Italy

On 16 February in Naples, the comrades of the Italian section of the IMT, Sinistra Classe Rivoluzione (SCR) held a successful launch event at the Sala del Capitolo of the Complesso Monumentale di San Domenico Maggiore, in the city’s historic centre, for the Lenin lives! Campaign – an initiative to reclaim the real revolutionary legacy of Lenin in this, the centenary year of his death.

2024 will mark the centenary of the death of one of history's greatest revolutionaries: Lenin. Communists do not honour such great figures through pilgrimages or ceremonies; we think the best way to honour a great revolutionary is to study and learn their ideas.

IMT comrades in Modena, Italy (Sinistra Classe e Rivoluzione) organised a campaign inside the FIOM (metalworkers’ union of the CGIL) in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and in particular in support of an appeal issued by Palestinian trade union organisations. At a demonstration at the weekend, 2,000 workers and youth, both immigrant and native Italian, marched together in a lively demonstration, showing their full solidarity with the Palestinian people, calling for an end to the Israeli bombing and occupation.

On Saturday 16 September in Trieste, Italy, comrades of Sinistra Classe Rivoluzione, the IMT in Italy, who were holding a stall as part of the “Are you a communist? Then get organised!” campaign, were suddenly attacked by fascist thugs, who overturned the stall, physically assaulted the three comrades and then ran off. A few hours earlier, the national page of another fascist organisation had posted a poster of our campaign.

Billionaire media tycoon and former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, died of leukaemia today. He will be remembered for his involvement in numerous corruption scandals, sleazy ‘bunga bunga’ parties, child prostitution allegations, and for the attacks perpetrated by his governments against the working class. The liberal wing of the ruling class would like to distance itself from him, but for all that, Berlusconi held up a mirror to the rottenness of his class.

Today, 25 April, is a day of celebration in Italy. It is the anniversary of the final fall of the hated Fascist regime in 1945. The official history books tell us that the anti-fascist movement, the hundreds of thousands of armed partisans who fought in the resistance, were fighting for a democratic republic, which is what was finally established. This ignores the fact that what was taking place was a social revolution – not just for democracy, but for workers’ power. In this brilliant text written in 1930 – 15 years before these events – Leon Trotsky predicted that a “democratic republic”, i.e. a bourgeois-democratic regime, would only emerge from a defeat of the revolutionary

...

Almost 180 comrades from over 25 cities gathered in Milan from 24-26 February to attend the 22nd national congress of Sinistra Classe Rivoluzione, the Italian section of the International Marxist Tendency. This was our first in-person congress since the beginning of the pandemic three years ago, which ushered in a period of intense and profound change. As a revolutionary Marxist organisation, we have sought to bring out the fundamental trends underlying this period, identifying its unique features and distinguishing between superficial characteristics and the key processes going on under the surface.

On Saturday 26 November, a national demonstration was called in Rome as part of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. There were possibly around 10,000 on the demonstration, at most: far fewer than the 100,000 or so of previous years.

A century has passed since the Italian capitalist class handed power to Benito Mussolini’s fascists. Below we present a series of articles by Sinistra Classe Rivoluzione, the Italian section of the IMT, on the events leading up to Mussolini’s infamous ‘March on Rome’, the first three of which are compiled below (and the fourth will soon be available in Italian on their website). It is important we understand the lessons of fascism’s rise to

...

Yesterday, what is described as the “most right-wing” government since the Second World War was elected to office in Italy, with Fratelli d’Italia [Brothers of Italy], led by Giorgia Meloni, emerging as the first party, with 26 percent of the votes cast. How does one explain this surge in votes for a party that in 2018 won a mere 4.3 percent and elected only 32 MPs and 18 Senators? We will outline in this article the reason why such a radical change has taken place in Italian politics and outline the most likely perspective.

The 2022 national camp of Alziamo la Testa (“Let's raise our heads”), the first held by the youth organisation of the Italian Marxists, was a big success. We are particularly proud of what we have achieved in the last few years, and our progress was attested to at the event, which was attended by young revolutionaries from more than 26 cities, who were all thrilled to finally meet all the new comrades face-to-face after two years of the pandemic.

The fall of the Draghi government in Italy has resulted in snap elections being called for 25 September. While panic abounds about the inevitable victory of a right-wing coalition led by Meloni’s “Brothers of Italy” party, the fact is that workers and youth have few illusions that a change at the top will improve their situation, which has become increasingly desperate. A lack of leadership from the left and trade union tops means workers will have to take the fight to defend their wages and conditions to the streets. Almighty class struggle is implicit in this situation.

This article was written on 23 July, just a few days after the collapse of the Draghi government. Italy is heading towards a parliamentary election, scheduled for 25 September. For the latest analysis by our Italian comrades on the attitude of the Marxists towards the election, click here.

This article was produced several months ago by our Italian comrades of Sinistra, Classe, Rivoluzione in response to a polemic by Francesco Ricci concerning the counter-revolutionary demonstration in Cuba last year, which he supported. Ricci’s organisation (the PDAC) inherits the tradition of Nahuel Moreno, a leader of the Argentine Trotskyist movement who historically swung back and forth between ultra leftism and opportunism.

Last weekend, Italy saw one of the biggest demonstrations in the last 20 years as more than 200,000 people rallied for a massive anti-fascist protest in Rome. This was a colossal response to an attack against the national headquarters of the CGIL trade union a week earlier by the neo-fascist organisation Forza Nuova. The sheer scale of this demonstration shows the real strength of the working class. Only class struggle can defeat fascism.

Last Saturday (9 October), hundreds of fascists attacked and vandalised the premises of the national headquarters of the CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labour) in Rome.

They did so during a demonstration against the so-called green pass (indicating one’s COVID-19 vaccine status), which the government imposed as mandatory in all workplaces on 15 October.

This measure is unleashing anger among a section of the workers (though not the majority), and especially from the petty bourgeoisie and the lumpenproletariat. This confused rage has opened up a certain political space for the right and the extreme right.

The fascists who assaulted the CGIL HQ were granted

...

Turning off a little street in the heart of the historic centre of Naples, you will find a sign: Sinistra classe rivoluzione, sezione Hans – GerdÖfinger (“Left-wing class and revolution, Hans-Gerd Öfinger branch”). On 6 October, a rainy afternoon that announced the beginning of autumn, the sign was unveiled to an audience of around 70 people. Gathered together, they bore witness to a new beginning.

On 9 July 2021, 422 workers at the Campi Bisenzio GKN plant near Florence received a text message. It came from the British multinational’s management, communicating that the workers were immediately and collectively dismissed. However, the plant is not in crisis. There is a market for the production of drive shafts and other components for the automotive sector that the plant is capable of producing. So why the sackings?

The Italian bourgeoisie is celebrating an economic ‘recovery’, and preparing to take advantage of the lifting of lockdown measures to maximise their profits at the expense of workers’ wages and conditions. The labour movement must organise a concerted fightback.

Page 1 of 5