The ICC is holding an open meeting, without a specific theme, where participants can propose discussions about any aspect of revolutionary politics.
ICC public meetings
International Review 170
Report on imperialist tensions
The ICC has recently held its 25th International Congress, where it adopted a number of reports on the world situation. We begin with the report on inter-imperialist tensions. An article providing a general assessment of the work of the Congress will also be published.
Crisis of the system
The decomposition of capitalism is accelerating!
Important parts of the ruling class recognise begin to recognise the gravity of the world situation, but they have no coherent explanation and no solution
International Leaflet
We have to go further than in 1968!
“Enough is enough!” - Britain. “Not a year more, not a euro less” - France. “Indignation runs deep” - Spain. “For all of us” - Germany. All these slogans, chanted round the world during strikes in recent months, show how much the current workers' struggles express the rejection of the general deterioration of our living and working conditions. But our struggles are also much more than that... Download and help distribute this leaflet.
Editorial
Faced with crisis and austerity, the working class is raising its head all over the world!
The two poles of the historic alternative - communism or barbarism - are revealing themsleves more and more clearly
Internationalist response to war
Discussion Bulletin - groups of the Communist Left
A short introduction to the first edition in English of a bulletin produced by three groups of the Communist Left discussing urgent issues around imperialist war in general and the war in Ukraine specifically.
Class struggle and bourgeois manoeuvres
Argentina: the crisis is hitting the workers
As the crisis hits workers' living conditions, the ruling class uses its own divisions to spread confusion
Economic crisis
Overproduction and Inflation
We reprint below a detailed analysis of the scourge of inflation and its underlying causes which first appeared in the press of the forerunners of the ICC 50 years ago, together with a new introduction.
ICC intervention
Presentation to the public meetings held in a number of countries on 13 May 2023
All over the world we see workers taking up the struggle... and again today references to May '68 are appearing in the demonstrations.
But this time it will be necessary to GO FURTHER THAN IN 1968!
Reader's contribution on imperialist conflict
Sudan 2023: a vivid illustration of the decomposition of capitalism
A close sympathiser analyses yet another outbreak of armed conflict in Sudan and exposes the hypocrisy of the 'democratic' powers
Britain
The historic importance of the strike wave in the UK
Almost a year has passed since the strikes in the UK started. During the course of that year workers in Britain have reminded the world of their position at the birth of the workers’ movement, in the 1840s with the Chartists, the first political party of the working class, and later, with their leading role in the foundation of the First International. In the past 10 months workers in Britain have upheld that tradition and put themselves at the head of a new phase in workers’ struggle internationally.
Reader’s contribution
Northern Ireland: An advance by US imperialism and a headache for the British bourgeoisie
It is impossible to understand what’s going on in Northern Ireland without seeing it in the context of the disruptive intervention of US imperialism against its “ally”, British imperialism. This article by a sympathiser of the ICC is written within that overall framework.
Ideology of the capitalist left
Taxation of "super-profits": No, capitalism cannot be reformed!
The left wing of capital pretends that by taxing "excessive" profits, the bourgeois state can act on behalf of the exploited
Correspondence
How do you assess the general dynamic of a proletarian struggle?
A reply to a reader on why we see the present waves of struggles as a break with a long period of retreat.
No War But the Class War, Paris
On the recent meeting of NWBTCW in Paris
We publish below a position paper by one of our sympathisers on the No War But The Class War committee meeting in Paris on 2 December. We welcome this contribution and generally support the political content of this text.
Anarchists and the Ukraine war
War fever, internationalism, and the limitations of anarchism
A response to a thread on the anarchist forum libcom, which highlights the deep divisions within the anarchist milieu over the war in Ukraine.
Dossier: The communist left or 'communisation'?
Critique of the so-called “Communisers”
A new series which develops our critique of the so-called “communisation” tendency and its claims to have gone beyond marxism and the communist left.
International Leaflet
UK, France, Spain, Germany, Mexico, China... Everywhere the same question: How to develop the struggle? How to make governments back down?
A new leaflet which we are distributing in a number of countries, aimed at answering the key questions facing the current wave of workers' struggles
ICC Online Dossier
Solidarity with healthworkers striking in defence of their wages and conditions, not with their employer, the NHS
A series of articles explaining that the campaign to defend the NHS is a campaign to defend the capitalist state, not the working class.
The 20s of the 21st century
The acceleration of capitalist decomposition poses the clear possibility of the destruction of humanity
A statement from the ICC about the perspectives of capitalist society in the 2020s.
February 1st strikes and demonstrations
Union control reinforces divisions
On February 1st around half a million workers from different sectors in Britain were on strike – rail and some bus networks, civil servants, and in particular workers in education, both schools and universities. This was the biggest number of workers out on one day since the strike wave in Britain began last summer.
Third Manifesto of the ICC
Capitalism leads to the destruction of humanity... Only the world revolution of the proletariat can put an end to it
130 years ago, when tensions between capitalist powers were growing in Europe, Frederick Engels posed the dilemma for humanity: Communism or Barbarism. This alternative was concretised in the First World War which broke out in 1914 and caused 20 million deaths, another 20 million invalids, and in the chaos of war there was the Spanish flu pandemic with more than 50 million deaths. The revolution in Russia in 1917 and the revolutionary attempts in other countries put an end to the carnage and showed the other side of the historical dilemma posed by Engels: the overthrow of capitalism on a world scale by the revolutionary class, the proletariat, opening up the possibility of a communist society.
France: the movement against pension “reform”
It’s not enough to come out in large numbers, we have to take control of our struggles!
Leaflet given out by the ICC at the recent massive demonstrations in France
Mobilisation against pension "reform" in France
How to resist the attacks and develop the fight?
An article showing that the current revival of workers’ militancy has spread to other European countries.
Workers' strikes and popular demonstrations in China
Citizens' mobilisations for "democracy" are a deadly trap for the working class
Blank sheets of paper symbolise the demand for "free speech" and other democratic illusions
An article looking at a very real danger facing the workers of China.
No War But The Class War, Paris
A committee that leads its participants into a dead end
On Friday 2 December, the first meeting in France of the 'No War But The Class War' committee took place in Paris. In this article, we explain our criticisms of this project.
Political parasitism
Attacking the ICC: the raison d'être of the IGCL
For once, we thank the “International Group of the Communist Left” (IGCL) for giving us the opportunity to remind ourselves of what it really is. To this end, we reproduce below (in full, including footnotes) their little article that is supposed to point out our impasse and contradictions on the issue of parasitism, if the title is to be believed. And for the benefit of our readers, we respond to it right after.
Refugee crisis
The shipwreck of government policy
The "refugee problem" is a product of the global disintegration of capitalism, and the ruling class has no solution to it.
Internationalist Voice on the protests in Iran
The emancipation of women is only possible in a communist society
We publish here an article by the Internationalist Voice group, which argues forcefully against the attempts of the international bourgeoisie to steer the mounting anger of the population in Iran towards the illusion of an “emancipation of women” inside the confines of capitalist society.
Significance of the “summer of anger" in Britain
The return of the combativity of the world proletariat
Because of the number of sectors affected, the combativity of the workers involved in the struggle and the widespread support for action among the working population, the wave of strikes which has spread throughout Britain this summer is an event of undeniable importance on the domestic level. But we also need to understand that the historical significance of these struggles goes far beyond their local dimension or even their one-off occurrence.
The communist left or 'communisation'?
Critique of the so-called “Communisers” Part 3.1: Jacques Camatte - from Bordigism to the negation of the proletariat
Jacques Camatte is undoubtedly one of the founding fathers of the so-called “communisation” current. In developing a marxist critique of the profound errors of this current, we think that it will be useful to provide an account of Camatte’s political wandering from orthodox Bordigism to the total rejection of the “theory of the proletariat” and a theorisation of escape from the class struggle. In our view, while few of the “communisers” have followed Camatte to his ultimate conclusions, in many ways the path he took reveals the real dynamic of the whole tendency.
Reader's contribution on elections in Turkey
The electoral circus and the falsifiers of marxism
This is a contribution by a close sympathiser from Turkey, taking position on the forthcoming elections in that country. We fully agree with the comrade’s denunciation of the election circus in Turkey (and everywhere else), in particular the pernicious role of the extreme left, which justifies participation in the bourgeois political arena in the name of “anti-fascism” or the “defence of democracy”.
Middle East
Conflict within the Israeli bourgeoisie: no camp for workers to choose!
For several months now, the main cities of Israel have seen demonstrations mobilising hundreds of thousands of people protesting against the proposals by the Netanyahu government to “reform” the Supreme Court, which it sees as an obstacle to its policies. But the demonstrations, organised under the banner of the defence of democracy and of “true” Israeli patriotism, offer only a false alternative for the working class.This article was first drafted when the demonstrations were in full swing, but in our view the present hiatus in the street mobilisations is unlikely to be maintained for long.
Polemic
The ICT's ambiguities about the historical significance of the strike wave in the UK
On the need to understand the historical context of the present class movements
Movement against pension reform in France
In France as elsewhere... the same struggle! The same class combat!
Despite the provocations, the traps set by the government, the unions and all the other forces of the bourgeoisie, the struggle in France continues!
“Social dialogue” and “democracy” versus class consciousness
Trade unions try to sabotage the struggle in France - as everywhere else.
Police violence and confronting the cops… the bourgeoisie will use all the means at its disposal to undermine the struggle!
Faced with the determination of the workers in France, the bourgeoisie is coming up with all kinds of tricks and traps.
Balance sheet of one year of war
The war in Ukraine is fuelling barbarism and chaos around the world
More than a year already of appalling carnage; hundreds of thousands of soldiers massacred on both sides; more than a year of indiscriminate bombings and executions, murdering tens of thousands of civilians; more than a year of systematic destruction turning the country into a gigantic field of ruins, while the displaced populations number in the millions; more than a year of huge budgets sunk into this butchery on both sides (Russia is now committing about 50% of its state budget to the war, while the hypothetical reconstruction of the ruined Ukraine would require more than 400 billion dollars). And this tragedy is far from over
History of the revolutionary movement
140 years since the death of Marx
A series of articles focusing on the huge contribution of Karl Marx to the revolutionary workers’ movement.
100 years after the foundation of the Communist International: What lessons can we draw for future combats? (Part V)
Concluding article in the series.
Divisions in the ruling class
Peru: The dead-end of the protests and the role of state repression
An analysis of the ongoing protests in Peru and the competing factions behind them.
Balance sheet of discussions at the ICC’s public meetings
The response of the working class to the acceleration of barbarism
War, pandemic, ecological disaster, economic chaos, famine: in the opening years of the 2020s, all these products of a decaying system have been intensifying and acting on each other, leaving little doubt that capitalism is spiralling towards destruction. But in opposition to the sense of doom and hopelessness pervading society, starting in June 2022 in GB, workers around the world have ignited the fire of international class struggle...
Rail disaster in Greece
In Greece as well, workers’ combativity and solidarity
Workers in Greece take their place in the international revival of class struggle, expressing their anger at the recent rail disaster which left 57 dead.
Earthquake hits Turkey and Syria
The name of the disaster is capitalism - only proletarian class solidarity can save us!
We publish here a statement by some comrades in Turkey on the earthquake which has hit Turkey and Syria. We salute the comrades’ rapid response to these awful events, in which the official death toll has already passed 21,000 and is likely to climb much higher, including those who survived the initial quake but now face hunger, cold and disease. As the statement shows, this “natural” disaster has been made far more deadly by the callous demands of capitalist profit and competition, which has obliged people to live in totally inadequate, flimsy housing. The particularly catastrophic effects of the recent earthquake illustrates the accentuation of the bourgeoise’s contempt for the lives and suffering of the working class and the oppressed today in the period where the capitalist mode of production is decomposing in every respect.
Economic crisis in Britain
The bourgeoisie has no alternative to austerity and more brutal attacks
The problems facing the UK economy in part express weaknesses that go back over a century. Add to that the impact of the world economic crisis and it becomes clear that the ruling class has no bright future to offer us.
Health crisis, economic stagnation, imperialist pressure...
The Chinese bourgeoisie in turmoil
Far from being the “big winner” in the Covid crisis, the weaknesses of the Chinese model of state capitalism are being laid bare.
Editorial, International Review 169
Faced with war and the acceleration of the crisis of capitalism, revolutionaries have a historic responsibility
International Review 169 will be out soon. This is the editorial article.
Iran
The necessity for workers' autonomy
June 2021: striking oil workers at a refinery
The wave of protests in Iran expresses a widespread discontent against the Islamic regime, but the working class in Iran faces the danger of being "drowned" in a popular movement dominated by bourgeois slogans
Internal debate on the world situation
Reply to Ferdinand
We publish a reply to Divergences with the Resolution on the International Situation of the 24th ICC congress (explanation of a minority position, by Ferdinand), expressing the position of the ICC
Reply to comrade Steinklopfer, August 2022
A response to the contribution Explanation of the amendments by comrade Steinklopfer rejected by the Congress.
Explanation of the amendments by comrade Steinklopfer rejected by the Congress
Here we publish the second of two texts expressing divergences on the resolution on the international situation from the 24th ICC Congress.
Divergences with the Resolution on the International Situation of the 24th ICC congress (explanation of a minority position, by Ferdinand)
ICC presentation
In continuity with the discussion documents published after the ICC’s 23rd Congress, we are publishing a further contribution by a comrade expressing divergences with the Resolution on the International Situation from the ICC’s 24th Congress.
Economic crisis
The world economy hit by the acceleration of decomposition
Capitalism is more and more being strangled by a whole series of contradictions inherent in its way of existing, which are now inter-acting and mutually reinforcing each other, threatening society at unheard of levels of scale and frequency.
Update of the 1990 orientation text
Militarism and Decomposition (May 2022)
In the wake of the Ukraine war, a new text updating our analysis of the growth of militarism in the final phase of capitalist decadence.