David North (born 1950)
is an American
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
theoretician. He is the national chairman of the
Socialist Equality Party in the United States (SEP), formerly the Workers League. He served as the national secretary of the SEP until the party's congress in 2008. North was the principal political and theoretical leader of the
International Committee of the Fourth International
The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) is the name of two Trotskyist internationals; one with sections named Socialist Equality Party which publishes the World Socialist Web Site, and another linked to the Workers Rev ...
during the organization's split with the
Workers Revolutionary Party in Britain.
North is the chairman of the International Editorial Board of the
World Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is the website of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). It describes itself as an "online newspaper of the international Trotskyist movement". The WSWS publishes articles and analys ...
, an outlet of the ICFI. The author of several books and articles on the history of the Socialist movement, North lectures in politics and the history of
Marxism
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
.
Political career
Born in 1950, North studied history in Connecticut, and became politicized by left-wing movements in the United States in 1968.
He stated that he was influenced by the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, but also by the historical experiences of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
and
The Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
.
As an American Trotskyist,
North is a longtime leader of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP).
North is chair
of the editorial board of the SEP's associated publication the ''World Socialist Web Site'',
which claims a readership of 250,000 people each month.
In 2017, North alleged in an open letter that changes to Google's ranking system and search engine (their project known as Project Owl) demoted left-wing outlets such as the WSWS, which describes itself as an "online newspaper of the international Trotskyist movement".
Google would not comment to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' about the WSWS.
Contacted by the same source, North said: "I’m against censorship in any form. It’s up to people what they want to read."
Views
North has defended the view that Trotsky represented a Marxist alternative to
Stalinism
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...
, and therefore states that the collapse of the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
does not mean that Marxism is a failed project.
Summarizing these views as described in North's book ''The Unfinished Twentieth Century'', sociologist Charles Thorpe writes that North "makes a powerful case that, to paraphrase
Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...
, these debates and experiences are not dead; they're not even past".
According to political scientist Emanuele Saccarelli, North has argued that contrary to modern academic traditions, Marxism is not defined by academics, but instead by Marxist organizations and Marxist struggle.
He writes that this tradition is represented above all by the Trotskyist opposition to Stalinism and its contemporary continuity in the Socialist Equality Party.
Speaking about the
2016 United States presidential election
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
, North told ''
Neues Deutschland
''Neues Deutschland'' (''nd''; en, New Germany, sometimes stylized in lowercase letters) is a left-wing German daily newspaper, headquartered in Berlin.
For 43 years it was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany ...
'' that
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
"embodies a cross between all the criminal and immoral features and machinations of the real estate, finance, gambling and entertainment industries".
Interviewed by journalist
Chris Hedges in 2018, North stated that while middle class groups promoted
identity politics
Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these i ...
as a response to social tensions and poverty, American workers were not racist and "have a deep belief in democratic rights".
North stated that the 20th century problems of war and
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
remained real threats in the 21st century.
In an article co-authored by North in 2014,
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
's regime in Russia is characterized as follows: North anticipated in his writings, such as a co-authored article titled "US imperialism, Ukraine and the danger of World War III" after the ouster of
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
's
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of Di ...
government, that the developments in Ukraine would lead to war. North further explained his position in 2022, writing, "The Putin regime is the reactionary resurrection of a bourgeois state that emerged out of the 1991 dissolution of the USSR. But the opposition of the International Committee to this regime, including its invasion of Ukraine, is from the socialist left, not the imperialist right." North characterized the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
as "politically bankrupt and reactionary", but he also maintained, "The outbreak of war in Ukraine has long been foreseen. The relentless expansion of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union has always been directed toward war with Russia."
Criticism
Writing in socialist magazine ''
New Politics'', Lebanese Marxist academic
Gilbert Achcar described North as an "apologist for
Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
,
Assad
Asad ( ar, أسد), sometimes written as Assad, is an Arabic male given name literally meaning " lion". It is used in nicknames such as ''Asad Allāh'', one of the by-names for Ali ibn Abi Talib.
People
Among prominent people named ''Asad'', ...
, and their friends".
Works
Books
*
Prefacevia
World Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is the website of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). It describes itself as an "online newspaper of the international Trotskyist movement". The WSWS publishes articles and analys ...
)
*
*
*
*
*
*
* ''The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished 20th Century'' (2014)
*
*
*
Lectures and other pamphlets
* ''The USSR And Socialism: The Trotskyist Perspective'' (1989)
* ''Ten Years After The Split in the Workers Revolutionary Party: The WRP's Commemoration Of Healy's Expulsion'' (1995)
* ''In Defense of the Russian Revolution: A Reply to the Post-Soviet School of Historical Falsification'' (1995)
* ''Socialism, Historical Truth and the Crisis of Political Thought in the United States (1996)
* ''Workers League and the Founding of the Socialist Equality Party'' (1996)
* ''Equality, the Rights of Man and the Birth of Socialism'' (1996)
* ''Anti-Semitism, Fascism and the Holocaust: A critical review of Daniel Goldhagen's "Hitler's Willing Executioners"'' (1997)
* ''A Tribute to Tom Henehan: 1951 to 1977'' (1998)
* ''Ernest Mandel 1923–1995: A Critical Assessment of His Role in the History of the Fourth International'' (1997)
* ''Marxism and the Trade Unions'' (1998)
* ''Leon Trotsky and Fate of Socialism in 20th Century: A Reply to Professor Eric Hobsbawm'' (1998)
* ''Reform and Revolution in the Epoch of Imperialism'' (1998)
* ''After the Slaughter: Political Lessons of the Balkan War'' (1999)
* ''A Tribute to Vadim Rogovin'' (1999)
* ''The Economic Crisis & the Return of History'' (2011)
References
External links
World Socialist Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:North, David
1950 births
Living people
American socialists
Socialist Equality Party (United States) politicians
American political party founders