By Susan Gilshinan, comrade in Drimnagh PBP

He stood six feet four or more
In his stocking feet
And a nicer man you wouldn’t meet.
He was soft-spoken and gentle, firm in his beliefs,
Highly intelligent but never shoved his views down your throat,
Unlike the gang in Leinster House, he certainly did loathe!!
John loved Art History and sometimes he could be a mystery.
As Mary said “He often took to wearing his shirt
One collar in, one out. Sometimes his jumper was worn back to front,
His big black bag over-flowed with pamphlets and prose”.
John is too Large a Life Figure to be gone,
He is still here among us, standing tall.
Still here among us talking of Lenin and Marx,
And he will never leave our hearts.

Hi Memet, just thought I’d email you the post I made last night about John, it doesn’t half do him justice and plenty of people have written far more fitting tributes to him, but I hope I can be forgiven being at a loss for words strong enough to describe the admiration and respect I had for him. I’ll also attach the photo I posted on it too as I thought that the sign he was holding in it encapsulated him exactly as he was, a rebel for life, right up to the end.

I can still barely come to terms with the news of John’s sudden passing, he was always such a constant on the Irish left. Whether it was protests on anti-racism, Palestinian solidarity, the housing and climate crises, you name it, John was there. Activism in Dublin will never be the same again without him. He was a committed socialist campaigner and revolutionary who dedicated his life to changing the world for the better. I’ve learned so much from my conversations with him and I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to have any more with him. Rest in power comrade.

A memory of John in Egypt

John was a wonderful travelling companion. He talked to everyone – and made friends on all sides. We went twice to Egypt at a time when the radical left in the country was consolidating and John was able to pass on some of his experience to young revolutionaries. On one occasion, after several days of intense meetings in Cairo on Marxist theory, strategy and tactics, John said that he urgently needed to play some chess: where could he go? what did I know about chess in the city? 

Despite a good knowledge of Cairo, as a chess incompetent I had no idea – except a vague memory of seeing chessboards at a bar downtown. In the evening we set off for Al Hurreya, a cavernous place in Midan Falaki and one of the few places in the city where Egyptians could freely buy beer. For generations it had been a hangout for liberals and the left – and sure enough, in a corner away from the drinkers, there were three tables with chess games under way.

John’s eyes lit up: “Excellent”. He stood above one of the games – towering over the players – and waved me off. After a beer I left – and didn’t see him again until the next morning, when he clattered exhausted into the flat in which we were staying. I asked about the Al Hurreya experience – and received an account that could only have come from John.

“I watched few games,” he said, “and then they invited me to play. I lost a couple but then started to win – a lot. I beat everyone in the bar who could play and so they called up their champion. I beat him too and they made a phonecall for the top chess man in the city – and, well, I won that as well. 

“They kept telling me that I was ‘Al Malik’, and someone with a few words of English translated… that I was ‘The King’ and then ‘Al-Far’un’ – ‘The Pharoah’. 

“I had a good time but unfortunately I didn’t have the Arabic for a sustained critique of the monarchy.”

Phil Marfleet

The movement for a better world without wars has lost a tower of strength, energy, commitment, intellect, inspiration and dedication. Here we are together in August 2014 outside Buswell’s Hotel at the launch of our Irish Anti War Movement booklet on World War 1 which John edited, a project he took on board with little fuss. His last political meeting yesterday was his attendance at our AGM in the Teacher’s Club, Dublin at which he was his usual perceptive and tenacious self. We shared a drink after and I wished him safe home. Sadly he did not make it. he will be sorely missed. My sympathy goes out to his partner Mary Smith, his family, friends and comrades. Rest in Power John Molyneux.

He helped us build

We are deeply shocked about the sudden death of our comrade John Molyneux. His ideas and writing have helped us a lot to build marx21 as a network of revolutionary socialists in Germany.

He never hesitated to speak his opinion even when it was controversial in the International Socialist Tendency. We welcome his recent proposal to debate the question of fascism in the light of  Italian developments.

We will miss his support and his arguments. Our thoughts are with the Irish comrades and John’s partner and family.

Coordination Group of Marx21, Germany

His books helped many new socialists

We have with deep sadness received the news of John Molyneux’s sudden passing. John was a great friend of the Danish group throughout our existence. At the annual Marxism event in London he always took time to talk to and support the comrades who came from Denmark. He has also been a guest at our Danish Marxisme.

His inspiration to us has been enormous. We have a whole range of his pamphlets and books—quite a few are translated— in our bookshop. His The Real Marxist Tradition has been sold to new comrades and been the starting point for many in their lives as revolutionary socialists. On a whole range of issues from philosophy to party building, he has been an inspiration.

This great person and Marxist will be sorely missed. We send our thoughts and condolences to his partner, family and close friends, and to all the comrades in the Irish Socialist Workers Network.

Charlie Lywood, on behalf of the Danish Internationale Socialister

An unlikely beginning

We have all lost a comrade and many of us have also lost a friend. My partner and my eldest daughter were both devastated by the untimely death of John, who my daughter stills calls “Uncle John” from all the occasions mostly at Marxism where he completely over-indulged her.

The circumstances of my first meeting with John were not how a friendship would normally start.

I was a shop steward in a fairly large engineering works in Havant, close to Portsmouth. This was the mid-1970s and there were a lot of strikes taking place.

We were all subject to the “Social Contract” agreed between Harold Wilson’s Labour government and the TUC. This agreement introduced “Annual Pay Awards”, and this would be your lot until the next round of pay bargaining. Prior to this we could negotiate a pay rise if we thought we could get one and to offset the high rate of inflation, especially in a highly unionised workplace such as ours.

We were taking action over management attempts to lower the rates for “piece rate workers” mostly fitters and turners and machine operators.

We decided that we had a much better chance of winning this dispute if instead of walking out on strike we occupied the factory and stop management from moving out completed units. This would deprive them of income.

On the second day of the occupation, a group of people including John appeared at the factory gates, asking if they could come in and talk to the workers taking action and sell papers.

I was on the gates, so I went to ask the convenor if this would be OK. Our convenor was a bloody good trade unionist and one of the most militant workers I had met. He was also a member of the Communist Party.

I remember to this day his response. “Go and tell that bunch of Trotskyist splitters to fuck off”. I went and simply said “No”. I did take a paper. As a result of reading it, I went to the town centre on the Saturday after the occupation to seek out these “Trotskyist Splitters”.

I wish I could say I joined the party there and then, but like a lot of other young socialists and trade unionists at the time I was still convinced that we could turn the Labour Party to the left.

I left Portsmouth shortly after this and did not return until the 1980s. I had by then left the Labour Party. I was also completely disillusioned with the notion of revolutionary organisation, because of a few years as an entryist with the Militant tendency in both Brighton and North Wales.

I was recruited to the SWP eventually by Huw Williams and Jon Woods, who would just not leave me alone. John was an absolute rock. Although the busiest person in the branch, he always had time for me and other members.

I eventually found myself working in the same building as John and got the opportunity to talk with him more often. I was also a trade union rep again and secretary of the local Trades Council, helping to organise solidarity actions and local demos

I owned up to not being able to understand all the arguments and debates going on within Marxist organisations. John would explain in the easiest language and sometimes I understood what it was that these arguments were about. But something John said to me that I’ll never forget— “It’s OK because you are an active militant worker”.

John Molyneux.. The departure of a revolutionary does not mean the end of the revolution

Our comrade John Molyneux (the internationalist thinker and leader) passed away at the age of 74. your comrades from the revolutionary left current in Syria , share the pain with his family, relatives and all those who knew him as a leader and activist at the for fronts of the struggle.

John Molyneux; Perhaps a few words now are not enough to talk about his great and full history of struggles in the ranks of the British and Irish working class.

John had a great influence on his surroundings and this influence was reflected to all parts of the world. The articles and writings written by John, along with his companion Chris Harman and others, helped direct us towards a Marxism free from the dogmatism that the revolutionary left witnessed globally and formed the current political development that we are going through on the side. Theoretical and practical.

John Molyneux was part of a remarkable generation that developed from the theoretical insights John’s writtings, together with his comrad chris and others, guided us and the revolutionary left wordlwide towards a non dogmatic marxism which drove the theoretical and practical progress that we are currently experiencing.

We send our thoughts and condolences to his partner, family and close friends, and to all the comrades in the ISt, the SWP and the Irish Socialist Workers Network.

Ghayath Naisse On behalf of the revolutionary left current in Syria

El 10 de diciembre desapareció repentinamente nuestro compañero John Molyneux. Murió en Dublín, Irlanda, donde vivía tras jubilarse de su trabajo de profesor en Portsmouth, Inglaterra.

Jugó un papel muy importante en la corriente socialismo internacional, de la que Marx21 forma parte y fue, además, una muy buena persona. Lo echaremos de menos.

Ideas claras

Nació en Gran Bretaña en 1948. Siendo estudiante, se afilió en 1968 al grupo Socialismo Internacional —que más tarde se convertiría en el Socialist Workers Party (SWP)— a tiempo para participar en las luchas explosivas de la época.

Algunos estudiantes radicales de esa época habrían combinado el ultraizquierdismo con una verborrea incomestible. Pero John se había afiliado a una corriente que rechazaba ambas cosas: se les daba la bienvenida a militantes estudiantiles, pero tenían que aprender a hablar con la gente trabajadora de a pie, en una fábrica, oficina, hospital…, conectando la visión global revolucionaria con los problemas y luchas de cada día de la gente trabajadora.

En 1978, John publicó un libro importante sobre El marxismo y el partido. Fue una contribución a la tarea en esos años de convertir lo que había sido un grupo político con toques libertarios e informales en un partido más organizado y disciplinado.

Otro texto clave fue “¿Cuál es la tradición marxista?”, que intentó distinguir el marxismo revolucionario — centrado en la autoemancipación de la clase trabajadora y lucha por la liberación humana— del terrible historial de la socialdemocracia y el estalinismo. Y lo hizo sin recorrer a la visión sectaria de que “la única política revolucionaria es la que defiende mi propio grupo”.

Estos y otros de sus libros demostraron la capacidad de John de explicar las ideas con claridad y de manera convincente; en absoluto se trataba de intentar ganar los debates mediante apelaciones a la autoridad y la disciplina.

A esta habilidad le dio un buen uso con una columna en el periódico semanal Socialist Worker. Su columna fue un excelente ejemplo de la aplicación práctica de las ideas marxistas. No se trataba de “simplificar” en el sentido de presentar argumentos simplistas, carentes de profundidad. Más bien, logró explicar y hacer accesibles los conceptos básicos del marxismo, en un formato que sirviese a una persona trabajadora en sus conversaciones cotidianas, en un descanso en el trabajo, en el bar… ¿Por qué debemos rechazar los controles de inmigración? ¿Por qué los horrores de la URSS no demuestran que el socialismo no puede funcionar? ¿Por qué debemos apoyar las luchas sindicales a la vez de desconfiar de la burocracia sindical? Cada semana, aportó ideas claras y convincentes sobre temas así.

Muchas de estas columnas se recogieron más tarde en el folleto “Argumentos para el socialismo revolucionario”.

Pero no solo escribió, también fue activista revolucionario en su ciudad de Portsmouth, ganando a mucha gente joven al partido a lo largo de muchos años. Y ser activista del SWP —como de cualquier grupo de la corriente IST—  supone también impulsar luchas más amplias.

Años más tarde John recordó cómo las y los militantes del SWP fueron de las pocas personas en Portsmouth que se opusieron a la guerra de las Malvinas de 1982. Es que Portsmouth es la ciudad portuaria principal de la armada británica: fue la base de donde salió la flotilla bélica para la guerra contra Argentina. No solo eso, la industria armamentística emplea una parte importante de la gente trabajadora de la ciudad. Ante una situación así, muchas personas, incluso de la izquierda radical, se olvidarían de sus principios. Es característico de John y de la política que representaba mantenerse firme, defendiendo sus ideas, pero sin sectarismo, sin perder el contacto con la gente corriente. Así que años más tarde, John contribuyó a que 12 autocares de Portsmouth —todavía una ciudad fuertemente militar— se llenasen para participar en la gran manifestación en Londres contra la guerra de Irak, el 15 de febrero de 2003.

Independiente

Para algunas personas supondría una contradicción, pero el fuerte compromiso de John con la política revolucionaria lo llevó a mantener una actitud muy crítica con su propio partido cuando pensaba que su dirección cometía un error. Estuvo más que dispuesto a defender una posición propia cuando le parecía necesario; fue parte de su grandeza y una de las cosas que lo hizo tan especial.

A principios de los años 80, se produjo en el SWP un debate muy importante acerca del análisis marxista de la opresión de las mujeres. La dirección mantenía que esta opresión, en el fondo, le beneficiaba al sistema capitalista, a la clase dirigente. John argumentó que también le beneficiaba al hombre trabajador: en cierto sentido, su argumento prefiguraba ideas que se difundirían unos años más tarde como “la teoría de privilegios”.

Como en todo debate importante teórico, su relevancia estaba en lo que significaba para la lucha. Si esta opresión de las mujeres realmente le beneficiaba a la mitad de la clase trabajadora, no tenía sentido proponer una estrategia mediante la cual esta clase debía combatir la opresión, de manera unitaria. En realidad, desde ese punto de vista, sería difícil ver cómo acabar con esta opresión. Sin embargo, pocos años antes, en 1979, unas mujeres sindicalistas de izquierdas, incluyendo a compañeras del SWP, habían conseguido que la central sindical de Gran Bretaña, el TUC, organizase una manifestación en defensa del derecho al aborto; lograron reunir a 50.000 personas, tanto hombres como mujeres. Fue una muestra práctica de que las ideas machistas, que son evidentemente muy fuertes y extendidas, pueden ser superadas mediante la lucha y el debate, con argumentos de clase contra la opresión. Los hombres en esa manifestación habían entendido que su interés real no estaba en perpetuar el sistema opresivo actual, sino en luchar en su contra, codo con codo con sus compañeras de clase.

En todo caso, John presentó sus argumentos, pero se quedó en minoría. Se había celebrado un debate real, la militancia había votado y se había adoptado una posición colectiva; en eso consiste el centralismo democrático. Lógicamente, John seguía siendo un activista y pensador clave del partido.

En los siguientes años, hubo algunos episodios más de este tipo. En su momento, seguro que hubo algunas quejas dentro de la dirección del partido ante su insistencia en plantar cara cuando discrepaba. Retrospectivamente, sin embargo, los debates que John inspiró ayudaron considerablemente al SWP —y al conjunto de la corriente socialismo internacional, que iba creciendo poco a poco en la misma época— a profundizar su análisis sobre las opresiones y otras cuestiones difíciles.

Solidez

La solidez política de John la demostraría de nuevo durante una larga crisis que sufrió el SWP a partir de 2007, cuando varios grupos de militantes abandonaron el partido.

Hubo diferentes razones concretas en cada caso, pero en el fondo se estaba pagando el precio del éxito de los años 2000-2003 y el haber conseguido impulsar grandes movimientos, como el movimiento antiguerra… a costa a veces de la propia organización y política del partido. Cuando el nivel de movilización empezó a decaer, cuando era más difícil convencer a otra gente de una estrategia, surgió la tentación de rebajar la política para mantener la popularidad.

Una de las escisiones surgió a raíz de un caso de agresión sexual dentro de la organización que se gestionó de manera inadecuada. Es un logro del SWP que, años antes de la campaña #MeToo, un caso de este tipo no fuese ignorado —como han hecho incontables organizaciones— sino que se debatió fuertemente. La dirección del SWP reconoció más tarde que había cometido errores, y el partido llegaría a desarrollar un protocolo sobre acoso sexual… mucho antes del #MeToo.

En todo caso, más allá de los debates acerca del caso específico, en el fondo de la disputa estaba la necesidad o no de una organización revolucionaria, leninista, como la que llevaban décadas construyendo. Ante esta situación, con su historia de “disidente”, y especialmente en el análisis de cuestiones de opresión, algunas personas hostiles a la dirección del SWP esperaban que John se sumaría a su campaña contra la dirección.

De hecho, porque fue capaz de ver qué representaba el debate en realidad, John se convirtió en una voz muy efectiva en la defensa de la continuidad del SWP y su política general… con las mejoras que se habían demostrado necesarias. Y efectivamente, el SWP se recuperó de la crisis.

Tragedia y renacimiento

En 2002, John sufrió una terrible pérdida con la muerte de su compañera de vida, Jill, tras una larga y dura enfermedad. Él mismo enfermó y casi murió entonces. Fue un período muy difícil del que podría no haber logrado salir. Tuvo la gran fortuna de conocer a Mary Smith, militante del Socialist Workers’ Network en Irlanda, que le dio nuevas ganas de vivir.

Y efectivamente, tuvo toda una segunda vida, al ir a vivir con Mary en Dublín, Irlanda. Aquí se metió totalmente en la política y cultura popular del país. Rápidamente llegó a formar parte de la dirección política del Socialist Workers’ Network (SWN) y un activista del partido-movimiento electoral anticapitalista que el SWN lidera, People Before Profit.

Aquí John fundó la revista trimestral Irish Marxist Review, que declaró que “Nuestro objetivo principal es proporcionar un análisis socialista y marxista serio de los desarrollos políticos, económicos y sociales en Irlanda e internacionalmente. También nos interesaremos en la clase obrera y la historia socialista, en la teoría marxista y en cuestiones de cultura.” Cuando John murió, acababa de salir el número 34 de la revista, tras 11 años de publicación.

Aparte de volver al activismo, John seguía escribiendo sobre temas cada vez más diversos. Escribió el libro The Point Is To Change It: An Introduction to Marxist Philosphy (Bookmarks, 2012, “El punto es cambiarlo: una introducción a la filosofía marxista”) que fue, como decía el título, una accesible introducción a los debates sobre el marxismo y la filosofía.

En 2020, publicó otro libro muy importante, The Dialectics of Art (Bookmarks, “La dialéctica del arte”). En base al análisis de diferentes artistas y sus obras, desde Michelangelo hasta el arte vanguardista actual, analizó el significado del arte como esfera distinta de la creatividad humana, que tiene un aspecto muy político, pero que no se puede reducir a la política ni condicionar en términos políticos.

Jesús Castillo, de Marx21 Sevilla, añade: “También en los últimos años, John mostró un gran interés en la lucha por el clima, desarrollando un discurso anticapitalista que tendía puentes entre diversos movimientos sociales en la búsqueda de la unidad de acción sin sectarismos. En este sentido, John impulsó la Global Ecosocialist Network donde consiguió la participación de personas ecosocialistas de todo el mundo, poniendo siempre especial interés en la participación de mujeres y personas del Sur Global. Su lucha revolucionaria continúa en muchos frentes, también en el empeño por conservar la calidad ecológica de nuestro entorno para las generaciones futuras.”

Destacamos finalmente que John jugó un papel activo en la coordinación de la corriente socialismo internacional, de la que Marx21 forma parte.

John Molyneux y Marx21

El grupo actual de Marx21 tiene sus orígenes en Socialismo Internacional, el grupo fundado en 1994 que fue el inicio de la corriente socialismo internacional en el Estado español.

En ese momento, existían dos textos importantes de la corriente en castellano, Partido y Clase, de Chris Harman, y ¿Cuál es la tradición marxista? de John Molyneux. En un entorno donde “socialismo” se entendía como el PSOE, y “revolución” o “marxismo” se entendían como referencias a la URSS o Cuba, el texto de Molyneux tuvo un valor enorme, al subrayar — sin sectarismo, como se ha comentado— que el marxismo revolucionario significa algo muy diferente.

Con los años, el grupo publicaría más obras suyas en castellano, como ¿Es la naturaleza humana una barrera al socialismo?, La futura sociedad socialista, o la colección de sus columnas mencionada arriba, Argumentos para el socialismo revolucionario.

Aparte de esto, siempre fue un gran amigo del grupo Socialismo Internacional, que a principios de los 2000 pasó a llamarse En lucha. Cuando participábamos en las impresionantes jornadas en Londres del SWP, Marxism, John siempre buscaba tiempo para hablar con las y los militantes de nuestro grupo.

Como miembro de la coordinación de la corriente internacional, John fue una ayuda importante para el grupo Marx21.

La crisis que sufrió el SWP a inicios de la década de 2010 tuvo su paralelo en el Estado español. En 2000-2003 el grupo había tenido mucho éxito al impulsar el movimiento anticapitalista y antiguerra. Mediante la agitación, llegó a contar con más de 200 militantes, pero le costó mucho adaptarse a la bajada de la lucha que siguió a ese período. Tras varios años de problemas, en 2016 la mayoría del grupo votó por su liquidación.

La media docena de personas que pensábamos que aún debíamos organizarnos —de una manera adecuada a la situación concreta— alrededor de la política de socialismo desde abajo defendida por la IST empezamos la red Marx21. En ese momento, John, junto con el resto de la coordinación de la corriente, fue un apoyo imprescindible, tanto en términos políticos como personales. En su línea, aportó ideas y consejos, pero nunca intentó imponer nada.

Al año siguiente 2017, se produjo la gran movilización alrededor del referéndum catalán: entonces, como ahora, Catalunya fue un territorio clave del grupo. Los consejos e ideas aportados por la corriente, y John personalmente, fueron una ayuda muy importante. Dentro de la izquierda española, predominaba un “internacionalismo” abstracto que se tradujo en dar la espalda a la lucha por el derecho a decidir del pueblo catalán. Dentro de la izquierda catalana, existieron (y existen) ilusiones en las posibilidades de un “bloque independentista” junto con los partidos burgueses y pequeñoburgueses catalanistas.

John que ya llevaba bastantes años en Irlanda, y tenía muy presente el papel traicionero de los dirigentes nacionalistas de derechas. En el verano de 2017, nos animó a no confiar en las apariencias, en los discursos radicales, insistiendo en que toda la experiencia era que, en el momento de verdad, éstos darían un paso atrás. En un momento en que era fácil dejarse llevar por las ilusiones, estos avisos nos ayudaron a mantener nuestra visión independiente.

Adiós John

La importancia de John Molyneux quedó manifiesta en la multitud de mensajes que llegaron tras su muerte. Quedando en evidencia que fue una importancia no sólo política sino, como se ha destacado aquí, también personal. Lo personal depende de cada individuo, cada persona es como es, como el propio John sabía.

Pero en lo político, terminamos con la observación que cierra un artículo en su memoria en la web de su grupo adoptivo en Irlanda: “El mejor tributo que podemos dar a John Molyneux es continuar con su tradición de política socialista revolucionaria.”

John and I were comrades going back a long time. A bit like Eamonn McCann’s comment at the funeral, I knew John before I met him; though for me it was through his writing, especially the Teach Yourself Marxism column in the British SW paper. Right back to the early days with the Dublin branch meetings in the upstairs room at the Bachelor Inn, when we would get our hands on a copy of the British paper, almost always I’d go straight to John’s column.

In recent years I got to know John in person. At meetings and rallies I would always listen carefully to what he said in his contributions – bringing all those decades of reading and struggle to making clear and politically-sharp points, he’d set the tone and direction of most discussions.

Like many, wherever John saw me at a meeting or protest he’d be straight over asking if I’d get a copy of the IMR – after we’d exchange cash for the journal, he’d always say “Good man!” often with a gentle hand on my back.

Watching the service yesterday, it was clear to me that John’s was a life well-lived, in the best of our revolutionary socialist tradition. I think there was never a more apt invocation of Joe Hill’s dictum, than at the funeral.

Rest in Power John Molynuex.

In Memoriam: John Molyneux

The Marxist writer and activist John Molyneux died in Dublin on December 11 at the age of 74. John was a longstanding member of the International Socialist Tendency, first as a member of the International Socialists/Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in Britain, later as a member of the Socialist Workers Party/Network in Ireland.

John was one of the generation of ’68. He joined the International Socialists in Britain in 1968 after being radicalized by the antiwar movement and the global revolutionary upsurge of that year. He soon became one of the group’s leading theorists and most popular speakers.

His first book, Marxism and the Party (1976), analyzes what Marx, Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotsky, and Gramsci had to say about the question of revolutionary organization and remains relevant for everyone still grappling with that issue. A few years later he published Leon Trotsky’s Theory of Revolution (1981), which discusses Trotsky’s weaknesses as well as his strengths. What is the Real Marxist Tradition? (1983/85) started life as a long article and was later published as a short book—it contrasts Marx’s revolutionary socialism with reformism and Stalinism.

But perhaps John’s biggest contribution was his weekly column, “The ABCs of Marxism,” published in Socialist Worker (UK) for almost 15 years. Some weeks he discussed basic Marxist ideas and history, other weeks he applied a Marxist perspective to a contemporary issue or debate, including debates on the left. John’s columns were a model of clarity—I read them religiously every week in the 1980s and I don’t think I’m the only person who learned a lot of their Marxism from them. Some of the columns were collected into a short book titled Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism (1987) and a pamphlet on The Future Socialist Society (1987).

The clarity of John’s writing was also evident in his talks. I saw him speak many times at the annual Marxism conference in London during the 1980s and 1990s.

John’s prominence as a writer gave him space to sometimes challenge SWP orthodoxy. In the 1980s he argued that, even if women’s liberation is in their long-term interest, working-class men gain immediate benefits from women’s oppression and that revolutionaries had to confront this. In 2004 he spoke out against what he argued was a deficit of genuine democracy in the organization.

But John was always a member of the loyal opposition. In 2012-13, the SWP faced a major crisis following the attempted cover up of an accusation of rape against a leading member. The scandal led many people (including longstanding members such as Colin Barker and Ian Birchall) to leave the organization. By this time, John had retired and moved to Ireland, but—disappointingly, in my view—he defended the party leadership against its critics.

In Ireland he became the editor of the Irish Marxist Review and contributed something substantial to almost every issue. He also continued writing books—including a guide to Marxist philosophy, The Point is to Change It! (2012), Lenin for Today (2017), and The Dialectics of Art (2020)—and contributed a steady flow of articles to the Irish socialist website Rebel. Over the last few years, John also became heavily focused on building an ecosocialist response to the climate crisis and was one of the founders of the Global Ecosocialist Network.

Whatever political mistakes John made, his publications and talks trained thousands of young socialists in revolutionary Marxist politics. As capitalism’s crises grow worse, his voice will be missed.

Oh no.

Shocking news.

The greatest book I’ve ever read was written by John:

‘The Future Socialist Society.’

I’m going miss his messages and advice.

A true giant of the movement.

Shocked and saddened at the sudden passing of John Molyneux Our thoughts are with Mary Smith and family and all of John’s friends and comrades. Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism, Is Human Nature a Barrier to Socialism, The Future Socialist Society and John’s books on the Marxist party and tradition all helped train a generation of revolutionaries across the world. Over many decades John made a tremendous contribution to the socialist movement both as a wide-ranging thinker, writer and committed activist. He’ll be sorely missed by revolutionaries in Ireland and internationally.

I met John Molyneux twice at his home in Dublin and at Marxism in Berlin in 2016, an encounter I will never forget since we had a chat about Easter 1916, the Irish revolution, republicanism and its limitations and degenerations, and the dialectics between leadership and base of a movement.. he raised the remarkable point, which really impressed me and helped me understanding the relation between revolutionary socialists and radical republicans in Ireland, when he told me he had repeatedly debates with Eamonn McCann about the character of that movement and he experienced RSF members being radical at the forefront together with comrades from PBP and others at common working class rallies, he called those more reliable and serious than working class members of liberal bourgeois sections of the party spectrum and clearly envisioned united front tactics instead of sidelining them. John certainly understood to bring people together in practical terms for a common struggle. You will be missed comrade!

I always knew that I was an anti-capitalist, but it wasn’t until I read the book “What is the Real Marxist Tradition” by John Molyneux that I started learning about Marxism and how we can change the world to a place we deserve.

A few years later, having read many of Molyneux’s writings and trying to apply theory in practice, I was visiting Dublin and attended a Marxism event. I was sitting next to a nice old man when I asked the speaker a question about the Syrian counterrevolution and how we can deal with Stalinists who support Bashar in the name of anti-imperialism.

After the talk, the man looked at me with a genuine smile and with a tone of excitement said:

– You’re a comrade, aren’t you?! You sound like one!

– Haha! I am, actually! I’m a member of the Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt. My name’s Tarek.

– I’m John. So nice to meet you, Tarek!

And that’s when it hit me. I froze for a bit in shock, and then I asked, “are you John Molyneux?!”

The person who educated and inspired generations of Marxists around the world is one of the sweetest and most humble people you can imagine. A fierce radical. A relentless thinker. A real human. Such an honor and a true pleasure.

Rest in Power, John Thank you for the inspiration. Thank you for the love

Today I attended the funeral of John Molyneux, activist on the Irish left and author of many Marxist texts. It was sad, moving and impressively enacted. The first part was in the Unitarian Church in Stephen’s Green. I wondered how this was going to work, John being an atheist. The minister, Bridget Spain, gave a welcome, encompassing a brief history of the church and explanation of unitarianism. Then the ceremony was chaired by Brid Smith TD and was totally secular. Most of the speakers, including Mary Smith, Kieran Allen, Memet Uladag, Eamonn McCann and Alex Callinicos, were from the SWN, SWP, IST tradition, as was John. I am not of this tradition, but have come to regard them as comrades in my many years of working with them on the broad left. Members of John’s family also spoke and I got the impression that they too were comrades. The speeches were excellent. Every one of them was warm, intelligent, appropriate, sometimes also funny (especially Mary). The unitarian minister came back at the end and spoke of bereavement. Interestingly, she noted that unitarianism had no position on an afterlife. Then there was the Internationale. The second part was at the Glasnevin crematorium. This ceremony was mainly musical. Among the songs were If They Come in the Morning and Waltzing Matilda. Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin sang a beautiful song as gaeilge (but I didn’t catch the name of it). We ended with all singing Power to the People. We milled around talking outside afterwards. Most are still carrying on in the Brian Boru pub, although I am back at work on my computer. It was a well-deserved tribute to John who gave so much to so many and will be much missed.

Comment

Share

Incredibly sad news. A terrible loss for the left and all the movements he helped to build. And a huge personal loss for Mary. 

John was a fantastic, kind and generous comrade. When I joined, John Molyneux was active in the British SWP, a big name speaker at the annual Marxism event in London. It was surreal years later to have this figure sitting at branch meetings in a community centre in Rathfarnham, but John shared his knowledge & ideas with as much enthusiasm at those tiny meetings as he did at the big ones. His commitment to the struggle for socialism was undying. 

La lucha continua, as John would want. Informed in no small part by his writings and inspired by his boundless energy and activism. Rest in power John. You made a difference.

From Kevin IPSC

Hi Brid, just heard the shocking news about John. Absolutely awful. Whatever our differences, he was a giant of the left, literally and metaphorically. My condolences to all of you in the SWN and PBP. Please pass on my deepest sympathies to Mary, I’m so sorry for her. 💔

Among others John Molyneux was important in my political development of moving from genuine, anti-racism republican socialist politics (Sinn Fein to Eirigi) to joining the Socialist Workers Party in 2011 and building revolutionary socialists within People Before Profit. John was always a very generous friend and political activist and his writings have shaped my thinking as well as the many sharp discussion at marxism and national councils.

I last saw John at Raise The Roof and felt great to have a calm but passionate voice with all the misdirected anger towards refugees.. such a huge void we all have to fill. But first John let’s give you the deserved send off that will do all your Irish, British & worldwide friends proud.

Rest In Power dear friend and Revolutionary Socialist comrade.

I was shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden death of my friend and socialist comrade John Molyneaux.

My first meeting with John was at an anti-war meeting in 2016 where I got the first of what would become a very familiar sighting – John with his shoulder bag flogging the Irish Marxist Review magazine. My last encounter with him was at the United against Racism rally last Thursday where – fittingly enough – he thrust a copy of the IMR into my hands and said he’ll get the fiver off me next time.

Since that first meeting, John has been a key figure in my political development, and it is clear from all the tributes being paid that I am just one of many new young activists for whom he had endless time and energy. 
He saw it as his role to pass on the tradition and to nurture us, indeed, he was more than happy to step back and let newer activists take on leading roles and responsibilities, all whilst making himself endlessly available to answer questions and give support. 

I remember texting John frantically under the table during a talk I was giving(!) at Marxism festival when someone in the crowd asked a question that I didn’t know the answer to. John deftly intercepted the question from the floor and somehow made it look like he was just clarifying something I had already said! 😂

A few years ago, John and I were discussing the conditions and social forces that have led people at different times in history to rise up in revolt against their oppressors, when he casually commented that he didn’t believe that he would see a socialist revolution in his own lifetime. I remember being struck by this.…as an impatient and considerably more selfish young buckeen myself, I couldn’t believe that John’s decades of tireless activism were in service of building a world that he mightn’t get to live in himself.

But John – though a materialist through and through – understood himself as a part of the big whole, which to me is actually kinda spiritual..(gasp!…sorry John!). It didn’t matter if he didn’t get there himself- a better world could and must be won.

Of course, along the way, he fought tooth and nail for social change and saw lots of it – in the last decade alone – marriage equality, the water charges, Repealing the 8th amendment, and the building of People Before Profit.

And because John helped make so many of us who we are, something of him stays with us – and in us – as we fight on. Our future struggle and our victories will bear his indelible mark. 

Rest in power John, ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.

Unreal!!! May his soul rest in peace. My condolences 

“Ağaçlar ayakta ölür” John da Doğan gibi aniden gitti. Hepimizin marksist fikirlerle donatılmasinda hem teorik hem de pratik çok önemli katkıları oldu. Başımız sağolsun, Mehmet sana da sabırlar diliyorum.

"Trees die standing" John left abruptly like Doğan. Both theoretical and practical contributions were very important in equipping us all with Marxist ideas. Our condolences, Mehmet, I wish you patience as well.

Personally I still cannot believe it John was a wonderful comrade and a tireless struggler for justice freedom peace and equality .I think everybody feels the loss of this icon .indeed he is a huge loss to all of us. Rest in peace john

John was a great friend of our Branch and stood with us throughout our pensions strike. He inspired us and for me it is personal. John inspired me. it is hard to think that it was only 1 week ago John stood tall and proud in support of Refugees at the spire.

John we will keep your vision and passion for working people alive in working class areas in Dublin and in Rural Ireland

Always a legend.

John we will miss you. Every march, every rally you will be there with us.

Your legacy will live on

Unite Irish Life Branch

Please, No! What a prolific author and great campaigner – and who has fought relentlessly for people’s rights. John has been a huge force in the fight against racism and many more issues. A giant of a man. Rest in Power, John 

The Cork branch of People Before Profit are deeply saddened and shocked by the sudden passing of John Molyneux last weekend.

John was a great friend to many members in Cork, and many of us learnt so much over the years from his extensive knowledge and from his ability to apply political theory to everyday life situations in a straightforward way.

John came to Cork on numerous occasions, to give public talks about the intersection of art and politics, anti-racism, eco-socialism, and to launch his books. His talks were always engaging and exciting, and it is tough to accept that John won’t be with us to discuss and debate crucial political issues going forward.

Working with John, who was a genuinely kind-hearted man with a love for humanity, was a pleasure for all of us who knew him. He will be deeply missed.

The world is worse off without him, and we will honour his legacy by taking inspiration from his activism and his writing, and by ensuring that the struggle continues in the years to come.

Condolences to all of John’s friends and family.

Rest in Power, John.

RIP John Molyneux, a good friend, tireless activist, and incredibly encouraging comrade who I was privileged to work alongside these past 3 years in XR, PBP, and the Global Ecosocialist Network.

Our shared perspective that the ecological crises must be central to our analysis, socialist programme, and activism meant that we worked closely on a number of projects and had many discussions about the way forward.

I’m sad I never got to tell John how instrumental he was in helping me integrate into the Irish socialist movement. It was hard moving here from Seattle. John helped give me the confidence to contribute my ideas, even if he didn’t always agree with them. I’m incredibly grateful.

My deepest condolences to his partner Mary and his family, and to all the comrades here and internationally who were lucky enough to work with him, learn from him, and to know him as a friend.

“Its now almost 24 hours since I learnt of the passing of a great friend and comrade, John Molyneux, and I am still trying to come to terms with that awful news. John was larger than life,a great Marxist academic and a great political activist. I first became aware of John at the Marxism festival in London. I always attended his meetings. He had the unique gift of making the most complex of issues easily understood by people like myself.

Not long after he moved to Ireland John established the Irish Marxist Review, now Ireland’s reading Marxist journal. In quick succession he published books on Anarchism, Marxist philosophy and the main stream media. He played a leading role in the SWN, UAR and People Before Profit.

Anytime I had to stay in Dublin overnight, I usually stayed with John and Mary. The many conversations I had with them increased my knowledge, not just of politics but of a broad range of issues. Staying with John and Mary also meant meeting with comrades from around the world, from Egypt, Greece and Britain.

On a recent occasion Mary was out for the evening and John told me of his younger days as a poker player, of the various characters he met in unofficial gambling clubs. He sure lived a full life. The last time I stayed with them was for Marxism. On the Saturday evening the news broke about the racist, anti asylum seeker mob in East Wall. John had the task of writing the UAR statement in response.

I will miss John, and just as everybody else said, he had the ability to make everybody feel welcome. The world will be a poorer place without John.

My condolences to his partner Mary, his family, friends and comrades.”

Students loved John

So sad to hear of John Molyneux’s passing. He was such an inspirational person to so many art students during his time at The Eldon Building at Portsmouth Uni. He fanned the flames of my love of Rembrandt, revolution, and Pre-Raphaelite art.

Many fond memories of the lectures he gave, invoking discussion, debate, and free-thinking (and many a wonderful exchange of views between him and Stuart Gard!) Although I never worked up the courage to tell John how much I appreciated his influence, I’m certain I won’t be the only ex-student in thanking him for what he did for us.

Such drive and passion. I hope he knew how much we loved him.

Tina Signorelli, a former student at Portsmouth Uni

To Mary and all of John’s family, please accept my sincere condolences. It was a privilege and a pleasure to know John and work along side him to make this world a better place. I learnt so much from him and for that I am deeply indebted. John, you will be greatly missed but will always be an inspiration. RIP,

My love and condolences to Mary, and to Brid. And all John’s family members in losing your kind, gentle, principled and generous beloved partner, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Solidarity to all in the IST, SWP, PBP etc in this devastating loss of our incredible comrade. Goodbye John. I don’t want to be saying goodbye at all. Thank you for for your seemingly limitless energy, commitment, consistency. brilliance, insights and courage. And for always supporting me in my endeavours, be they artistic or political. Your little thumbs ups and supportive words on my art posts have meant so much. Thank you for your friendship and your inspiration. We will keep building the party and fighting.

Saddened to hear of the passing of John. He was a brilliant writer, theorist, dedicated activist, and a kind, generous, and modest man. I was very fortunate to have known and worked with him. My condolences to his partner Mary, and to all his family. Rest in Peace comrade.

I met John at Le Cheile Zoom meetings over the past two years. I admired his passion for social justice and human rights. An activist and a human rights campaigner for all who are marginalised and victims of human right abuses. May his legacy of fairness and justice live on in all of us. Rest well John.

John  sizinle, sizin kardeş partinizin yaz kampında Memet’i ziyarete geldiğimde tanışmıştım.Kampta komplo teorileri ile ilgili bir konuşmanîzî dinlemiştim.sonra Memet aracılığla uzun sohpetlerimiz oldu., devrim yolundaki engin bilgilerinizi, tecrübelerinizi dinledim.Cok da mutevaziydiniz.Bana yüzünüzdeki gülümsemeyi hiç bırakmadan anlattınız. Bir de irlanda sohbetimiz. Orada da bir protesto eylemi vardı.Siz de ‘Kãrdan önce insan’ bildirileri dağıtıyordunuz. Sonra buluştuk ve bir kafede sohbet ettik.benim ülkemde darbe olmuştu. Darbeler üzerine konuşmuştuk.Ah John bunu duyduğuma çok çok üzgünüm. Ama şunu biliyorum;

 Siz Bir çok ülkede bir çok insanın aklına ve beynine dokundunuz.

Sizin fikirleriniz devrimci mücadele anlayışınız dünyanın her yerinde bulunuan yoldaşlarınıza ışık olacak ve siz hep bizimle olacaksısınız.

John, I met you at the political summer camp In Turkey. I listened to your talk on conspiracy theories at the camp. Then, we had long conversations through Memet as the translator. I was very interested in your vast knowledge and experiences on the road to revolution. You were also very humble. You spoke with a smile on your face. Next time I met you was in Dublin, at a protest. You were handing out People Before Profit leaflets. There was a coup in my country. We talked about the military coups. Oh John, I'm so sorry that you are not with us anymore. But I know, you have connected with many people in many countries.

Your ideas, your understanding of revolutionary struggle will be a light to your comrades all over the world and you will always be with us.

Vale John Molyneux

The news of John Molyneux’s sudden death came as a terrible shock. Right until the last he was contributing to the struggle – on picket lines and protests, writing and editing, fighting for the better world he knew was possible.

John has been a major figure in my life for more than 40 years, from near and far. As a young member of the Portsmouth branch of the SWP living in rural Hampshire in 1981, I’d get regular calls from him patiently convincing me that the upcoming branch meeting was very important, important enough to drive into town after a long day at work. John was a major theoretician but he knew all too well that theory meant nothing without the humdrum tasks of branch building.

Those calls paid off when war broke out with Argentina the following year over the Falklands/Malvinas. The SWP’s clear anti-imperialist politics meant we stood against the jingoism – and the patient branch building meant that we could organise anti-war protests in Portsmouth, the historic home of the Royal Navy. I was proud to stand with John and other comrades against the deluge of pro-war propaganda.

John was a prolific author and speaker. In more recent times he’s best known for his books on art and his activism around the environmental crisis. But for me, his contribution to clarifying the real Marxist tradition and the role of the revolutionary party was seminal. I’ve benefitted from reading many of John’s books, not least Marxism and the Party and What is the Real Marxist Tradition?. What was the key message? John could boil it all down to a simple but powerful proposition: Marxism is the theory of international proletarian revolution.

I was in the audience at the Marxism festival in 1985 when John debated Monty Johnstone from the then considerably more influential Communist Party on the question of Trotsky. Like many young SWP members, I’d cut my teeth in debates with the various Trotskyists of the various Fourth Internationals, lampooning their sometimes cartoonish efforts to squeeze random Trotsky quotes into current realities. We all knew one thing for sure – we weren’t Trotskyists, we were “state capitalists”.

That is until John spoke. He outlined four reasons why Trotsky was of crucial importance today: the central role of the working class in changing the world; the need for internationalism; the case for revolution rather than reform; and the need to build the revolutionary party. By the time he finished, I like many others in the audience was a Trotskyist and I remain proud to call myself so.

John argued that the revolutionary party had to be democratic, not for abstract reasons but so the party could collate, debate and synthesise the real experience of workers, all the better to lead. He lived that democracy, arguing against the SWP’s position in a debate that ran from 1984 to 1986 over the question of whether working class men benefitted from women’s oppression. John was wrong, but we all learned a lot in the debate, not least how to carry a position within the party without damaging its collective work.

I moved to Australia and John, much later, to Ireland. Our contact was mostly reduced to the occasional Facebook message. I watched every video of him speaking at Marxism and wrestled, not always satisfactorily, with his arguments about art. But I always knew that somewhere, across the globe, John was a comrade in the ongoing struggle. Until, suddenly, this week he wasn’t. The movement has lost a big figure in every sense of the word. My condolences to his partner, Mary Smith, his family and comrades everywhere.

JOHN MOLYNEUX 1948-2022

It is with great sadness and sorrow that we learned of the sudden passing of John.

In 2018 we were on strike to defend our Defined Benefit Pension Scheme. For most of us it was the first time ever on strike and each day of our dispute John attended lending his support and solidarity to us.

His kindness, empathy and friendship at that critical time in our struggle will never be forgotten by our Branch.

John was later to attend and speak at our socials and workshops and talk about the need for fighting unions to represent ordinary worker’s interests. We were always honored to have John attend.

Memet is the Vice Chair of our Branch and we all recognised the special friendship that Memet and John shared. They were strategists, campaigners and activists and indeed one of the last rallies they attended was the Unite Against Racism Rally at the Spire to Welcome Refugees and to stand tall against the Far Right.

Inspired by the activism of John and Memet many of us fully supported the views they espoused whether it was in relation to Direct Provision, Anti-Racism, Anti War, Imperialism, Repeal, Left Wing Politics, Eco Socialism, LGBT and Trade Unionism.

We also witnessed first-hand the great esteem in which John was held in PBP and Marxists and internationally. We came to know John as a prolific writer and lecturer but what was ever more powerful was John’s enthusiasm to bring his message to ordinary working people whether that was holding open air talks on Marx during the lockdown or producing a fantastic series of videos to help explain topics.

We invariably met with John on campaigns and protests outside embassies, in working class areas like Crumlin/Drimnagh, the Dail,The Garden of Rembrance, the GPO, The Spire handing out leaflets for the cause and promoting the IMR.

John joined Unite Trade Union and attended the Unite Dublin Area Activists meetings and supported the ordinary grassroots members of the union. John’s extensive range of international contacts and knowledge of the political nuances around the world were second to none and he helped us organise speakers from different countries to help highlight their situation.

John lit a flame in us and opened our minds and inspired us.

John Molyneux had a great human empathy.

(Photo Library)