History and Traditions

Comment: Brian Ward

The Cheyenne resistance

Cheyenne leaders Dull Knife and Little Wolf led a determined and prolonged resistance to the U.S. government's soldiers. February 13, 2012
Column: Paul D'Amato

What happened to the Russian Revolution?

The belief that Russia was socialist came from the idea that socialism equals state ownership of property. That isn't socialism. February 10, 2012
Comment: Marlene Martin

"My feet are tired, but my soul’s rested"

The story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott is not just about its leaders, but a mass movement that depended on tens of thousands of people. February 9, 2012
Column: Paul D'Amato

Socialists and trade unions

Union struggles are more than a means to win a wage increase or defend working conditions--they're training grounds. February 3, 2012
Column: Paul D'Amato

A system of organized violence

The threat--and use--of violence, has always been a crucial way in which states promote the economic interests of their rulers. January 27, 2012
Column: Paul D'Amato

Is the ruling class too strong to defeat?

History provides several examples that show how, even in the face of immense repression, workers' revolution is possible. January 20, 2012
Column: Paul D'Amato

"Chasing over the surface of the globe"

To Marxists, the phenomenon of globalization isn't a policy but a dynamic that is built into the very nature of capitalism. January 13, 2012
Comment: Aaron Petkov

What solidarity meant to Marx

The Marxist tradition is often wrongly accused of ignoring forms of oppression that exist outside of economic relations. January 12, 2012
Comment: Elizabeth Schulte

A strike for bread and roses

The struggle of tens of thousands of textile workers in Lawrence, Mass., 100 years ago was one of the fiercest battles in U.S. labor history. January 11, 2012
Comment: Brian Ward

A Manifest Destiny massacre

The slaughter of hundreds of Lakota women, children and men 121 years ago marked the end of the "Indian Wars." January 10, 2012
Comment: Duncan Hallas

Who produces the wealth in society?

Capitalists' profits come from the unpaid labor of workers--which is why socialists say that capitalism is organized theft. January 6, 2012
Comment: Phil Gasper

Jesus the revolutionary?

How close are the views of right-wing politicians who proclaim their Christian beliefs to the historical Jesus who opposed kings and oppressors? December 14, 2011
Speech: Paul LeBlanc

The ancestors of Occupy

It is a great source of strength to draw from our revolutionary traditions as we engage in present-day struggles for radical change. December 12, 2011
Analysis: Alessandro Tinonga

The last Oakland general strike

The last general strike to take place in the U.S. was in none other than Oakland--the heart of the call for a ports shutdown. December 12, 2011
Column: Paul D'Amato

Taking on the ruling ideas in society

The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class, Marx and Engels wrote in the Communist Manifesto. December 9, 2011
Analysis: Lee Sustar

The battle in Seattle

In November 1999, tens of thousands of people came together in a show of force against the World Trade Organization. December 9, 2011
Speech: Ahmed Shawki

What kind of party do we need?

A leading member of ISO discusses what kind of organization socialists need to be effective in the fight against the system. December 2, 2011
Column: Paul D'Amato

Does social change happen gradually?

We're taught that social change is something that happens gradually--but this flies in the face of the historical record. December 2, 2011
Comment: Eric Ruder

The march of the Bonus Army

In 1932, First World War veterans--known as the Bonus Army--traveled to Washington, D.C., to demand what was owed them. November 11, 2011
Column: Paul D'Amato

The struggle at the heart of our history

Throughout history, class struggle has been essentially been a conflict over control of what the exploited classes produced. November 11, 2011
Column: Paul D'Amato

To occupy or (un)occupy?

In some Occupy encampments, the question has been raised whether we should use the term "occupy" at all. November 7, 2011
Column: Paul D'Amato

Marx vs. the myth of human nature

Do human beings have a built-in nature, shaped genetically by their physical attributes, which programs their behavior? November 4, 2011
Column: Paul D'Amato

Why was Marx a materialist?

Marx's materialist philosophy was rooted in the idea that the world around us shapes and limits our possibilities. October 28, 2011
Review: Alan Maass

The Black Power era

The Black Power movement was a magnificent high point of African American resistance--one that inspired and shaped radicals for years to come. October 25, 2011
Book excerpt: Sharon Smith

When workers occupied

Today's Occupy movement stands in a long tradition of struggles that have depended on the determination of activists that "we shall not be moved." October 18, 2011

History and Traditions

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