Duncan Hallas (1925-2002)

BY CHRIS BAMBERY
& ALEX CALLINICOS

LONDON — It is with deep regret that we must inform you of the death on September 17 of Duncan Hallas. Duncan was one of the founders of the International Socialist Tendency (IST).

He supported Tony Cliff within the British section of the Fourth International when Cliff developed the theory of state capitalism in 1947-8, and helped to set up the Socialist Review group in 1951.

Duncan was a member of the leadership of the International Socialists and later the Socialist Workers Party from the late 1960s to the mid 1990s. He edited International Socialism during the 1970s. He was the author of numerous articles and pamphlets and of two books, Trotsky's Marxism (1979) and The Comintern (1985).

Many comrades in the IST will remember Duncan for the visits he made to various groups, for example in Australia, Canada, Germany, South Africa and the United States, during the early phases of the development of the IST during the 1970s and 1980s.

Duncan played an enormous role in passing the Marxist tradition to new generations and, as part of the SWP leadership, in applying it creatively to the class struggle in Britain and internationally. He will be much missed.

[Chris Bambery and Alex Callinicos are members of the central committee of the British SWP.]

From Green Left Weekly, September 25, 2002.

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From GLW issue 510