Spart Talk

Mansa is back with Ray Bishop, member of the editorial board of Spartacist, to discuss all things China, from how the CPC's strategy is undermining the defense of China, to the crazy Sparts writing an open letter to the very CPC they are criticising! To make sense of what's going on with China as Trump turns the screws, and what's going on with the Sparts and their crazy letter, tune in and check out the other releva...

Mansa sits down with Michael Davisson, editor of Workers Vanguard, and Tom, a public transit worker, who recently came together in a workers' conference hosted by the Spartacist League U.S. which brought together workers from across the country and some from abroad. We discuss the state of labor and the mood amongst the working class half a year into the Trump presidency, the pressures this is having on class struggle militant...

Mansa is back with Vincent with the third instalment of their series on the world situation. We discuss the basic mechanics of the US empire going back to the end of WWII in order to understand the dynamics behind the rise of Trump, what's on the horizon economically, and what this means for the left and the workers movement politically. 

Our discussion is based on this article here: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/screws 

He...

Mansa is joined by Comrades Eibhlin and Vincent from Spartacist League Britain to discuss the latest development on the British left: the announcement by Zarah Sultana that she will form a new left party with Corbyn. Since this announcement, there has been much clamour and excitement (as well as some disasters) but we focus here on the lessons of Corbynism and the key questions this party must confront if it is to become a successf...

Mansa is joined by Comrade Elizabeth to discuss how the bulk of the international Marxist left failed the test posed by the US bombing of Iran. Instead of taking a clear and simple stand in defense of an oppressed country under attack by imperialism, most tendencies, including within Iran, either shouted revolution and class war, equated Iran with Israel and the US, or chanted pacifist slogans that drew no line against their own bo...

Mansa is back with Vincent for round two of our discussion on the current world situation and the task of communists. In this episode we dive into the fundamental difference between a Marxist versus a gradualist understanding of how change happens. While a bit theoretical, this has profound implications for concrete political work. Listen to the episode to find out how and why!

The main document on which this discussion is based can...

Mansa is joined by Brianna from New York to discuss what most leftists in the Anglosphere are talking about: the victory of Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primaries for mayor of NYC. While liberals and many on the left are rejoicing that they've got their man, many workers, especially black and Latino, voted Cuomo. Keeping with what we've been hammering about the huge gap between the working class and the left, Mansa an...

Note: This episode was recorded before Israel and the U.S. bombed Iran.

Join Mansa and Vincent as they break down the key positions of the Spartacists in the current world situation. We will be doing a series of episodes on this - with more on gradualism, Russia/Ukraine, Europe, China, and the tasks of the working class to follow!

The discussion is based in large part on the article called "US imperialism turns the screws!"...

Mansa is joined by Lital and Sandra from LA as they report on the situation on the ground following ICE raids and anti-ICE protests. We discuss why the movement is weakening and how to defend immigrants. Short answer: organised labour must come out! But why isn't this happening? We dive into some of the obstacles and also look at some of the problems of the left. Spoiler alert: not ACTING on the principle that an injury to one...

Join Mansa as she discusses Israel's aggression against Iran with Comrade Perrault. How should Marxists, and most importantly, workers, view this war, and what is the correct position? Perrault explains our approach to the war and why a refusal to defend Iran and Palestine can only aid imperialism and Israel and not only undermine the cause of Palestinian liberation, but directly attack workers at home, both in the West and in...

Join Mansa as she sits down with Lital and Edward from our group in the US to discuss the unsolicited greetings they recently sent to the Revolutionary Communists of America. I ask them why they did this, and what the points of difference are. Perhaps a bit of a narrower discussion since it focuses on a group on the left, our discussion nonetheless is defined by what revolutionaries in the US today ought to be doing to fight back a...

Mansa is back with Comrade Perrault to discuss the crisis of the left and the tasks of revolutionaries in the changing world situation. We discuss what exactly are the causes and symptoms of this crisis and why left groups who think they've escaped it are deluded; why left organisations ignore each other to their own detriment; the necessity of political clarification in the left; and why the current period calls for defensive...

**Apologies that the audio quality is not the greatest due to the internet connection!

Join Mansa and Comrades Jesse and Dinapolo from Spartacist South Africa who help make sense of Ramaphosa's complete capitulation to Trump, what the collapse of the liberal world order has in store for South Africa,  why the more radical black nationalists like Malema are not geared to wage a serious anti-imperialist struggle, and the outlines...

Mansa is joined by Comrade Kat of the Partisan Defence Committee (PDC), a non-sectarian social and legal defence organisation that is part of building international solidarity to defend pro-Palestine and trade union activists in France. She motivates why the left must unite in common action to build these protests because an injury to one is an injury to all, and explains other ways you can help if you are not able to attend a prot...

Join Mansa as she sits down with Vincent to assess the state of the Palestinian struggle. Revolutionaries must admit that the movement has been unable to stop the onslaught, that communists are irrelevant in this struggle, and that the movement needs a different strategy to go forward. We go over the dynamics in the Middle East, the character of the movement in the West, the tasks of communists in Israel, and propose that the movem...

Join Mansa as she sits in the hot seat and Vincent David, editor of Spartacist, plays host. We talk about the India-Pakistan war which saw an explosion of national unity on both sides, with many forces on the left backing their governments' reactionary aims. We raised the call: The main enemy is at home! Mansa explains what was at stake in this conflagration, how to break national unity, and why freedom for Kashmir is key. She...

Listen to a hayfevery Mansa as she sits down with Ray Bishop, member of the ed board of Spartacist, and author of "National Opperssion in Xi's China: A Trotskyist answer." We discuss how the national oppression of Uyghurs is used by imperialists to go after China and why it is necessary to fight for an independent socialist Xinjiang to defend China. Today, as the US goes belligerent and seeks to asphyxiate the People...

Join Mansa as she discusses French politics with Comrade Alexis, National Secretary of Ligue trotskyste de France (LTF), the ICL's French section. We discuss Macron's empty bravado in the face of Trump, the dynamics fuelling the support for Le Pen and the far-right, the left's failure to fight for a revolutionary opposition to the New Popular Front, and the French state's crackdown against trade union militants ...

Join Mansa as she sits down with Comrade Philipp from our German group, Spartakist-Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands (SpAD), and supporter Toralf Endruweit, to discuss the political dynamics behind the recent German elections. Though the centre held, the AfD emerged as the clear victor in terms of doubling its support. Comrades explain what is fuelling this, why the left has it all upside down with Die Linke, and the tasks facing communi...