In October, dozens of communists gathered in Halifax, Quebec City, and Vancouver for a weekend of presentations and discussion aimed at deepening their understanding of Marxist theory.

Before you can change the world, you have to understand it.  

That’s why, in October, dozens of communists gathered in Halifax, Quebec City, and Vancouver for a weekend of presentations and discussion aimed at deepening their understanding of Marxist theory.

Lenin once wrote that “without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.” What he meant was that a revolutionary party needs to clearly define what it stands for, while freeing itself from the ideological influence of the ruling class. It needs to absorb the lessons from movements across history and around the world. And, to successfully lead a revolution, a party cannot act blindly, but must use theory as a guide. 

This is exactly what the topics covered at the schools addressed. As Raphaël from Sherbrooke explained, 

“A weekend of presentations on the ideas of communism may sound abstract, but that wasn’t the case at the Quebec City school. From the recent “Gen Z” revolutionary movement, to our own militant history with the Quebec general strike of 1972, the discussions raised crucial lessons about what needs to be done now. Between the presentations, the discussions kept going, about topics like how to fight the repression of Palestine solidarity, how to  discuss with workers and much more. A weekend full of ideas, but above all, focused on how to apply them in building the party and fighting for communism.”

In Vancouver, comrades covered topics like, “They’re Rich Because We’re Poor: How Capitalism Really Works”, and “Marxism v. Post-Colonialism”, highlighting the need for a Marxist analysis to make sense of exploitation and oppression. In Halifax, comrades presented Marxist analyses of art, and cosmology—how these things are shaped by class society, and affected by the crisis of capitalism. It’s this kind of analysis that reveals the inner workings of every aspect of human society. 

It’s no wonder, then, that school attendees were so enthusiastic about learning. Bill said of the Atlantic school, 

“The thing that stood out most to me was the discussions that took place outside the school sessions. No one seemed interested in talking about frivolous subjects. Whether during meal breaks, at the evening social events, or during breaks between the sessions, seemingly every person present was involved in serious conversations which covered a wide array of topics but were all focused on a class-based, Marxist analysis of today’s world.”

Literature sales were another demonstration that comrades took the importance of education to heart. For example, in Vancouver, comrades bought $2,607 worth of literature. 

Alice said of the Halifax school, “The appetite for party literature was huge. We sold out of almost every book we had in stock. History of Philosophy sold out before the first session and before most attendees had even arrived.”

Similarly in Quebec, Nicolas said, 

“The session devoted to The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State aroused great enthusiasm among the comrades present at the School. Twenty-two copies of our edition have been sold, and in Quebec City we’ll soon be organizing a reading group on it. I can’t wait to read it!” 

Despite the clear need for theoretical grounding, the RCP is the only group holding these kinds of educational events. In fact, the general mood of pessimism and directionlessness that we see in “the left” comes from their abandonment of Marxist theory. They are immersed in the ideas of the ruling class, ideas that justify and take capitalism for granted, and therefore see no way out of the crisis of capitalism.

But we kept Marxist theory alive over the years. A foundational idea of Marxism is that our conditions are shaped by the way that we produce and exchange the things we need to live—and therefore, by changing the way that we do that, it is within our power to transform our conditions. Now that the crisis is forcing people to look for alternatives to capitalism, to look for ways to change the world, we’re the only ones with a real answer. 

These annual regional schools are only in their second year, but they are already becoming established as invaluable traditions for communists around the country, full of lessons that they will carry forward into the fight to overthrow capitalism. Beck in Vancouver said, 

“The school went a long way to inspire the comrades. It showed them how much there is to learn and raised their sights… In my cell meeting we ended up having a long discussion on the political lessons of the school because everyone was bursting with things to say.”

If you missed these schools, we have good news for you: the largest educational event of the year is still to come!

From Feb. 13-15, over 600 communists will come to Montreal for the Winter Marxist School. If you want to arm yourself with the ideas that will change the world, you need to be there!