This is the last in a series of four lectures, presented by The Call, which we’re titling “Farrell Dobbs: Lessons from the Teamster Rebellions.” In this lecture, socialist labor organizer Farrell Dobbs describes the years of heightened labor struggle before, during, and after World War II. He finishes by bringing listeners up to the present day, which was 1964, discussing the Cold War, the wars in Korea and Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Civil Rights movement. Many leaders of...

This is the third in a series of four lectures, presented by The Call, which we’re titling “Farrell Dobbs: Lessons from the Teamster Rebellions.” The 1934 strikes established Teamsters Local 574 as one of the most effective and militant “instruments of class struggle” in US history. In this lecture, socialist labor organizer Farrell Dobbs tells us about the battles that came afterward. Most significantly, Dobbs and Local 574 had to fight against International Teamsters President Daniel...

This is the second in a series of four lectures, presented by The Call, which we’re titling “Farrell Dobbs: Lessons from the Teamster Rebellions.” This lecture picks up where the first one left off, covering the 1934 general strike. Dobbs talks about the unique role of class conscious and socialist leadership in union struggles. As you’ll hear, the trucking bosses teamed up with the politicians, the newspapers, and international Teamsters union bureaucrats to attempt to suppress, discredit,...

This is the first in a series of four lectures, presented by The Call, which we’re titling “Farrell Dobbs: Lessons from the Teamster Rebellions.” Farrell Dobbs was a leader in the legendary 1934 Minneapolis Teamsters strikes and in the Socialist Workers Party, or the SWP. These four lectures are from 1964, delivered to a gathering of the youth section of the SWP. These lectures are an incredible window into the history of the US labor movement. The 1934 strikes marked a turning point when...

This is the last in a series of three lectures, presented by The Call, on the fundamentals of Marxist politics by Vivek Chibber. In this concluding lecture, Chibber turns to a discussion of class struggle. Marx predicted that the working class would overthrow the capitalist system in short order, but the last century has confirmed that the capitalist system is far more stable than many Marxists expected. If this is true, how useful is Marx’s theory of class struggle? Chibber proposes two...

This is the second in a series of three lectures, presented by The Call, on the fundamentals of Marxist politics by Vivek Chibber. In this lecture, Chibber discusses the state and its relationship to the capitalist class. In the liberal view, the state is fundamentally neutral, and all groups advocate for their interests within it on an even playing field. Marxists have a different idea. As Chibber explains, in the Marxist understanding the state works to defend and advance the interests...

This is the first in a series of three lectures, presented by The Call, on the fundamentals of Marxist politics by Vivek Chibber. Chibber is a Professor of Sociology at NYU and Editor of Catalyst. In this opening lecture, first presented in 2008 at the Brecht Forum, Chibber explains how class works under capitalism. To get there, Chibber first takes a step back and explains how classes were organized under feudalism. He then shows how the capitalist class structure differs from its feudal...