About
The International Socialist Tendency (IST) is a current of revolutionary socialist organisations, based in different countries, which share a political outlook and seek to help each other by exchanging experience and practical support.
These organisations stand in the tradition of socialist from below, the idea that workers can only emancipate themselves through their own struggles. This tradition was initiated by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, and subsequently developed by revolutionaries such as Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg and Antonio Gramsci. In the same spirit, groups linked to the IST have sought to further strengthen this tradition both through involvement in struggle and attempts to develop Marxist theory.
To find out more about our ideas you can read the publications of the various organisations in the IST, most of which are available from their respective websites. You can also read our quarterly theoretical journal International Socialism.
A number of Marxists have been particularly important in developing the outlook of the IST. Many of their works are now available online at the Marxist Internet Archive and the recommendations below may provide a useful introduction to the politics of the IST.
Tony Cliff (1917-2000)
The Tony Cliff Internet Archive
- Trotskyism After Trotsky: The Origins of the International Socialists
- Marxism at the Millennium
- State Capitalism in Russia
- Lenin (volume 1): Building the Party
- A World to Win: Life of a Revolutionary
Duncan Hallas (1925-2002)
The Duncan Hallas Internet Archive
Mike Kidron (1930-2003)
The Mike Kidron Internet Archive
Paul Foot (1937-2004)
The Paul Foot Internet Archive
- Why You Should be a Socialist: The Case for the new Socialist Workers Party
- The Case for Socialism: What the Socialist Workers Party Stands for
Chris Harman (1942-2009)
The Chris Harman Internet Archive
