Who we are:
This site grew out of the British group Subversion. Although that group no longer exists, we are committed to continuing this web site to provide access to texts produced by the communist movement. We are one of a number of such sites. You will find details of others on this page.
What is communism:
Communism is the historic movement of the working class towards a new society. Society at the moment is run in the interests by a powerful elite that controls the means of producing and distributing wealth. That production has become an end in itself. Without constantly seeking to expand, capital faces ruin. To avoid that ruin, capital seeks to produce more commodities all the time. The influence of the commodity speads into more and more areas of our lives. Every aspect of our life, every minute of our day and night is fair game to capital. Everything we do is becoming subject to the commodity. In our everyday life we passively watch this domination.
Communism is the negation of this system. It means the end to buying and selling. It means and end to working for employers. It means and end to the nations, states and corporations that perpetuate and protect commodity production. It means production for use and distribution according to need. It will be a society based on the free asociation of the people who live in it. It will bring the end of racism, sexism, homophobia, environmental destruction and greed.
Communist thinkers have come from a number of traditions. Some have called themselves marxist, some anarchist. Still others have labelled themselves situationist or autonomist. What links them is a fundamental understanding that the emancipation of the working class must be the work of that class itself. It is not the job of some self-appointed elite. You will find texts from all these traditions on this site.
The ideas of communism arise from the struggles of the working class. Sections of this site detail the history of important moments of our class's fight against capital.
Some members of Subversion are still politically active. We have joined the Anarchist Federation and are slowly moving the contents of this site over to the Anarchist Federation, Manchester web site. All new texts will be added to this site.
Another ex-Subversion member writes under the name M Dupont. His texts can sometimes be found in the pages of Freedom and other magazines.
Texts against the war in Afghanistan
Various texts we have gathered from around the world on the war against "terrorism". This link takes you to the Manchester Anarchist Federation website, which I also maintain. Each page has a link back to this site.
Ecology and Class A new pamphlet from the Anarchist Federation. This is a rather large pdf file - about 1.3mb. It covers most aspects of the anarchist communist case against environmental destruction and for a working class response. To reduce the size, it has had the cover illustration removed.
Manchester Anarchist News This is the local and euro election special we produced in May 2004. Available as a pdf
Work Why work is so terrible and why it must be destroyed before it destroys us.
Monument or Movement?Arguably the text that started it all for Subversion. Written in 1972 when some of us were still members of the SPGB. We used this as the lead article in a magazine we called Critical Theory and Revolutionary Practice. A bit pompous perhaps, the title changed eventually to Libertarian Communism.
A Contribution to the Critique of Marx, by John Crump. Written in 1975, published jointly by Solidarity and Social Revolution. An attempt to get to grips with the contradictions within Marxism that led to both Communism and state-capitalist Leninism
Open Letter to the International Communist Current Written in 1997 by Ingram, an ex-member of the ICC. This letter charts the decline of the ICC from being an innovative communist organisation, through a series of expulsions and bizarre theoretical evolutions, into a narrow minded political sect. A timely warning!
Anti-Parliamentary Communism - the movement for Workers Councils in Britain, 1917-45, by Mark Shipway The definitive history of the Workers Socialist Movement and the Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation. Now complete. This link will take you to the AF-north website.
Leninism or Marxism? "Organisational Questions of Russian Social Democracy" written by Rosa Luxemburg in 1904
Food Glorious Food! Communist Perspectives on nature and humanity, No 1. A recently written analysis of the politics and economics behind GM Foods.
The Future Society - a speculative text produced by two members of the Anarchist Communist Federation
A Modest Proposal For How The Bad Old Days Will End - originally produced in 1975 by the Californain based Reinvention of Everyday Life. An excellent summary of what it's all about.
John Gray - probably the most extensive site, with links, pamphlets and articles from a wide range of sources. A must to visit. A number of the texts on the Subversion site have been produced with the help of a member of the John Gray collective.
Collective Action Notes - includes the texts produced by the Indian group KK/Collectivities. Another must.
Anarchist Federation(formerly the Anarchist Communist Federation.) The organisation of which I am now a member - contains articles from Organise! Resistance, Pamphlets and more. Plus a useful events diary and an extensive set of links to other sites.
