Left Archive: The Marxism of James Connolly, Irish Communist Organisation, No 14, March 1968

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This pamphlet from the ICO joins others in the Archive. This is a comprehensive document that examines the life and thought of Connolly from the perspective of the ICO. Across multiple sections and more than forty pages sections it engages with areas such as Connolly-Hyndman-De Leon; Socialism and Nationalism; The Response from the ‘Left’; Sinn Fein on Connolly: 1919-1921; Labour in Irish History; Connolly’s Biographers.

It notes in the Introduction that…

We have not attempted in this pamphlet to present a comprehensive account of Connolly’s political development. We are not yet in a position to that. The distortions of half a century cannot be unravelled overnight. A year ago we thought we had reached a position from which we could present a comprehensive account of Connolly’s development. That was a very great illusion. When we tried to produce such an account we realised that we only had cut though a couple of the more obvious and superficial layers of distortion.

And in the Conclusion it argues that:

The ICO has been criticised for not glossing over certain fundamental class questions in the name of ‘anti-imperialist unity’. The name of Connolly has been invoked in this connection. But Connolly’s suppressed writings make it absolutely clear that the position taken up by the ICO is identical with Connolly’s. We trust that in future these ‘followers of Connolly’ will apply their strictures to Connolly as well as the ICO.

Also of interest is a list of publications from the ICO at that point on the last page.