Sections and Activists of the RCIT

The International Socialist League (ISL) is a revolutionary Bolshevik group working in Israel / Occupied Palestine, struggling to build a revolutionary workers’ party and for a world socialist revolution.

We are Internationalists and anti-Zionists, participating in struggles against Zionist apartheid, for a Palestinian state from the river to the sea, and for the right of return. Ex-Israeli Jews who would wish to live as equals in this state would be able to, and the Jewish part of the working class which will join the revolutionary struggle will become part of the new ruling class in the transitional society to socialism, in which classes will gradually disappear until they eventually do under communism, the highest stage of socialism.

We struggle against the entire range of Zionist attempts to expropriate and expatriate the Palestinians, including: land theft, gentrification, “Judaisation,” the siege over Gaza, and, obviously, any direct attacks by the army and settlers in the West Bank.

However, our involvement in these democratic struggles does not come at the expense of the revolutionary politics of the conscious working class. We recognize that in this epoch, the epoch of world capitalist decay, the bourgeoisie and petty-bourgeoisie cannot take a consistent anti-imperialist position, as the betrayals by the PLO and Hamas in the struggle against Zionism show. While the Palestinian Authority today serves openly as a police force for Zionism in the West Bank, Hamas periodically signals its willingness to accept this role, but the Zionists, as of yet, would not allow the organization to do so.

While we welcome any victory of the anti-imperialist struggle, we stress that even genuine national liberation – part of the democratic revolution – cannot be achieved without a revolutionary victory of the working class, opening the way to a socialist society.

We reject the reformist theory of two-stage revolution, first democratic and then socialist. Our program is based on the theory of Permanent Revolution, formulated by Trotsky and adopted by Lenin in 1917. The Russian revolution was a proletarian revolution and did not establish a democratic dictatorship of workers and peasants like Lenin thought up to 1917. Counter-revolutionary Stalinism is the force which destroyed the October Revolution and established itself as a bureaucratic centrist obstacle to socialism from 1928 onwards. Until 1935, it was possible to overcome Stalinism without a political revolution. However, in that year, as the Popular Front policy showed, Stalinism became counterrevolutionary, and from then on, a revolution was necessary to remove it and save the first workers’ state in history.

As mentioned above our goal is to build a vanguard party of the most politically advanced layers of the working class – the revolutionary party. However, this cannot be done without revolutionary theory. Therefore, one of our major tasks is the resurrection of authentic Marxism. Yet the study of Marxist theory cannot be abstract and merely academic – it must be a guide to action. Using Marxist theory properly as a guide to action cannot be done without properly laying the philosophical foundations of Marxism, i.e., Historical and Dialectical Materialism.

In order to intervene in reality and build ourselves as an organization, we must be involved in every movement of the workers and oppressed against the rotten capitalist system which threatens humanity with war, environmental destruction and annihilation. These include struggles for women’s liberation, for the unemployed, for foreign workers and even the lower middle class.

To this end, we use the tactic of the united front: we fight for common causes with all organizations for even partial gains for the working class and the masses, and call for joint actions with those who engage even in partial struggles. In this way, we advance the struggle in which the workers have an interest, and at the same time expose leaders claiming to be revolutionaries and/or anti-imperialists but whom in practice serve the class enemy.

This is how we struggle against reformist, centrist and nationalist leaders who disorient and disarm movements. In these struggles we use the transitional program – the bridge between working class consciousness today and the socialist revolutionary consciousness, necessary to emerge victorious out of the class struggle. We do this at all times without hiding our full program for a socialist revolution.

Read the Summary of the Program of the Internationalist Socialist League here

Revolutionary Workers Organization (Pakistan)

What does the RWO (Pakistan) stand for

The Revolutionary Workers Organisation (RWO) is a combat organisation for the liberation of the working class and all oppressed. The working class is the class of all those (and their families) who are forced to sell their labour power as wage earners to the capitalists. The RWO stands on the theory and practice of the revolutionary workers' movement associated with the names of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.

Capitalism endangers our lives and the future of humanity. Unemployment, war, environmental disasters, hunger, exploitation, the misery of the peasants, the national oppression of migrants and nations, the oppression of women, young people and homosexuals – all this are part of everyday life under capitalism. Therefore, we want to eliminate capitalism.

The liberation of the working class, the peasants and all oppressed is possible only in a classless society without exploitation and oppression. Such a society can only be established internationally.

Therefore, the RWO is fighting for a socialist revolution at home and around the world.

This revolution must be carried out and lead by the working class, for she is the only class that has nothing to lose but their chains. Under the leadership of the working class the poor peasants can play an important role in the liberation struggle.

The revolution can not proceed peacefully because never before has a ruling class voluntarily surrendered their power. The road to liberation includes necessarily the armed insurrection and civil war against the capitalists.

The RWO is fighting for the establishment of workers' and peasants’ republics, where the oppressed organize themselves in rank and file meetings in factories, neighbourhoods and schools – in councils. These councils elect and control the government and all other authorities and can always replace them.

Real socialism and communism has nothing to do with the so-called "real existing socialism" in the Soviet Union, China, Cuba or Eastern Europe. In these countries, a bureaucracy dominated and oppressed the proletariat.

The RWO supports all efforts to improve the living conditions of workers, the peasants and the oppressed. We combine this with a perspective of the overthrow of capitalism.

A small minority of capitalists and land owners control the economy and therefore the basis for our life. They have the power to sack workers, raise prices, close factories and expel peasants from their land. We fight for:

* High taxation of the rich!

* Workers control in the enterprises so that workers can veto the management!

* Open the books so that people can control the accounts of the capitalists and land owners and see their huge wealth!

* Build price control committees to stop the inflation!

* Expropriation of the capitalists and land owners and nationalisation of their property under control of the producers, i.e. the workers and peasants!

We work inside the trade unions and advocate class struggle, socialism and workers' democracy. We fight against the divisions of the union movement in many small unions. For broad, mass unions which organise the workers in the whole industrial branch. Unfortunately the trade unions are controlled by a bureaucracy. This bureaucracy is a layer which is connected with the state and capital via jobs and privileges. It is far from the interests and living circumstances of the members. The struggle for the liberation of the working class must be based on the broad mass of the proletariat rather than their upper strata. For a mass campaign to win the broad masses for the unions (including the overwhelmingly female domestic workers).

The RWO strives for unity in action with other organizations. However, we are aware that the policy of progressive liberals, nationalists, populists, reformists and the pseudo-revolutionary groups is dangerous and they ultimately represent an obstacle to the emancipation of the working class. This is also true for the PPP which is not a people’s party but a bourgeois-populist party in the service of a sector of the capitalists and big land owners.

Like most countries in the world Pakistan is a semi-colonial country. It is formally independent but in fact exploited and oppressed by imperialist power like the USA, EU or nowadays also the new imperialist power China. The ruling class and bourgeois parties like the PPP sometimes make speeches against imperialism. But in fact they collaborate with the great powers. While we critically support any practical steps of petty-bourgeois or bourgeois forces against imperialism we also say: Only the working class and the peasants can consistently fight against imperialist oppression and achieve national independence.

The Pakistani ruling class has a long history of fostering hatred against other people and states. Three times it was involved in wars with India. The RWO fights for international brotherhood of the people of South Asia. We oppose the nationalist war-mongering of the governments in Pakistan and India. In the three wars revolutionaries took a revolutionary defeatist position – they stood for the defeat of their own government in both countries. Our goal is a socialist federation of South Asia!

The RWO supports the struggle of the Kashmir people for independence. For a united, independent socialist Kashmir!

The Middle East is plagued by the imperialist war drive. Afghanistan, Iraq etc. everywhere the imperialists try to oppress and exploit poor countries. They even wage a reactionary war against local tribes with the help of the government in Pakistan in the North-West Territories. While we are strongly opposed to Islamism we support the resistance of the people against the reactionary war of the US-occupiers and the Pakistan army.

We support national liberation movements against oppression. We also support the anti-imperialist struggles of oppressed peoples against the great powers. Within these movements we advocate a revolutionary leadership as an alternative to nationalist or reformist forces.

In Pakistan a number of different nations and nationalities are living but many are discriminated and oppressed. The RWO fights for the right of self-determination including the right to secede of people like the Balochis. We fight for full equality of all national groups and migrants. Equal wages for migrant and national minority workers! Against the state language - for full equality of the languages of all nations in court, in the media, in the educations system! For local self-government and autonomy for all areas where discriminated national and ethnic groups live. Our goal is revolutionary integration – the unity of the workers and peasants from all different nations to fight together against the ruling class and for the socialist liberation.

We stand for the separation of state and religion. For massive building of public education institutions with free food so that the poor don’t have to send their children to the religious madrasses. We oppose the justification of oppression – particularly of women and youth – in daily life (education, clothes, sexual orientation etc) in the name of religion. Everyone must have the right to choose voluntarily if and which religion and religious practice he/she wants to follow. We defend atheists and religious minorities (like the Shiites, Hindus, Christens) against discrimination and physical attacks.

For women's liberation! Women must have the possibility to get a full job outside of their home. For massive increase of public child care facilities, communal kitchens for eating and launderettes for cleaning clothes so that women are free to work outside of their home! Women should have equal wages as men for doing the same work. Abolition of all laws that discriminate against women! We are for the right of women to control their own childbearing ability, i.e. for the right to contraception and abortion if they so wish. Against forced marriages!

Freedom for the youth! Abolish child labour so that all children can access public education. Full democratic rights for young people: Those who can work must have the right to vote too – for the right to at the age of 15. For self governed youth centres free of charge where young people can spend their time beside the patriarchal family control.

The struggle against national oppression, for full democratic rights, for the expropriation of the big land owners and for land for the peasants can never succeed as long as capitalism exists. This is why the struggle for democratic rights cannot and must not be separated from the struggle for working class power. Similarly the victorious socialist revolution must degenerate in the long run if it remains isolated in one country. The Stalinist theory of separating the revolutionary class struggle into schematically separated stages has proven wrong by historical experience. Therefore the RWO fights for a permanent revolution – the democratic revolution must be combined with the socialist revolution and the revolution on the national terrain must be combined with the international revolution.

Only with a revolutionary party fighting as its leadership can the working class win. The construction of such a party and the conduct of a successful revolution as it were demonstrated by the Bolsheviks under Lenin and Trotsky in Russia are a model for the revolutionary parties and revolutions also in the 21 Century.

For a new, revolutionary workers' party! For a 5^th Workers International on a revolutionary basis!

This is what we in the RWO are fighting for together with our comrades in the ULWM (Sri Lanka), the RWC (USA) and the RKOB (Austria). If you agree with us – join us!

No future without socialism!

No socialism without a revolution!

No revolution without a revolutionary party!

Read the RWO's Action Program here

United Lanka Workers Movement (Sri Lanka)

Action Program for Socialist Revolution in Sri Lanka

Revolutionär-Kommunistische Organisation BEFREIUNG (Austria)

What does the RKOB (Austria) stand for?

The Revolutionary Communist Organisation for Liberation – RKOB – is a combat organisation for the liberation of the working class and all oppressed. The working class is the class of all those (and their families) who are forced to sell their labour power as wage earners to the capitalists. The RKOB stands on the theory and practice of the revolutionary workers' movement associated with the names of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.

Capitalism endangers our lives and the future of humanity. Unemployment, war, environmental disasters, hunger, exploitation, are part of everyday life of capitalism as are the national oppression of migrants and nations and the oppression of women, young people and homosexuals. Therefore, we want to eliminate capitalism.

The liberation of the working class and all oppressed is possible only in a classless society without exploitation and oppression. Such a society can only be established internationally.

Therefore, the RKOB is fighting for a socialist revolution at home and around the world.

This revolution must be carried out and lead by the working class, for she is the only class that has nothing to lose but their chains.

The revolution can not proceed peacefully because never before has a ruling class voluntarily surrendered their power. The road to liberation includes necessarily the armed rebellion and civil war against the capitalists.

The RKOB is fighting for the establishment of workers' republics, where the oppressed organize themselves in rank and file meetings in factories, neighbourhoods and schools – in councils. These councils elect and control the government and all other authorities and can always replace them.

Real socialism and communism has nothing to do with the so-called "real existing socialism" in the Soviet Union, China, Cuba or Eastern Europe. In these countries, a bureaucracy dominated and oppressed the proletariat.

The RKOB supports all efforts to improve the living conditions of workers and the oppressed. We combine this with a perspective of the overthrow of capitalism.

We work inside the trade unions and advocate class struggle, socialism and workers' democracy. But trade unions and social democracy are controlled by a bureaucracy. This bureaucracy is a layer which is connected with the state and capital via jobs and privileges. It is far from the interests and living circumstances of the members. This bureaucracy’s basis rests mainly on the top, privileged layers of the working class - the workers' aristocracy. The struggle for the liberation of the working class must be based on the broad mass of the proletariat rather than their upper strata.

The RKOB strives for unity in action with other organizations. But we are aware that the policy of social democracy and the pseudo-revolutionary groups is dangerous and they ultimately represent an obstacle to the emancipation of the working class.

We support national liberation movements against oppression. We also support the anti-imperialist struggles of oppressed peoples against the great powers. Within these movements we advocate a revolutionary leadership as an alternative to nationalist or reformist forces.

Only with a revolutionary party fighting as its leadership can the working class win. The construction of such a party and the conduct of a successful revolution as it was demonstrated by the Bolsheviks under Lenin and Trotsky in Russia are a model for the revolutionary parties and revolutions also in the 21 Century.

For a new, revolutionary workers' party! For a 5^th Workers International on a revolutionary basis! Join the RKOB!

No future without socialism!

No socialism without a revolution!

No revolution without a revolutionary party!

Read the RKOB's Action Program as text or as pdf

RCIT Germany

Read the Platform of the RCIT Germany in German language here

Forward in Building the Fifth Workers' International!

Founding Statement of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency

The economic crises since 2008 have shaken the world. These events destroyed the illusions of almost all who believed that there could be permanent economic growth as well as more and more profits for the capitalists after the end of the Cold War. It opened a new period of human history. In this new historical period - a revolutionary period – the contradictions between our class, the working class, and the class of capitalists are sharpening. It is a period of not just more misery, poverty, exploitation and wars but also of class struggles and revolutions. During this period, the collapse of global capitalism is approaching.

The crisis of 2008/09, caused by capitalism itself, destroyed the livelihoods of millions and the products of the work of hundreds of thousands of workers and labourers. This and the efforts of the capitalists, to shift the costs of the crisis onto the shoulders of the wage earners, threaten to throw layer upon layer of our class in ever greater poverty. This went so far that now even the "privileged" workers of the rich countries increasingly come under pressure and gradually see their achievements disappear. However, this crisis hit to a much greater extent the growing parts of our class who live in poor countries - the semi-colonies. The crisis and desire of the international corporations for more profit also destroyed the livelihoods of millions of small peasants around the world and led to food riots and rebellions in the so-called "Third World".

This crisis also laid the foundation for tremendous conflicts between the ruling nations. The crisis ended the USA’s role as a fully dominant imperialist power. It intensified the competition between the United States, China, EU, Russia and Japan about the question of who can master what part of the earth. This can and will – if it cannot be prevented by our class in alliance with the oppressed peoples – lead to more wars fought over the division of the world. There is also the danger of a direct conflict between the imperialist countries which could exceed the mass murder of World War 2.

The system of capitalism pushes at its limits everywhere. In its demise it threatens to destroy even the basics of human life such as the environment and the means of production. The rich and powerful are unable and unwilling to save the environment, the basis for a future worth living, or even just to spare it.

The crisis has not only worsened the lives of our class. It has also demonstrated what great tasks lie ahead with which the present leadership cannot cope.

Despite the reassurance of the reformists, bureaucrats and bourgeois democrats, the workers and the oppressed of many countries did not stop fighting. North Africa and the Middle East since January 2011 have seen a revolutionary wave by the masses, which brought numerous dictators to falter or even saw them swept away. The impoverished youth of Great Britain in August 2011 took the initiative and impressively rose up against the police, injustice and the system that oppresses them. In several European countries, there were general strikes and street battles that have raised the question: "Who has the power - the rich and the Parliament or the masses who truly represent the society?"

The oppressed peoples of Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kurdistan, Chechnya and Somalia fight heroically with arms in hand against imperialism and its henchmen.

Today, inspired by the Arab revolution, an anti-capitalist movement emerged. In its essence it is directed against the effects of the system and the economic crisis. It opens many possibilities for our class, but at the same time has many weaknesses. So today the movement is led and dominated by middle class, democratic-pacifist forces. We Bolshevik-Communists fight for the working class to become the leading force in this movement so that it evolves into a revolutionary communist direction. This is the only way that it can be successful. The heart of the movement needs to move from the universities and occupied squares to the large companies and working-class neighbourhoods, from the limited forms of protest such as demonstrations and peaceful blockades to strikes, factory occupations, street battles and general strikes.

Despite the resistance of the oppressed against the system, as well as those which protect and represent it, the struggles did not end with a victory of the oppressed. Unemployment infects growing sectors of society, there are still famines, wars, and the next economic crisis is near. Why is this so? Because our class and all oppressed have no consistent revolutionary leadership, which is fighting for them and not for privileges. The bureaucracy, which is at the top of the labour movement, paralyzes them. These bureaucrats have no interest to carry out the class struggle, to fight for the rights of their rank and file. No, they primarily want their privileges they get from the state and the capitalists. The class struggle is very inconvenient for them.

The social-democratic, reformist parties act more and more against the rights of our class. Not only do they not lead a fight for the rights of wage earners. Instead, they undermine them, and often they even act together with the police against striking and demonstrating workers and youth. They want to defend at all costs the bourgeois state and to make a policy in the interests of capitalism.

The centrist organisations hide behind a pseudo-revolutionary phraseology with its role as the left flank of reformism and the labour bureaucracy. They adapt themselves to the bureaucracy. In a time of intense class struggle, they don’t show the workers a useful, revolutionary perspective for the struggle, but stumble around awkwardly and hinder our class in the struggle (in the UK e.g. several centrist organisations denounced the working class youth, which took part in the August 2011 uprising).

All this illustrates on one hand the potential strength of our class and the oppressed, and on the other hand, the current lack of and the urgent need for a revolutionary leadership that guides the masses in the struggle. It also shows the need to rally the most progressive and militant workers and youth around a revolutionary programme. We have developed such a program that, while drawing lessons from past struggles and the conditions of the new revolutionary period, shows the way for the vanguard of our class in the struggle. We Bolsheviks-Communists reject the politics of left reformism and centrism which leads the masses astray or to reinforce illusions. The masses can only be won by honestly telling the truth. We, therefore, say to the vanguard of the working class, what is necessary in order to win as a class, and not what is popular at a particular moment.

Today, three years after the world economic crisis of 2008, the situation is more dramatic than ever. We are on the eve of a recent economic crisis that will make the crisis of 2008 look rather small. The situation is so bad that the capitalists of many countries are preparing for civil war against our class. In the future, the capitalists, if they cannot trap the bourgeois democracy any longer, will use means like the military dictatorship, the dictatorial police state, the expansion of surveillance and armed fascist gangs even in "democratic" Europe to save their power.

In this situation of intensification of class antagonisms, we are founding the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT). We do not address this call and the whole work of our organisation to the bourgeois parties, governments or parliaments. We address ourselves also to the bureaucrats and reformists of the unions or the remaining "labour parties" because they will betray our class when they can. We address ourselves not to the middle class and NGOs because they shall never be able to make history.

We address this call and our entire organisation to the oppressed and exploited masses of the world. We address all those who have a reason to change the society, to build a future worth living for our class. We wish to speak to all those who keep the society going through their work and on whose bones the modern world are built. We are appealing to the workers of the rich and the poor countries because they are the only force that can secure the future of mankind. We are appealing to the young people in our class who have so often proved in recent years their courage at the barricades and whose power should not be wasted by capitalism. We are appealing to the oppressed peoples, because the system can offer them only war and the tyranny of imperialism. We address all the oppressed, women, migrants and national minorities, because for them capitalism in its death agony often cannot even offer the most basic human rights.

In our programme, "The Revolutionary Communist Manifesto" we have submitted the RCIT’s lessons of past struggles and our perspective for the road to socialist revolution. It is the answer of the Bolshevik-Communists to the challenges of the coming class struggles.

The task of our class and all oppressed will be to form from its ranks on a revolutionary basis - the Fifth Workers' International. Only such a world party of socialist revolution can lead the relentless class struggle to the global elimination of capitalism. Its task will be to open a new era of mankind, an era of prosperity, equality, liberty and justice for all, in short to establish the reign of world socialism. Building the Fifth Workers' International workers is the central task of RCIT.

But to achieve this we must fight. We have a world to win. We must beat a world of enemies. We need to push the class enemy, which threatens to strangle mankind, relentlessly from its throne and establish the rule of our class. Join the RCIT!

Forward to the Fifth Workers' International!

For a worldwide red federation of workers 'and peasants' republic through the world revolution!

Socialism or Barbarism!