Chris Harman (8 November 1942 – 7 November 2009) was a British journalist and political activist, and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. He was an editor of '' International Socialism'' and ''

Socialist Worker ''Socialist Worker'' is the name of several far-left newspapers currently or formerly associated with the International Socialist Tendency (IST). It is a weekly newspaper published by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the United Kingdom since ...

''.

Life

Born Christopher John Harman into a working-class family, he attended

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

(where he joined the Socialist Review Group in 1961) and the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

(LSE) where he began (but did not complete) a doctorate under the supervision of

Ralph Miliband Ralph Miliband (born Adolphe Miliband; 7 January 1924 – 21 May 1994) was a British sociologist. He has been described as "one of the best known academic Marxists of his generation", in this manner being compared with E. P. Thompson, Eric Hob ...

. He was instrumental in publishing the magazine of the LSE Socialist Society, ''The Agitator'', and was a leading member of the International Socialists (as the SRG had become) by 1968. He was involved in the

Vietnam Solidarity Campaign The Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) was originally set up in 1966 by activists around the International Group with the personal and financial support of Bertrand Russell. Ralph Schoenman acted both as Director of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaig ...

and outraged many leftists when, at a meeting in the

Conway Hall The Conway Hall Ethical Society, formerly the South Place Ethical Society, based in London at Conway Hall, is thought to be the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world and is the only remaining ethical society in the United Kin ...

, he denounced

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...

for murdering the leader of the Vietnamese Trotskyist movement, Tạ Thu Thâu, in 1945 after crushing the workers' rising of that year in Saigon. His main role in the IS (from 1977 the Socialist Workers Party, or SWP) was as a theorist and he produced numerous books and articles on a wide variety of topics. Almost all his writing appeared in the publications of the IS and SWP or has been published by related publishing houses, such as Bookmarks. He was first editor of ''Socialist Worker'' in 1976-77 and returned to the role after a break in 1982, remaining in the post until 2004,According to Harman’s own testimony on hi
blog
when he started editing the SWP's theoretical quarterly ''International Socialism Journal''. Harman's work on the

May 1968 events in France Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which ...

and other student and workers' uprisings of the late 1960s, ''The Fire Last Time'', was recommended by rock band

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...

in their album sleeve notes for '' Evil Empire''. Harman died on 7 November 2009, following a cardiac arrest while lecturing at the Socialist Days conference of the

Center for Socialist Studies The Center for Socialist Studies is an organizational center for the dissemination of socialist ideas and politics located in Giza, Egypt. It produces and sells left-wing theoretical books, magazines and newsletters as well as hosting public events ...

(CSS) in Cairo, Egypt. He is buried in

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

, London, a few yards from

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

's tomb and adjacent to his comrade Paul Foot. Highgate Cemetery - East - Chris Harman 01

Selected works

Books and pamphlets

*''Education, capitalism and the student revolt'' (1968)
''Russia: How the Revolution Was Lost''
(1967) *''Unemployment and how to fight it'' (with Dave Peers) (1971)

(1975)

(1979) *''New technology and the struggle for socialism'' (1979)

(1981) *''Days of Hope: The General Strike of 1926'' (with Duncan Hallas) (1981) *''Gramsci versus Reformism'' (1983)
''The Revolutionary Press''
(Summer, 1984) *''Explaining The Crisis: A Marxist Reappraisal'' (London, 1984) *''The Changing Working Class: Essays on Class Structure Today'' (with

Alex Callinicos Alexander Theodore Callinicos (born 24 July 1950) is a Rhodesian-born British political theorist and activist. An adherent of Trotskyism, he is a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and serves as its Internati ...

) (London: Bookmarks, 1987) *''Russia: from workers' state to state capitalism'' (with Peter Binns and Tony Cliff) (London, 1987) *''Class Struggles in Eastern Europe, 1945-1983'' (London, 1988)
''The Fire Last Time: 1968 And After''
(London, 1988) *''The revolutionary paper'' (1991) *''In The Heat of the Struggle: 25 Years of Socialist Worker'' (editor) (with an introduction by Paul Foot) (1993) *''Economics of the Madhouse: Capitalism and the Market Today'' (London, 1995)
''How Marxism Works''
(London, 1997) *''The Lost Revolution: Germany 1918-23'' (London, 1997) *''Marxism and History: Two Essays'' (London, 1998)
''A People's History of the World''
(1999)
''The Prophet And The Proletariat: Islamic fundamentalism, class and revolution''
(London, 1999) *''The IMF, Globalisation and Resistance'' (2000) *''Revolution in the 21st Century'' (2007)

(2008) *''Zombie Capitalism: Global Crisis and the Relevance of Marx'' (London, 2009) *''Selected Writings'' (2011)

Articles

"Gramsci Versus Reformism""The 'workers's' government"
(with Tim Potter)
"The State and Capitalism Today""Spontaneity, strategy and politics""Gramsci, the Prison Notebooks and philosophy"''Trotsky and the New Stalinism''

References

;Notes ;Sources * Available onlin

* Available onlin
here
* Available onlin
here

External links

(Blog containing notes, position papers and old articles)
''International Socialism Journal''
from ''The Left in Britain'', 1956–68, edited by David Widgery
"Taking Apart the West"
Richard Seymour reviews Harman's ''People's History of the World'' in ''New Statesman'', July 2008. ;Obituaries and posthumous articles on Chris Harman
Chris Harman (1942-2009
Links to obituaries, sites, articles, videos etc. + books online, on Modkraft.dk
Chris Harman: A life in the struggle
by

Ian Birchall Ian Birchall (born 1939) is a British Marxist historian and translator, a former member of the Socialist Workers Party and author of numerous articles and books, particularly relating to the French Left. Formerly Senior Lecturer in French at Mid ...

, ''International Socialism'', 125, (2010)
Obituary
by John Molyneux, ''The Independent'', 19 November 2009.
RIP Chris Harman
The Third Estate Blog, 7 November 2009
Obituary
by

, ''Socialist Worker'', 9 November 2009.
Obituary
by

Michael Rosen Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a British children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster and activist who has written 140 books. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009. Early life Michael Wayne Ro ...

, ''The Guardian'', 9 November 2009.
Chris Harman and 1968
by John Rose
Another Side of Chris Harman
by Joseph Choonara, ''International Socialism'', 125, (2010)
A whiff of teargas
by Andy Durgan, ''International Socialism'', 125, (2010)
Tribute
by Panos Garganas
'A thinker and a polemicist'
by

Larry Elliott Larry Elliott is an English journalist and author who focuses on economic issues. He is the economics editor at ''The Guardian'', and has published seven books on related issues, six of them in partnership with Dan Atkinson. Early life Elliott ...

"Obituary: Chris Harman 1942-2009"

, ''Socialist Worker'' 14 November 2009
''Chris Harman, 1968 and the historic Open Letter to the Polish Communist Party''
by John Rose, ''International Socialism'', 158 (2018).
''Chris Harman and the critique of political economy''
by

, ''International Socialism'', 165 (2020). {{DEFAULTSORT:Harman, Chris 1942 births 2009 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Leeds British anti-capitalists British economics writers British Marxist historians British Marxists British newspaper editors British Trotskyists Burials at Highgate Cemetery Marxist theorists British Marxist writers Socialist Workers Party (UK) members