This year marks the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Ted Grant. As part of commemorating his achievements, In Defence of Marxism is launching an appeal to all our readers and supporters to raise €2,000.

Dear comrades,

This year marks the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Ted Grant. For us, Ted Grant represents the unbroken thread between our tendency today and the genuine traditions of Trotsky’s Left Opposition, which in turn traced its roots back to the First International of Marx and Engels. In the long period of capitalist expansion of the 1950s and 1960s, Ted alone among the leaders of the then Fourth International stuck to the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky and developed them in a complex and changed new situation.

Over the past years, Ted’s ideas have been proven correct once again. Our tendency worked out the perspective of a new crisis of capitalism and a consequent revival of the class struggle. This was at the time when the bourgeois deluded themselves with such ideas as “the end of history” (Francis Fukuyama) and “the end of boom and bust” (Gordon Brown). The Marxists consistently stood their ground and are now reaping the benefits.

Over the past six months we have produced articles on marxist.com covering all major events in the world including Turkey, Iran, Syria, the death of Hugo Chavez, the resignation of the Pope and the death of Margaret Thatcher.

Our website is getting well known. Alan Woods has made the headlines in Latin America and elsewhere over the revolution in Venezuela. Through Alan’s writings and speeches, our tendency has become a household name for the Bolivarian left and we have also made it into the Greek national press on several occasions.

In Pakistan, this year the Marxists of The Struggle held their largest congress ever. The comrades are sinking roots in the labour movement and the youth movement across the country. In spite of the opposition of the PPP bureaucracy, the state and the Taliban, the Marxists won a majority in one of the constituencies in Waziristan, although the victory was stolen.

Revolutionary events are unfolding everywhere and we need the necessary financial resources to run the website and support the work of Marxists around the world.

We are in the process of re-launching Wellred, the Marxist publishing house. As a step on that road, we will be publishing a new version of Stalin, Trotsky’s unfinished masterpiece, with a substantial amount of new previously unpublished material by Trotsky. We also aim to carry out an overhaul of the website, bringing it up to date with the latest developments in web technology and improving its accessibility.

We appeal to all our readers to help us raise the necessary funds. We have ambitious targets but with the help of our readers and supporters around the world, we are certain we will achieve them. As a fitting tribute to the memory of Ted Grant, who always insisted on the importance of finance in a revolutionary organisation, we are launching an online campaign to raise €2,000. This will put In Defence of Marxism in a good position to take the next steps that are required to build the forces of Marxism on an international scale.

In Defence of Marxism