Alan Woods
Woods in 2018
Born (1944-10-23) 23 October 1944
Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Sussex
Sofia University
Moscow State University
Occupation(s)Political theorist, activist, writer
MovementInternational Marxist Tendency
Websitemarxist.com

Alan Woods (born 23 October 1944)[1] is a British Trotskyist political theorist and author. He is one of the leading members of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) as well as of its British affiliate group Socialist Appeal.[2] He is political editor of the IMT's In Defence of Marxism website. Woods was a leading supporter within the Militant tendency within the Labour Party and its parent group the Committee for a Workers' International until the early 1990s.[3] A series of disagreements on tactics and theory led to Woods and Ted Grant leaving the CWI, to found the Committee for a Marxist International (soon renamed International Marxist Tendency) in 1992. They continued with the policy of entryism into the Labour Party.[4] Woods has expressed particularly vocal support for the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, and repeatedly met with the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, leading to speculation that he was a close political adviser to the president.[5]

Early life

Woods was born into a working-class family in Swansea, South Wales and grew up in the Townhill and Penlan areas of the city.[2] At the age of 16 he joined the Young Socialists and became a Marxist, becoming a supporter of the Trotskyist Militant tendency within the Labour Party.[6] He studied Russian at Sussex University and later in Sofia (Bulgaria) and Moscow State University (MGU).[7] Woods's work in Brighton for the Militant tendency established an important base of support at the university and in the town.[8] He later moved back to south Wales, becoming the first regional full timer for the organisation. He, his wife, and two small daughters moved to Spain in the early 1970s where his well-known political stance placed him amongst those struggling against the Francoist Spain, where he worked to establish the Spanish section of the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI).

Split in Militant

In the early 1990s, Woods and his mentor, Ted Grant, left the Militant tendency and its parent organization, the Committee for a Workers' International, over what they considered to be the ultraleft turn of this organisation when it decided to split from the Labour Party. The minority group, led by Ted Grant, also argued that a decline in emphasis on political education, as well as the development of a bureaucratic clique around Peter Taaffe, was damaging Militant. Grant and Woods and their supporters internationally formed the Committee for a Marxist International in 1992, which was later to be known as the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) and remained active in the Labour Party.[9] The British section of the IMT is known as Socialist Appeal.

Political views

Woods and Hugo Chávez in a meeting

Woods was the editor for some years of the Marxist journal Socialist Appeal, published in London.[2] He is currently a theoretician in the IMT and editor of its website In Defence of Marxism.

Woods has had meetings with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez,[5] and defends the idea that the Bolivarian Revolution is the germ of the world revolution. Woods also travels and supports other revolutionary processes in Pakistan, Bolivia, the Middle East and Cuba. He is a close friend of Trotsky's grandson Vsievolod Platonovich "Esteban" Volkov, who regards Woods' work as closest to Trotsky's theories. President Chávez publicly stated in a TV broadcast that he was reading Woods' book Reformism or Revolution "in great detail", which encouraged speculation that Woods was an advisor to the President.[5]

In 2010, Woods was subject to severe criticism, firstly by some Venezuelan newspapers[10] and opposition political parties, like Primero Justicia,[11][12] then by international media outlets,[13][14] for an article (Where is the Venezuelan revolution going?) he wrote on the IMT website.[15] He wrote it after the latest Venezuelan general elections advocating to further radicalize the Bolivarian Revolution towards "the expropriation of the commanding heights of the economy". His reply to these attacks was given widespread attention in the Venezuelan media.[16]

In November 2012, Woods went on a speaking tour in both the United States and Canada.[17]

In November 2015, Woods detected "embryonic seeds of revolutionary developments" in the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader.[18]

Throughout 2022, Woods wrote a series of articles on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and what he described as "cynical" American foreign policy, opposing both sides.[19] He wrote: “It is all very clear. At bottom, this is not a war of Russia and Ukraine. It is a proxy war between Russia and the USA. Issues like democracy, human rights and national sovereignty are not of the slightest interest to the imperialists, except as cheap propaganda points. But they are very interested in prolonging the war, irrespective of all the human suffering, since they hope that it will serve to weaken Russia.”[19] Later in the year (November 2022), following the Ukrainian defeat in Kherson, Woods wrote: “From the beginning, the driving force has been, on the one hand, NATO's aggressive push towards Russia's borders, on the other, the exaggerated ambitions of Vladimir Putin and his desire to enhance his personal prestige and his grip on power, which is closely related to it.”[20]

Woods has repeatedly condemned the hypocrisy of western politicians and the media for failing to present the facts of events accurately,[21][22] while also strongly criticising Vladimir Putin.[23]

Publications

References

  1. ↑ "Ted Grant - The Permanent Revolutionary. Chapter Five: The Times That Try Men's Souls". 1 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Turner, Robin (7 December 2010). "The strange tale of Hugo Chavez and the Swansea Marxist". Western Mail. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  3. ↑ Crick, Michael (1986). The March of Militant. London: Faber & Faber. pp. 130. ISBN 9780571146437.
  4. ↑ Taaffe, Peter (1995). The Rise of Militant. London: Militant Publications. p. 452.
  5. 1 2 3 Yapp, Robin (5 December 2010). "Welsh Trotskyist in row over claims he is key adviser to Hugo Chavez". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Grant, Ted (2002). History of British Trotskyism. London: Wellred. pp. (postscript by Rob Sewell) 208.
  7. ↑ Woods, Alan (2008). Reformism or Revolution (PDF). London: Wellred. pp. i.
  8. ↑ Crick, Michael (1986). The March of Militant. London: Faber & Faber. pp. 57. ISBN 9780571146437.
  9. ↑ Sewell, Rob (18 July 2005). "How the Militant was Built – and How it was Destroyed" (10 October 2004). In Defence of Marxism. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  10. ↑ "The Faces of Radicalism". El Universal (Caracas, Venezuela). 10 November 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  11. ↑ Video on YouTube
  12. ↑ Video on YouTube
  13. ↑ "Venezuela's economy: Towards state socialism". The Economist. 20 November 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  14. ↑ (in Spanish) Yolanda Valery, "Alan Woods, the new ideologue of Hugo Chavez?", BBC Mundo, 3 December 2010.
  15. ↑ Woods, Alan (29 October 2010). "Where is the Venezuelan Revolution going?". In Defence of Marxism. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  16. ↑ Woods, Alan (26 November 2010). "Venezuela: The lies of the counter-revolution answered". In Defence of Marxism. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  17. ↑ "Alan Woods Tour: Successful Events in Minneapolis". Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  18. ↑ Woods, Alan (13 November 2015). "The Corbyn revolution: What does it mean and where is it going? – Part One". In Defence of Marxism. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  19. 1 2 Woods, Alan (26 April 2022). "Ukraine crisis: Biden fans the flames of war". In Defence of Marxism. International Marxist Tendency. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022.
  20. ↑ Woods, Alan (14 November 2022). "The fall of Kherson: what does it mean for the Ukraine war?". In Defence of Marxism. International Marxist Tendency. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023.
  21. ↑ "The war in Ukraine: Fact and fiction". 8 April 2022.
  22. ↑ "The deadly Russian missile that never was". 16 November 2022.
  23. ↑ "Imperialist hypocrisy and the invasion of Ukraine". 26 April 2022.
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