Twentieth Century Communism

01/05/2025

May Day greetings!

Cover of 'Rauði fáninn', journal of the Icelandic Young Communist League, from 1 May, 1933.

25/04/2025

The latest issue of Twentieth Century Communism journal has been published. It is a special issue on globalising 1956, a year that shook the communist world. Edited by Madeleine Davis and Kevin Morgan, it looks at the effects of 1956 in Poland, Italy, Greece and China.

Twentieth Century Communism: a journal of international history - Issue contents for Volume 2025 Issue 28 (2025)

22/04/2025

A new advance open access paper has been published by Twentieth Century Communism journal!

'Nikos Vavoudis: The activity of a transnational communist in Greece, Spain and the USSR' by Spyros Sakellaropoulos, Giorgos Leontiadis and Manolis Choumerianos

Nikos Vavoudis is a very important figure in the international communist movement, for two reasons. The first is that he is one

14/03/2025

Hakim Adi's obituary for Marika Sherwood in The Guardian. Amongst her many works, Sherwood published the first biography of Trinidadian-American CPUSA and CPGB member, Claudia Jones, in 1999.

Historian and anti-racism campaigner who wrote several groundbreaking books about Black British history

13/03/2025

The 1952 McCarran-Walter Act was previously used to deport left-wing radicals from the US during the Cold War, including Trinidadian-born CPUSA member, Claudia Jones.

Denise Lynn wrote about the deportation of Jones for a special issue of Twentieth Century Communism journal on communism and anti-colonialism. The article is free to download from here:

This article looks at the relationship between Claudia Jones, the pioneering black Marxist feminist, and the border regime of th

03/03/2025

On 3 March 1985, the Miners' Strike ended in Britain after nearly a year on the picket line.

This article by Gavin Bowd looks at French-British communist solidarity during the 1984-85 strike, comparing it solidarity expressed in the 1920s and 1940s.

The British and French communist movements have rarely been an object of comparison, partly because of the huge difference in fo

01/03/2025

TCC has started to publish advance access articles from forthcoming issues, accessible with a digital subscription. Four advance access articles are currently available from the Lawrence & Wishart website here: https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/tcc/vol-2026-issue-30/

Victor Fay and Poland, from Communist Militancy to Anti- Stalinism: Rethinking the Pathways to Socialism (1918-1991) by Marion Labeÿ

The postwar Italian left and leisure time: from united front to the end of co-operation by Matteo Monaco

‘The courtrooms of the working class are the streets’: demonstrations during the ‘Great Communist Trial of 1925’ by Nathan Moore

‘Who will change the world?’: Willi Münzenberg, Kuhle Wampe and the call for a united front by Freya Tyrrell

Twentieth Century Communism: a journal of international history - Issue contents for Volume 2026 Issue 30 (2026)

19/02/2025

The team at Twentieth Century Communism are very sad to hear of the passing of Marika Sherwood, a pioneering historian of communism, anti-colonialism and pan-Africanism. Amongst other writings, her book on Claudia Jones, an African-American member of the CPUSA and CPGB, was a ground-breaking work.

This book tells the story of Trinidad-born Claudia Jones, a key figure in the movement for racial justice in Britain.

06/01/2025

CFP - Communist Festivals

Inspired by the Fête de l'Humanité, hosted by the French newspaper L’Humanité since 1930, Western communist newspapers have historically organized well-attended festivals that combine cultural, political and social elements featuring musical performances, the sale of regional foods and produce, theatrical plays, children’s entertainment, art exhibits, political debates, and activism. Seen as important expressions of working-class sociability, these festivals attracted communists and non-communists.

This is a call for articles for a special issue about these annual festivals organized by Western communist newspapers/parties, including but not limited to Fête de l'Humanité (France), Festa de l’Unità (Italy), Waarheidfestival (The Netherlands), Fiesta del PCE (Spain), Avante! Festival (Portugal), Land og Folk Festival (Denmark), Odigitis Festival (Greece), and The People’s Festival (Great Britain).

In addition to discussing a festival's general history, we encourage authors to explore:

• How did the balance between political and cultural elements evolve, and did this evolution reflect social and ideological shifts?

• The celebration of regional culture and traditions.

• The use of culture as a tool to communicate political messages and attract new members.

• The impact of the Cold War on the popularity of the festival.

• Organizers’ efforts to attract politicised youth in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and connect with other social and political movements.

• International visitors to such festivals and expressions of solidarity.

Authors are encouraged to use oral testimonies (organizers/attendees) if available/suitable.

We invite you to submit an abstract of approximately 500 words by May 1, 2025. The abstract should include the title of the paper, state the problem or research question, outline the theoretical framework, state the main point or argument, and provide a rough indication of the methods and sources you intend to use. Please include a short academic biography.

07/11/2024

November 7 is the anniversary of the Bolshevik (or October) Revolution of 1917.

Issue 14 of Twentieth Century Communism journal was a special issue dedicated to the centenary of 1917 and its impact on the international communist movement.

Twentieth Century Communism: a journal of international history - Issue contents for Volume 2018 Issue 14 (2018)

29/10/2024

Today is the 100th anniversary of the 1924 UK general election, which was overshadowed by the 'Zinoviev Letter', widely seen as an effort to discredit the Labour Party by the security services. Kevin Morgan discusses this in his 2019 article on the archives of the British security services and state surveillance.

In Britain as in other countries security service files have come to provide an important resource for the writing of communist

01/10/2024

On 1 October, 1949, Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People's Republic of China.

This back issue of Twentieth Century Communism journal looks at the influence of Communist China and Maoism across the globe between the 1950s and 1980s, with 2 open access articles.

Twentieth Century Communism: a journal of international history - Issue contents for Volume 2022 Issue 22 (2022)