Links embarks on two new projects

September 2, 2016
Issue 
Marta Harnecker (left) with Links editor Federico Fuentes.

Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal has launched the first of two important collaborative projects that will be of much interest to left activists and scholars internationally.

The first project by the online theoretical journal supported by Australia's Socialist Alliance revolves around the publication of an updated and revised edition of Chilean socialist Marta Harnecker's Ideas for the Struggle. The pamphlet is a collection of 12 articles that delve into key issues of organising for “socialism in the 21st century”.

The call for a new socialism for the 21st century, a “democratic and humanist” socialism, was famously launched by late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez at the 2005 World Social Forum.

The second project — which will coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the Russian Revolution — seeks to provide readers with a unique insight into the kind of revolutionary agitation occurring on the streets and in the factories leading up to the world's first successful socialist revolution.

It involves the publication of a number of important documents and statements issued throughout 1917, all translated into English for the first time and introduced by leading experts in Russian history.

The initiative to republish Ideas for the Struggle came about as a result of discussions left activists had with Harnecker during recent visits to the US and Australia. It also comes from the keen interest generated around some of her ideas regarding revolutionary organising.

As a result, both Links and the US-based Old and New Project agreed to publish the updated version of Ideas with the aim of stimulating a broader debate around the issues raised in it.

Along with publishing the pamphlet in full on their website, the editors of Old and New Project have written an introduction to the text that can be read on both sites.

Links will be publishing each article individually, with a section made available below each one for readers to comment.

Many activists have indicated keen to contribute to the discussion are already in the pipeline for publication, with Links having already posted a piece by Steve Williams from US-based Left Roots.

Links welcomes further contributions either via submitted articles or in the comments section on its website.

The other project involves the publication of a series of new translations under the collective title “1917: The View From the Streets”.

The initiative has come about through the joint efforts of US historian Barbara Allen and Canadian socialist and Links collaborator John Riddell.

With the aim of helping to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the two are working on the publication of a range of revolutionary leaflets and statements produced at the time.

An introductory note that helps contextualise the statements, written by Allen and other scholars of Russian history, will accompany each translation.

The series of pieces will be published on Links as well as a number of other sites, including John Riddell's blog.

[Federico Fuentes is editor of Links.]

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