I REVIEWS IN THE NINETIES, millions of women and men have taken part in mobilisations against the evils of capitalism and the bureaucratic dictatorships. This reflects the fact that humanity faces widening dangers. Ecological, military, social and economic devastation faces millions of people. In a situation where the inability of the social democratic and communist parties to provide socialist solutions is becoming clearer, the task of creating new leaderships remains ahead. this struggle. We are the British supporters of the world-wide marxist organisation, the Fourth International. We stand for the revolutionary transformation of society and a pluralist, socialist democracy world wide. human beings from every form of exploitation, oppression, alienation and violence. Socialism must be under the control of ordinary people, democratic, pluralist, multi-party, feminist, ecologist, anti-militarist and internationalist. It must abolish wage slavery and national oppression. ploited and oppressed. The working class and its allies must uncompromisingly fight against capitalism and for a clear programme of action in order to gradually acquire the experience and consciousness needed to defeat capitalism at the decisive moment of crisis. people to fight their particular forms of oppression make an essential contribution to the struggle for a different society. They are organised around the principle "None so fit to break the chains as those who wear them". struggles. Furthermore we fight for a strategic alliance between workers and these organisations which respects their legitimate autonomy. each country and a revolutionary International we aim to guide and encompass the global interests of the workers and oppressed. By building a united struggle against exploitation and oppression we aim to ensure the survival of the human race. Many more people recognise the barbaric nature of capitalism. Socialist Outlook is written and sold by socialists committed to The overall goal which we pursue is the empancipation of all The working class is the backbone of unity among all the exThe movements of women, lesbians and gay men and black The whole working class needs to fully commit itself to these By simultaenously building revolutionary organisations in Charlie van Gelderen reviews 'Caliban's Freedom - The Early Political Thought of C.L.R. James', by Anthony Bogues (Pluto Press £13.99) C.L.R. James rightfully takes his place in the pantheon of revolutionary thinkers of the 20th Century, with Lenin, Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg and are not considered by any of us as an item of hostility or an obstacle to friendly collaboration in the future."
Later in his life James was to develop further his differences with Trotsky and to question the validity of the Leninist Party. But he could not have written his magnum opus, The Black Jacobins, the story of the Haitian rebellion led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, without a profound knowledge and understanding of Trotsky's theory of Socialist loo Leon Trotsky. His 'History of the Russian Revolution' drew James to Marxism, while his theory of Permanent Revolution helped inspire The Black Jacobins.
capitalist state, with the bureaucracy performing the same tasks for State Capitalism as the American governmental bureaucracy carried out for Ford, General Motors, and so on. To Trotsky's call for a political revolution to overthrow the bureaucracy he coun tered the demand for a social Even before he went to the United States, James was actively involved in the anti-colonial struggles in Africa and Asia. He