It is no exaggeration to say that the principal disputes between activists, organizations and political trends in U.S. social movements have hinged on different understandings of, and attitudes toward, the state. What distinguishes a revolutionary communist...
The Supreme Court: Last line of defense for the ruling class
This article was originally published as Chapter 6 in Democracy and Class Society," a book produced by the PSL in 2008, and is being republished in response to the recent news that the Supreme Court has decided to overturn Roe v. Wade. "I give you, gentlemen, the...
Clarifying and inspiring revolution for 130 years: Marx’s “Critique of the Gotha Programme”
Karl Marx never intended to spell out what the communist future would look like or how we would get there. His writing that comes closest to doing this is a short letter he wrote in 1875, given the title Critique of the Gotha Programme. Published 130 years ago—in...
The state and revolution
Lenin wrote The State and Revolution between August and October of 1917, while he was living and organizing underground, hiding from the police. He pushed through these difficult circumstances to write the pamphlet not in order to intervene in the revolutionary...
Antonio Gramsci: A communist revolutionary, organizer, and theorist
On January 1, 1916, just about 10 years before Mussolini's fascist regime imprisoned him, Italian communist Antonio Gramsci published a short article in Avanti! (Forward!)--the Italian Socialist Party's (PSI) daily newspaper--about why he "hates" New Year's Day....
The U.S. “justice system:” Sanctuaries of sexual abuse
Editor's note: This is a longer version of an article originally published in Breaking the Chains magazine. In December 2019, 14 women, both former and current inmates at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex, filed a lawsuit accusing the Florida prison of creating...
How will the police be abolished? A Marxist perspective
12 points on the U.S. state and the necessity of revolution 1. The Party for Socialism and Liberation stands for the overthrow, dismantling and complete replacement of the core institutions of the capitalist state, which are the “special bodies of armed men,” namely...
From rebellion to revolution
Editorial note: This article was originally published on Liberation News. Introduction A profound rebellion against racism has been sweeping the country for a month. Millions have taken to the streets in every part of the country, shaking public opinion. Elite...
Rebellion and repression: capitalism’s long hot summer begins
Introduction Trump declared last night from the White House that he would “end the riots” with a national military mobilization to “dominate the streets” and that “if a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary,” he would “deploy the United States...