{"id":4017,"date":"2025-06-25T16:51:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T15:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/?p=4017"},"modified":"2025-06-26T17:18:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T16:18:07","slug":"internationalism-in-action-the-international-marxist-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/internationalism-in-action-the-international-marxist-group","title":{"rendered":"Internationalism in Action: The International Marxist Group"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a small but dynamic Trotskyist organisation in post-war Britain. It actively participated in the student movement, international solidarity campaigns, and internal work within the Labour Party. Throughout its existence, the group frequently adjusted its strategy, structure, and media formats, yet it remained a notable force within the British left<\/a>. Read more on london-yes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Founding and Development of the International Marxist Group<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The International Marxist Group began its operations in London in 1968. It emerged from the International Group, which had supported the views of the Fourth International’s International Secretariat and sought an alternative path for socialist theory and practice. Pat Jordan and Ken Coates, who had left the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1956, founded this initiative. In the late 1950s, they joined the Revolutionary Socialist League, where Jordan served as organisational secretary. However, by 1961, due to disagreements with the League’s leadership, these activists established a separate entity \u2014 the International Group, committed to supporting an alternative wing of the Fourth International.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pivotal moment in the organisation’s development was its renaming to the International Marxist Group in 1968. This period also saw the launch of a new left-wing radical newspaper, The Black Dwarf, edited by the well-known public figure, Tariq Ali. In May 1969, International became the IMG’s official printed organ. The group then shifted its focus towards supporting student protests and engaging in the trade union movement. While it moved away from its earlier tactic of influencing the Labour Party from within, it continued to coordinate its representatives’ actions through a specially formed faction within the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the spring of 1970, deep disagreements arose within The Black Dwarf’s editorial team. This led to the creation of a new platform, the newspaper Red Mole, jointly edited by Tariq Ali and a group of like-minded individuals from the International Marxist Group. This publication positioned itself as internationalist and radically oriented, aiming to encompass a broader spectrum of left-wing views. One notable publication was an interview with John Lennon, which garnered significant attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 1973, Red Mole was succeeded by a new fortnightly, Red Weekly, marking another phase in the International Marxist Group’s information strategy. Throughout the 1970s, numerous factions and ideological currents gradually emerged within the IMG, competing for influence and direction. One sign of organisational strengthening was the establishment of the Red Books publishing house and bookshop, demonstrating the organisation’s desire to spread its own discourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 1982, the International Marxist Group underwent another transformation, changing its name to the Socialist League. However, internally, it continued to use its old name for a considerable time. At this point, the Socialist Workers Party from the USA, which later left the International Organisation, gained significant influence over the IMG’s members. This led to a profound internal crisis, culminating in the fiercest internal political struggle in the group’s history. The disappointment caused by the defeat of the large-scale British miners’ strike of 1984-1985 proved to be a critical blow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Socialist Worker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recognition and Significance of the International Marxist Group’s Activities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although the International Marxist Group was not a mass party, it gained authority within Trotskyist circles as an organised section of the Fourth International. It actively supported liberation movements in Vietnam, Cuba, and South Africa, and also campaigned for socialists persecuted in France, Bolivia, and Mexico. The group established an extensive publishing infrastructure, producing periodicals such as International, The Black Dwarf, Red Mole, Red Weekly, Socialist Challenge, and Socialist Action. These were edited by influential figures in the British left, including Tariq Ali, John Ross, Judith White, Michel Lee, and Bob Pennington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Verso Books<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a small but dynamic Trotskyist organisation in post-war Britain. It actively participated in the student movement, international solidarity campaigns, and internal work within the Labour Party. Throughout its existence, the group frequently adjusted its strategy, structure, and media formats, yet it remained a notable force within the British left. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":360,"featured_media":3922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[490],"tags":[2130,2131,2133,2134,2132,2136,2135,2128,2137,2129],"moimportance":[101,104],"motype":[491],"moformat":[89],"class_list":{"0":"post-4017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pro-polituky","8":"tag-british-marxism","9":"tag-british-trotskyism","10":"tag-international-group","11":"tag-international-marxist-group","12":"tag-ken-coates","13":"tag-labour-movement","14":"tag-pat-jordan","15":"tag-socialist-challenge-3","16":"tag-student-movement","17":"tag-the-black-dwarf-3","18":"moimportance-golovna-novyna","19":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatory","20":"motype-eternal","21":"moformat-vlasna"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/360"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4017"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4019,"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017\/revisions\/4019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4017"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=4017"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=4017"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=4017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}