Who are we?

At the end of August 2024, 130 people from 29 countries gathered to initiate the ‘Project for a Revolutionary Marxist International’. We are setting out with the aim of creating a revolutionary socialist international organisation rooted in the need for and diversity of working-class struggles, from the defence of economic and democratic rights to those against sexism, racism, queerphobia, and all forms of oppression, genocides, climate crisis, war, and neo-colonialism, and grounded in Marxism and socialist feminism as tools to understand and above all change the world. 

The need for a socialist transformation of the globe is everyday underlined in blood — today’s rotten imperialist capitalism relies on genocide, on neo-colonial super-exploitation and destruction of the climate and ecosystems, on escalating militarisation and refugee walls, on fuelling racism and misogyny, on LGBTQ-phobic hate campaigns and attacks on workers’ and democratic rights… The experiences of millions and millions of workers and oppressed people in struggle, from Russia 1917, to France 1968, Tunisia 2011, Sudan 2019, Sri Lanka 2022 (and so many more) show that the system change we need is spelled revolution, and that the oppressed working class billions of this planet have the power to carry out revolutionary change — if they develop their own independent revolutionary organisations to lead it.

For the moment, while repulsive world leaders like Donald Trump, Netanyahu, Putin, Xi Jinping, Hemedti etc etc personify that the destructive, far right, counter revolutionary forces are holding the upper hand, it is also the case that hardly a day goes by without working class people across the world demonstrating their explosive strength — examples from recent months are the Spanish general strike against the genocide in Gaza, the “Gen Z “ mass uprisings in Bangladesh and Kenya, the Indian health care workers’ strike and protest movement against rape and femicide. 

This is a time in history where the clash between the forces of revolution/counter revolution is set to intensify — a clash between any hope for justice and peace vs imperialism-fuelled infinity wars, between decent incomes and lives vs an evermore brutal, poor and short struggle for survival, between a future with a chance vs endgame climate disaster. At the same time as the need for revolutionary socialist change is more desperate than ever, the consciousness of this necessity amongst working class people is very uneven and generally low, and the level of organisation to act on it has been pushed further back.

We do not claim that by forming the PRMI, we fill this gap, but it is our hope and intention that we will develop the capacity to meaningfully contribute to doing so.

We trace our roots back to the very beginnings of the workers, women’s, and anti-colonial struggles; to the Russian revolution in 1917, and to its defence against its brutal Stalinist bureaucratic derailment. The need to form the PRMI has emerged out of the recognition that to revive that revolutionary movement requires us to build much stronger and healthier foundations than that which existed in the organisation many of us were previously in, the ISA (International Socialist Alternative) and its predecessor the CWI. 

This became clear when a majority of the ISA leadership egregiously mishandled very serious allegations of abuse and violence against a prominent member. They degenerated politically and failed to consistently apply or grasp the fundamentals of safeguarding and socialist feminism, violating internal democracy and undermining serious political analysis in the process and in doing so put at risk the historical, theoretical, and organisational strengths that had marked the early days of the CWI. 

We recognise that to really move forward out of the wreckage requires a process of collective discussions to review our past, and in particular what is now needed to build a genuine revolutionary International. Essential in the formation of the PRMI is therefore to collectively engage in such a review process — linked to deepening discussions on world perspectives, strengthening our theoretical foundations, and working together to grow stronger roots in the struggles of the working class and all the oppressed. Deepening our understanding of socialist feminism, antiracism, LGBTQI+ liberation are key elements, and linked to the fostering of an internal culture with safeguarding, and the freest possible democratic discussion and interaction. Only in this way will it be possible, over time, to together clarify the political foundations and help grow the fighters needed for a real Revolutionary Marxist International. Contact us!