Chris Harman
Encyclopedia
Chris Harman was a British journalist and political activist, and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party
. He was formerly the editor of International Socialism
, and Socialist Worker
.
(where he joined the Socialist Review Group
) and the London School of Economics
(LSE) where he began (but did not complete) a doctorate under the supervision of Ralph Miliband
. He was instrumental in publishing the magazine of the LSE Socialist Society, The Agitator, and was a leading member of the International Socialists (as the SRG had become) by 1968. He was involved in the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign
and outraged many leftists when, at a meeting in the Conway Hall, he denounced Ho Chi Minh
for murdering the leader of the Vietnamese Trotskyist movement, Ta Thu Thau
, in 1945 after crushing the workers' rising of that year in Saigon.
His main role in the IS (from 1978 the Socialist Workers Party (SWP)) was as a theorist and he produced numerous books and articles on a wide variety of topics. Almost all his writing appeared in the publications of the IS and SWP or has been published by related publishing houses, such as Bookmarks. He was first editor of Socialist Worker in 1976-77 and returned to the role after a break in 1982, remaining in the post until 2004, when he started editing the SWP's theoretical quarterly International Socialism Journal.
Harman's work on May 1968 in France and other student and workers uprisings of the late 1960s, The Fire Last Time, was recommended by rock band Rage Against the Machine
in their album sleeve notes for Evil Empire
.
Harman died on 7 November 2009 following a cardiac arrest while lecturing at the Socialist Days conference of the Center of Socialist Studies (CSS) in Cairo, Egypt. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery
, London, a few yards from Karl Marx
's tomb and adjacent to his comrade Paul Foot
.
Obituaries and Posthumous Articles on Chris Harman:
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
. He was formerly the editor of International Socialism
International Socialism (journal)
International Socialism is a British-based quarterly magazine of socialist theory published by the Socialist Workers Party. It is currently edited by Alex Callinicos, who took over after the death of Chris Harman in November 2009....
, and Socialist Worker
Socialist Worker
Socialist Worker is the name of several socialist/communist newspapers associated with the International Socialist Tendency...
.
Life
Born into a working class family, Harman attended Leeds UniversityUniversity of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
(where he joined the Socialist Review Group
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
) and the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
(LSE) where he began (but did not complete) a doctorate under the supervision of Ralph Miliband
Ralph Miliband
Ralph Miliband , born Adolphe Miliband, was a Belgian-born British sociologist known as a prominent Marxist thinker...
. He was instrumental in publishing the magazine of the LSE Socialist Society, The Agitator, and was a leading member of the International Socialists (as the SRG had become) by 1968. He was involved in the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign
The Vietnam Solidarity Campaign was originally set up in 1966 by activists around the International Group with the personal and financial support of Bertrand Russell....
and outraged many leftists when, at a meeting in the Conway Hall, he denounced Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
for murdering the leader of the Vietnamese Trotskyist movement, Ta Thu Thau
Ta Thu Thau
Tạ Thu Thâu was a Vietnamese Trotskyist and the leader of the Fourth International in Vietnam.-Early life:Ta Thu Thau was born in a small hamlet in Tan Binh, south of Long Xuyen, the capital of An Giang Province in Southern Vietnam. His family were poor and leading a semi-peasant lifestyle...
, in 1945 after crushing the workers' rising of that year in Saigon.
His main role in the IS (from 1978 the Socialist Workers Party (SWP)) was as a theorist and he produced numerous books and articles on a wide variety of topics. Almost all his writing appeared in the publications of the IS and SWP or has been published by related publishing houses, such as Bookmarks. He was first editor of Socialist Worker in 1976-77 and returned to the role after a break in 1982, remaining in the post until 2004, when he started editing the SWP's theoretical quarterly International Socialism Journal.
Harman's work on May 1968 in France and other student and workers uprisings of the late 1960s, The Fire Last Time, was recommended by rock band Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
in their album sleeve notes for Evil Empire
Evil Empire (album)
-Track listing:All songs written and arranged by Rage Against the Machine and all lyrics by Zack de la Rocha.#"People of the Sun" – 2:30#"Bulls on Parade" – 3:49#"Vietnow" – 4:39#"Revolver" – 5:30#"Snakecharmer" – 3:56#"Tire Me" – 3:00#"Down Rodeo" – 5:20...
.
Harman died on 7 November 2009 following a cardiac arrest while lecturing at the Socialist Days conference of the Center of Socialist Studies (CSS) in Cairo, Egypt. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a cemetery located in north London, England. It is designated Grade I on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetery....
, London, a few yards from Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
's tomb and adjacent to his comrade Paul Foot
Paul Foot
Paul Mackintosh Foot was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party...
.
Books and pamphlets
- Education, capitalism and the student revolt (1968)
- Russia: How the Revolution Was Lost (1969)
- Unemployment and how to fight it (with Dave Peers) (1971)
- Russia: How the Revolution was lost (1974)
- The struggle in Ireland (1974)
- Why Labour fails (1979)
- New technology and the struggle for socialism (1979)
- The summer of 1981 : a post-riot analysis (1981)
- Days of Hope: The General Strike of 1926 (with Duncan HallasDuncan HallasDuncan Hallas , was a prominent member of the Trotskyist movement and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party in Great Britain.-Biography:...
) (1981) - Gramsci versus Reformism (1983)
- Explaining The Crisis: A Marxist Reappraisal (London, 1984) ISBN 0-906224-11-X
- The Changing Working Class: Essays on Class Structure Today (with Alex CallinicosAlex CallinicosAlexander Theodore Callinicos is a Trotskyist political theorist, a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party and its International Secretary, and is Director of the Centre for European Studies at King's College London...
) (London: Bookmarks, 1987) ISBN 0-906224-40-3 - Russia: from workers' state to state capitalism (with Peter Binns and Tony CliffTony CliffTony Cliff , was a Trotskyist who was a founding member of the Socialist Review Group which went on to become the Socialist Workers Party...
) (London, 1987) - Class Struggles in Eastern Europe, 1945-1983 (London, 1988) ISBN 0-906224-47-0
- The Fire Last Time: 1968 And After (London, 1988) ISBN 1-898876-35-5
- The revolutionary paper (1991)
- In The Heat of the Struggle: 25 Years of Socialist Worker (editor) (with an introduction by Paul FootPaul FootPaul Mackintosh Foot was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party...
) (1993) ISBN 0-906224-94-2 - Economics Of The Madhouse: Capitalism and the Market Today (London, 1995) ISBN 1-898876-03-7
- How Marxism Works (London, 1997) ISBN 1-898876-27-4
- The Lost Revolution: Germany 1918-23 (London, 1997) ISBN 1-898876-22-3
- Marxism And History: Two Essays (London, 1998) ISBN 1-898876-31-2
- A People's History of the World (1999)
- The Prophet And The Proletariat: Islamic fundamentalism, class and revolution (London, 1999) ISBN 1-898877-18-1
- Zombie Capitalism: Global Crisis and the Relevance of Marx (London, 2009) ISBN 978-1-905192-53-3
Articles
- "Party and Class"
- "Gramsci Versus Reformism"
- "The 'workers's' government" (with Tim Potter)
- "The State and Capitalism Today"
- "Engels and the origins of human society"
- "The Prophet and the Proletariat"
- "Analysing Imperialism"
- "The workers of the world"
- "Anti-capitalism: Theory and Practice"
- "Spontaneity, strategy and politics"
- "Gramsci, the Prison Notebooks and philosophy"
External links
- Chris Harman Internet Archive
- Chris Harman’s Back Pages (Blog containing notes, position papers and old articles)
- International Socialism Journal
- Chris Harman on Ho Chi Minh, 1969, from The Left in Britain, 1956–68, edited by David WidgeryDavid WidgeryDavid Widgery was a British Trotskyist writer, journalist, polemicist, physician, and activist.Widgery was born in Barnet and grew up in Maidenhead, Berkshire...
- "Taking Apart the West," Richard Seymour reviews Harman's People's History of the World in The New Statesman, July 2008.
Obituaries and Posthumous Articles on Chris Harman:
- Chris Harman (1942-2009: Links to obituaries, sites, articles, videos etc. + books online, on Modkraft.dk
- Chris Harman: A life in the struggle by Ian BirchallIan BirchallIan Birchall is a British Marxist historian and translator, a member of the Socialist Workers Party and author of numerous articles and books, particularly relating to the French Left...
, International Socialism, 125, (2010) - Obituary by John MolyneuxJohn MolyneuxJohn Molyneux VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
, The Independent, 19 November 2009. - RIP Chris Harman, The Third Estate Blog, 7 November 2009
- Obituary by Alex CallinicosAlex CallinicosAlexander Theodore Callinicos is a Trotskyist political theorist, a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party and its International Secretary, and is Director of the Centre for European Studies at King's College London...
, Socialist Worker, 9 November 2009. - Obituary by Michael RosenMichael RosenMichael Wayne Rosen is a broadcaster, children's novelist and poet and the author of 140 books. He was appointed as the fifth Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson, and held this honour until 2009....
, The Guardian, 9 November 2009. - Chris Harman and 1968 by John Rose
- Another Side of Chris Harman by Joseph Choonara, International Socialism, 125, (2010)
- A whiff of teargas by Andy Durgan, International Socialism, 125, (2010)
- Tribute by Panos Garganas
- 'A thinker and a polemicist' by Larry ElliottLarry ElliottLarry Elliott is a British journalist and author focusing on economic issues. He is currently Economics editor at The Guardian, and has published four books on related issues, often in partnership with Dan Atkinson.-Education:Elliott was educated at St...
- "Obituary: Chris Harman 1942-2009", Alex Callinicos, Socialist Worker 14 November 2009