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1984 The early Fourth International 1933 – 1938. 1

17 January 2017

History of the 4th international (1933-1938) - the aimis to understand what battles we come from and what is the programmatic heritage that we have. Bensaïd provides contextual information regarding the foundation of the FI, and introduces the discussion along the axis of five questions/subheadings: 1- Why a new international is necessary? 2- What basis, what is the programme to build this new international? 3-How to establish a new international? 4- What are the problems of its building and how Trotsky himself discussed them along problems of centrism-fusions, and problem of entryism in mass parties. 5- Results and conclusions. In this first part of the recording, Bensaïd focuses on the first question and talks about the degeneration of the Second International and Third International, and the "historic tests" that evidenced the impossibility of their re-generation. He contextualises the foundational years of the FI and continues with a discussion of the programmatic basis. He describes for what the programme stands, and in terms of strategy, he goes thorough the Eleven Points, underlining the necessity to adapt them to present conditions and learn from them to evaluate present conditions.

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Duration: 42:52
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