Stalin’s rise to power in the 1920s is mythologised by much of the Left (both pro- and anti-Stalin) as being inevitable. But, Mila Volkova writes, Stalinism was far from inevitable. In 1918, the German ambassador to the Soviets is shot and killed by the Bolsheviks’ coalition partners in the Left Socialist Revolutionaries (Left-SRs: a party […]

Broad parties are common across the global left, but their success has been limited. Why? Edith Fischer writes that we need a revolutionary mass party, not a broad party, to advance the Communist cause. What sort of party do we need? In the socialist left, outside of those who tail Laborism or support entry into […]

The Spartacist League of Australia has sent a letter to the Revolutionary Communist Organisation (RCO) calling for unity and stating their desire to join the RCO. Partisan publishes this letter in full below. Dear comrades of the RCO, We are living in a fast changing world where the international working class and oppressed are facing […]

The Platypus Affiliated Society (PAS), an international political society founded in 2006, recently held its first official conference for its Oceania sections in Australia and New Zealand. This conference was held over three days, from July 11th to 13th. It featured several panels which brought together elements from the Australian and NZ Left to discuss […]

The 2025 Victorian Socialists conference was an illuminating experience for comrades who attended. It provided an insight into the internal workings of the Victorian Socialists, as well as the leading force behind it, Socialist Alternative. Olga Konstantinova writes on experiences at the conference and the politics of VS/SAlt. What became increasingly clear to me over […]

A raunchy mural in a Melbourne suburb has caused another moral panic about public sexuality. Maya Kaufmann writes on Socialist Alternative’s pivot back toward anti-“raunch culture” busybodying, and how it reflects a conservative turn in International Socialism/Cliffite Socialism. Thousands of emails submitted to the local council. A somewhat tepid defence by an LA-based mural artist […]

Communist caucus member and RCO comrade Alice reports on the 2025 Victorian Socialists member’s conference, and the caucus’s engagement within it. The 2025 Victorian Socialists (VS) Members’ Conference was held on the 14th and 15th of June, with a registered attendance of 430 members. This year’s conference was particularly significant as it followed the decision […]

In 2023, R.M interviewed Melbourne socialist Daniel López on Lukacs and more. R.M. is a member of the Platypus Affiliated Society, in Melbourne. “Hegel must not be treated as a ‘dead dog’, but even so we must demolish the ‘dead’ architecture of the system in its historical form and release the extremely relevant and modern […]

As the Victorian Socialists expanded, members, friends and sympathisers of the RCO were quick to form the Communist Caucus, which found itself under immediate attack from sections of the broader VS. Anthony Furia explains what the point of the communist caucus is to dispel rumours, slanders, and misinformation. [See also: Rules & Points of Unity […]

May saw the shocking murder of two Aboriginal men in the Northern Territory. This has led to a cyclical outpouring of grief from Indigenous peoples in Australia, who are the targets of killer, racist police. Sylvia Ruhl writes. Two separate Indigenous deaths in custody took place in the Northern Territory within days of each other […]