The National Question

kurdish rally

The tremendous crisis of capitalism is bringing to the surface all the system’s old contradictions. Instability, polarisation and huge political shifts are on the order of the day. As part of this process, unsolved national questions are erupting once more around the globe. Millions of oppressed people are striving for a way out of the impasse. This striving can take the form of renewed national movements. On the other hand, as the struggle between the national gangs of capitalists becomes more intense, the ruling class pollutes the atmosphere of the whole world with the fumes of national hatred.

For Marxists, the national question is one of the most challenging we face. There is no simple, magic formula for all times and all places. Rather, it is necessary to study each national question in its historical evolution. Marxists must carefully distinguish between what is progressive and what is reactionary in any national movement, as a surgeon carefully distinguishes between healthy and diseased tissue. Above all, we take as our starting point the need to unite the working class on a worldwide scale for the overthrow of international capital.

From Marx’s writings on Ireland and India, to Lenin’s extensive writings on the national question, to the works of James Connolly, there is a tremendous treasure trove of Marxist literature dealing with the subject. For today’s revolutionaries, it represents an indispensable arsenal in the struggle to overthrow capitalism.

Title Created Date Author
Serbia and Kosovo: the Balkan powder-keg could flare up again 14 December 2007 Goran M
[Audio] Marxism, the national question and the nation state 19 November 2007 Linda Clarke
Malaysia: 50 years of independence - Colonialism at the root of the national question 31 August 2007 Bruce Boon
[Audio] The National Question and Quebec 27 June 2007 Rob Lyon
The role of Slobodan Milosevic in the break-up of Yugoslavia 15 March 2006 Goran M. in Belgrade
Lenin on the National Question 16 June 2004 Rob Sewell
Lenin and Internationalism 13 April 2004 Rob Sewell
A Curse Over The Balkans?: Nationalism and War in ex-Yugoslavia 20 March 2004 Goran M. from Belgrade
Once more Kosovo 19 March 2004 Fred Weston
An appeal for a rational discussion: reply to Luis Oviedo 13 February 2004 Alan Woods
Marxism versus Sectarianism: reply to Luis Oviedo 17 December 2003 Alan Woods
[Ted Grant] The one weakness of the outstanding Scottish Marxist John Maclean 03 November 2003 Ted Grant
The Falklands War - 20 years later 02 April 2002 Phil Mitchinson
The Spanish Revolution 1931-39: The National Question in the 1930s 15 February 2002 Eloy Val del Olmo
Marxism and the National Question 25 February 2000 Alan Woods and Ted Grant