Nanda Wickremesinghe’s political life as a Trotskyist spanned nearly seven decades. Right until the end, despite ailments that forced him to withdraw from active party work, our comrade had never lost his revolutionary spirit.
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Perspective
Canada’s federal election and the crisis of working class political perspective
Those workers and youth who voted for Carney and his Liberals in the belief that they represent any type of progressive answer to Trump and all that he represents—oligarchy, dictatorship, fascism and war—have been cruelly deceived. For this the trade unions and the social-democratic NDP are principally responsible.
Under conditions where his poll numbers are collapsing and protesters surrounded the venue, Trump, propped up by the media, the Democratic Party and the union bureaucracy, presented his first 100 days as a new American “Golden Age.”
Protesters outnumbered those attending Trump’s speech at Macomb Community College, held to mark his first 100 days.
The SEP stresses that the decisive question is building an independent and socialist movement of the working class, directed against Labor, the Coalition, the Greens and the entire capitalist political establishment.
The SEP and IYSSE are fielding two slates of candidates in the May 6 election for the Karainagar Divisional Council in the northern Jaffna district and the Kolonnawa Urban Council in the suburbs of Colombo.
A succession of outraged British politicians and commentators have called for Kneecap to be charged, their funding to be cut, their gigs to be cancelled and even the band's name to be dropped from public statements for the crime of opposing genocide.
Police-state repression is part of the government's drive to crush social and political opposition by establishing a presidential dictatorship.
The strike revealed two important realities: the immense, paralyzing power of the working class—and the efforts of the ruling elite and the SEIU bureaucracy to suppress it.
Mahdawi was a leading figure alongside Mahmoud Khalil in the student protests against Israel’s genocide against Gaza at Columbia University in 2023 and 2024.
The ruling marks the first legal victory for student protesters who have faced an intensifying campaign of repression on college campuses across the United States for their opposition to the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has sparked widespread outrage with disparaging remarks about autism and plans to set up a national registry of the autistic.
Defence Minister John Healey said the operation “was carried out alongside the US, our closest security ally” and “conducted in line… with the established UK policy of this government and the last.”
Behind this united front for war and social cuts is the deep crisis of capitalism. Like Trump in the United States, the ruling class in Germany is responding with dictatorship at home and war abroad.
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1 year since the arrest of the Ukrainian socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk
Exactly one year ago, the Ukrainian socialist and leader of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists was arrested by the Ukrainian Secret Service.
A provocation that failed: On Alex Steiner’s attempt to discredit the ICFI’s defense of Ukrainian Trotskyist Bogdan Syrotiuk
The WSWS rejects Alex Steiner's dishonest and evasive explanation of his decision to post false information provided by an anti-communist provocateur, aimed at disrupting the defense of Bogdan Syrotiuk.
State prosecution fails to present evidence in trial against Ukrainian socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk
Several months into the trial, the prosecution has failed to present evidence for its charges of "high treason" that served as the basis for Syrotiuk's arrest.
Alex Steiner’s tangled web of political deceit
Three weeks have passed since Steiner posted on permanent-revolution.org a slanderous letter provided by an agent-provocateur. Steiner’s default response to the WSWS's exposure of his deceitful attempt to justify his provocation is to tell more lies.
For a national strike to fight 20,000 more job cuts at UPS!
Workers must answer through mass action of their own, uniting with workers in other industries across the US and the world and prepared by a rank-and-file rebellion against the Teamsters bureaucracy.
Dollar crisis is focus of discussions at IMF meeting
Regulators, government officials and investors would like to think the present financial turbulence is a passing phase, that “normalcy” could return, but they fear a fundamental shift has taken place.
Trump’s first 100 days of counterrevolution and criminality
From his first day in office, Trump has worked methodically to establish a presidential dictatorship, following a blueprint drawn up by his fascist advisors.
In memory of Wolfgang Weber: A fighter for Trotskyism
The following remarks were delivered to a January 19 meeting by David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site.
Australia: Socialist Equality Party meeting attendees support party’s anti-war program
“It’s important for workers to push back against even the inkling of fascism.”
Support the SEP in the Australian federal election! Build a socialist movement of the working class against war, austerity and dictatorship!
The Socialist Equality Party is standing candidates in the Australian federal election to build an independent movement of the working class against Labor, the Liberal-National Coalition, the Greens and capitalism itself.
Socialist Equality Party (Australia) holds public meetings ahead of federal election
“Labor and the Coalition are open parties of war, marching in lockstep to transform Australia into a frontline state for US imperialism. The Greens and the pseudo-left have become their accomplices.”
SEP campaign wins warm response among workers and youth in Oxley
In this working class electorate, we see the growing social gulf between the colossal fortunes of oligarchs like mining magnates Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer and the financial hardships facing workers and their families.
In transparent act of censorship, Cornell University cancels anti-genocide singer Kehlani’s performance at campus event
The university’s blacklisting of the artist is its latest attack on the First Amendment rights of all who oppose the genocide of the Palestinians.
Kneecap rap group face down Zionist intimidation: “The young people at our gigs see through the lies”
Irish rap group Kneecap are being investigated by British counter-terrorism police. The move, part of an orchestrated campaign, is in response to the widespread support amongst young people for the group’s principled and determined opposition to the Gaza genocide.
2025 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 1
Souleymane’s Story, Xoftex and Where the Wind Comes From: “I don’t know why I came to France”
The phrase “precarious work” may be metaphorical in some cases, but in the unstable and perilous existence Souleymane leads the “precariousness” is real and ever-present.
Film industry job losses, the bankruptcy of the unions and the fight for rank-and-file committees
Annual television production in Los Angeles declined by 58.4 percent in just three years.
Book Review
Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
Aidan Beatty's new book is not a biography, but rather a political diatribe against Gerry Healy and Trotskyism.
“I’ve been very impressed by the articles you’ve published”
Historian Kerby Miller discusses Aidan Beatty and the writing of Irish history
Miller, the preeminent American historian of Irish history, was recently interviewed by the World Socialist Web Site.
Socialist Equality Party exposes Aidan Beatty’s falsifications in Institute of Historical Research seminar
After Beatty delivered a lengthy diatribe, Barbara Slaughter, David North and Eric London exposed his slanderous allegations against Gerry Healy and the history of the Trotskyist movement.
Slander vs. biography: Aidan Beatty’s falsification of Gerry Healy’s family and childhood in a decade of rebellion and civil war
This essay is devoted to a detailed review of Gerry Healy’s family background and youth, based on research conducted in Ireland, including visits to the relevant archives in Dublin and in Galway where the Healy family lived.
Powerful strike by Los Angeles County workers rattles Democrats
The strike revealed two important realities: the immense, paralyzing power of the working class—and the efforts of the ruling elite and the SEIU bureaucracy to suppress it.
Los Angeles County strike erupts as officials threaten mass layoffs
More than 55,000 Los Angeles County workers are not only confronting the intransigence of the county but the treachery of their own supposed representatives.
Hundreds attend Detroit funeral for Stellantis Dundee Engine worker Ronnie Adams
The 63-year-old skilled tradesman was crushed to death by an automated crane at the Dundee Engine Complex in southeast Michigan on April 7.
Private equity firm announces bankruptcy, leading to shutdown of hospital system throughout southeast Pennsylvania
A Texas bankruptcy ruling led to the planned shutdown of two hospitals, employing 2,651 people and serving 75,000 patients in suburban Philadelphia.
Hundreds of Zionist fascists riot through New York, chanting “death to Arabs”
A mob of over a hundred Zionist-fascist thugs violently assaulted pro-Palestinian protesters, a bystander and a police officer in Brooklyn last Thursday, April 24, during an appearance by fascist Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at a pro-Zionist religious group.
Federal hearing reveals chilling details of Trump administration’s political targeting of PhD student Momodou Taal
The transcript confirms that Taal, a British-Gambian citizen, was one of thousands of international students targeted under Trump’s sweeping executive orders attacking anti-genocide protesters.
Trump administration lawyers admit they seized Mahmoud Khalil without a warrant
Immigration agents claimed Khalil needed to be arrested before a warrant could be produced because he was a “flight risk” and not “cooperative,” lies disproved by video of Khalil’s abduction taken by his wife.
Michigan Attorney General announces FBI raids targeted pro-Palestinian protesters over “vandalism and property damage”
The raids were executed across Ann Arbor, Canton and Ypsilanti. No one was arrested or charged during the raids, but police and FBI agents seized electronic devices and personal belongings and briefly detained 11 individuals for interrogation.
Australian workers, youth denounce police killing of homeless man
Socialist Equality Party campaigners, led by Senate candidate in the federal election Taylor Hernan, spoke with workers and young people over the weekend in Footscray, Melbourne, where police shot dead 35-year-old Abdifatah Ahmed on April 17.
New Zealand ruling elite escalates preparations for war
China is the main target of the relentless war build-up, with the entire parliamentary establishment and corporate media in full agreement.
Pakistan warns Indian military strike “imminent,” as tensions between South Asia’s rival nuclear-armed powers flare
Tensions between South Asia’s rival nuclear-armed powers have been aboil since India’s far-right, US-backed government blamed Pakistan for a brutal April 23 terrorist attack in Indian-held Kashmir.
War tensions between India and Pakistan mount following terrorist attack in Indian-held Kashmir
In a further escalation, the two sides have repeatedly exchanged gun and artillery fire across the Line of Control that demarcates India-held Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistani-controlled Azad Kashmir.
Liberals win Canadian federal election dominated by Trump’s threat to annex the country
Carney will head a vicious right-wing government committed to advancing Canadian imperialism's interests through war and brutal attacks on workers' social and democratic rights.
NYPD violently breaks up attempt by students to establish protest encampment at City College of New York
Police repression of anti-genocide students and other protesters continues in New York with the full support of campus administration and the Democratic Party
LAPD shot Jillian Shriner from behind a fence in her backyard, then charged her with attempted murder to cover their tracks
The LAPD arrested and charged Shriner with attempted murder, a move widely seen as an effort to cover up what appears to be an unjustifiable and reckless police shooting.
Canada’s Conservatives threaten democratic rights and vow massive military build-up in Trump-style election campaign
It is a measure of how far to the right all the official parties of Canadian imperialism have moved that in many policy areas, the Tories’ far-right program is virtually indistinguishable from the platforms of the Liberals and New Democrats.
Autism and vaccines: The history and politics of the Kennedy-Trump attack on public health
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has sparked widespread outrage with disparaging remarks about autism and plans to set up a national registry of the autistic.
Trump Justice Department purging civil rights division to repurpose it for state repression
The division is being repurposed from its official mandate of opposing discrimination and curtailing police abuse to encouraging police repression, targeting Trump’s political opponents, suppressing campus protests, and intensifying government control over universities.
Trump declares “sanctuary” cities and states are engaged in insurrection against federal government
In an executive order, the US president threatened state and local governments with both financial and legal sanctions if they oppose his anti-migrant policies.
The Nation, pseudo-left back UAW President Fain’s embrace of Trump tariffs
The most basic lie in The Nation’s article is that it is possible to create a “progressive” nationalist politics which benefit the working class.
UK Labour government continues to deny justice for Horizon Post Office scandal victims
Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses—an average of one a week—for accounting errors caused by a faulty IT system named Horizon, provided to the Post Office by Fujitsu.
Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (UK) pass resolution in defence of striking Birmingham bin workers
The Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee meeting on April 27 passed a resolution in defence of 350 striking Birmingham bin workers.
UK postal workers discuss fightback against gutting of Royal Mail and Kretinsky takeover
The meeting brought together Royal Mail workers, including at its Parcelforce division and took contributions by postal workers from affiliated sections of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees in the United States and Canada.
Massive blackout paralyses Spain and Portugal
Subway networks, hospitals, airports, traffic lights, ATMs and telecommunications systems were crippled in scenes that brought a 21st-century population back to 19th-century conditions.
Tanzania’s CCM government suppresses the main opposition CHADEMA
Mounting repression and attacks on democratic rights in Tanzania is part of a broader authoritarian turn across East Africa and globally.
Two years on: Sudan’s civil war spreads amid worsening humanitarian disaster
As the gateway to the Sahara, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, Sudan’s location gives it enormous geostrategic importance for imperialism.
Kenyan government violently suppresses student play critical of state violence and corruption
Ruto’s crackdown on Echoes of War is a stark warning to artists, youth and workers across Kenya and internationally: any expression of opposition, no matter how symbolic or restrained, will be met with brute force.
Kenyan trade union leader demands social media censorship ahead of Gen Z protest anniversary
Speaking at a shop stewards meeting, Francis Atwoli urged the “broad-based” government to crack down on online opposition. “Social media [users], it is time you stopped propaganda. You must love your country. If you are not patriotic, even investors will exit. Otherwise, we will plunge into chaos,” he declared.
Underlying the interlinked crises of the capitalist system is an oligarchy that subordinates all of society to profit and the accumulation of personal wealth. The fight against the oligarchy is by its very nature a revolutionary task.
US airstrike massacres 68 people in migrant detention camp in Yemen
A US airstrike killed 68 people Monday in Yemen's Sa'ada province, in one of the greatest massacres of civilians to date in the Trump administration's war on Yemen.
Mass starvation looms in Gaza as World Food Program says stocks have run out
After seven weeks of a full blockade of food, water, medical supplies and electricity, the United Nations World Food Program warned that it had delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meal kitchens in Gaza, raising the prospect of imminent mass starvation for the enclave’s remaining population.
Israeli national security minister pledges to bomb food depots as Gaza blockade reaches 50th day
On Tuesday, Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attended a meeting with leading members of Congress at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club where he pledged to bomb food and aid distribution centers, claiming his proposals met with support on the part of the lawmakers.
Trump administration engaged in advanced planning for military strike on Iran
According to a detailed New York Times report, the US and Israel have been working in close consultation for months on plans to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities in an attack slated for as early as May.
Morenoite-led union organizes “national seminar” with the military in Brazil
The event exposed the Morenoites’ reactionary nationalist pro-militarist policy, giving a platform to military personnel and figures who defend the bloody 1964-85 dictatorship.
São Paulo teachers continue strike for better wages and against school privatization
The attacks on education in São Paulo and around the world are part of the increasing shift of the world’s ruling elite towards war and fascism.
Peru’s government responds to transport strikes with police state threats
The strike received overwhelming support from the population, which is increasingly hostile to the political setup in a country deemed by the World Bank as the fourth most unequal in the world.
Trump ally Noboa claims victory in Ecuador’s gunpoint election
The re-election of Noboa was achieved on the shoulders of the military-police apparatus and of US imperialism, consolidating the direct dictatorship of the Ecuadorian oligarchy.
This week in history: April 28-May 4
Actors and museum workers strike; mass movement for socialism in Portugal; South Africa workers protest; Chinese communists found mass trade union center.
250 years since the battles of Lexington and Concord
The shot heard round the world
The battles, which emerged from a gathering revolutionary crisis, predicted the outcome of the war: the victory of the revolution over what was then the world’s greatest power, Great Britain, and the establishment of the world’s first modern democratic republic.
This week in history: April 21-27
Elian Gonzalez returned to his Cuban father; Workers shout down Democrats, US union bureaucrats; Jordan annexes West Bank; Kafka’s The Trial published
160 years since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
What is it about an event that took place so long ago that still, to this day, rouses a sense of loss?
Karen Bass’ “State of the City” speech: A declaration of war on Los Angeles’ working class
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass unveiled a proposed budget that slashes 1,647 city jobs.
Pennsylvania governor’s mansion targeted by arsonist attack
A 38-year-old out-of-work vehicle mechanic and former Army reservist, Cody Balmer, has been arrested for the crime.
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez resume fraudulent “Fighting Oligarchy” tour in Los Angeles
In contrast to the thousands in attendance looking to fight the system, Democratic politicians and trade union bureaucrats, capped by Sanders and AOC, advanced the dead-end perspective of pressuring the Democratic Party.
New Mexico governor declares state of emergency, deploys National Guard to back Albuquerque police crackdown
City officials stated that the troops, numbering approximately 60-70, will undergo a period of training and deploy to the Central Avenue Corridor area by mid-May, an area home to many poor and working class residents.
European powers denounce proposed US ceasefire in Ukraine
Behind the attacks on Trump in the European media lie bitter rivalries between Washington and the European imperialist powers over the plunder of Ukraine and trade war policies.
War fatigue in Ukraine continues to grow amid peace talks
This report on the ongoing military and social crisis in Ukraine was submitted to the WSWS by Ukrainian journalists.
Ukrainian forces on the ground in another Russian territory
Against the backdrop of the prospect of a US-brokered peace deal between the Zelensky and Putin governments, the Ukrainian military has launched another incursion into Russian territory.
The grand capitalist deception is at work again
This article was submitted to the WSWS by Maxim Goldarb, a Ukrainian socialist compelled to go into exile by political persecution from the NATO-backed Zelensky regime.
Wolfgang devoted over 50 years of his life to building the Trotskyist party and fought tirelessly politically and theoretically for the independence of the working class.
James Webb Space Telescope produces most detailed signature of the atmosphere of a planet beyond the Solar System
The boundless potential of astronomical discovery contrasts sharply with the backwardness and reaction promoted by Trump and the entire American oligarchy.
Antimicrobial resistance crisis a major threat to human health
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains threatens to set back the world a hundred years to the age when even a minor infection could result in a life-threatening condition.
New study finds that the world’s glaciers are melting at an accelerating rate
The rapid melting of glaciers due to climate change will have disastrous consequences for humanity.
New discovery of ancient bone tools from East Africa reveals greater complexity in the evolution of early human technology
The manufacture and use of bone tools dates to a million years earlier than previously documented.
White House replaces government COVID website with one promoting the Wuhan Lab Leak conspiracy
On Friday, April 18, the Trump White House replaced the COVID.gov site with a web page promoting the lie that the COVID pandemic was the product of nefarious activities conducted by China with the assistance of US scientists.
The deepening toll of Long COVID after 5 years of the pandemic
The capitalist response to the pandemic has exacted a stark toll of mass death and disability, while accelerating social inequality and initiating the destruction of the world’s public health infrastructure.
Top FDA vaccine scientist resigns, denouncing Kennedy’s “misinformation and lies”
Dr. Peter Marks made clear that a central impetus behind his resignation was Kennedy’s criminal response to the deepening measles outbreak in the US, which has now infected over 500 people, the vast majority unvaccinated children.
5 years of the COVID-19 pandemic: The response of the World Socialist Web Site
The WSWS’ record stands as an irrefutable indictment of the capitalist response to the pandemic and a testament to the necessity for a global socialist public health program to save lives.
This lecture was given by World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board Chairman David North at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, March 12.
Dollar crisis is focus of discussions at IMF meeting
Regulators, government officials and investors would like to think the present financial turbulence is a passing phase, that “normalcy” could return, but they fear a fundamental shift has taken place.
China demands withdrawal of all unilateral tariffs if US wants trade talks
Chinese government officials have said claims by the Trump administration that there are “active” discussions between Washington and Beijing are “fake news.”
IMF says Trump tariff war to bring “significant slowdown” in global economy
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva has said “trade policy uncertainty is literally off the charts.”
Trade war against China fuels disruption for US ports, threatening job losses
The implications of multi-million dollar port fees will be nothing short of disastrous for workers inside the US and abroad.
An appeal to Sri Lankan garment workers: How to fight tariff war attacks on jobs and wages
Like the struggle against International Monetary Fund austerity, the fight against the devastating consequences of tariff war is international.
Sri Lankan SEP election meeting discusses how to fight IMF austerity
SEP and IYSSE speakers discussed the deepening global crisis of capitalism, the eruption of fascist tendencies, the danger of world war and the need for a socialist and internationalist program.
Thousands of Vogue Tex garment workers in Sri Lanka protest over bonuses
The determined fight against management’s refusal to pay an annual bonus makes clear that workers will not tolerate attacks on their jobs, wages and conditions.
SEP (Sri Lanka) holds local government election campaign meeting in Jaffna
“The democratic rights of the Tamil people can only be achieved through the overthrow of capitalism and the fight for socialism.”
Fifty years after Chile’s horrific September 11 coup, its political relevance is becoming ever more urgent as the specter of dictatorship once again haunts the political life of Latin America.
Earthquake in Istanbul shows millions at risk
The ruling class and all its parties are indifferent to the fact that earthquakes and similar natural phenomena threaten millions of people. This shows that there is no other way out than for the working class to mobilise and take matters into its own hands.
US airstrikes in Yemen kill 80 and injure over 150
The Trump administration launched a series of deadly airstrikes on a major oil port at Ras Isa, Yemen, in which scores of people were killed, including port workers, civilians and aid workers, who were responding to the initial blast and were then hit with a Pentagon directed “double-tap.”
Mass protests erupt in high schools in Turkey
Although the immediate cause of the students’ reaction is the exile of their teachers, there is mounting anger over the poor quality of education, lack of a future, growing social inequality and state repression.
Washington threatens war with Iran ahead of talks in Oman
Amid the Gaza genocide and Trump’s escalating trade war, not only a US war but also a US deal with Iran would ultimately threaten war with China and Russia, who signed alliances with Iran.
Trotsky's assassination was the greatest political crime of the 20th century. Alongside Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky was the leader of the 1917 October revolution in Russia, which led to the establishment of the first workers’ state in history, and the preeminent strategist of world socialist revolution.
The Los Angeles fires: How the Democrats facilitated utility companies’ criminal neglect
Emerging evidence suggests that Assembly Bill 1054, passed by the Democratic Party-dominated legislature and signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019, played a crucial role in this catastrophe.
California governor makes significant concessions to corporate interests in rebuilding wildfire-hit areas
Newsom’s suspension of California’s landmark environmental regulations to fast-track utility infrastructure rebuilding in wildfire-affected areas, is a direct attack on democracy, environmental safeguards and working-class communities.
Signs point to Southern California Edison’s negligence and Democrats’ complicity in Los Angeles fire disaster
Edison prioritized profits over maintenance and fire prevention, endangering lives and communities.
How should Los Angeles be rebuilt after the fires?
The recent fires in Los Angeles have laid bare the devastating consequences of capitalism, a system that prioritizes profit over safety.
January 21 marked 100 years since the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. This page includes a collection of essays reviewing the life and ideas of the great Marxist theoretician, founder of the Bolshevik Party, and co-leader of the Russian Revolution.
Harvard’s rejection of Trump’s authoritarian demands and the fight to defend academic freedom and democratic rights
The conflict between Harvard and the Trump regime poses fundamental issues of democratic rights, including academic freedom.
IYSSE holds rally at Texas A&M University against Trump’s efforts to establish a dictatorship
The rally drew around 200 people from the university, including students, graduate students, and some academics, as well as workers and a few retirees in the surrounding Bryan County area on Thursday.
IYSSE holds meeting opposing mass deportations at Texas A&M University
Last Friday, the IYSSE held a successful meeting at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas opposing the mass deportations by the Trump administration that was attended by almost 30 people.
Texas A&M students protest Trump’s assault on immigrants, Democrats attempt to ban criticism
Rather than refuting the IYSSE’s exposure of the Democratic Party’s role in enabling Trump’s attacks, the Young Democrats resorted to attempted censorship.
The fight against fascism requires a fight against capitalism and war!
Having twice voted with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in favor of a brutal policy of sealing the borders against refugees, the conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) parliamentary groups in the Bundestag are prepared to accept the far-right party as a government partner.
Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei slate in Berlin certified for the federal election
The SGP is standing in the election to oppose war, fascism and genocide.
Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei appeal in the German federal election
Oppose imperialist war through the fight for socialism!
The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) is contesting the federal elections to oppose the all-party coalition advocating war and austerity.
Tony Robson addresses SEP (UK) Seventh National Congress on the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees
“The potential in the situation must be acted upon consciously by the cadre, in a deeper turn into the working class”
We are publishing the speech given by SEP National Committee member Tony Robson at the Seventh National Congress of the SEP (UK) on the work of the IWA-RFC in the UK.
WSWS hosts webinar with Momodou Taal, target of Trump’s efforts to deport anti-war students
Situating the attacks on Momodou Taal and other student activists in their political and historical context, the speakers urged viewers to become active in the struggle to mobilize the working class against fascism and war.
Sounding the Alarm and The Logic of Zionism: A discussion with David North on his two recent books
This discussion with David North, chairman of the World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board, will focus on his two most recent books, Sounding the Alarm: Socialism Against War and The Logic of Zionism: From Nationalist Myth to the Gaza Genocide.
Of, by and for the oligarchy: Trump’s cabinet & the restructuring of the American state
The election of Trump and his cabinet of reactionaries signifies the brutal restructuring of global society being carried out by the financial oligarchy.
The election debacle and the fight against dictatorship
The election of Donald Trump is a critical event whose political repercussions will be felt throughout the world. This fascist demagogue has won the 2024 election with both an electoral and popular vote majority. He will be re-installed in the White House on January 20, 2025.
Premiere in Berlin of a new documentary–Julian Assange and the Dark Secrets of War
The most telling episodes of the film include the testimony of Ethan McCord who relates that witnessing the savagery of the American military on that day in Iraq had changed his life forever.
Julian Assange delivers first speech since release from UK prison: “I pleaded guilty to journalism”
Assange told the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe: “I am not free today because the system worked, I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism.”
Australian spooks and their media mouthpieces bemoan Assange’s freedom
The complaints have a pathetic character to them, but also underscore the fact that the assault on democratic rights associated with the persecution of Assange persists and deepens.
The Australian Labor Party’s record in the Assange case
The Australian government's involvement in the plea deal arrangements was the result of mass popular pressure. It followed years of Labor actively assisting the persecution of Assange.
Mehring Books, the publishing arm of the Socialist Equality Party (US), is proud to announce the publication of Volume 1 of COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic, a compilation of the World Socialist Web Site's coverage of this global crisis.
Seminal documents of the Soviet Trotskyist movement from the early 1930s published for the first time
Published for the first time 90 years after they were written, the documents are an irrefutable vindication of the century-long struggle by the Trotskyist movement against Stalinism and for historical truth.
Analyzing a World in Chaos from an Island of Tranquility
This speech was given by David North at the second international commemoration of the work of Leon Trotsky on Büyükada (Prinkipo), Turkey, during the first period of his exile from the Soviet Union between 1929 and 1933.
A reply to an anarchist’s falsification of the Leon Trotsky commemoration on Prinkipo
The event was covered by many national and local media outlets and widely discussed on social media before and after the event in Turkey. However, a former Maoist and current anarchist published an article on his website denouncing and misrepresenting David North’s remarks.
On the anniversary of the assassination of Leon Trotsky
Eighty-four years ago today, on August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky was assassinated by an agent of the Stalinist secret police, the GPU, in his villa in Coyoacan, Mexico, where he spent the final three years of his life as a political exile.
Opening report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)
We are publishing here the opening report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US), given by David North, the national chairman of the SEP. The congress was held from August 4 to August 9, 2024.
Report to the SEP (US) Eighth National Congress
16 years since the Founding Congress of the Socialist Equality Party
We are publishing here the report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) given by Joseph Kishore, the national secretary of the SEP.
H5N1 Bird flu, climate change, and the social rights of the working class
The threat of pandemics and the deepening climate crisis raise existential concerns for all life and well-being on the planet, with capitalism bringing the world to the brink of annihilation.
Report to the SEP (US) Eighth National Congress
The barbarism of “forever COVID” and the fight for socialist public health
We are publishing here the report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) given by Evan Blake. The congress was held from August 4 to August 9, 2024.
Hundreds attend Detroit funeral for Stellantis Dundee Engine worker Ronnie Adams
The 63-year-old skilled tradesman was crushed to death by an automated crane at the Dundee Engine Complex in southeast Michigan on April 7.
Trump continues Biden’s stonewalling of court-ordered investigation into UAW elections
It is more than nine months since a federal judge ruled in favor of Mack Trucks worker and socialist candidate Will Lehman, ordering the Department of Labor to revisit his challenge to the fraudulent 2022–23 UAW election.
Stellantis worker crushed to death at Dundee, Michigan engine plant
Sixty-two-year-old skilled tradesman Ronnie Adams was crushed by a motorized arm on an assembly machine he was working on.
Despite reprieve for Stellantis workers in Toledo, threats to jobs remain
Despite Stellantis rescinding its threat to lay off 1,134 workers at the Jeep complex in Toledo, the looming threat of tariffs and trade war presages a renewed attack on auto jobs.
May Day 2024: The working class and the struggle against imperialist war
This is the text of the introductory speech delivered by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The political significance of the 2024 May Day Online Rally
This is the text of the speech delivered by Johannes Stern, editor of the German-language edition of the WSWS, as a summation to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The struggle against imperialist war among students and youth
This is the text of the speech delivered by Dilaxshan Mahalingam, an IYSSE member in Sri Lanka, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The fight against imperialist war in New Zealand and the Pacific
This is the text of the speech delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
Helen Halyard (1950-2023), a tribute to a life dedicated to the victory of world socialism
We are publishing here the tribute given by David North to Helen Halyard, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International for more than half a century, who died suddenly at the age of 73 on November 28. North’s remarks opened a memorial meeting for Helen held Sunday, December 3.
Remarks by David North at the conclusion of the international memorial meeting for Helen Halyard
We are publishing here the summation given by David North to the memorial meeting for Comrade Helen Halyard held on December 3.
“Building the world party was Helen’s goal in life, to which she made an indelible contribution”
We are publishing here the tribute to Helen Halyard written by Patrick Martin, a member of the US editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site and a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 52 years, and Esther Galen, a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 53 years.
Tribute to Helen: Beverly Lozano, a supporter from California
A tribute to Helen Halyard written by Beverly Lozano, a supporter of the WSWS.
Report to Sri Lanka meetings
Imperialism, the genocide in Gaza, and the world struggle for socialism
Socialist Equality Party (US) National Secretary Joseph Kishore delivered the following report to a meeting titled “Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the 21st Century” in Colombo on December 10.
University of Michigan IYSSE protests attack by pro-government thugs on Sri Lankan SEP members
We are publishing here a letter being sent by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at the University of Michigan condemning the violent attack on two members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka by pro-government thugs.
Magistrate court hearing on violent assault on Sri Lankan SEP members
While police have visited the crime scene and recorded witness statements they requested more time to obtain hospital medical reports.
Academics denounce pro-government thug attack on Sri Lankan SEP members
The SEP is calling on all those who are concerned to defend democratic rights of freedom of expression to register their opposition by sending protest letters to the relevant authorities.
The essays in this book, though written over the span of more than 40 years, are connected by a central argument: Leon Trotsky was the most significant figure in the history of socialism during the first four decades of the twentieth century, and his legacy remains the critical and indispensable theoretical and political foundation of the ongoing contemporary struggle for the victory of world socialism.
Order your print or epub version of the book from Mehring Books today.
Wisconsin documents reveal details of strategy behind Donald Trump’s 2020 fake elector scheme
A trove of court documents released on Monday show Wisconsin attorney Kenneth Chesebro and former judge Jim Troupis were instrumental in formulating the strategy of Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 elections through court cases that generated “a cloud of confusion” combined with the appointment of “alternative” electors in seven key states.
Appellate court rejects Trump’s claim that he cannot be prosecuted for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled against Donald Trump's assertion of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election.
Third Trump coup lawyer pleads guilty and agrees to testify in Georgia election case
Jenna Ellis is the third lawyer and fourth defendant to plead guilty in relation to the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Trump coup plot accomplice Chesebro pleads guilty in Georgia fake elector case
Kenneth Chesebro, attorney and close associate of Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Friday to one felony charge in exchange for his agreement to testify against the former-president and 16 other defendants in the fake elector scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
The Inquest is necessary to break through the cover-up, lies and misinformation that have been used to justify policies responsible for the avoidable deaths of millions.
1985-86: The victory of Trotskyism within the ICFI
The following lecture was delivered by Chris Marsden, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), and Ulaş Ateşçi, a leading member of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu (Socialist Equality Group) in Turkey, to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The Workers League’s defence of the Theory of Permanent Revolution against the opportunism of the Workers Revolutionary Party
The following lecture was delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group of New Zealand, and Thomas Scripps, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
1982: Marxism, the revolutionary party, and the critique of Healy’s Studies in Dialectics
The following lecture was delivered by Christoph Vandreier, the national secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) of Germany to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The role of Security and the Fourth International in the fight for the continuity of the International Committee of the Fourth International
The following lecture was delivered by Eric London, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (US), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
Vadim Z. Rogovin (10 May 1937 – 18 September 1998) was a Soviet Marxist sociologist and historian. Working in close collaboration with the International Committee of the Fourth International, Rogovin helped lay the foundations for the Trotskyist movement’s fight against the post-Soviet school of historical falsification, including in his six-volume Was There an Alternative? This page collects major essays and commemorations on Rogovin as well as links to his own writings.
Former Montgomery, Alabama teacher testifies about the forced reopening of schools in 2020-21
In this interview, Tynisa Williams, former teacher in Montgomery, Alabama, describes the experience of being forced to teach in-person in the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. She and her coworkers waged a courageous struggle to stop the deadly return to in-person learning that cost the lives of eight educators in the district.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 1
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found sharp expression in their universal demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 2
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found its sharpest expression in their demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Immunocompromised mother in Manhattan speaks to Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Melanie, whose children attend public schools in New York City, spoke to the WSWS about the toll the “let it rip” policy toward the pandemic has taken on her and her family.
The definitive left-wing critique of the 1619 Project. This volume includes interviews with eminent historians and essays from the World Socialist Web Site exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of history.
The Wuhan “lab leak” fraud: A political witch-hunt against science and public health
The hearings before the House subcommittee have been a bipartisan effort to foment anti-Chinese hysteria.
Democrats join with Republican fascists to witch-hunt scientist Peter Daszak
During Wednesday’s House Subcommittee on COVID-19 with Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, Democrats joined ranks with fascistic Republican colleagues to promote the Wuhan lab-leak lies.
The Wuhan lab lie: “Weapons of mass destruction” redux
In an uncanny instance of history repeating itself, the lies used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on false claims about “weapons of mass destruction” are being used to promote the United States’ unprecedented military buildup around China.
A discredited conspiracy theory about the origins of COVID-19
The Wuhan Lab Leak slander being resurrected to bolster US war drive against China
The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the Department of Energy has shifted its opinion on the origin of the coronavirus to it being most likely a result of a lab leak. However, unnamed sources who have read the report indicate the evidence is of low confidence.
Nikole Hannah-Jones’ Center for Democracy and Journalism: Racialist politics in the service of US imperialism
After one year, the Center’s main accomplishment has been to deepen the mutual embrace between sections of the upper middle class and the military-intelligence apparatus.
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ promotion of the racialist ideology of Ukrainian nationalism
The racialist historical revisionism of the Times and the racialist ideology of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis share a common premise: the mythological reimagining of history as a struggle of “the nation” and “the race.”
Oppose political censorship of antiwar views at Howard University!
We call on all students, faculty and staff members at Howard University to oppose this censorship and demand that the IYSSE be allowed to hold its planned meeting on campus.
Marcus Garvey and the reactionary logic of racialist politics
More than one hundred years after the formation of his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Marcus Garvey's legacy remains highly relevant in the struggle to overcome efforts to divide the working class along racial lines.
Comrade Wije Dias, the longtime general secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), died in Colombo on July 27, 2022. This exhibit includes two tributes to Wije by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North as well as a selection of Wije’s most significant articles and speeches.
The arrest of journalist Richard Medhurst and the fight to defend democratic rights
Medhurst said of his detention at the UK’s Heathrow Airport, “I believe I'm the first journalist to be arrested under this provision of the Terrorism Act.”
Instagram shutters account of Palestinian publisher Quds News Network
Instagram shut the account without explanation. Quds is one of the most popular Palestinian networks and has featured on-the-spot exposures of the war crimes in Gaza.
WSWS readers demand Facebook reverse ban on SEG in New Zealand
Readers have expressed outrage at the social media company’s anti-democratic censorship of the Trotskyist Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand.
Facebook blocks Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand from advertising
We call on readers to oppose Facebook’s blatant political censorship of the Trotskyist movement in New Zealand.
October 16 marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Tom Henehan, a member of the Political Committee of the Workers League—the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party in the US. We are republishing here a tribute delivered by David North at a meeting in 1997.
Over 80,000 sign petition against NYU Langone’s termination of a pro-Palestinian resident physician
Over 80,000 people have signed a petition opposing the anti-democratic termination of Dr. Zaki Masoud by NYU Langone.
Report exposes fraudulent antisemitism accusations at UK universities
The report concludes that critics of the Israeli state, advocates for Palestinian rights and those teaching the history and politics of the region have been “subjected to false allegations of antisemitism.”
An interview with Harvard anthropology Professor John Comaroff—Part one
We spoke recently to South African-born John Comaroff, the Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African-American studies and of Anthropology, and Oppenheimer Research Fellow in African Studies, Harvard University.
Harvard UAW, pseudo-left groups organize provocation against professor John Comaroff
The right-wing witch-hunt of John Comaroff at Harvard University continued Tuesday with a stage-managed protest during his first class of the semester.
Israel murders 274 Gazans in a further escalation of the genocidal war
For a demonstration on July 24 in Washington D.C. to protest congressional invitation for Netanyahu
The World Socialist Web Site calls on workers and youth to respond to Congress’ invitation to the war criminal Netanyahu with a demonstration in Washington D.C.
Leaders of London rally issue dead-end call for Sunak and Starmer to reverse support for Israel’s genocide
The determined opposition of workers and young people is being corralled into a dead-end, with calls that the only way to stop Israel is to put pressure on the Tories and, above all, the Labour Party of genocide apologist in chief, Sir Keir Starmer.
TikTok bans video demanding Bogdan Syrotiuk’s freedom, branding it “hate speech”
The TikTok ban comes just days after the Zelensky regime issued an order banning access to the World Socialist Web Site across Ukraine. The order was issued by the Ukrainian State Special Communications Service, a wing of the country’s military-intelligence apparatus.
Australian government, opposition launch hysterical attacks on the Greens over Gaza genocide
The Greens are serving as something of a placeholder, with the real target the mass opposition to the genocide among workers and young people.
This interactive timeline presents some of the most important events that have brought humanity to the brink of World War III. It includes links to critical articles and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International over the past 30 years.
Democracy Reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equal Rights in Post-Civil War America, by Garrett Epps
The Fourteenth Amendment was the product of a democratic revolutionary change that sought to put the Constitution on a genuine egalitarian footing.
Danzy Senna’s Colored Television: Lacking the “pathos of distance”
There is promise in Senna’s demonstrating an awareness that there exists a “racial identity-industrial complex” in the contemporary world of art and culture.
A conversation with Joseph McBride about his study of Hollywood film director George Cukor: “There are many flawed people in his films, but Cukor understands human imperfection”—Part 2
This is the second part of an interview with Joseph McBride, author of George Cukor’s People. The first part was posted January 8.
A conversation with Joseph McBride about his study of Hollywood film director George Cukor: “There are many flawed people in his films, but Cukor understands human imperfection”–Part 1
First part of an interview with film historian, critic and biographer Joseph McBride about his new book George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director, a study of the Hollywood director whose career in feature films lasted half a century, from 1930 to 1981.
The WSWS is publishing the report delivered by David North 25 years ago, on February 1, 1997, motivating the proposal to end publication of the SEP’s printed newspaper and replace it with an international website; as well as North’s reply to the National Committee ‘s discussion of the proposal.
Canada’s federal election and the crisis of working class political perspective
Those workers and youth who voted for Carney and his Liberals in the belief that they represent any type of progressive answer to Trump and all that he represents—oligarchy, dictatorship, fascism and war—have been cruelly deceived. For this the trade unions and the social-democratic NDP are principally responsible.
For a national strike to fight 20,000 more job cuts at UPS!
Workers must answer through mass action of their own, uniting with workers in other industries across the US and the world and prepared by a rank-and-file rebellion against the Teamsters bureaucracy.
Trump’s first 100 days of counterrevolution and criminality
From his first day in office, Trump has worked methodically to establish a presidential dictatorship, following a blueprint drawn up by his fascist advisors.
Arrest of Wisconsin judge: Trump’s dictatorship in the making
Trump has pardoned the fascist thugs who attacked the US Capitol while arresting a judge who objected to an immigration raid in her courtroom.
Review the most critical essays, lectures and letters produced by the ICFI in the course of its intervention in response to the crisis of Stalinism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
14 years after New Zealand’s Pike River mine disaster, no justice for victims’ families
For 14 years, successive governments, state agencies, the judicial system and the union bureaucracy have worked to prevent anyone being brought to justice for the avoidable deaths of 29 workers in Pike River Coal’s underground mine.
New Zealand: Court action continues over Pike River mine disaster
Families of some of the 29 workers killed in the 2010 coal mine disaster are continuing their fight for answers about why authorities dropped charges against Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall over the extremely dangerous conditions in the mine.
Police locate more bodies in New Zealand’s Pike River mine
The police investigation into the 2010 disaster that killed 29 mineworkers has been dragged out until at least the end of 2023, with no guarantee that anyone will be charged over the avoidable deaths.
New Zealand police extend investigation into Pike River mine disaster until the end of 2023
Police are delaying their decision on whether to lay charges over the 2010 Pike River mine disaster that killed 29 people, until after the October election.