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John Molyneux (Trotskyist)

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John Molyneux (2 September 1948 – 10 December 2022) was a British Trotskyist, academic and author. He was a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party before retiring to Ireland, where he became active in the Irish SWP and was editor of Irish Marxist Review.

John Molyneux
Molyneux in 2009
Born(1948-09-02)2 September 1948
Died10 December 2022(2022-12-10) (aged 74)
Dublin, Ireland
Occupation(s)Academic, writer

Biography

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Molyneux was born on 2 September 1948.[1]

Molyneux joined the International Socialists in Britain in 1968 after being radicalized by the antiwar movement and the revolt of that year. He became one of the Socialist Worker's Party's leading theorists and a popular speaker. He was a lecturer at the School of Art, Design and Media, University of Portsmouth,[2] from 1992.[1] During his years in Portsmouth he was a significant influence in the city left as well as a lecturer at the polytechnic-university there. He organised a number of demonstrations, including getting 12 coaches of people to the 2003 demonstration against the Iraq War, in London. In January 2009 he was arrested for organising a peace rally of 400 people against the Israeli attacks on Gaza.[1]

His book Marxism and the Party (1978), analyzes the revolutionary left approach to the political party and the question of the revolutionary organisation and the discussion of Marx, Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotsky, and Gramsci. In 1981 he published Leon Trotsky's Theory of Revolution (1981), which critically explored Trotsky's weaknesses and his strengths. What is the Real Marxist Tradition? (1983/85) started life as a long article and was later published as a short book and is perhaps his most widely read publication.[citation needed]

He wrote a weekly column, The ABCs of Marxism, published in Socialist Worker (UK) for almost 15 years some of which were collected into a book Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism (1987) and a pamphlet on The Future Socialist Society (1987).[citation needed]

After he moved to Ireland he edited the Irish Marxist Review and contributed to many issues.[citation needed]

In 2006, he set up a blog where he "writes mainly about Marxist theory and art".[3] He remained fascinated by this issue. His book The Point Is to Change It! was included in a display at the Tate Liverpool's exhibition Art turning Left (2013) showing the role that art plays in changing society.[4]

In October 2020, he hosted the podcast Introduction to Marx/Marxism, which was described as "a series of short introductions to the ideas of Marx/Marxism".[5]

In his last years Molyneux also became involved in building an eco-socialist response to the climate crisis. He was one of the founders of the Global Ecosocialist Network.[citation needed]

He once wrote an article in the SWP's Internal Bulletin called "Democracy in the SWP", which argued that, though the SWP is democratic, it needs to be more so, prompting the Weekly Worker, the organ of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee) to call him a "loyal rebel".[6]

Molyneux remained a member of the loyal opposition in the SWP staying with the organisation in 2012-13 when the SWP faced a major crisis in then wake of an accusation of rape against a leading member.[citation needed]

Molyneux died suddenly in Dublin on 10 December 2022, at the age of 74.[7]

Bibliography

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  • Marxism and the Party (1978) – ISBN 0-906224-28-4
  • Leon Trotsky's theory of revolution (1981)
  • What is the real Marxist tradition? (1985)
  • Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism (1987)
  • 'National Oppression and National Liberation Movements'
  • The Future Socialist Society (1997) – ISBN 0-905998-60-X
  • Rembrandt and Revolution (2001) – ISBN 1-872208-15-0
  • Terrorism
  • The necessity of Respect (2004)
  • Anarchism: A Marxist Criticism (2011) – ISBN 978-1-905192-88-5
  • Will the Revolution be Televised? A Marxist Analysis of the Media (2011) – ISBN 978-1-905192-91-5
  • The Point is to Change It! An Introduction to Marxist Philosophy (2012)[8][9]
  • Lenin for Today (2017)
  • What is ecosocialism? (2020) (with Jess Spear).[10]
  • The Dialectics of Art (2020)
  • Selected Writings on Socialism and Revolution (2022) – ISBN 9781914143465
  • Why we stand against Stalinism (2022)

References

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  1. ^ a b c Rachel Hine, "Protest leader arrested at march", The Portsmouth News, 4 January 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  2. ^ The Anatomists: Dr John Molyneux on Gunter von Hagens, Channel 4, 11 June 2009. retrieved 9 May 2013.
  3. ^ Blog
  4. ^ "Art Turning Left: How Values Changed Making 1789–2013 – Exhibition at Tate Liverpool". Tate. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  5. ^ Introduction to Marx/Marxism, October 2020
  6. ^ http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/553/swpdemocracy.htm Archived 2006-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Tributes paid following death of Irish Marxist activist John Molyneux". Euro Weekly News. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  8. ^ "New book on Marxism to be launched in Charlie Byrne’s", Galway Advertiser, 18 October 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  9. ^ Rebecca Short, "The Point is to Change It", Socialist Review, July/August 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Eco-socialist Pamphlet", Rupture: Eco-Socialist Quarterly, October 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
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