April 25 2013

Is Ed Miliband moving left? Mike Macnair examines what lies behind the campaign run by The Times

April 18 2013

How should the left deal with serious allegations made by one member against another? Mike Macnair looks at the limits of what is possible

April 11 2013

From women’s liberation to bureaucratic feminism - Mike Macnair examines the process that produced the witch-hunting of ‘rape deniers’

March 28 2013

Mike Macnair reviews: Peter Brown, 'Through the eye of a needle: wealth, the fall of Rome and the making of Christianity in the west, 350-550 AD'. Princeton 2012, pp758, £27.95

March 21 2013

Ten years after the height of the mobilisation against the Iraq war, Mike Macnair calls for an end to the politics of the ‘anti-imperialist united front’

February 28 2013

Do the Socialist Workers Party’s ‘stability’ and ‘clear perspectives’ result from its ban on permanent factions? You must be joking, writes Mike Macnair

February 21 2013

Mike Macnair reviews: John Riddell (ed), 'Toward the united front: proceedings of the Fourth Congress of the Communist International 1922'. Brill, 2012, pp1310, €200 (paperback also available from Haymarket Books, £39.99)

October 18 2012

The call for a general strike to bring down the government is out of place, writes Mike Macnair

September 13 2012

The Trade Union Congress decision to consider the option of a general strike represents a small step forward, writes Mike Macnair

August 16 2012

Mike Macnair asks whether the modern ‘new left’ use of Luxemburg is part of the problem rather than the solution

August 02 2012

Mike Macnair examines the paradox of the rational irrationalism of US foreign policy

July 19 2012

Mike Macnair reviews: Iain McKay (ed) Property is theft! A Pierre-Joseph Proudhon anthology AK Press, 2011, pp822, £25

June 28 2012

Mike Macnair recently addressed a CPGB aggregate on liquidationism and 'broad frontism'. Below is an edited version of his talk

June 14 2012

Mike Macnair continues his review of: Daniel Bensa

June 07 2012

Mike Macnair reviews Daniel Bensa

May 24 2012

If the left is to build a serious political organisation it will have to facilitate internal dissent, writes Mike Macnair. And that will require both majorities and minorities to act responsibly

May 17 2012

The left must unite in order to change the relationship of forces both within and outside the Labour Party, argues Mike Macnair

April 12 2012

What are the tasks of communists in relation to the Labour Party? Mike Macnair answers some key questions

April 05 2012

The left has never properly grasped the history and significance of Bolshevism, argues Mike Macnair

March 08 2012

Mike Macnair reviews: Richard B Day and Daniel Gaido (editors and translators) Discovering imperialism: social democracy to World War I Brill 2012, Historical Materialism book series, Vol 33, pp951,

March 01 2012

What should be the attitude of Marxists to Keynesianism? Arthur Bough responds to Mike Macnair

February 23 2012

Mike Macnair reviews Paul Mattick 'Business as usual', Reaktion Books, 2011, pp126,

February 16 2012

Mike Macnair concludes his article on the alternative to nationalistic Keynesianism

February 09 2012

Does Keynesianism represent an alternative to austerity? Mike Macnair begins by looking at John Maynard Keynes's actual theory

December 15 2011

Mike Macnair reviews Ian Birchall's 'Tony Cliff: a Marxist for his time' Bookmarks, 2011, pp664,

November 17 2011

Mike Macnair spoke to the November 12 CPGB aggregate on the Marxist understanding of the crisis. This is an edited version of his speech

November 03 2011

Mike Macnair explains what is wrong with 'a Labour government for its own sake'

September 29 2011

The workers' movement must begin to act on a European scale, argues Mike Macnair

September 22 2011

Student unions are not like trade unions, argues Mike Macnair. Unity must be built primarily around politics, not 'student issues'

September 15 2011

Mike Macnair explains the thinking behind the new version of the CPGB's Draft programme

August 04 2011

Mike Macnair reviews Lars T Lih's 'Lenin' Reaktion Books, Critical lives series, London 2011, pp234,

July 28 2011

Mike Macnair reviews Alain Badiou's 'The communist hypothesis' (translators D Macey, S Corcoran) London 2010, pp279, £12.99

June 30 2011

The Frankfurt school methodology employed by Platypus is worse than useless, argues Mike Macnair

June 02 2011

Dealing with the present demands not useful myths, writes Mike Macnair, but a real understanding of the past

May 19 2011

The US Platypus group is in the borderlands of two types of left, argues Mike Macnair in the second of two articles

May 12 2011

The US Platypus grouping does not have a political line because there is 'no possibility of revolutionary action'. Mike Macnair reports on its convention

April 28 2011

Why do we need electoral tactics? Mike Macnair completes his three-part series

April 21 2011

In the second of three articles Mike Macnair examines the electoral controversies in the SPD and the views of Marx and Engels

April 14 2011

When is it permissible to vote for opportunist or even non-working class candidates? In the first of two articles Mike Macnair begins his examination of the issues

March 24 2011

But only if we aim for working class rule across Europe, says Mike Macnair

March 17 2011

The March 12 London Communist Forum featured a discussion between Mike Macnair of the CPGB and David Broder of The Commune

March 17 2011

We set up this debate in response to widespread calls from the Trotskyist left for the TUC to call a general strike against the cuts. This is Mike Macnair's opening

February 17 2011

Jairus Banaji History as theory: essays on modes of production and exploitation Historical Materialism books series, Vol 25, Leiden, 2010, pp406, £81

January 27 2011

Mike Macnair continues his review of Jairus Banaji's 'History as theory: essays on modes of production and exploitation' Historical Materialism books series, Vol 25, Leiden, 2010, pp406, £81

January 20 2011

Mike Macnair reviews Jairus Banaji's 'History as theory: essays on modes of production and exploitation' Historical Materialism books series, Vol 25, Leiden, 2010, pp406, £81

December 16 2010

We do not live in a democracy, we live in a 'rule of law' state, argues Mike Macnair

December 02 2010

What lies behind the ruling class cuts offensive and what strategy do we need to defeat it? This is an edited version of the speech given by Mike Macnair to the November 28 CPGB aggregate

November 11 2010

In this final article, Mike Macnair draws some conclusions from the history of Trotskyist entry into the Labour Party

November 04 2010

Mike Macnair continues his historical summary of British Trotskyism's attitude to Labour Party work

October 28 2010

How did the far-left policy of Labour Party entry develop? Mike Macnair looks at the changing attitudes of British Trotskyism

September 02 2010

Schemes for quasi-market communism offer a rationale for capitalism, argues Mike Macnair

July 29 2010

Mike Macnair reports on the latest attempt to create a national grouping to the left of Labour

July 15 2010

There are two sides to Tolpuddle, argues Mike Macnair

July 08 2010

Mike Macnair argues that the single tactic of 'No platform for fascists' merely recapitulates the errors of Dimitrov's popular front. This is an edited version of the speech he gave to the July 4 London Communist Forum fringe meeting during this year's Marxism

July 01 2010

The basis of decision-making under the dictatorship of the proletariat is not the same as under communism, argues Mike Macnair

June 24 2010

Why can't the proletariat abolish capitalism immediately on taking power? The answer lies in the need for transition, argues Mike Macnair

June 10 2010

Mike Macnair completes his examination of the lessons of bourgeois revolution

June 03 2010

Mike Macnair reviews Henry Heller's 'The bourgeois revolution in France 1789-1815' Bergahn Books, 2006, pp172, £20.13; and, David Parker's (ed) 'Ideology, absolutism and the English revolution: debates of the British communist historians, 1940-1956' Lawrence and Wishart, 2008, pp285, £18.99

May 13 2010

David Cameron's deal with Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats puts in place the 'strong government' demanded by the capitalist class. The working class will now be attacked with a vengeance, writes Mike Macnair

April 29 2010

Mike Macnair reviews the mainstream election campaign and the inadequate response of the left

April 15 2010

Mike Macnair reviews P Blackledge, N Davidson (eds) 'Alasdair MacIntyre's engagement with Marxism: selected writings 1953-1974' Brill (Historical materialism series), 2008, pp443, £89

April 08 2010

Capitalism and the rule of law are incompatible with political democracy and free association, writes Mike Macnair

February 25 2010

The split of the John Rees-Lindsey German Left Platform from the Socialist Workers Party has generated a small round of discussion on the party question in the left blogosphere, writes Mike Macnair. But what is missing is a recognition of the need for Marxist unity

January 28 2010

Mike Macnair takes a looks ahead to the SWP's 'Right to Work' conference

January 14 2010

At last the establishment of a left unity electoral coalition has been confirmed by the highly secretive 'core group'. But, asks Mike Macnair, is this unity built on sand?

January 07 2010

Are we facing a new 'long slump' like the 1930s or is the recent financial crisis merely a blip in a larger picture of capitalist expansion? And how does the decline of capitalism fit into the picture? Mike Macnair examines the issues

December 03 2009

Mike Macnair addressed the Hopi AGM on the continued threat of war. US imperialism has a new face, but when it comes to foreign policy it is business as usual

November 19 2009

Issues of left and right are not so clear-cut when it comes to Respect. Mike Macnair reports on its annual conference, held in Birmingham on Saturday November 14

July 30 2009

An alternative to the Labour Party will only ever grip masses of workers if it is an alternative to Labourism, writes Mike Macnair

July 23 2009

Is Labour still a bourgeois workers’ party? What, if anything, does this expression mean? Mike Macnair continues the debate

July 10 2008

The failure of the far left to champion democracy has allowed rightwing polititians to pose as libertarians, argues Mike Macnair

February 14 2008

How should communists approach campus work? In the first place by understanding the contradictory class position of students, argues Mike Macnair

January 31 2008

In the name of democracy and internationalism, Mike Macnair argues against calls for a referendum

January 17 2008

Would a Marxist party in Britain be a 'halfway house' on the road to a communist international? Mike Macnair responds to Dave Craig

December 20 2007

Mike Macnair reviews the following books: - Phil Hearse (ed) Take the power to change the world (Socialist Resistance, 2007, pp144, £6); - Michael Lebowitz: Build it now: socialism for the 21st century (Monthly Review Press, 2006, pp127, £10.95) - Cliff Slaughter: Not without a storm: towards a communist manifesto for the age of globalisation (Index Books, 2006, pp314, �12.99)

November 15 2007

We must learn to recognise both bureaucratic and legalistic manipulation, writes Mike Macnair

November 08 2007

Pro-Tehran apologetics in the Stop the War Coalition represents a kind of nostalgia for the 'anti-imperialist front', writes Mike Macnair

October 25 2007

In the fight between George Galloway and the SWP, Mike Macnair is reminded of the debate between the Bukharinite 'rights' and the Stalinists in 1929-33

October 11 2007

Mike Macnair outlines the tactics communists ought to adopt in relation to Israel

September 27 2007

Mike Macnair reports from the September 25 AGM of Respect Oxford

September 13 2007

Our immediate task is to pose a political alternative to the existing regime, writes Mike Macnair, not wait for the 'transitional method' to produce soviets. This article concludes his series on 'permanent revolution'

September 06 2007

What is the relationship between unorganised mass movements and the revolutionary party? Mike Macnair continues his series on 'permanent revolution'

August 30 2007

Continuing his series on 'permanent revolution', Mike Macnair suggests that the victory of workers' power through a democratic republic does not remove the distinction between the two parts of the communist programme

August 09 2007

A workers' state cannot be determined by property forms, argues Mike Macnair

August 02 2007

Setting the scene for a series of articles on 'permanent revolution', Mike Macnair argues that the dictatorship of the proletariat must take the specific form of the democratic republic

June 28 2007

Mike Macnair locates the contradiction in capital's desire for free movement and its need to control labour

June 14 2007

What is the connection between the development of capitalism and restrictions on the movement of labour? In the first of two articles Mike Macnair traces such restrictions back to feudalism

June 07 2007

Unity of the Marxist left is both possible and realistic, argues Mike Macnair. What is lacking is the will

May 25 2007

Mike Macnair replies to Dave Brown and Gerry Downing who argued last week that the defeats of the 20th century are not grounds to rethink the strategic ideas of the early Comintern

May 10 2007

Americanisation and resistance to it was the dominant theme in Blair's decade, argues Mike Macnair

April 19 2007

Mike Macnair replies to Phil Sharpe on the question of programme

April 12 2007

Economic and political interpenetration both internationally and nationally makes a mockery of the Revolutionary Democratic Group's 'democratic permanent revolution'. Mike Macnair concludes his response to Dave Craig of the RDG

April 05 2007

Mike Macnair continues his polemic against the 'national democratic revolution' schema of the Revolutionary Democratic Group's Dave Craig

March 29 2007

There is no movement in Britain to set up a new 'mass workers' party', argues Mike Macnair. What can be achieved, however, is a united party of the Marxists

March 15 2007

Official society celebrates the bicentenary of the ending of slavery as part of 'our common British heritage'. Mike Macnair examines the class forces that underpinned anti-slavery

February 22 2007

Four years after the invasion, Iraq continues to sink deeper into the morass. Mike Macnair analyses the current situation

January 11 2007

Differences over Iraq have been sharply debated in Washington between 'neocons' and 'realists', writes Mike Macnair. On a micro-scale this is paralleled in Britain by a debate within the Alliance for Workers' Liberty

January 11 2007

Divisions emerge within the AWL over troop withdrawal

January 04 2007

Mike Macnair looks at the death of Saddam Hussein

December 14 2006

Communists are for the freedom of information, says Mike Macnair

November 02 2006

Mike Macnair writes on this weekend's launch conference of the 'Campaign for a new Marxist party'

October 19 2006

Mike Macnair continues the debate on what is meant by a Marxist party and how to campaign for one, begun by Critique's call for a conference on November 4

October 12 2006

Mike Macnair reviews Max Elbaum's Revolution in the air: sixties radicals turn to Lenin, Mao and Che Verso, 2002, pp370, £20

October 05 2006

The organised left cannot be bypassed in the fight for a Marxist party, argues Mike Macnair

September 28 2006

Mike Macnair reviews Graham Bash and Andrew Fisher: 100 years of Labour (London 2006, pp80, £4). Available from www.100yearsoflabour.net

September 21 2006

Why must we go through the existing left rather than appealing directly to 'the class'? Mike Macnair explains

September 14 2006

Unity not around 'Trotskyism', insists Mike Macnair, but around class independence, democracy and internationalism

August 31 2006

Mike Macnair reviews Lars T Lih's Lenin rediscovered: What is to be done? in context Brill, 2006, pp867, €129

August 10 2006

Mike Macnair discusses some of the legal implications of the case and argues that socialists should not use the bourgeois press to fight out their differences

August 10 2006

Mike Macnair remembers the discussion in the SSP over the question of prostitution

August 03 2006

A new formation must avoid from the start all the failings of the Trotskyist sects, writes Mike Macnair

July 20 2006

But, argues Mike Macnair, it never really went away

July 13 2006

The organisation of a conference by the Critique group to campaign for a new Marxist party is welcome, writes Mike Macnair. But how far it will get is problematic

July 06 2006

Mike Macnair takes on Ian Donovan

June 15 2006

Mike Macnair concludes his series on communist strategy by throwing down the challenge to the existing left

May 25 2006

What is the link between national and international revolution? What is the role of the workers' international? Mike Macnair continues his series on communist strategy

May 18 2006

Under what conditions should communists participate in government? Mike Macnair revisits the strategic problem of authority

May 11 2006

How does the concept of the united front fit into the struggle for a Communist Party? Mike Macnair continues his examination of strategy

April 27 2006

Mike Macnair examines the Leninist 'party of a new type' and disentangles its advantages and shortcomings from the necessity of splitting from the Second International

April 20 2006

Mike Macnair puts the record straight on Lenin's call for defeatism and insists on the necessity of the left taking the democratic question of arms seriously

April 13 2006

Mike Macnair puts the record straight on Lenin's call for defeatism and insists on the necessity of the left taking the democratic question of arms seriously

March 30 2006

In the third article in this series, Mike Macnair examines the basis of two contending strategies for working class advance

February 23 2006

In the second in a series of articles, Mike Macnair continues his examination of right-moving Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire theorists and the response of the SWP's Alex Callinicos

February 16 2006

While Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire theorists flounder towards Eurocommunism, the SWP's Alex Callinicos can only answer them with evasion. In the first of two articles, Mike Macnair discusses revolutionary strategy

February 02 2006

We are approaching the third anniversary of the big anti-war demonstrations before the invasion. Mike Macnair takes stock of the anti-war movement and the current situation in Iraq

April 28 2005

Mike Macnair revisits the question of the popular front

March 17 2005

August 12 2004

In this concluding article, Mike Macnair argues that our most powerful enemy is the imperialist state. That is why communists are revolutionary defeatists

August 05 2004

In the second of a short series of articles, Mike Macnair examines the role of the state in the global order and looks at alternatives to the 'imperialism of free trade' theory

July 29 2004

Mike Macnair argues that the failure of the AWL to call for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq is a symptom of their flawed analysis of imperialism

December 18 2003

Mike Macnair reviews: Graham Dutfield, 'Intellectual property rights, trade and biodiversity', Earthscan Publications, 2002, pp238, £24.95 Michael Perelman, 'Steal this idea: intellectual property rights and the corporate confiscation of creativity', Palgrave, 2002, pp242, £17.65 Peter Drahos, 'A philosophy of intellectual property', Ashgate, 1996, reprint 2002, pp272, £60

December 04 2003

Mike Macnair takes issue with Dave Craig on republicanism. Dave Craig’s article, ‘Republican slogans and the CPGB’, which shows a remarkable lack of understanding of the arguments CPGB comrades have been putting forward

November 12 2003

Some 30 people - varying over the course of the day - met in Birmingham on Saturday November 8 to form a Democracy platform in the Socialist Alliance. Mike Macnair reports

October 30 2003

Sooner or later the Socialist Workers Party faces a choice between strategically counterposed perspectives which have developed within the ranks of its leadership, argues Mike Macnair

October 23 2003

Do Salma Yaqoob's and George Monbiot's 'Principles of unity' provide a solid basis for a common political programme? Mike Macnair thinks not