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The essence of revolutionary communism new introduction to the Classics of Marxi

Marxist Theory · 2026-05-13

Core Argument

This introduction argues that the four canonical texts collected in The Classics of Marxism: Volume One — The Communist Manifesto, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, The State and Revolution, and The Transitional Programme — are not historical artefacts but the most relevant theoretical tools available for understanding and acting upon the present crisis of capitalism. The central claim is that the current conjuncture, marked by deepening inequality, permanent austerity, geopolitical instability, and the exhaustion of reformist illusions, has restored the conditions in which Marxism's revolutionary conclusions are once again demonstrably correct. The article asserts that the working class, now numerically stronger than ever, requires a clear theoretical grasp of the state, the dialectical method, and a transitional programme to move from defensive struggles to the conquest of power.

Theoretical Grounding

The analysis is grounded in the classical Marxist tradition as transmitted through the revolutionary wing of the Third International. It draws on:

  • Dialectical materialism as elaborated by Engels in Anti-Dühring and Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, emphasising the study of phenomena in motion, in their inner contradictions, and in their historical development — as opposed to static, empirical observation.
  • The Marxist theory of the state, as recovered by Lenin in The State and Revolution against the distortions of the Second International. The state is understood as an instrument of class rule arising from irreconcilable class antagonisms, not a neutral arbiter. The working class must smash the bourgeois state and replace it with a "state of armed workers" that begins to wither away as class distinctions dissolve.
  • The theory of capitalist crisis drawn from The Communist Manifesto: the periodic crises of overproduction, the tendency toward concentration of capital, and the inevitability of war as the ultimate resolution of inter-imperialist rivalries.
  • The transitional method developed by Trotsky in 1938, which rejects both the reformist "minimum programme" (demands that remain within capitalism) and ultra-left abstention from immediate struggles. Instead, it proposes demands that arise from workers' immediate needs but dialectically lead beyond capitalism toward the conquest of power.

The article sits firmly within the Trotskyist tradition, treating the degeneration of the Soviet Union under Stalin, the failure of the Comintern, and the necessity of the Fourth International as settled historical conclusions. It explicitly rejects reformism and opportunism as the principal obstacles to working-class victory.

Conjunctural Relevance

The article connects its theoretical argument to the current moment through several concrete observations:

  • Economic crisis and permanent austerity: Since the 2008 financial crisis, austerity measures across the European Union have left the average citizen €3,000 worse off in real purchasing power. To meet EU debt-to-GDP targets, public spending would need to be cut by 2 per cent annually until 2070 — meaning two to three generations of permanent austerity. This is not a temporary adjustment but a structural feature of the system's crisis.
  • Deepening inequality: The top 10 per cent of US households own more than two-thirds of the country's wealth. Globally, the top five corporations earn more than the poorest 2 billion people. Since 1980, workers' share of global wealth has fallen by 6–8 per cent, approximately $6 trillion per year.
  • The exhaustion of reformism: The article traces the arc from the post-2008 radicalisation — Podemos in Spain, SYRIZA in Greece, Corbyn in Britain, Sanders in the US — to the capitulation of each of these forces. This is presented not as a failure of individuals but as the logical outcome of attempting to reform capitalism from within. The result is widespread disillusionment that is driving a layer of youth toward revolutionary conclusions.
  • Geopolitical instability: The imperialist powers are in conflict over markets and spheres of influence, producing "instability and turmoil, wars and civil wars." The article draws a direct line from the First World War through the 1930s slump to the Second World War, arguing that the same dynamic is at work today, though at a lower intensity.
  • The crisis of working-class leadership: Trotsky's 1938 diagnosis — "a historical crisis of the leadership of the proletariat" — is presented as more accurate than ever. Reformist leaders in Britain, Germany, Italy, and the United States have completely capitulated to the capitalist order, leaving the working class leaderless and opening space for right-wing populist demagogues.

Where the Argument Continues

This introduction serves as a gateway to the broader corpus of the Revolutionary Communist International. The argument continues in several directions:

  • The four texts themselves are the obvious next step. The article is explicitly designed to send readers to the originals.
  • The question of the Soviet Union's degeneration is raised but not developed. Trotsky's The Revolution Betrayed and the RCI's ongoing analysis of Stalinism and post-Stalinist states would be the natural continuation.
  • The analysis of reformist parties' capitulation is stated as fact but not theoretically elaborated. The RCI's extensive writings on Corbynism, SYRIZA, Podemos, and the US Democratic Party — available on marxist.com and in Against the Stream episodes — provide the detailed case-by-case analysis.
  • The transitional method is introduced but only sketched. The RCI's programme documents, internal discussions, and interventions in current struggles (e.g., around the cost-of-living crisis, housing, Palestine solidarity) apply this method to concrete conditions.
  • The question of fascism and the far right is mentioned but not analysed. The RCI's theoretical work on the nature of contemporary right-wing populism and the conditions for fascism's rise would be the relevant continuation.

Connections

This article should be read alongside:

  • Trotsky's The Transitional Programme itself, particularly the 1938 discussion with American Trotskyists that the article quotes.
  • Lenin's The State and Revolution, especially the chapters on the experience of the Paris Commune and the withering away of the state.
  • Engels' Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, for the full exposition of dialectical materialism and the critique of utopian socialism.
  • Marx and Engels' The Communist Manifesto, particularly Chapter One on the bourgeoisie as a revolutionary class and Chapter Two on the proletariat and communists.
  • Trotsky's The Revolution Betrayed (1936), for the analysis of the Soviet Union's degeneration that underlies the call for political revolution.
  • The RCI's ongoing analysis of the cost-of-living crisis and the wave of strikes and protests across Europe, South Asia, and Latin America, which provides the empirical material for applying the transitional method today.

Key Quotes

  1. "The state is a product and a manifestation of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms. The state arises where, when and in so far as class antagonisms objectively cannot be reconciled. And, conversely, the existence of the state proves that the class antagonisms are irreconcilable." (Lenin, quoted in the article)

  2. "The aim [of the Communist League] is the overthrow of the bourgeoisie, the rule of the proletariat, the abolition of the old, bourgeois society based on class antagonisms and the foundation of a new society without classes and without private property." (Rules of the Communist League, quoted in the article)

  3. "The world political situation as a whole is chiefly characterised by a historical crisis of the leadership of the proletariat." (Trotsky, The Transitional Programme, quoted in the article)

  4. "The working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made State machinery and wield it for its own purposes." (Marx, The Civil War in France, quoted in the article)

  5. "Without a socialist revolution, in the next historical period at that, a catastrophe threatens the whole culture of mankind." (Trotsky, The Transitional Programme, quoted in the article)

  6. "It has been calculated that for the EU member states to achieve a government debt-to-GDP ratio of 60 per cent — as established in a treaty they all signed up to — would require an annual cut of 2 per cent of public spending every year until 2070. This implies permanent austerity measures for two or three generations to come." (Fred Weston, in the article)