Dyelo.
Is This the Time to form Soviets?, Amadeo Bordiga
A 1919 text outlining the relation of the communist party to the workers councils or Soviets.
Lyons Theses, Amadeo Bordiga
The theses presented in 1926 by the Left Fraction of the Italian Communist Party to its Third Congress, outlining the Left’s view of the organisation and tasks of the Communist Party.