Alan Woods (politician)

Alan Woods (born in Swansea, Wales in 1944) is a Trotskyist politician and writer. He is one of the leading members of the International Marxist Tendency and editor of 'the "In Defence of Marxism" website, "Marxist.com.

thumb|left|250px| Alan Woods and Hugo Chávez in one of their many meetings together. He was born into a working-class family with a strong Communist tradition. At the age of 16 he joined the Young Socialists and became a Marxist joining the Militant Tendency within the Labour Party. He studied Russian at Sussex University and later in Sofia (Bulgaria) and at the Moscow State University (MGU). He his wife and two small daughters, moved to Spain in the early 1970s, where he participated in the struggle against the Francisco Franco dictatorship,Fact|date=July 2008 and speaks several languages, including Italian, English, Spanish, French, German and Russian.

In the early 1990s Woods and his mentor, Ted Grant split from the Militant Tendency and its parent organization, the Committee for a Workers International over what they considered to be the ultraleft turn of this organisation. Grant and Woods and their supporters internationally formed the Committee for a Marxist International in 1992, which was later to be known as the International Marxist Tendency.

He was the editor for some years of the Marxist journal Socialist Appeal, published in London, which is now edited by Mick Brooks.He is currently the leader of the IMT and editor of the website ( [http://www.marxist.com In Defence of Marxism] ).

His writings on the current revolution in Venezuela and the tasks to be carried out by the revolutionaries around the world are followed by members of the WCC around the world.

At the political level he has had meetings with Hugo Chávez repeatedly and defends the idea that the Bolivarian Revolution is the germ of the World Revolution, and he also travel and supports other revolutionary processes in Pakistan, Bolivia and Cuba.

Publications

* Marxism in Our Time (1992)
* China in Crisis (1994)
* [http://www.marxist.com/Europe/socialisteurope.html The Socialist Alternative to the European Union] (1997)
* [http://www.marxist.com/Europe/albania.html Revolution in Albania] (1997)
* [http://www.marxist.com/Economy/capitalistcrisis.html A New Stage in the Capitalist Crisis] (1998)
* [http://www.marxist.com/Asia/indonesia.html Indonesia: the Asian Revolution has Begun] (1998)
* [http://www.marxist.com/Europe/kosovo.html The Kosovo pogrom and the Balkan Powder-keg] (1998)
* [http://www.marxist.com/Russia/russiacrisis.html Crisis in Russia, the free market failure] ,
* [http://www.marxist.com/philosophy/index.asp History of Philosophy] ,
* Two books co-authored with Ted Grant
** [http://www.marxist.com/LeninAndTrotsky/ Lenin and Trotsky: what they really stood for] (1969)
** [http://www.marxist.com/rircontents.asp Reason in Revolt: Marxist philosophy and modern science] (1995)
* [http://www.marxist.com/bolshevism/ Bolshevism: the Road to Revolution] (1999).
* [http://www.marxist.com/marxism-national-question250200.htm Marxism and the National Question] (2000)
* [http://www.marxist.com/british-poets-french-revolution-1.htm British Poets and the French Revolution] (2003)
* [http://www.marxist.com/ireland/republicanism_intro.html The revolutionary dialectic of Republicanism - An Open Letter to Irish Republicans] (2003).
* [http://www.marxist.com/defence-marxism-israel-shamir1.htm In Defence of Marxism - Reply to Israel Shamir] (2004)
* [http://www.marxist.com/celia-hart-stalinism-leninism1010904.htm The Celia Hart Controversy - Stalinism or Leninism?] (2004)
* Ireland: Republicanism and Revolution (2005)
* The Venezuelan Revolution - a Marxist perspective (2005)
* "Marxism and the U.S.A." [http://www.wellredusa.com/marxism_usa_alan_woods.html] (Wellred USA, 2005).
* [http://www.marxist.com/reawakening-world-working-class160206.htm The Reawakening of the World Working Class and the Tasks Faced by Marxists] (2006)
* [http://www.marxist.com/reformism-or-revolution-out-now.htm Reformism or Revolution — Marxism and Socialism of the 21st Century (reply to Heinz Dieterich)] (2008)

References

* Rob Sewell, [http://www.marxist.com/hbt/p-4.html History of British Trotskyism Postcript sic]
* Rob Sewell, [http://www.marxist.com/militant-built-destroyed101004.htm How the Militant was Built – and How it was Destroyed]