Comrades,
As many of you may have heard, John Molyneux suddenly passed away over the weekend. John’s loss leaves a chasm, both for the socialist movement and for us that were lucky enough to know him personally.
We extend solidarity and condolences to John’s friends, family and especially Mary.
Please find our obituary below.
https://www.rebelnews.ie/2022/12/12/john-molyneux-1948-2022/
In Solidarity,
Political Committee.
In his biography of Lenin, Georg Lukács claimed that ‘the actuality of revolution’ was at the core of his thought. By this, he meant that Lenin restored Marxism to the working class revolution as a practical reality. Revolution was not just a distant dream or a rhetorical flourish for those waving red flags. It guided the tactics and strategy of any serious Marxist.
John Molyneux was a serious Marxist – a Bolshevik to his fingertips. In a recent interview with Rebel, John told how he visited New York in 1968 and, after being robbed on his first night, stayed in a $1 dollar a night flop house. There he encountered people with socialist ideas and, having experienced the extreme inequality of the city, these resonated with the radicalism that was already germinating in his brain. Returning to the University of Southampton, he got involved in the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign and witnessed at first hand the brutality of police when they suppressed a demonstration calling for solidarity with the Viet Cong. He travelled to Paris when that great city rose in revolt against its Gaullist regime, joining twenty young workers as they slept in an occupied house. These experiences convinced him of three things 1) revolution was possible 2) the agent of revolution was the working class 3) it was necessary to build a revolutionary organisation which challenged both the reformist leaders of the labour movement and the then strong Communist parties which had buried the idea of socialism from below.
John was known throughout the global left for the many books he wrote. I still remember reading his book on Leon’s Trotsky’s Theory of Revolution, now unfortunately out of print. It was an honest assessment of a great revolutionary which subjected his ideas to a critical scrutiny. This was the hallmark of John’s approach – he rejected dogmas in favour of honestly looking at how revolutionaries could advance. In The Real Marxist Tradition, he polemicised against every shortcut that appeared to offer a way to socialism that did not involve the self-activity of workers. In Lenin for Today, he challenged the fashionable dismissal of the founder of the Bolshevik Party and against the vague calls for a coalition of separatist social movements, arguing instead for the construction of a revolutionary party.
John had a particular talent for putting complex ideas in more simple terms, without ever patronising his readership. He took arguments seriously, getting at their internal logic and was a brilliant polemicist. At one stage of his life, John was a good poker player, learning to read the minds of opponents all the better to beat them. He applied some of the same methods to political arguments. He thought carefully about opposing ideas, drew out the logical absurdities of some positions and drove home in the clearest fashion his own conclusion. This talent was most in evidence in the ‘simple’ pamphlets he wrote. If you ever want a refutation of the most common arguments used against socialists, just check out his short pamphlet Is Human Nature a Barrier to Socialism.
John was a proud member of the International Socialist Tendency and represented the Socialist Workers Network on its coordinating committee. He saw the IST as the bedrock from which the current of socialism from below sprung and in his last book, Selected Writings on Socialism and Revolution, dedicated it to the founder of the British Socialist Workers Party, Tony Cliff. Yet John was never an uncritical follower. He was an active revolutionary who thought deeply about how to further the project of revolutionary change. That sometimes meant thinking differently than the tradition which has trained him for many decades. Thus John enthusiastically championed how his co-thinkers in Ireland set about building People Before Profit as a transitional organisation. By ‘transitional’ he meant an organisation that, while dominated by revolutionaries, was not in itself a revolutionary organisation as it was open to those who held non-Marxist views. The aim, however, was to break out of sectarian ruts into which many small revolutionary groups had fallen. This meant conceiving of a revolutionary party as one that was not marked by decades of isolation from the working class.
When you read about the key intellectuals of the left, you rarely hear what they did in their day to day practice – short of writing. John Molyneux was different. A modest man, he played an active role in the Drimnagh—Crumlin branch of People Before Profit. He joined a regular stall and took part in many of its door knocking and canvassing. He was a key member of United Against Racism, always pushing the SWN and People Before Profit to take initiatives to combat an ideology that has its own independent existence beyond simple economic competition. In the last week of his life, he featured in an Irish Independent video challenging the racist arguments that ‘unvetted refugees’ were a threat to the good people of East Wall. He died coming home from a meeting of the Irish Anti-War Movement.
Despite working originally as an academic and being tremendously knowledgeable on art, music or history, he did not have a trace of the ‘theory is practice’ mode of academic socialists. He was an activist through and through- and still found time to write. But he also knew that activism alone was never enough – especially if it was decoupled from a Marxist understanding of the world. This is why he devoted considerable effort to promote a lively Marxist tradition in Ireland through his editorship of the Irish Marxist Review.
As one of our key activists in Waterford, Joan Quirke put it, The best tribute we can give to John Molyneux is to carry on his tradition of revolutionary socialist politics.
(Photo Library)
By Susan Gilshinan, comrade in Drimnagh PBP
He stood six feet four or more
In his stocking feet
And a nicer man you wouldn’t meet.
He was soft-spoken and gentle, firm in his beliefs,
Highly intelligent but never shoved his views down your throat,
Unlike the gang in Leinster House, he certainly did loathe!!
John loved Art History and sometimes he could be a mystery.
As Mary said “He often took to wearing his shirt
One collar in, one out. Sometimes his jumper was worn back to front,
His big black bag over-flowed with pamphlets and prose”.
John is too Large a Life Figure to be gone,
He is still here among us, standing tall.
Still here among us talking of Lenin and Marx,
And he will never leave our hearts.
Hi Memet, just thought I’d email you the post I made last night about John, it doesn’t half do him justice and plenty of people have written far more fitting tributes to him, but I hope I can be forgiven being at a loss for words strong enough to describe the admiration and respect I had for him. I’ll also attach the photo I posted on it too as I thought that the sign he was holding in it encapsulated him exactly as he was, a rebel for life, right up to the end.
I can still barely come to terms with the news of John’s sudden passing, he was always such a constant on the Irish left. Whether it was protests on anti-racism, Palestinian solidarity, the housing and climate crises, you name it, John was there. Activism in Dublin will never be the same again without him. He was a committed socialist campaigner and revolutionary who dedicated his life to changing the world for the better. I’ve learned so much from my conversations with him and I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to have any more with him. Rest in power comrade.
A memory of John in Egypt
John was a wonderful travelling companion. He talked to everyone – and made friends on all sides. We went twice to Egypt at a time when the radical left in the country was consolidating and John was able to pass on some of his experience to young revolutionaries. On one occasion, after several days of intense meetings in Cairo on Marxist theory, strategy and tactics, John said that he urgently needed to play some chess: where could he go? what did I know about chess in the city?
Despite a good knowledge of Cairo, as a chess incompetent I had no idea – except a vague memory of seeing chessboards at a bar downtown. In the evening we set off for Al Hurreya, a cavernous place in Midan Falaki and one of the few places in the city where Egyptians could freely buy beer. For generations it had been a hangout for liberals and the left – and sure enough, in a corner away from the drinkers, there were three tables with chess games under way.
John’s eyes lit up: “Excellent”. He stood above one of the games – towering over the players – and waved me off. After a beer I left – and didn’t see him again until the next morning, when he clattered exhausted into the flat in which we were staying. I asked about the Al Hurreya experience – and received an account that could only have come from John.
“I watched few games,” he said, “and then they invited me to play. I lost a couple but then started to win – a lot. I beat everyone in the bar who could play and so they called up their champion. I beat him too and they made a phonecall for the top chess man in the city – and, well, I won that as well.
“They kept telling me that I was ‘Al Malik’, and someone with a few words of English translated… that I was ‘The King’ and then ‘Al-Far’un’ – ‘The Pharoah’.
“I had a good time but unfortunately I didn’t have the Arabic for a sustained critique of the monarchy.”
Phil Marfleet
The movement for a better world without wars has lost a tower of strength, energy, commitment, intellect, inspiration and dedication. Here we are together in August 2014 outside Buswell’s Hotel at the launch of our Irish Anti War Movement booklet on World War 1 which John edited, a project he took on board with little fuss. His last political meeting yesterday was his attendance at our AGM in the Teacher’s Club, Dublin at which he was his usual perceptive and tenacious self. We shared a drink after and I wished him safe home. Sadly he did not make it. he will be sorely missed. My sympathy goes out to his partner Mary Smith, his family, friends and comrades. Rest in Power John Molyneux.
We are deeply shocked about the sudden death of our comrade John Molyneux. His ideas and writing have helped us a lot to build marx21 as a network of revolutionary socialists in Germany.
He never hesitated to speak his opinion even when it was controversial in the International Socialist Tendency. We welcome his recent proposal to debate the question of fascism in the light of Italian developments.
We will miss his support and his arguments. Our thoughts are with the Irish comrades and John’s partner and family.
Coordination Group of Marx21, Germany
We have with deep sadness received the news of John Molyneux’s sudden passing. John was a great friend of the Danish group throughout our existence. At the annual Marxism event in London he always took time to talk to and support the comrades who came from Denmark. He has also been a guest at our Danish Marxisme.
His inspiration to us has been enormous. We have a whole range of his pamphlets and books—quite a few are translated— in our bookshop. His The Real Marxist Tradition has been sold to new comrades and been the starting point for many in their lives as revolutionary socialists. On a whole range of issues from philosophy to party building, he has been an inspiration.
This great person and Marxist will be sorely missed. We send our thoughts and condolences to his partner, family and close friends, and to all the comrades in the Irish Socialist Workers Network.
Charlie Lywood, on behalf of the Danish Internationale Socialister
An unlikely beginning
We have all lost a comrade and many of us have also lost a friend. My partner and my eldest daughter were both devastated by the untimely death of John, who my daughter stills calls “Uncle John” from all the occasions mostly at Marxism where he completely over-indulged her.
The circumstances of my first meeting with John were not how a friendship would normally start.
I was a shop steward in a fairly large engineering works in Havant, close to Portsmouth. This was the mid-1970s and there were a lot of strikes taking place.
We were all subject to the “Social Contract” agreed between Harold Wilson’s Labour government and the TUC. This agreement introduced “Annual Pay Awards”, and this would be your lot until the next round of pay bargaining. Prior to this we could negotiate a pay rise if we thought we could get one and to offset the high rate of inflation, especially in a highly unionised workplace such as ours.
We were taking action over management attempts to lower the rates for “piece rate workers” mostly fitters and turners and machine operators.
We decided that we had a much better chance of winning this dispute if instead of walking out on strike we occupied the factory and stop management from moving out completed units. This would deprive them of income.
On the second day of the occupation, a group of people including John appeared at the factory gates, asking if they could come in and talk to the workers taking action and sell papers.
I was on the gates, so I went to ask the convenor if this would be OK. Our convenor was a bloody good trade unionist and one of the most militant workers I had met. He was also a member of the Communist Party.
I remember to this day his response. “Go and tell that bunch of Trotskyist splitters to fuck off”. I went and simply said “No”. I did take a paper. As a result of reading it, I went to the town centre on the Saturday after the occupation to seek out these “Trotskyist Splitters”.
I wish I could say I joined the party there and then, but like a lot of other young socialists and trade unionists at the time I was still convinced that we could turn the Labour Party to the left.
I left Portsmouth shortly after this and did not return until the 1980s. I had by then left the Labour Party. I was also completely disillusioned with the notion of revolutionary organisation, because of a few years as an entryist with the Militant tendency in both Brighton and North Wales.
I was recruited to the SWP eventually by Huw Williams and Jon Woods, who would just not leave me alone. John was an absolute rock. Although the busiest person in the branch, he always had time for me and other members.
I eventually found myself working in the same building as John and got the opportunity to talk with him more often. I was also a trade union rep again and secretary of the local Trades Council, helping to organise solidarity actions and local demos
I owned up to not being able to understand all the arguments and debates going on within Marxist organisations. John would explain in the easiest language and sometimes I understood what it was that these arguments were about. But something John said to me that I’ll never forget— “It’s OK because you are an active militant worker”.
John Molyneux.. The departure of a revolutionary does not mean the end of the revolution
Our comrade John Molyneux (the internationalist thinker and leader) passed away at the age of 74. your comrades from the revolutionary left current in Syria , share the pain with his family, relatives and all those who knew him as a leader and activist at the for fronts of the struggle.
John Molyneux; Perhaps a few words now are not enough to talk about his great and full history of struggles in the ranks of the British and Irish working class.
John had a great influence on his surroundings and this influence was reflected to all parts of the world. The articles and writings written by John, along with his companion Chris Harman and others, helped direct us towards a Marxism free from the dogmatism that the revolutionary left witnessed globally and formed the current political development that we are going through on the side. Theoretical and practical.
John Molyneux was part of a remarkable generation that developed from the theoretical insights John’s writtings, together with his comrad chris and others, guided us and the revolutionary left wordlwide towards a non dogmatic marxism which drove the theoretical and practical progress that we are currently experiencing.
We send our thoughts and condolences to his partner, family and close friends, and to all the comrades in the ISt, the SWP and the Irish Socialist Workers Network.
Ghayath Naisse On behalf of the revolutionary left current in Syria
El 10 de diciembre desapareció repentinamente nuestro compañero John Molyneux. Murió en Dublín, Irlanda, donde vivía tras jubilarse de su trabajo de profesor en Portsmouth, Inglaterra.
Jugó un papel muy importante en la corriente socialismo internacional, de la que Marx21 forma parte y fue, además, una muy buena persona. Lo echaremos de menos.
Nació en Gran Bretaña en 1948. Siendo estudiante, se afilió en 1968 al grupo Socialismo Internacional —que más tarde se convertiría en el Socialist Workers Party (SWP)— a tiempo para participar en las luchas explosivas de la época.
Algunos estudiantes radicales de esa época habrían combinado el ultraizquierdismo con una verborrea incomestible. Pero John se había afiliado a una corriente que rechazaba ambas cosas: se les daba la bienvenida a militantes estudiantiles, pero tenían que aprender a hablar con la gente trabajadora de a pie, en una fábrica, oficina, hospital…, conectando la visión global revolucionaria con los problemas y luchas de cada día de la gente trabajadora.
En 1978, John publicó un libro importante sobre El marxismo y el partido. Fue una contribución a la tarea en esos años de convertir lo que había sido un grupo político con toques libertarios e informales en un partido más organizado y disciplinado.
Otro texto clave fue “¿Cuál es la tradición marxista?”, que intentó distinguir el marxismo revolucionario — centrado en la autoemancipación de la clase trabajadora y lucha por la liberación humana— del terrible historial de la socialdemocracia y el estalinismo. Y lo hizo sin recorrer a la visión sectaria de que “la única política revolucionaria es la que defiende mi propio grupo”.
Estos y otros de sus libros demostraron la capacidad de John de explicar las ideas con claridad y de manera convincente; en absoluto se trataba de intentar ganar los debates mediante apelaciones a la autoridad y la disciplina.
A esta habilidad le dio un buen uso con una columna en el periódico semanal Socialist Worker. Su columna fue un excelente ejemplo de la aplicación práctica de las ideas marxistas. No se trataba de “simplificar” en el sentido de presentar argumentos simplistas, carentes de profundidad. Más bien, logró explicar y hacer accesibles los conceptos básicos del marxismo, en un formato que sirviese a una persona trabajadora en sus conversaciones cotidianas, en un descanso en el trabajo, en el bar… ¿Por qué debemos rechazar los controles de inmigración? ¿Por qué los horrores de la URSS no demuestran que el socialismo no puede funcionar? ¿Por qué debemos apoyar las luchas sindicales a la vez de desconfiar de la burocracia sindical? Cada semana, aportó ideas claras y convincentes sobre temas así.
Muchas de estas columnas se recogieron más tarde en el folleto “Argumentos para el socialismo revolucionario”.
Pero no solo escribió, también fue activista revolucionario en su ciudad de Portsmouth, ganando a mucha gente joven al partido a lo largo de muchos años. Y ser activista del SWP —como de cualquier grupo de la corriente IST— supone también impulsar luchas más amplias.
Años más tarde John recordó cómo las y los militantes del SWP fueron de las pocas personas en Portsmouth que se opusieron a la guerra de las Malvinas de 1982. Es que Portsmouth es la ciudad portuaria principal de la armada británica: fue la base de donde salió la flotilla bélica para la guerra contra Argentina. No solo eso, la industria armamentística emplea una parte importante de la gente trabajadora de la ciudad. Ante una situación así, muchas personas, incluso de la izquierda radical, se olvidarían de sus principios. Es característico de John y de la política que representaba mantenerse firme, defendiendo sus ideas, pero sin sectarismo, sin perder el contacto con la gente corriente. Así que años más tarde, John contribuyó a que 12 autocares de Portsmouth —todavía una ciudad fuertemente militar— se llenasen para participar en la gran manifestación en Londres contra la guerra de Irak, el 15 de febrero de 2003.
Para algunas personas supondría una contradicción, pero el fuerte compromiso de John con la política revolucionaria lo llevó a mantener una actitud muy crítica con su propio partido cuando pensaba que su dirección cometía un error. Estuvo más que dispuesto a defender una posición propia cuando le parecía necesario; fue parte de su grandeza y una de las cosas que lo hizo tan especial.
A principios de los años 80, se produjo en el SWP un debate muy importante acerca del análisis marxista de la opresión de las mujeres. La dirección mantenía que esta opresión, en el fondo, le beneficiaba al sistema capitalista, a la clase dirigente. John argumentó que también le beneficiaba al hombre trabajador: en cierto sentido, su argumento prefiguraba ideas que se difundirían unos años más tarde como “la teoría de privilegios”.
Como en todo debate importante teórico, su relevancia estaba en lo que significaba para la lucha. Si esta opresión de las mujeres realmente le beneficiaba a la mitad de la clase trabajadora, no tenía sentido proponer una estrategia mediante la cual esta clase debía combatir la opresión, de manera unitaria. En realidad, desde ese punto de vista, sería difícil ver cómo acabar con esta opresión. Sin embargo, pocos años antes, en 1979, unas mujeres sindicalistas de izquierdas, incluyendo a compañeras del SWP, habían conseguido que la central sindical de Gran Bretaña, el TUC, organizase una manifestación en defensa del derecho al aborto; lograron reunir a 50.000 personas, tanto hombres como mujeres. Fue una muestra práctica de que las ideas machistas, que son evidentemente muy fuertes y extendidas, pueden ser superadas mediante la lucha y el debate, con argumentos de clase contra la opresión. Los hombres en esa manifestación habían entendido que su interés real no estaba en perpetuar el sistema opresivo actual, sino en luchar en su contra, codo con codo con sus compañeras de clase.
En todo caso, John presentó sus argumentos, pero se quedó en minoría. Se había celebrado un debate real, la militancia había votado y se había adoptado una posición colectiva; en eso consiste el centralismo democrático. Lógicamente, John seguía siendo un activista y pensador clave del partido.
En los siguientes años, hubo algunos episodios más de este tipo. En su momento, seguro que hubo algunas quejas dentro de la dirección del partido ante su insistencia en plantar cara cuando discrepaba. Retrospectivamente, sin embargo, los debates que John inspiró ayudaron considerablemente al SWP —y al conjunto de la corriente socialismo internacional, que iba creciendo poco a poco en la misma época— a profundizar su análisis sobre las opresiones y otras cuestiones difíciles.
La solidez política de John la demostraría de nuevo durante una larga crisis que sufrió el SWP a partir de 2007, cuando varios grupos de militantes abandonaron el partido.
Hubo diferentes razones concretas en cada caso, pero en el fondo se estaba pagando el precio del éxito de los años 2000-2003 y el haber conseguido impulsar grandes movimientos, como el movimiento antiguerra… a costa a veces de la propia organización y política del partido. Cuando el nivel de movilización empezó a decaer, cuando era más difícil convencer a otra gente de una estrategia, surgió la tentación de rebajar la política para mantener la popularidad.
Una de las escisiones surgió a raíz de un caso de agresión sexual dentro de la organización que se gestionó de manera inadecuada. Es un logro del SWP que, años antes de la campaña #MeToo, un caso de este tipo no fuese ignorado —como han hecho incontables organizaciones— sino que se debatió fuertemente. La dirección del SWP reconoció más tarde que había cometido errores, y el partido llegaría a desarrollar un protocolo sobre acoso sexual… mucho antes del #MeToo.
En todo caso, más allá de los debates acerca del caso específico, en el fondo de la disputa estaba la necesidad o no de una organización revolucionaria, leninista, como la que llevaban décadas construyendo. Ante esta situación, con su historia de “disidente”, y especialmente en el análisis de cuestiones de opresión, algunas personas hostiles a la dirección del SWP esperaban que John se sumaría a su campaña contra la dirección.
De hecho, porque fue capaz de ver qué representaba el debate en realidad, John se convirtió en una voz muy efectiva en la defensa de la continuidad del SWP y su política general… con las mejoras que se habían demostrado necesarias. Y efectivamente, el SWP se recuperó de la crisis.
En 2002, John sufrió una terrible pérdida con la muerte de su compañera de vida, Jill, tras una larga y dura enfermedad. Él mismo enfermó y casi murió entonces. Fue un período muy difícil del que podría no haber logrado salir. Tuvo la gran fortuna de conocer a Mary Smith, militante del Socialist Workers’ Network en Irlanda, que le dio nuevas ganas de vivir.
Y efectivamente, tuvo toda una segunda vida, al ir a vivir con Mary en Dublín, Irlanda. Aquí se metió totalmente en la política y cultura popular del país. Rápidamente llegó a formar parte de la dirección política del Socialist Workers’ Network (SWN) y un activista del partido-movimiento electoral anticapitalista que el SWN lidera, People Before Profit.
Aquí John fundó la revista trimestral Irish Marxist Review, que declaró que “Nuestro objetivo principal es proporcionar un análisis socialista y marxista serio de los desarrollos políticos, económicos y sociales en Irlanda e internacionalmente. También nos interesaremos en la clase obrera y la historia socialista, en la teoría marxista y en cuestiones de cultura.” Cuando John murió, acababa de salir el número 34 de la revista, tras 11 años de publicación.
Aparte de volver al activismo, John seguía escribiendo sobre temas cada vez más diversos. Escribió el libro The Point Is To Change It: An Introduction to Marxist Philosphy (Bookmarks, 2012, “El punto es cambiarlo: una introducción a la filosofía marxista”) que fue, como decía el título, una accesible introducción a los debates sobre el marxismo y la filosofía.
En 2020, publicó otro libro muy importante, The Dialectics of Art (Bookmarks, “La dialéctica del arte”). En base al análisis de diferentes artistas y sus obras, desde Michelangelo hasta el arte vanguardista actual, analizó el significado del arte como esfera distinta de la creatividad humana, que tiene un aspecto muy político, pero que no se puede reducir a la política ni condicionar en términos políticos.
Jesús Castillo, de Marx21 Sevilla, añade: “También en los últimos años, John mostró un gran interés en la lucha por el clima, desarrollando un discurso anticapitalista que tendía puentes entre diversos movimientos sociales en la búsqueda de la unidad de acción sin sectarismos. En este sentido, John impulsó la Global Ecosocialist Network donde consiguió la participación de personas ecosocialistas de todo el mundo, poniendo siempre especial interés en la participación de mujeres y personas del Sur Global. Su lucha revolucionaria continúa en muchos frentes, también en el empeño por conservar la calidad ecológica de nuestro entorno para las generaciones futuras.”
Destacamos finalmente que John jugó un papel activo en la coordinación de la corriente socialismo internacional, de la que Marx21 forma parte.
El grupo actual de Marx21 tiene sus orígenes en Socialismo Internacional, el grupo fundado en 1994 que fue el inicio de la corriente socialismo internacional en el Estado español.
En ese momento, existían dos textos importantes de la corriente en castellano, Partido y Clase, de Chris Harman, y ¿Cuál es la tradición marxista? de John Molyneux. En un entorno donde “socialismo” se entendía como el PSOE, y “revolución” o “marxismo” se entendían como referencias a la URSS o Cuba, el texto de Molyneux tuvo un valor enorme, al subrayar — sin sectarismo, como se ha comentado— que el marxismo revolucionario significa algo muy diferente.
Con los años, el grupo publicaría más obras suyas en castellano, como ¿Es la naturaleza humana una barrera al socialismo?, La futura sociedad socialista, o la colección de sus columnas mencionada arriba, Argumentos para el socialismo revolucionario.
Aparte de esto, siempre fue un gran amigo del grupo Socialismo Internacional, que a principios de los 2000 pasó a llamarse En lucha. Cuando participábamos en las impresionantes jornadas en Londres del SWP, Marxism, John siempre buscaba tiempo para hablar con las y los militantes de nuestro grupo.
Como miembro de la coordinación de la corriente internacional, John fue una ayuda importante para el grupo Marx21.
La crisis que sufrió el SWP a inicios de la década de 2010 tuvo su paralelo en el Estado español. En 2000-2003 el grupo había tenido mucho éxito al impulsar el movimiento anticapitalista y antiguerra. Mediante la agitación, llegó a contar con más de 200 militantes, pero le costó mucho adaptarse a la bajada de la lucha que siguió a ese período. Tras varios años de problemas, en 2016 la mayoría del grupo votó por su liquidación.
La media docena de personas que pensábamos que aún debíamos organizarnos —de una manera adecuada a la situación concreta— alrededor de la política de socialismo desde abajo defendida por la IST empezamos la red Marx21. En ese momento, John, junto con el resto de la coordinación de la corriente, fue un apoyo imprescindible, tanto en términos políticos como personales. En su línea, aportó ideas y consejos, pero nunca intentó imponer nada.
Al año siguiente 2017, se produjo la gran movilización alrededor del referéndum catalán: entonces, como ahora, Catalunya fue un territorio clave del grupo. Los consejos e ideas aportados por la corriente, y John personalmente, fueron una ayuda muy importante. Dentro de la izquierda española, predominaba un “internacionalismo” abstracto que se tradujo en dar la espalda a la lucha por el derecho a decidir del pueblo catalán. Dentro de la izquierda catalana, existieron (y existen) ilusiones en las posibilidades de un “bloque independentista” junto con los partidos burgueses y pequeñoburgueses catalanistas.
John que ya llevaba bastantes años en Irlanda, y tenía muy presente el papel traicionero de los dirigentes nacionalistas de derechas. En el verano de 2017, nos animó a no confiar en las apariencias, en los discursos radicales, insistiendo en que toda la experiencia era que, en el momento de verdad, éstos darían un paso atrás. En un momento en que era fácil dejarse llevar por las ilusiones, estos avisos nos ayudaron a mantener nuestra visión independiente.
La importancia de John Molyneux quedó manifiesta en la multitud de mensajes que llegaron tras su muerte. Quedando en evidencia que fue una importancia no sólo política sino, como se ha destacado aquí, también personal. Lo personal depende de cada individuo, cada persona es como es, como el propio John sabía.
Pero en lo político, terminamos con la observación que cierra un artículo en su memoria en la web de su grupo adoptivo en Irlanda: “El mejor tributo que podemos dar a John Molyneux es continuar con su tradición de política socialista revolucionaria.”
John and I were comrades going back a long time. A bit like Eamonn McCann’s comment at the funeral, I knew John before I met him; though for me it was through his writing, especially the Teach Yourself Marxism column in the British SW paper. Right back to the early days with the Dublin branch meetings in the upstairs room at the Bachelor Inn, when we would get our hands on a copy of the British paper, almost always I’d go straight to John’s column.
In recent years I got to know John in person. At meetings and rallies I would always listen carefully to what he said in his contributions – bringing all those decades of reading and struggle to making clear and politically-sharp points, he’d set the tone and direction of most discussions.
Like many, wherever John saw me at a meeting or protest he’d be straight over asking if I’d get a copy of the IMR – after we’d exchange cash for the journal, he’d always say “Good man!” often with a gentle hand on my back.
Watching the service yesterday, it was clear to me that John’s was a life well-lived, in the best of our revolutionary socialist tradition. I think there was never a more apt invocation of Joe Hill’s dictum, than at the funeral.
Rest in Power John Molynuex.
I have never attended (albeit due to flu, mine was by live-cam) a sadder but also more brilliant (huge) and gorgeous funeral than John Molyneux’s. The tributes from his children; Jack Molyneux, Sara and his granddaughter were warm and authentic giving testament to the man that he was – kind, loving, clever, humble. I loved too the political stories and accounts from friends Huw Williams, Alex Callinicos Memet, Eamon McCann to name but a few, all of whom spoke with love warmth, respect and of course humour of this life well-lived. How important humour is especially to socialists! John’s ‘sister-in-law’ Brid Smith the MP for South Dublin was mighty especially when she must be grieving herself. But the woman who won my heart today was John’s partner Mary Smith who was a total warrior. I cannot imagine how she is feeling but she made us laugh and cry and then reassured us all would be well. What a funny, brilliant woman. She rallied us to the struggle and told beautiful tales of John two of which particularly stuck – one from his living and one from his dying. They go like this. A trans woman went into a bar where John and a friend were having a drink after a meeting. The woman was told to leave (due to her appearance) which eventually resulted in John and his friend supporting the woman in challenging the bar manager and a subsequent lawsuit which resulted in significant damages for Sonia. Now that’s socialism – it’s not only meetings and marches it’s being a fucking decent human every day of your life and John was that. The second story was of his death and was set to reassure us – it did because I’ve been worrying about this all week. He’d been to a meeting and a drink and was walking home when he was struck by a heart attack and fell down in the street. The man that was there first later reassured Mary that he’d seen John go down and that he was unconscious before he even hit the ground. The man took hold of the Irish anti-war flag which John was carrying so that it didn’t get lost and then went to the trouble of looking Mary up and getting it back to them. He also attended the wake to say his goodbyes following what must have been a sad experience. This is human kindness and John had plenty of that too. The next important detail is that two other passers by were quickly at the scene – one that did CPR and the other who phoned an ambulance – they were both, it turned out, doctors. Like Mary said – you can’t get a G.P appointment but John had two doctors attending him! So yeah, Mary was magnificent and I hope that helps her get through the next few months. The funeral ended with the Internationale sung and power salutes. Absolutely gutted not to be there and that he’s gone but this was a powerful way to say goodbye. REST IN POWER dear friend and comrade xxx
Like many others especially his great friend Huw Williams I am deeply saddened by the death of John Molyneux, a great socialist and lovely man. It is no exaggeration to say my life has been greatly enhanced because of him. Firstly his clear concise writing in his books on many subjects, though for me crucially his illustrated talks and writing about art. For a working class kid from a South Wales mining village art appreciation was not high up in our school and regarded as something for toffs. Johns talks ,usually illustrated , were a highlight of the annual Marxism festival for me for the last three decades and opened my mind, giving me a life enhancing pleasure which I don’t think would have been likely without him. One could write much more.
He will be sorely missed by his family, friends and all the people he influenced over his life
RIP John x
The Marxist writer and activist John Molyneux died in Dublin on December 11 at the age of 74. John was a longstanding member of the International Socialist Tendency, first as a member of the International Socialists/Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in Britain, later as a member of the Socialist Workers Party/Network in Ireland.
John was one of the generation of ’68. He joined the International Socialists in Britain in 1968 after being radicalized by the antiwar movement and the global revolutionary upsurge of that year. He soon became one of the group’s leading theorists and most popular speakers.
His first book, Marxism and the Party (1976), analyzes what Marx, Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotsky, and Gramsci had to say about the question of revolutionary organization and remains relevant for everyone still grappling with that issue. A few years later he published Leon Trotsky’s Theory of Revolution (1981), which discusses Trotsky’s weaknesses as well as his strengths. What is the Real Marxist Tradition? (1983/85) started life as a long article and was later published as a short book—it contrasts Marx’s revolutionary socialism with reformism and Stalinism.
But perhaps John’s biggest contribution was his weekly column, “The ABCs of Marxism,” published in Socialist Worker (UK) for almost 15 years. Some weeks he discussed basic Marxist ideas and history, other weeks he applied a Marxist perspective to a contemporary issue or debate, including debates on the left. John’s columns were a model of clarity—I read them religiously every week in the 1980s and I don’t think I’m the only person who learned a lot of their Marxism from them. Some of the columns were collected into a short book titled Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism (1987) and a pamphlet on The Future Socialist Society (1987).
The clarity of John’s writing was also evident in his talks. I saw him speak many times at the annual Marxism conference in London during the 1980s and 1990s.
John’s prominence as a writer gave him space to sometimes challenge SWP orthodoxy. In the 1980s he argued that, even if women’s liberation is in their long-term interest, working-class men gain immediate benefits from women’s oppression and that revolutionaries had to confront this. In 2004 he spoke out against what he argued was a deficit of genuine democracy in the organization.
But John was always a member of the loyal opposition. In 2012-13, the SWP faced a major crisis following the attempted cover up of an accusation of rape against a leading member. The scandal led many people (including longstanding members such as Colin Barker and Ian Birchall) to leave the organization. By this time, John had retired and moved to Ireland, but—disappointingly, in my view—he defended the party leadership against its critics.
In Ireland he became the editor of the Irish Marxist Review and contributed something substantial to almost every issue. He also continued writing books—including a guide to Marxist philosophy, The Point is to Change It! (2012), Lenin for Today (2017), and The Dialectics of Art (2020)—and contributed a steady flow of articles to the Irish socialist website Rebel. Over the last few years, John also became heavily focused on building an ecosocialist response to the climate crisis and was one of the founders of the Global Ecosocialist Network.
Whatever political mistakes John made, his publications and talks trained thousands of young socialists in revolutionary Marxist politics. As capitalism’s crises grow worse, his voice will be missed.
Shocked and saddened at the sudden passing of John Molyneux Our thoughts are with Mary Smith and family and all of John’s friends and comrades. Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism, Is Human Nature a Barrier to Socialism, The Future Socialist Society and John’s books on the Marxist party and tradition all helped train a generation of revolutionaries across the world. Over many decades John made a tremendous contribution to the socialist movement both as a wide-ranging thinker, writer and committed activist. He’ll be sorely missed by revolutionaries in Ireland and internationally.
I met John Molyneux twice at his home in Dublin and at Marxism in Berlin in 2016, an encounter I will never forget since we had a chat about Easter 1916, the Irish revolution, republicanism and its limitations and degenerations, and the dialectics between leadership and base of a movement.. he raised the remarkable point, which really impressed me and helped me understanding the relation between revolutionary socialists and radical republicans in Ireland, when he told me he had repeatedly debates with Eamonn McCann about the character of that movement and he experienced RSF members being radical at the forefront together with comrades from PBP and others at common working class rallies, he called those more reliable and serious than working class members of liberal bourgeois sections of the party spectrum and clearly envisioned united front tactics instead of sidelining them. John certainly understood to bring people together in practical terms for a common struggle. You will be missed comrade!
We’re writing a longer piece about John Molyneux from marx21.net, so for now I’ll just mention one point, underlying something another comrade said about his being non sectarian.
I remember John saying years back that we often use the term “comrade” to mean “member of our party”. He pointed out that this was wrong, and sectarian.
Comrades are all those who take part in the struggle for socialism, for social justice, whatever organisation they belong to, if any. Among these other comrades, of course we defend our point of view and our strategies, alongside other members of our own group, but we are ALL comrades.
As I say, it’s just one point, but I have kept it in mind ever since, and it became part of my vision of revolutionary politics.
I always knew that I was an anti-capitalist, but it wasn’t until I read the book “What is the Real Marxist Tradition” by John Molyneux that I started learning about Marxism and how we can change the world to a place we deserve.
A few years later, having read many of Molyneux’s writings and trying to apply theory in practice, I was visiting Dublin and attended a Marxism event. I was sitting next to a nice old man when I asked the speaker a question about the Syrian counterrevolution and how we can deal with Stalinists who support Bashar in the name of anti-imperialism.
After the talk, the man looked at me with a genuine smile and with a tone of excitement said:
– You’re a comrade, aren’t you?! You sound like one!
– Haha! I am, actually! I’m a member of the Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt. My name’s Tarek.
– I’m John. So nice to meet you, Tarek!
And that’s when it hit me. I froze for a bit in shock, and then I asked, “are you John Molyneux?!”
The person who educated and inspired generations of Marxists around the world is one of the sweetest and most humble people you can imagine. A fierce radical. A relentless thinker. A real human. Such an honor and a true pleasure.
Rest in Power, John 
Thank you for the inspiration. Thank you for the love 
Today I attended the funeral of John Molyneux, activist on the Irish left and author of many Marxist texts. It was sad, moving and impressively enacted. The first part was in the Unitarian Church in Stephen’s Green. I wondered how this was going to work, John being an atheist. The minister, Bridget Spain, gave a welcome, encompassing a brief history of the church and explanation of unitarianism. Then the ceremony was chaired by Brid Smith TD and was totally secular. Most of the speakers, including Mary Smith, Kieran Allen, Memet Uladag, Eamonn McCann and Alex Callinicos, were from the SWN, SWP, IST tradition, as was John. I am not of this tradition, but have come to regard them as comrades in my many years of working with them on the broad left. Members of John’s family also spoke and I got the impression that they too were comrades. The speeches were excellent. Every one of them was warm, intelligent, appropriate, sometimes also funny (especially Mary). The unitarian minister came back at the end and spoke of bereavement. Interestingly, she noted that unitarianism had no position on an afterlife. Then there was the Internationale. The second part was at the Glasnevin crematorium. This ceremony was mainly musical. Among the songs were If They Come in the Morning and Waltzing Matilda. Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin sang a beautiful song as gaeilge (but I didn’t catch the name of it). We ended with all singing Power to the People. We milled around talking outside afterwards. Most are still carrying on in the Brian Boru pub, although I am back at work on my computer. It was a well-deserved tribute to John who gave so much to so many and will be much missed.
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Today we said farewell to John Molyneux .
The service was obviously filled with sadness and loss . But it was also a celebration of his life as a person and as a revolutionary. It was an incredibly moving day .
I was honoured to be able to say a few words at the service . Everyone who spoke from Jack and Sara his children and Mary his partner did so with such warmth and so captured John the person , the revolutionary . Brid Smith did a remarkably fantastic job as MC through the day .
I think John would have been delighted to be called a “ Warm humanist Marxist “ by Alex Callinicos because that indeed is what he was . He so loved the early Marx . Those passages from the economic and philosophical manuscripts so chimed with Johns sense of the potential for total human liberation . Likewise situating John’s theoretical work on art as not a sideline but adding something to Marxist theory in general I know would have made him really pleased.
To hear Eamon McCann speak alongside Kieran Allen , Mehmet and Andy from Barcelona was to hear testimony to Johns impact .
As on these occasions one reflects and is annoyed with oneself for omitting things you meant to say . I have to say I did this twice . So for what it’s worth here they are ;
1. It was mentioned by a number of people the effect on John of going to New York I think in 67 and seeing the phenomenal wealth symbolised in those huge skyscrapers in Manhattan next door to the slums and deprivation in the Bowery . This was indeed true .
I wanted to say a sort of addendum to this
Around 1988 I went with John to a lecture at the then Polytechnic in Portsmouth given by Stuart Hall . He was seen as the leading “ Marxist “ intellectual of the day . He was arguing essentially Marxism based on notions of class were outdated ( I’m sure this is crude but hey!). In his talk he mentioned a recent trip to New York and said when he saw Manhattan you couldn’t but sense you had to “ Bow down beneath it “.
Sitting next John I could sense him bristle . Whrn he finished John’s hand shot up . You could see the sense of trepidation as some head of faculty chairing this prestigious event desperately looked for anyone but “ Molyneux “ to speak . Alas no other hands were forthcoming she had to call him .
Up John got in front of 200 odd people many star struck by Hall and he simply said “ I also went to Manhattan and saw the wealth and power in those buildings but I also saw the slums next to them and came to the belief there and then that the one beget the other . I didn’t feel any desire to bow down to them but a strong one that they needed to be torn down , and still do”
John sat down and I remember the silence in the room was deafening .
2. I meant to say also that John about a year or so ago asked me to “ Edit” his selected writings . I was of course delighted to do so but tbh bemused why he asked me having no editing skills whatsoever. The process I loved . Basically long chats on what should be in the book and what should be omitted . I pushed for some “ Teach yourself Marxism “ columns as it reflected Johns standing with many of my generation who joined around the miners strike and each week would devour the articles . Also I was aware one of the chapters discarded by Cliff ( as editor) for his “ Marxism and the party” was on Lukacs but he had long lost this . I kept saying every “ Greatest hits” album has a number of “ never before released “ tracks but alas it couldn’t be found . I was basically a sounding board and not an editor at all.
When the book was released unbeknown to me he had made sure my name was in the cover . I knew he had done this as a thank you to an old friend and comrade , John really edited it himself ! and that was John all over .
So the weeks and months ahead will of course be difficult for his family , friends and comrades but his was a life rich in struggle and joy . John did not go gently into the night . He fought to the bitter end .
Incredibly sad news. A terrible loss for the left and all the movements he helped to build. And a huge personal loss for Mary.
John was a fantastic, kind and generous comrade. When I joined, John Molyneux was active in the British SWP, a big name speaker at the annual Marxism event in London. It was surreal years later to have this figure sitting at branch meetings in a community centre in Rathfarnham, but John shared his knowledge & ideas with as much enthusiasm at those tiny meetings as he did at the big ones. His commitment to the struggle for socialism was undying.
La lucha continua, as John would want. Informed in no small part by his writings and inspired by his boundless energy and activism. Rest in power John. You made a difference.
JOHN MOLYNEUX
Early this year, I saw John Molyneux for the last time. He told me he thought he was going to die soon. I very much hoped he was wrong but there was too much sadness in his eyes. Like so many of John’s friends, family members and comrades, I have felt utterly devastated and heartbroken since he died over a week ago. He was a great friend and I loved him dearly.
When I first met John when I was a struggling, teenage, single mother and he was my Art History lecturer. I was deeply mistrustful of and hostile towards authority figures (and, of course, I still am!). But John made it abundantly clear to me that he understood why I had to be that way and so that antagonism easily withered away. I felt I could trust him to defend me where no one else would. And he did.
John and I became very good friends, and he supported me and many other artists with our projects and exhibitions. John saw art as a significant aspect of the struggle for human liberation. This was something we often had long conversations about, and this shared outlook was central to our friendship.
John had an extraordinary ability to find out and empathize with the contradictions within people. And through this understanding he lifted people up and brought out the best in those around him. He was unique in this respect; I’ve never known anyone like it. He had a way of being in the world akin to what Allen Ginsberg characterized as The Supernatural Extra Brilliant Intelligent Kindness Of The Soul!
La Lotta Continua
Allen Ginsberg’s Footnote To Howl https://allpoetry.com/Footnote-To-Howl which I feel embodies who John was and how he relates to the world. John showed me this poem around 15 years ago and it stayed in my mind since.
Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy!
Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy!
The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy!
The nose is holy! The tongue and cock and hand
and asshole holy!
Everything is holy! everybody’s holy! everywhere is
holy! everyday is in eternity! Everyman’s an
angel!
The bum’s as holy as the seraphim! the madman is
holy as you my soul are holy!
The typewriter is holy the poem is holy the voice is
holy the hearers are holy the ecstasy is holy!
Holy Peter holy Allen holy Solomon holy Lucien holy
Kerouac holy Huncke holy Burroughs holy Cas-
sady holy the unknown buggered and suffering
beggars holy the hideous human angels!
Holy my mother in the insane asylum! Holy the cocks
of the grandfathers of Kansas!
Holy the groaning saxophone! Holy the bop
apocalypse! Holy the jazzbands marijuana
hipsters peace & junk & drums!
Holy the solitudes of skyscrapers and pavements! Holy
the cafeterias filled with the millions! Holy the
mysterious rivers of tears under the streets!
Holy the lone juggernaut! Holy the vast lamb of the
middle class! Holy the crazy shepherds of rebell-
ion! Who digs Los Angeles IS Los Angeles!
Holy New York Holy San Francisco Holy Peoria &
Seattle Holy Paris Holy Tangiers Holy Moscow
Holy Istanbul!
Holy time in eternity holy eternity in time holy the
clocks in space holy the fourth dimension holy
the fifth International holy the Angel in Moloch!
Holy the sea holy the desert holy the railroad holy the
locomotive holy the visions holy the hallucina-
tions holy the miracles holy the eyeball holy the
abyss!
Holy forgiveness! mercy! charity! faith! Holy! Ours!
bodies! suffering! magnanimity!
Holy the supernatural extra brilliant intelligent
kindness of the soul!
I was devastated and shocked to hear of the sudden death of my friend, comrade and mentor of 25 years John Molyneux. My love and thoughts go out to Mary and his family and friends who loved him dearly. I’m shocked because he’s probably one of the best men I’ve ever known, a sentiment he’d undoubtedly challenge and reject, such was his disbelief in the idea of individual saviours or heroes.
John was a hugely important figure in my life and a sizeable part of who I am (Marxist/humanitarian) is due to him. I had the privilege of being taught by him initially through university, but also for many years after, every time I put a question to him! We often discussed whether social realism was the only genre in cinema which can be Marxist – it isn’t! As a teacher he was engaging, supportive and so, so clever and as a man more tolerant and kind than the fathead student I was at times deserved. He championed all struggling students, determined that they would succeed and it was entirely due to him (he’d dismiss this assertion too), that I got a fantastic degree result, one of my proudest achievements in a life of serial under-achievement! He and I nearly started a masters recently on sedition and mutiny in the navy. I say ‘he and I’ because although it was my masters, he had an awful lot to say about it. I think he was more excited about it all than I was. Rest in power John, one of the best men I’ve known. I will never forget you and the world is changed (which is after all the point), for you having been in it 
From Kevin IPSC
Hi Brid, just heard the shocking news about John. Absolutely awful. Whatever our differences, he was a giant of the left, literally and metaphorically. My condolences to all of you in the SWN and PBP. Please pass on my deepest sympathies to Mary, I’m so sorry for her. 💔
Among others John Molyneux was important in my political development of moving from genuine, anti-racism republican socialist politics (Sinn Fein to Eirigi) to joining the Socialist Workers Party in 2011 and building revolutionary socialists within People Before Profit. John was always a very generous friend and political activist and his writings have shaped my thinking as well as the many sharp discussion at marxism and national councils.
I last saw John at Raise The Roof and felt great to have a calm but passionate voice with all the misdirected anger towards refugees.. such a huge void we all have to fill. But first John let’s give you the deserved send off that will do all your Irish, British & worldwide friends proud.
Rest In Power dear friend and Revolutionary Socialist comrade.
I was shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden death of my friend and socialist comrade John Molyneaux.
My first meeting with John was at an anti-war meeting in 2016 where I got the first of what would become a very familiar sighting – John with his shoulder bag flogging the Irish Marxist Review magazine. My last encounter with him was at the United against Racism rally last Thursday where – fittingly enough – he thrust a copy of the IMR into my hands and said he’ll get the fiver off me next time.
Since that first meeting, John has been a key figure in my political development, and it is clear from all the tributes being paid that I am just one of many new young activists for whom he had endless time and energy. He saw it as his role to pass on the tradition and to nurture us, indeed, he was more than happy to step back and let newer activists take on leading roles and responsibilities, all whilst making himself endlessly available to answer questions and give support.
I remember texting John frantically under the table during a talk I was giving(!) at Marxism festival when someone in the crowd asked a question that I didn’t know the answer to. John deftly intercepted the question from the floor and somehow made it look like he was just clarifying something I had already said! 😂
A few years ago, John and I were discussing the conditions and social forces that have led people at different times in history to rise up in revolt against their oppressors, when he casually commented that he didn’t believe that he would see a socialist revolution in his own lifetime. I remember being struck by this.…as an impatient and considerably more selfish young buckeen myself, I couldn’t believe that John’s decades of tireless activism were in service of building a world that he mightn’t get to live in himself.
But John – though a materialist through and through – understood himself as a part of the big whole, which to me is actually kinda spiritual..(gasp!…sorry John!). It didn’t matter if he didn’t get there himself- a better world could and must be won.
Of course, along the way, he fought tooth and nail for social change and saw lots of it – in the last decade alone – marriage equality, the water charges, Repealing the 8th amendment, and the building of People Before Profit.
And because John helped make so many of us who we are, something of him stays with us – and in us – as we fight on. Our future struggle and our victories will bear his indelible mark.
Rest in power John, ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.
Unreal!!! May his soul rest in peace. My condolences 
“Ağaçlar ayakta ölür” John da Doğan gibi aniden gitti. Hepimizin marksist fikirlerle donatılmasinda hem teorik hem de pratik çok önemli katkıları oldu. Başımız sağolsun, Mehmet sana da sabırlar diliyorum.
"Trees die standing" John left abruptly like Doğan. Both theoretical and practical contributions were very important in equipping us all with Marxist ideas. Our condolences, Mehmet, I wish you patience as well.
Personally I still cannot believe it John was a wonderful comrade and a tireless struggler for justice freedom peace and equality .I think everybody feels the loss of this icon .indeed he is a huge loss to all of us. Rest in peace john
John was a great friend of our Branch and stood with us throughout our pensions strike. He inspired us and for me it is personal. John inspired me. it is hard to think that it was only 1 week ago John stood tall and proud in support of Refugees at the spire.
John we will keep your vision and passion for working people alive in working class areas in Dublin and in Rural Ireland
Always a legend.
John we will miss you. Every march, every rally you will be there with us.
Your legacy will live on
Unite Irish Life Branch
Please, No! What a prolific author and great campaigner – and who has fought relentlessly for people’s rights. John has been a huge force in the fight against racism and many more issues. A giant of a man. Rest in Power, John 
The Cork branch of People Before Profit are deeply saddened and shocked by the sudden passing of John Molyneux last weekend.
John was a great friend to many members in Cork, and many of us learnt so much over the years from his extensive knowledge and from his ability to apply political theory to everyday life situations in a straightforward way.
John came to Cork on numerous occasions, to give public talks about the intersection of art and politics, anti-racism, eco-socialism, and to launch his books. His talks were always engaging and exciting, and it is tough to accept that John won’t be with us to discuss and debate crucial political issues going forward.
Working with John, who was a genuinely kind-hearted man with a love for humanity, was a pleasure for all of us who knew him. He will be deeply missed.
The world is worse off without him, and we will honour his legacy by taking inspiration from his activism and his writing, and by ensuring that the struggle continues in the years to come.
Condolences to all of John’s friends and family.
Rest in Power, John.
RIP John Molyneux, a good friend, tireless activist, and incredibly encouraging comrade who I was privileged to work alongside these past 3 years in XR, PBP, and the Global Ecosocialist Network.
Our shared perspective that the ecological crises must be central to our analysis, socialist programme, and activism meant that we worked closely on a number of projects and had many discussions about the way forward.
I’m sad I never got to tell John how instrumental he was in helping me integrate into the Irish socialist movement. It was hard moving here from Seattle. John helped give me the confidence to contribute my ideas, even if he didn’t always agree with them. I’m incredibly grateful.
My deepest condolences to his partner Mary and his family, and to all the comrades here and internationally who were lucky enough to work with him, learn from him, and to know him as a friend.
“Its now almost 24 hours since I learnt of the passing of a great friend and comrade, John Molyneux, and I am still trying to come to terms with that awful news. John was larger than life,a great Marxist academic and a great political activist. I first became aware of John at the Marxism festival in London. I always attended his meetings. He had the unique gift of making the most complex of issues easily understood by people like myself.
Not long after he moved to Ireland John established the Irish Marxist Review, now Ireland’s reading Marxist journal. In quick succession he published books on Anarchism, Marxist philosophy and the main stream media. He played a leading role in the SWN, UAR and People Before Profit.
Anytime I had to stay in Dublin overnight, I usually stayed with John and Mary. The many conversations I had with them increased my knowledge, not just of politics but of a broad range of issues. Staying with John and Mary also meant meeting with comrades from around the world, from Egypt, Greece and Britain.
On a recent occasion Mary was out for the evening and John told me of his younger days as a poker player, of the various characters he met in unofficial gambling clubs. He sure lived a full life. The last time I stayed with them was for Marxism. On the Saturday evening the news broke about the racist, anti asylum seeker mob in East Wall. John had the task of writing the UAR statement in response.
I will miss John, and just as everybody else said, he had the ability to make everybody feel welcome. The world will be a poorer place without John.
My condolences to his partner Mary, his family, friends and comrades.”
So sad to hear of John Molyneux’s passing. He was such an inspirational person to so many art students during his time at The Eldon Building at Portsmouth Uni. He fanned the flames of my love of Rembrandt, revolution, and Pre-Raphaelite art.
Many fond memories of the lectures he gave, invoking discussion, debate, and free-thinking (and many a wonderful exchange of views between him and Stuart Gard!) Although I never worked up the courage to tell John how much I appreciated his influence, I’m certain I won’t be the only ex-student in thanking him for what he did for us.
Such drive and passion. I hope he knew how much we loved him.
Tina Signorelli, a former student at Portsmouth Uni
To Mary and all of John’s family, please accept my sincere condolences. It was a privilege and a pleasure to know John and work along side him to make this world a better place. I learnt so much from him and for that I am deeply indebted. John, you will be greatly missed but will always be an inspiration. RIP,
| My love and condolences to Mary, and to Brid. And all John’s family members in losing your kind, gentle, principled and generous beloved partner, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Solidarity to all in the IST, SWP, PBP etc in this devastating loss of our incredible comrade. Goodbye John. I don’t want to be saying goodbye at all. Thank you for for your seemingly limitless energy, commitment, consistency. brilliance, insights and courage. And for always supporting me in my endeavours, be they artistic or political. Your little thumbs ups and supportive words on my art posts have meant so much. Thank you for your friendship and your inspiration. We will keep building the party and fighting. |
Saddened to hear of the passing of John. He was a brilliant writer, theorist, dedicated activist, and a kind, generous, and modest man. I was very fortunate to have known and worked with him. My condolences to his partner Mary, and to all his family. Rest in Peace comrade.
I met John at Le Cheile Zoom meetings over the past two years. I admired his passion for social justice and human rights. An activist and a human rights campaigner for all who are marginalised and victims of human right abuses. May his legacy of fairness and justice live on in all of us. Rest well John.
There were only a few times that I spoke with John. But he had a huge influence on my political thought and activity. As a young trade union militant, his Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism (1987) reinforced my view that despite the dominance of Thatcherism, the working class still had the power to create a better world. In his writings and talks from Leninism to art his ability to explain and make concepts clear shone through. We once walked together the length of Brick Lane in East London from a political event to a night club and he was such lovely and fascinating company – I learned a lot in that twenty minutes. My deepest condolences to all those that loved and shall miss him terribly.
John sizinle, sizin kardeş partinizin yaz kampında Memet’i ziyarete geldiğimde tanışmıştım.Kampta komplo teorileri ile ilgili bir konuşmanîzî dinlemiştim.sonra Memet aracılığla uzun sohpetlerimiz oldu., devrim yolundaki engin bilgilerinizi, tecrübelerinizi dinledim.Cok da mutevaziydiniz.Bana yüzünüzdeki gülümsemeyi hiç bırakmadan anlattınız. Bir de irlanda sohbetimiz. Orada da bir protesto eylemi vardı.Siz de ‘Kãrdan önce insan’ bildirileri dağıtıyordunuz. Sonra buluştuk ve bir kafede sohbet ettik.benim ülkemde darbe olmuştu. Darbeler üzerine konuşmuştuk.Ah John bunu duyduğuma çok çok üzgünüm. Ama şunu biliyorum;
Siz Bir çok ülkede bir çok insanın aklına ve beynine dokundunuz.
Sizin fikirleriniz devrimci mücadele anlayışınız dünyanın her yerinde bulunuan yoldaşlarınıza ışık olacak ve siz hep bizimle olacaksısınız.
John, I met you at the political summer camp In Turkey. I listened to your talk on conspiracy theories at the camp. Then, we had long conversations through Memet as the translator. I was very interested in your vast knowledge and experiences on the road to revolution. You were also very humble. You spoke with a smile on your face. Next time I met you was in Dublin, at a protest. You were handing out People Before Profit leaflets. There was a coup in my country. We talked about the military coups. Oh John, I'm so sorry that you are not with us anymore. But I know, you have connected with many people in many countries. Your ideas, your understanding of revolutionary struggle will be a light to your comrades all over the world and you will always be with us.
I have seen so many memories of John Molyneux, the British-Irish Marxist who has just died, that I don’t think that there’s much for me to add. Like many people, I knew John a little, which says more about his ability to reach out to an awful lot of people, than my particular qualities.
One thing though: I have seen some comments on John which have said that, unlike the organisations of which he was a member, John was unsectarian. Now. John was one of the least sectarian people I have known, but this is entirely a product of the tradition which he joined and built.
John was not the exception – he was the embodiment of a body of ideas which built on Marx, Trotsky, and many others, but was also prepared to say: where these ideas no longer fit, we will challenge and adapt them. Similarly, he called for a self-critical international tradition that was never complacent and regularly checked its theory against the experiences of its members on the ground.
Like Joseph Choonara whose memories of John are much more eloqent then mine, I grew up reading Molyneux’s How Marxism Works columns in Socialist Worker. These were never an exception to other articles in the paper, but a crystallisation of what they meant in practise.
Other people, who grew up on the same columns have ended up in all sorts of places, but I hope that they all benefited from John’s incomparable ability to explain complicated theory in a way that even idiots like me could understand.
I am shocked and saddened to hear of John Molyneux’s sudden passing.
John was the driving force in establising the Global Ecosocialist Network, which brings together ecosocialists from around the world, many from different political traditions, in a genuine and constructive collaboration. We heard the news just ahead of the GEN Steering Committee meeting overnight.
Although I didn’t get the chance to meet John in the flesh, I could see from working with him, his regular posts and his general approach that he was an activist-intellectual until the end. He had recently published a book on Art and just published another edition of Irish Marxist Review.
My deepest condolences to John’s partner, Mary, and to all his far-flung family and comrades. Sending you all solidarity and strength in this difficult time.
Susan Price
Green Left co-editor (Australia).
John was always very good to me. For years I knew John as someone who spoke at meetings and wrote books, I enjoyed listening to him and reading what I could.
It was only when I started on the Political Committee of the SWP that I got to know him better. He took a keen interest in what I was studying in sociology and was never shy with a recommendation. One sticks out. One evening after a meeting someone gave me a loan of Ralph Miliband’s State in Capitalist Society. I had to write a book review and had already been provided with a criticism of the book by a lecturer, it was Nicos Polantaz’s piece. When John saw the book changing hands he was quick to leap in with his thoughts. I was eager not to be confused, keep it simple and get over the line with the assignment, but he sharply explained another Marxist view of the state and told me to look up a piece by Colin Barker, which I did, and finished the assignment with confidence, which was rare for me.
John’s book on Anarchism was very useful to us students when it came out, given the re-birth of Autonomism with Occupy and the indignados in Spain. We were too young to remember the anti-globalisation movement of the early 2000s which other comrades could reflect on. His pamphlet on The Future Socialist Society was a game changer for me also. It answered some questions I had in the back of my head soon after I joined the party, and I often go back to it for clarity. Last night I re-read his blog post on Lord of the Rings. I remember reading this when he published it and realising with awe what a Marxist analysis could actually do.
I had been looking forward to discussing Pashukanis, law and Marxism with John and sending him some unfinished articles for comment, but never got around to it. When I first started studying law he recommended Hugh Collins’ book, which although difficult, was very useful.
Another influential moment for me with John was at a pro-choice counter rally on O’Connell Street, maybe 2013. John and I were standing slightly apart from the crowd talking. A gard came over and attempted to move us back with everyone else. The gard lightly grabbed John’s arm to move him along, and this was the first time I saw John angry. He snapped and shouted at the cop for touching him. John didn’t pretend he was injured but put the cop in his place, as he had no right to touch anyone. Something I might have ignored, I was inspired to see John call out.
What I liked most about John was his confidence. He knew that he was particularly good at certain things, such as explaining things in simple terms, and this is precisely why he would volunteer himself for many projects. Others might wait for someone else to ask them, while John would offer himself up if he thought he could do something well. This is something some of us are afraid to display for fear of being seen as cocky, but John didn’t care. This is real leadership.
I was glad to have a chat with him at the Cost of Living Coalition demo in October. He said “It’s good to see you back, and the working class too”. He felt that, although not massive, the protest was the beginning of something, and he was excited for it. He was also excited by the prospect of a socialist lawyer group in Ireland, and was to speak with British comrades for guidance.
I owe him a fiver for the IMR, I guess I’ll take out a subscription instead.
I’ll miss John, and his kind encouragement. The movement has lost a leader.
Like many others I was very shocked and saddened today to hear of the sudden passing of our dear friend and comrade John Molyneux…I have only known John since 2016 when I joined PBP but he has made a big impact in my political & social life. He and Mary took me under their wings when I moved to Drimnagh and he became like a father figure to me. He had great knowledge and was a wonderful activist, socialist and passionate about climate change. This pic was actually taken at one of our many marches for Climate and is my favourite of John…My last fond memory of him is at last Thursday’s United Against Racism Rally and at the pub afterwards when him & his good friend Patsy Moran were talking about their good old days to young members who were fascinated by their stories…Our Branch meetings & stalls in Dublin 12 will never be the same without you John and we’ll miss you terribly. Even after reading all the beautiful tributes I still can’t believe you’re gone… May you Rest in Power John! Xxx
Still trying to process John’s passing.
I feel incredibly lucky to have known John. There wasn’t a topic that was out of bounds with him. I could come to him with anything and never felt awkward about silly questions or ‘knowing enough’. He was instrumental in building my confidence as a young activist.
He included everyone and brought everyone along with him. In my earlier days when I knew few people in PBP and the SWN, he was always the first person I would look to find in a crowd (with a copy of the IMR under one arm and a bundle of leaflets in the other).
John’s legacy carries in the generations of activists he helped to politicise. We can pay tribute to him by continuing the revolutionary socialist struggle.
I am struggling to process that he won’t be on the end of the phone for advice. John has left a monumental absence for his comrades at local, national and global level. I am so thankful to have received one last warm enveloping hug 💜
A gentle giant.
A fierce activist.
A kind soul.
All my love and thoughts are with Mary and John’s family. Rest in Power.
We are writing to express our condolences following the death of John Molyneux.
John’s tireless activity, from the time he joined the revolutionary socialist movement in 1968, his writings and his speeches, helped shaped generations of members of the International Socialists and later the Socialist Workers Party. His ability to explain Marxist ideas with clarity, passion and humour was a rare gift. He was a huge figure in our organisation and will be greatly missed by his comrades here in Britain. We will, in the coming period, seek to pay fitting tribute to John and his contribution to our politics.
It was no surprise that when he moved to Ireland to be with Mary, he continued to throw himself into activity, while also continuing to write and to encourage others to do so, notably through the Irish Marxist Review. We have also benefitted from John’s continued involvement with the coordination of the International Socialist Tendency, from the books he published during his time in Ireland and his presence as a speaker at events such as our Marxism festival.
Please do extend our sympathies to Mary, to members of the Socialist Workers Network and People Before Profit, and to all those across Ireland who will be mourning the loss of a valued friend and comrade.
In solidarity and sympathy,
The Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party
So many have already articulated the admirable traits of John’s character: his kindness, his gentle spirit, his great writings and conversations. Even the people I only introduced him to would remark about his
friendly and open demenour.
I would just like to add that, apart from his family, I probably got to know John at a younger age than most. What stood out for me was that he never saw my age as a barrier to my own political awareness or reasoning. There was never an ounce of condescension nor a tendency to agree with everything I said because I was younger than the people around me. Instead, he would respond to it with honesty and reason. Something that made me feel at home in the socialist movement.
I remember this, from thrashing out different perspectives at orgnaising meetings before climate strikes, to discussing the concept of transitional demands at a Socialist Party conference. He also would remind me to treat newer activists in the same regard.
I will miss him for that as well as a good friend. I would also like to extend the sympathies from everyone is the Marx21 branch here in Sevilla.
Also: if there are any memorial or funeral arrangements do tell me. I am doing exams in Sevilla at the moment so it will be difficult to make it. Nevertheless if I know in advance I will try my very best.
Condolences. Cian
RIP to my friend and comrade John Molyneaux. The last time I met him was at on Thursday at this United Against Racism demo. As usual he had some of his publications the Irish Marxist Review And a small pamphlet on the evils of Stalinism. I didn’t have any cash on me but he gave me the books anyway and agreed to pay him the next time I’d see him. I can safely say he was one of the few people I know who literally dedicated his life to a cause. A life long socialist and anti-racist activist. A true gentleman and a scholar who was so generous with his time and knowledge. I will truly miss meeting him in my life
Thank you for your work on this and your words about John. As a newer member I hadn’t spoken to him often, but he was so lovely to people generally. I became familiar with him over the online meetings in the first instance as that’s when I began attending different meetings regularly, but I made a point of it to introduce myself when I saw him recently. He mentioned that he was relieved at being back meeting in the real world and getting that kind of connection with people again. This is the wording of what I put up with the Kieran Allen obituary. As a disabled person, I’m not always able to attend in protests or meetings in person, but I’ll catch up with you in the real world soon.
Petra Sheehan, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland
******
I didn’t know John long, but he was very welcoming and helpful to new members. Such a loss. Difficult to find words to express the grief. Sincere condolences.
So shocked to hear of the passing of a Great Activist & Author John Molyneux who will be sorely missed by all those fighting the good fight against racism and all that goes with it. RIP Friend – learned so much from him while he knew tons he would always listen. A Lovely Man. Sincere Condolences to all his family and long list of friends/comrades.
This Great Man a true legend Great Activist & Author John Molyneaux ) will be sorely missed by all those fighting the good fight against racism and all that goes with it. RIP Friend – Condolences to all his family and long list of friends/comrades.
We are still in shock and sadness at John Molyneux’s sudden passing. John was the driving force in establishing the Global Ecosocialist Network, and he succeeded in bringing together ecosocialists from around the world in a spirit of genuine collaboration to shares experiences and ideas.
John was also a gifted Marxist art historian : his collection of essays The Dialectics of Art (Chicago, Haymarket books, 2020) is an outstanding contribution to the understanding of the works by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Jackson Pollock and many others.
His openness and respect among many leftists was based on deep commitment to non – sectarianism born from the recognition that we always start based on where we can find common ground. He managed to combine a humility based on a clear sense of the balance of forces without losing the sense to be audacious at those moments where clear socialist ideas had the opportunity to punch through, the success of People Before Profits in Ireland illustrated this creativity.
John succeeded, where others may have failed, in drawing activists together from different political tendencies and backgrounds within the left and ecological movement, to strengthen the eco-socialist pole. John’s most recent contribution to this was in proposing an expansion of the GEN Steering Committee to include more participation from eco-socialists in the Asia-Pacific, US and other countries outside Britain and northern Europe.
We are committed to seeing this through and continuing John’s work.
Our deepest condolences go out to John’s partner, Mary Smith and to his family, and to all who knew and loved him as a comrade and friend.
Michael Lowy, Sabrina Fernandes, Michelle Robidoux, Ian Angus, Susan Price, Trevor Ngwane, Mani Tanoh, Tafadzwa A Choto, Rehad Desai, Jess Spear, Memet Uludag
Dear comrades,
We were saddened to wake to the news of the passing of John Molyneux. While few of us knew John personally, his remarkable role in constructing the theoretical basis for our shared political tradition means we feel his loss keenly. John’s writing is a joy to read, whether for the first or tenth time. His work is accessible in style and expansive in content, generous in dealing with rival currents but forceful when it comes to important debates. His books on the Real Marxist Tradition and Anarchism have been of great use to us in educating new generations of socialist activists in the politics of socialism from below, as have his writings on the party, philosophy and other topics.
It seems to us that John was perpetually seeking to deepen the socialist movement’s engagement with new ideas and issues, most recently through his work on the Irish Marxist Review, always with the goal of strengthening our collective capacity to shape the development of the workers’ movement and the left. He leaves behind a worthy legacy: invaluable contributions to Marxist theory paired with a lifelong determination to build socialist organisations that can one day overthrow this increasingly barbaric system. Please share our sincere condolences with his comrades, friends and family. They should be proud to have known such a revolutionary.
Omar Hassan for Socialist Alternative’s (AU) National Executive
John,
I met him when I joined United Againts Racism and he taught me so much, I am so grateful to have known him. I will remember him like one of the strongest and smartest activist I ever met, he never stopped fighting. I loved when he always wished me an “happy new year Comrade!”. Rest in peace Comrade
Lise
RIP, lieber Genosse ✊
Wir haben John Molyneux hier in Österreich nicht allzu gut gekannt, aber er hat trotzdem viel bei uns ausgelöst. Er war in der Lage, Optimismus auszulösen und Menschen mit Zuversicht zu erfüllen. Wenn wir uns einmal zu sehr im Kleinkram verloren haben, hat uns ein Gespräch mit John wieder auf das große Ganze zurückgebracht. Seine Zuversicht und sein Glaube an die Arbeiterklasse sowie sein Glaube an die Revolution waren ansteckend.
Er hatte ein unglaubliches Talent, die kompliziertesten Themen auf wunderbar lebensnahe Weise darzustellen. Und er war hilfsbereit. In den letzten Monaten hat John eine Veranstaltung über Marxismus & Anarchismus für Linkswende eingeleitet und einer jungen Genossin geholfen, die Beziehung zwischen Marxismus und Kunst besser zu verstehen. Keiner hätte das besser machen können als er. Ihm zuzuhören, wie er von der Kunst schwärmt, war ein Erlebnis für sich.
Was für ein schrecklicher Verlust. Unser Mitgefühl gilt seiner Familie, seinen Freund_innen und seinen Genoss_innen von Socialist Workers Network und Socialist Workers Party.
RIP, dear comrade ✊ We didn't know John Molyneux very well here in Austria, but he still triggered a lot for us. He was able to inspire optimism and fill people with confidence. When we got too lost in the little things, a chat with John brought us back to the big picture. His confidence and faith in the working class and in the revolution were contagious. He had an incredible talent for depicting the most complicated subjects in a wonderfully true-to-life way. And he was helpful. In recent months, John has initiated an event on Marxism & Anarchism for Left Turners and helped a young comrade better understand the relationship between Marxism and art. Nobody could have done it better than him. Listening to him rave about the art was an experience in itself. What a terrible loss. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and fellow Socialist Workers Network and Socialist Workers Party.
On the 10th of December 2022, the revolutionary Marxist tradition tragically lost of one its finest proponents. 74 years old, 54 of them as a revolutionary, John Molyneux—thinker, writer and revolutionary activist—was a long-distance runner on the road to a post-capitalist world and international socialism. Along the way, he crafted more than a dozen books and pamphlets, published hundreds of articles on a staggering range and array of topics, and helped educate and orientate a whole generation of activists across the globe. John was a one of a kind. Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís.
John Molyneux’s life was nothing if not interesting. In his own words, his childhood was marked by a “socially isolated, nerdish, certainly very gauche adolescence.” This shielded, middle-class upbringing would unexpectedly come apart after a chance, unusual encounter with the London underworld in the mid-1960s. In a remarkable little autobiographical essay, “Poker in the Strand”, John describes how he stumbled into the peripheral world of underground poker at the tender age of 16. At the En Passant poker club in the heart of London, John encountered a motley crew of characters that read like a casting call for pantomime villains: Brian the Burglar, Johnny the Builder, Chills Tony and Chrissy Doobie, among others. Here Schoolboy John, as he was known to his rival players, took on all comers, and by all accounts did remarkably well despite his youth. John credits this period of his life with breaking him from his social isolation and helping him “to leapfrog over the ‘normal’ teenage scene of dances, parties, pubs, dates—from which I had largely felt excluded by the peculiarities of my sheltered upbringing.”
Equally important to these new social skills, however, was the invaluable lesson John acquired at the En Passant: that “contrary to everything I had been taught at school, neither intelligence nor decency were linked to social status or respectability”. This real-world education in the class nature of society would be dramatically underscored on an ill-advised excursion in 1968, when a besotted John took flight to New York in search of a transatlantic love interest. Without friend or coin, John was quickly compelled to make his way to the notorious slums of the Bowery to seek shelter in a dollar-a-night flophouse. Penniless, broken-hearted and with nowhere to go, John was confronted by the reality of capitalist degradation in the urban cauldron of the wealthiest nation on the planet. It was amidst the visceral, abject poverty of the Big Apple that John first encountered radical ideas, including his first introduction to Marxism. The disparities he witnessed in New York stayed with him: “the corporate wealth of the sky scrapers and Madison Avenue counterposed by the utter degradation of the down-and-outs on the Bowery—both shocked me and resonated with the radical ideas I had recently encountered. I also grasped, half intuitively, that these two poles were two sides of the same capitalist coin—of the same alienation as I would later learn from Marx. Capitalism, I decided, was simply unacceptable; I would become a socialist.”
John was very much a 68’er, indelibly shaped by the once-in-a-generation unloosening of global political ferment and social upheaval. Back in Britain John enthusiastically threw himself into student politics and the Vietnam solidarity campaign, and was an active participant in the famous anti-war demonstration in Trafalgar Square that year. Luck may not have been on John’s side during his trip to New York, though it may have played a role in delivering him to Paris in 1968. The Parisian revolt was in full-flow when John arrived there in May, less than a week after the unprecedented general strike involving ten million workers. John got his first glimpse of the tectonic potential of revolution on this trip, and was awed by the transformative power of an organised working class eager to seize the wheels of history. “Having seen 1968,” he wrote in retrospect, “I can never say, ‘It can’t happen’.”
On his return to England John was recruited to the small but growing ranks of the International Socialists (IS) by its founder and animating force, Tony Cliff. Cliff’s theory of state capitalism distinguished the IS from the many groups on the Left that looked for inspiration to the repressive, unequal societies of the former ‘communist’ states, and provided a basis for the revival of a politics of ‘socialism from below’. IS was a unique organisation: classically orthodox in some ways—especially in its insistence on the centrality of the working class in its own emancipation—but iconoclastic in its break with some of the hallmarks of an insular Trotskyism. To his credit John was drawn to a group that upheld a lively and serious intellectual culture, but which also insisted that its membership—student recruits no less than others—should “turn to the workers” and make their way to the factory gates.
John would settle in Portsmouth where he taught as a lecturer at Portsmouth Polytechnic and later at the University of Portsmouth. He had two children, Sara and Jack, with his then partner Jill Molyneux. John would establish himself in these years as one of the best writers in the IS tradition. The politics John absorbed in the IS—of socialism from below, a resolute opposition to oppression in all its forms, that the emancipation of the working class must be the act of the workers themselves—served as the foundation-stones for his thinking over the next 54 years. As a writer, John made his own enormous contribution to the furtherance of that tradition. His first book, Marxism and the Party, remains a tour de force and should be republished for a new generation of activists. In it, John demolishes many of the myths of party building perpetrated by Stalinists and social democrats alike, and provides a thorough, if critical, exposition of the theory and practice of key figures in the Marxist tradition on the problem of organisation. Marxism and the Party built upon important contributions from others in the IS tradition on the question of revolutionary organisation: not only from Tony Cliff—whose influence is evident throughout the study—but also those of Chris Harman and Duncan Hallas. But without doubt John was also making his own unique contribution: his identification of the concept of hegemony in Lenin’s theory of the party, for example, was something that had largely gone without comment in previous works in the IS tradition.
John’s follow-up, Leon Trotsky’s Theory of Revolution, proved a more controversial affair. John closely identified with Trotsky, going as far as to call him his hero, and in the book he offers a spirited defence of the “Old Man’s” contribution. But hagiography was not for John, however, and he scandalised much of the Trotskyist left with a series of sharp criticisms. In particular, John was highly critical of what he called “the politics of prediction”—Trotsky’s unmistakable habit of forecasting the course of events. John acknowledges that on many occasions Trotsky was borne out by developments—not least in his prophetic warnings about the rise of fascism or the fate of the Spanish Civil War. And of course for John and the IS in general it was Trotsky, and not Lenin, who had correctly predicted the development of the Russian Revolution—not as a series of neatly defined stages marked by an extended period of capitalist development, but as an uninterrupted process of permanent revolution. Having acknowledged these strengths, John proceeds to list a whole array of occasions in which Trotsky’s predictions fell wide of the mark. His argument was that these were not simply errors of fact, but a product of a mistaken method, rooted in a teleology that Trotsky carried over with him from the Second International. A case could be made against John’s conclusions, of course, but his willingness to subject even his heroes to sober, critical scrutiny underscored the kind of undogmatic Marxism that he was committed to.
John had a rare ability to deconstruct complex theory and repackage it in a succinct and accessible form. This was evident in his next book, What is the Real Marxist Tradition?, a relentless dissection of the countless shortcuts to socialism offered by adventurers and reformists alike. Given the breadth of the subject matter, you could forgive an author for getting lost in the weeds on the many “isms” he was critiquing. Not John: the book remains a masterpiece of clarity and nuanced simplicity, and an intellectual reflection of the method he learned from Tony Cliff: discard what is secondary and seize “the key link in the chain of development”.
John’s was a Marxism with modesty: he wrote in clear, concise prose, without hint of academic pretension or scholastic obfuscation, was willing to learn from the experience of workers and always attentive to the practical problems facing activists. In some respects, this style was quintessential John—an extension of his own innate modesty and personal generosity—but it was also a product of the activist Marxism of the IS tradition that had trained him. John’s acumen as a great populariser of socialist ideas is unquestionable, and was luminously present in two further works, Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism and The Future Socialist Society. It cannot be understated just how critical these works were for training a whole generation of activists. As the great James Connolly might have said, reading John Molyneux was socialism made easy.
Like many great Marxists, John’s intellectual interests had a polymathic scope: he was capable of offering sophisticated and incisive commentary on a breath-taking range of topics, including politics, history, ecology, literature, organisation and philosophy (though he tended to leave sustained works of political economy to others in the IST). He was particularly keen to offer a framework for understanding questions that vexed activists, providing a Marxist take on topics that ranged from political correctness to the relationship between Marxism and religion. I found his essay Is Marxism Deterministic? to be particularly useful and illuminating, especially given the opaque and many-headed nature of disputes on the matter.
John was also an avid polemicist, and dipped his toe into a number of debates—including the nature of women’s oppression and the question of party democracy—some of which put him on the wrong side of the leadership of the British SWP (as IS was known after 1977). John was, to be sure, fiercely proud of the IS tradition. In his home, he had collected all the books written from this perspective on a single bookcase. It was an impressive sight, and he would show it off to visitors as someone might display their trophy cabinet. Much as he was proud of his party and tradition, however, by nature and method John was every General Secretary’s worst nightmare: forever asking awkward questions, pointing out the flaws in the organisation, and challenging what he saw as wistful exaggeration on the part of leadership.
John later told me that one sect or other had dubbed him a “loyal oppositionist”—the tag was conceived as an insult, no doubt, but John wore the moniker with pride. Overbearing leaderships might well be the curse of democratic centralism, John would keenly admit, but the penchant of individuals and groups to quit and form a new party at the first hint of disagreement hasn’t always helped matters either. The causes of splits and sectarianism on the left are varied and complex and can’t be easily reduced to facile generalisations. But it does strike me that if James P. Cannon offered the model for organising and winning a faction fight, then perhaps John Molyneux provided a model for how to behave when you end up on the losing side in an argument.
In 2013, John confounded expectations by backing the British SWP leadership during a particularly severe and protracted crisis. Even here, John displayed a willingness to learn from experience, later confiding that the #ibelieveher movement in Belfast had recast how he thought about the matters in dispute. John was a sweet and gentle man, with a very sensitive demeanour, whose feelings could sometimes be easily hurt. But he was very much the opposite of the many toytown Leninists of his generation, who presented a hard radical exterior only to crumble when times get tough. By contrast, John wore a soft and sensitive exterior, but was tough as old boots at his core. He was not afraid to disagree with the party line, but he could also take criticism and admit he was wrong when necessary. He had the character of a true Bolshevik, in other words.
Indeed, John carried the highly unusual talent of being able to happily regale listeners with tales from the times he took a licking in debates, especially when they involved his long time mentor Tony Cliff. During one such debate at an SWP party conference, Cliff rose to challenge him and said: “John Molyneux has written an excellent book on Marxism and the Party. He should read it sometime.” Molyneux was still sniggering his way through retelling this story 40 years later. He would also reminisce about one of Cliff’s favourite jibes: whenever John wavered on this or that question, Cliff would tease him for having a “Hamlet complex.” Cliff, who was steeped in the Marxist classics, had almost certainly lifted this jab from Trotsky’s appraisal of the Menshevik leader Martov. When I pointed this out to John many years later, he simply chuckled: “Yes that’s right; Cliff knew Trotsky’s writings very well.”
John moved to Ireland in 2010 to live with his partner Mary Smith: a lifelong socialist Dub with familial roots in Irish radicalism stretching back to the Easter Rising. In theory, this move marked the beginning of John’s retirement. In practice it would prove to be the most productive and enjoyable stint of his political life. From his new home in working class Dublin, John penned a string of well-honed studies published in quick succession, including a Marxist critique of anarchism and a timely socialist analysis of the media. Particularly useful was his little introduction to Marxist philosophy, The Point is to Change It. This remains, for my money, the best and most accessible introduction to a dense and multifaceted body of work. Every activist should have it on their shelves.
John would also return to the familiar ground of the legacy of the Russian Revolution with his book Lenin for Today. In it John had two targets in his crosshairs. The first were those on the radical left bedazzled by the experience of SYRIZA and busy saying their farewells to Lenin, convinced that the Bolshevist paradigm had little to offer contemporary activists. John argued with great élan that those who were discarding a supposedly quaint and discredited Leninism had merely picked up an even older and repackaged evolutionary reformism. Distant in time as the Bolshevik experience might be, John insisted that there was no getting round the question of state power that Lenin had encountered a century ago. The ‘reform or revolution’ debate was far from settled.
The second and less obvious targets were those who’d remained formally committed to the concept of a revolutionary party, but who had grown conservative in their estimation of what that could or should look like. Lenin had always insisted that the nature of a party organisation must fit the concrete nature of the context it confronted. A revolutionary party was required, John insisted, but Leninists should be open to its precise shape and structure in a new period. John pointed to the challenge of social media, the potential of revolutionary intervention in elections, and the experience of the radical left in Ireland in building transitional parties. When writing the book, John predicted that its publication would generate controversy among many of his longtime comrades, and seemed disappointed when this failed to materialise, even if the work proved to be an invaluable tool for educating a new generation of socialists.
In Ireland, John had the opportunity to return to one of his great passions: art and culture. Here was a writer who tried his hand at a Marxist exposition of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, provided a stimulating materialist explanation for the profound beauty of the Sistine Chapel, and explained with great sophistication why we should all be bowled over by the artistic power of Tracey Emin’s messy bed. His lifelong engagement with art culminated in a punchy little collection titled The Dialectics of Art, a lively and engaging commentary on a wide range or artworks and artists. In this study, John expanded on his own idiosyncratic theory of art, which developed from a quip by Karl Marx, categorising art as a form of “unalienated labour”. After the publication of Dialectics of Art, John spent many hours replying to critics of this concept. Taxonomological considerations aside, John’s theory grasped better than most critics just what art told us about how an unalienated labour and an emancipated society might look: every artist a worker; every worker an artist. There might well be unresolved holes in John’s theory of art as unalienated labour, but he grasped better than most the heart and soul of the matter.
As a member of PBP and the SWN, John quickly became a leading figure on the Irish Left, sitting on the leadership body of the latter. He would often repeat to me that he was astonished that in his first leadership meeting he had opposed a proposal by Kieran Allen and won the vote. This wasn’t a particularly remarkable occurrence—the SWN’s long-suffering leader found himself in a minority on many occasions—but John took it as an early sign of healthy revolutionary organisation, whatever its faults. John was the organiser of the party’s Marxism event from 2012-2014, the editor of its former paper Socialist Worker, and an author of many of its perspective documents. John supported the SWN’s recalibration into a network inside PBP, but always insisted on the need to train and recruit revolutionary socialists. John also supported the ending of the SWN’s old ‘slate system’ for elections, which he had always opposed. One consequence of this was that John himself lost his seat. True to form, he took the loss on the chin and remained active, returning to the leadership at conference the following year.
What really drove John during the last decade of his life was the question of environmental catastrophe. John minced no words about the species-threatening potential of climate change and was an avid participant in the emerging climate movement. He persistently urged the left in Ireland and elsewhere to put environmental questions front and centre in everything it did—including by principally identifying itself as an ecosocialist current—and was keen to reframe Marxist ideas in a manner that would strip it of any lingering “productivist” trappings, opening it up to a whole new audience of young and enthusiastic climate activists. John also held hope that the totalising effect of climate change on humanity and its systemic and cross-border nature would give birth to a renewed radicalism and internationalism. Just as World War One was the midwife of the rebirth of international socialism; so too could climate change realign and reinvigorate the contemporary revolutionary left. As ever, John put his money where his mouth is, conceiving and founding a new Global Ecosocialist Network along these lines.
John will be principally known on the International Left as a theorist. This is understandable. It is difficult to understate, however, just how much activism he was involved with. He was an active member of his branch, participating in leafleting, postering and door knocking. He sat on the steering committee of the Irish Anti War Movement and Unite Against Racism, and was active in Extinction Rebellion and the founder of the Global Ecosocialist Network. His partner-in-crime in these endeavours was invariably Memet Uludağ, one of John’s closest friends and an important Marxist leader in his own right. They were in some respects an odd couple, but they complimented each other very well: John’s steadying hand, Memet’s seemingly boundless energy. They burnt the candle at both ends, no doubt, but at times generated the necessary glow to see us through some very dark situations. Just as sinister forces were gathering in Dublin on the far right of late, the pair had again sprung into action, collaborating to organise the anti-racist resistance with great urgency.
John continued his writing in Ireland. He published a short PBP pamphlet on the subject of ‘people power’ in light of the water charges movement, a further PBP pamphlet on climate change and another that he co-authored with Jess Spear on Ecosocialism. Coming around, in some respects, to where he had begun, the last pamphlet he published before his untimely passing was on the legacy of Stalinism and the need for socialism from below. Critically, John founded and edited the Irish Marxist Review (IMR) and edited it for over a decade. The IMR provided a space for a cast of established socialist intellectuals to ply their trade: Brian O’Boyle, Goretti Horgan, Marnie Holborow, Kieran Allen, and Brian Kelly among others. And it also attracted contributions from high profile leftists outside of the Irish Left, notably John Bellamy Foster, Dave Zirin and a very generous Mike Davis. Crucial too was the space the IMR provided for a new generation of writers in Ireland, including Matt Collins, Alexandra Day, Becca Bor, Ivanka Antova, Fearghal MacBhloscaidh and Somhairle Mag Uidhir.
John was a master of writing in every respect except one: proofing. Even here, his shortcomings were rooted in his own anxiety about progressing the group. Trotsky once characterised Lenin’s disposition as being driven by a “restrained impatience.” John was a bit like that too, especially as he got older. There wasn’t time for microscopic copy edits or several rounds of proofing: “Get the edition out!” he would say. Not long before he passed, he remarked to a comrade in Belfast about how many articles he was working on, how many more he wanted to write, and just how little time he had to do it. John didn’t need to possess powers of clairvoyance to know that time was precious. He had so much left to say and so much to offer. Even after 54 years of activism, his time was cut short.
In the far reaches of my memory, I have an abiding image of John that has stuck with me. Several years ago, I was arriving into Dublin on the train at Connolly station, preparing for some meeting or other. It was a bitterly cold day, with snow covering all but the gritted roads. And there was John, in a long frayed coat and monkey hat, lumbering against the current with a fistful of scrunched up posters, duly affixing them to every lamppost in sight. A man of his stature—still more a man of his advanced age and general health, could easily have passed the job on to someone else for the day. But such options rarely occurred to John, and that was the measure of the man: every inch a revolutionary; selfless and dedicated, principled to the very end.
As I came down the steps of Connolly station to the road that day, I called out to John. He didn’t call back; the wind was carrying my voice in the opposite direction. No matter I thought, I’ll see him later at the meeting. And now that hush is permanent—we will not hear his words of encouragement again, nor reach for his measured advice in times of uncertainty. Material reality determines in the final instance; John knew that better than most, and we are all the better for having known him. I will miss him terribly. Slán go fóill, a chomrádaí.
No words can define my sadness. We will continue reading your books, your pamphlets, your IMR articles with your voice in our heads John. We will remember those moments in this long struggle that made us who we are. We will continue the fight. That’s a promise. On shoulders of giants we rise and we will rise. Don’t you worry, it’s upwards and onwards. You were to talk to Freya about French Revolution. I guess I’ll have to do it. But nothing will fill your absence in my life. I guess that’s part of life. However much it hurts.
Dear friend, my comrade John Molyneux died of a sudden illness. John’s death is a great loss for me, both personally and politically. A deep friendship developed between John and I since he moved to Dublin in 2010. Along with others we founded United Against Racism.
John was a key Marxist theorist as well as a tireless revolutionary-socialist activist. He has been of great support and benefit to many revolutionary socialist movements all over the world. He made important theoretical and practical contributions to the development of our Marxist organization SWN (Socialist Workers Network) and our political party, People Before Profit in Ireland.
He touched so many people. He has contributed to the political development of many. He is irreplaceable, and that’s not a cliché.
We have been to Turkey a few times with John. We attended the Marxist summer camp and Marxism conferences in Istanbul. John’s international political interest and knowledge was an important source for all of us.
I will miss the long dinner nights with John after meetings. I will miss our long hours of deep conversations.
John was the editor of the Irish Marxist Review (IMR), our periodic journal of Marxist theory. We worked together from the first issue. Today IMR is in its fifth year.
We worked together in the Irish Anti-War Movement for many years. John was not just a theorist but a committed activist. He never had the attitude of “left-wing celebrity”.
He was warm and modest in his approach but firm in his politics. Sometimes, I think, his modesty was taken for granted.
When he had the idea to launch the Global Ecosocialist Network I knew he would dragged me into it. I am glad he did. We also worked together in Extinction Rebellion.
The 6 years we spent together in United Against Racism are full of unforgettable memories for me. I made me who I am.
We were guests in refugee homes.
I will never forget the days of Izmir with John.
We all learn from each other, change each other. John didn’t just change me, he influenced my politics.
John encouraged many people to write. He always tried to bring out the creativity in everyone.
Today, I miss John as a friend. But we are surrounded by anti-war, anti-racist activists, revolutionary socialists, climate activists, students, workers who refugees and many others who also miss John.
And John died just as he lived. He had just walked out of a campaign meeting, most likely with leaflets and copies of IMRs in his bag. He died as he lived, fighting.
The next day, we were going to meet at another meeting.
Fortunately for us, John left us his wonderful legacy and a hope for future.
How happy for us to have known John as our fiend and comrade.
All of us at Bookmarks are deeply saddened to hear that John Molyneux died suddenly in Dublin yesterday. For more than 50 years, in countless newspaper and journal articles and numerous books, many of them published by Bookmarks, John used his great skill and vast knowledge to explain the relevance of a Marxist understanding of the world and to deal patiently with the common objections to the struggle for socialism. And all of this while working as a college lecturer. Earlier this year, Bookmarks published John’s Selected Writings, covering everything from human nature, to religion, philosophy, the rise of Stalinism, the lessons of the Egyptian Revolution, the case for Irish unity, the climate crisis and much more. John was an activist as well as a writer. Just three days ago he was interviewed at a rally to welcome refugees in Dublin, in response to far right protests against asylum seekers in recent weeks. He played a prominent role in People Before Profit after he moved to Ireland a decade ago, was the editor of the Irish Marxist Review and was a founder of the Global Eco-Socialist Network. John will be greatly missed. The ideas that he fought so tirelessly for will continue to be carried into the struggle by all of those who learned from his writings and talks. Our deepest condolences to John’s partner Mary, his children and wider family, and to all who knew and loved him.
RIP John Molyneux, fine Marxist leader, incredibly clear writer, and fabulously warm-hearted comrade, who has died unexpectedly in Ireland. A leading member of the Socialist Workers Party UK and of the Socialist Worker Movement Ireland. Condolences to all his folk. His books and his YouTube videos will continue to help anticapitalists around the world.
I think I will feel John’s loss so profoundly partly because he was among many older comrades whose generosity, patience and humility in friendship I value so much. The way he showed gneuine interest in how I came to socialist politics etc., listened while I probably came out with uninformed drivel and didn’t call me thick (and John could really tear a person down when he wanted to) really encouraged me to involve myself more in SWN, UAR and PBP and to contribute. He was obviously an immensely astute thinker but it was his attitude and his kindness that was most educative for me, it showed me how a revolutionary should carry themselves.
I love a good anecdote, and just today I’ve been thinking through so many of John’s stories, from witnessing events in Tahrir Square to eating Spam in Skegness. He lived a really full and interesting life and had so much to share. I hope we can regale each other with more of these tales as we mourn John
Rest in power John Molyneux
He was an incredible intellectual who was so generous and supportive with his knowledge and experience. His contributions to ecosocialist writings in particular has really shaped my own thinking. His loss will be felt by many.
Rest in power, comrade John. An outstanding Marxist intellectual, writer, organiser and fighter, building the Global Ecosocialist Network, People Before Profit and editing the Irish Marxist Review. I will treasure our last conversation together and the insights it continues to give me months later. A mighty totara has fallen in the international Socialist movement
The sudden passing of our dear friend and comrade, John Molyneux is a huge shock. I struggle to come to terms with him not being here – to pick up the phone to ask him advice, to be at every meeting with, to discuss with, to pass evenings with him and Mary – it will be such a loss for us all. John took to Ireland like a duck to water – throwing all his political commitment and experience into building People before Profit and within that the Socialist Workers Network. I think few pickets, stalls demos, rallies protests happened without John. I remember the founder of the British SWP, Tony Cliff in Britain saying of John that he was our best polemicist who had the rare gift of putting complex Marxist ideas into simple language. And that is totally true. The book that he wrote not long after he had moved to Ireland was a great example of this; the Point is to Change it puts Marxist philosophy and historical materialism in lively, accessible and practical way. Particularly influential for me I think was his Marxism and the Party which cemented so clearly for me and my generation the need for a revolutionary socialist organisation. Rest in power John. Deepfelt condolences to Mary, and to his family and to his friends and comrades in the UK and all across the island of Ireland who will miss him so much.
The news that John Molyneux has died is devastating. Despite reading all the moving tributes from comrades to him, I still can’t really process it. The loss of John to the socialist movement is incalculable.
I got to know John relatively late in my political life. Before he moved to Ireland because of his love for Mary Smith, he was someone I only knew from articles he had written or from reports about the various debates within the British SWP. From afar, he was this interesting, somewhat unorthodox character who wasn’t afraid to follow ideas through or disagree with the leadership. His articles arguing (correctly, I now believe, but against the grain at the time) that working class men benefit (to a marginal degree relative to the ruling class) from women’s oppression are an example of that.
When he moved to Ireland, I got a chance to know him properly, although at first an organisational barrier of membership of two competing parties stood between us. However even then, John was the kind of person who you would fall in with on a demonstration and perhaps start talking about the perspectives for the movement you were participating in, but go on to discuss the correct approach for Marxists in World War II, or the situation of the revolutionary left in another country. He was extremely well read, knowledgeable and smart. I would look forward to our conversations.
When those of us who formed RISE left the Socialist Party, the friendship and political relationship John and I had developed was important. We were able to have frank and political discussions which eased the entry of RISE into People Before Profit.
John was an intellectual. He loved ideas. He enjoyed thrashing them out with others and enjoyed a good debate. This picture was taken at the recent RISE summer camp where John and I debated whether Marxists should adopt the concept of eco-socialist degrowth. I argued for, John against. But the debate was conducted in a genuinely comradely and friendly way.
John didn’t pull any punches in his intellectual argument, but nor did he get offended when you did likewise. This ability to genuinely disagree and continue to recognise each other as comrades is something that is all too rare. John had it in spades. Afterwards we had a drink and we spoke about Marxist philosophy before he left the next day.
He wrote high quality material which made complex Marxist ideas accessible. Recently I had reason to return to his book, Lenin for Today. It is really striking how it condenses vital concepts of Leninism into short accessible chapters. I never got around to reading Dialectics of Art, which John gave me, but I look forward to reading it and his selected works over Christmas.
John’s unorthodoxy meant that he was quicker than others to recognise new issues and the necessity to change approach, while not giving up on the essentials of a revolutionary Marxist approach. John championed the necessity of an eco-socialist approach within PBP and for PBP to define itself as an eco-socialist party. He saw, quicker than many on the revolutionary left, that the ecological catastrophe has to be central to our analysis and programme today.
But John was not just an outstanding intellectual, he was a true activist intellectual. He did it all and was not afraid of getting his hands dirty. He wrote many of the key articles in International Marxist Review, which he edited, but he also was the prime seller of the magazine. He was clearly a stalwart of his branch. He was a driving force within the anti-racist and anti-war movement. He led the environmental caucus of People Before Profit. His impact on the socialist movement in Ireland was incredible.
But as a revolutionary Marxist, John knew that the world’s problems could not be solved in Ireland alone, nor could we build socialism in one country. He was profoundly internationalist.
John took his analysis about the necessity for a global ecosocialist transformation and followed it through in practice. He launched and drove the Global Ecosocialist Network, which I was happy to participate in. It brought together different parts of the revolutionary left from right across the world, who were united in an eco-socialist analysis, despite the differences which continued to exist between us. It was and is a groundbreaking initiative. It falls to the rest of us to ensure that it is maintained without the animating spirit of John.
John is irreplaceable. For all of us in the socialist movement, including many of whom haven’t had the chance to know him properly. But above all my heart breaks for Mary Smith, who he clearly loved very much.
I will especially miss John over Christmas, when we would have a chance to catch up. He rang me during the week after he had participated in a debate RISE had hosted about how socialists should respond to the invasion of Ukraine. He was stimulated by the debate and wanted to discuss it. We made plans to meet up in the week before Christmas. We were going to have a drink and discuss the debate between Chris Harman and Ernest Mandel on the character of the Soviet Union. His revolutionary optimism was summed up by the hope he had that he would convince me of a state capitalist analysis!
I doubt he would have convinced me. I’m sure I wouldn’t have convinced him either! But, I would have very much enjoyed his company and the exchange of ideas.
I’ll miss you John.
I only knew John Molyneux for the last 7 years of his life. A fraction of what he lived through, but his impact on me during that time was enormous.
One of the most important memories I have of him was in 2016 when I had been canvassing for Bríd Smith for the general election. I hadn’t yet joined PBP or the SWP (as it was then). I was in his and Mary’s kitchen after a canvass and he told me he thought I should join the SWP. I told him I had been thinking about it but I felt I needed to read and learn more before joining.
He said something along the lines of, “Aha! You’re absolutely right! But let me show you something”.
He then brought me into his study, which was crammed wall to wall with hundreds and hundreds of books.
He told me, “You absolutely should read, you should always learn, this is good, it is really important. But don’t wait until you’ve read everything, or you’ll never do anything.”
He then gave me a copy of his book on Marxist philosophy, The Point Is To Change It. I read it and joined a few weeks after that.
This one memory for me sums up so much of what John was about. He had an incredible knowledge of history, but he wasn’t just recounting historical artefacts – all of this was to be drawn on to help fuel the struggles of today. He was a real socialist, not just in his theory and his politics, but in the way he related to everyone around him, the way he shared his knowledge and constantly encouraged people, particularly younger comrades.
In the years that I knew him, he was throwing himself into the question of the climate and biodiversity crisis – both analysing what was going on and joining and building the movement on the street. I think he recognised the centrality of this challenge quicker than many and was arguing for an ecosocialist approach from early on. There is such a huge amount to learn from what he has written on this over the last few years.
On a more personal note, I will greatly miss our conversations about art, creativity, alienation, mental distress, and the intersections between all of these. He always had very thought provoking insights on these matters. I think these conversations with John, more than anyone, opened up for me the idea and liberatory potential of a different kind of world where all human beings might be able to live full, creative lives.
John’s loss will leave a chasm, both for the socialist movement and for all of us who were lucky enough to know him as a friend. We will always hold his fire in our hearts. La lutte continue.
Still trying to deal with the shock of hearing that my dear friend and comrade John Molyneux has died. I worked closely with John in the Portsmouth branch from 1998 to about 2005. He helped me at Portsmouth Uni on my (still unfinished) Phd on the language of the Blues, introducing me to the work of Bakhtin, Voloshinov and Walter Benjamin.
He was a Marxist writer and speaker of great effectiveness, and a central figure in the building nationally of the IS and the SWP. But he was also engaged with building Portsmouth branch at many levels. On a rainy, windy Saturday, often accompanied by his friend and comrade Max, he was always first at the town centre paper sale, unfolding the table and generally setting things up. As a writer and speaker he had that rare ability to explain complex things simply, which was why for years before I met him, his regular Socialist Worker column was always the part of the paper I read first. He was a demon at chess and poker. Watching him eviscerate an opponent at chess was a delight as well as an education.
But there was one incident which I remember as summing up so many aspects of the man. He and I were in a Chinese restaurant opposite Kings Cross. It was fairly late when a group of about seven customers decided it would be a good laugh to get up and leave without paying. It was a small family restaurant and the stunt was clearly racist. The small, middle-aged Chinese woman on the till was begging them. Seven meals with lagers was a lot of money. John got up, walked over and engaged the ringleader in conversation. Quite quietly and calmly he questioned the man: did he really think it was a good idea to take money off these people, who had very little to start with, and who worked all the hours in the day to be able to afford the rent? Would he have done the same if the restauranteurs had been white? And so on in the same vein, without a trace of anger or aggression. And in the end, amazingly, the group paid up.
That was John. We have lost not just a brilliant Marxist, but also a fighter against injustice and an implacable tribune of the oppressed.
Rest in power my friend.
I’m devastated at the loss of my friend and comrade John Molyneux. John was a giant in every way.
Above everything, John had an immense commitment to the struggle for emancipation, borne of a deep love for other human beings.
Marx once said “nothing human is alien to me” and this was as true for John as it was for anyone.
John married a deep understanding of Marxist theory with a breath of vision and a passion for learning that allowed him to master the fields of philosophy, religion, art, political theory, climate science and much else besides.
More importantly, he had boundless energy and commitment to a better world that meant he gave more than 50 years in the struggle to end the horrors of capitalism.
His last day, like so many before it, was spent attending an anti-war meeting. His last decade was spent building People Before Profit and driving the Irish Marxist Review forward if not on his own then certainly as its main inspiration.
Deepest sympathy to his partner and comrade in arms, Mary Smith, his children grandchildren, great grandchildren and wider family.
Condolences to his many comrades in the Socialist Worker’s Network, People Before Profit , the British SWP and the wider international socialist movement.
John’s humanity is nicely captured in the two photos attached (the comment on the babies was yesterday)
John was a gorgeous man. A comrade and friend we will struggle to replace but must honour by continuing the struggle he believed in and enriched.
Rest in power comrade your contribution was immense. Your life lived as we all want to live – authentically in the spirit of love, social justice and indefatigable optimism for human liberation.
I was shocked to hear of the sudden death of John Molyneux, my friend and comrade. A few words now with, no doubt, more to come.
John had a huge influence on me, stretching back to my school days in Bradford when I started reading Socialist Worker and other party publications. Articles by John, along with Chris Harman and others, helped draw me into the Marxist tradition and shaped my own political development. A little later, at university, I read one of John’s books, “Marxism and the Party”, which made a great impression, as did his talks at events such as the Marxism festival, which I attended each year from the mid-1990s.
John was part of a wonderful generation, forged in the political upheavals of 1968, who helped to renew and carry forward the living tradition of revolutionary socialism. They were often the comrades I felt the most affinity with, robustly independent-minded, not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, but deadly serious about both theory and practice, and serious about seeking to unify the two through building revolutionary organisation. I was fortunate to meet and work with many of these figures once I left university.
John was also someone who took younger Marxists seriously. I think the first time I really crossed his radar was when, as a young party full-timer, I was sent down to Portsmouth, where he was living, to do some public meeting or other. He contacted me to warn that some serious worker activists the branch had met were planning to attend, probably worried that I’d go off on some obscure tangent of Marxist theory (something of which I’m entirely capable). After the meeting, he apologised in case he’d offended me and thanked me for doing the talk, about which he was extremely generous. Around that time, we became close and spoke fairly often over the next two decades.
They were good talks. John was the type of person who would come up to you in the bar at the Marxism festival to ask you a question about Marx’s concept of abstract labour—and later regale you with an anecdote about the time he met Allen Ginsberg.
In 2010, he moved to Ireland, to be with his partner Mary. I happened to stay with them in Dublin not too long after and was delighted to see how contented he seemed to be in his new home. Of course, there was no chance of a “retirement” from politics, even after four decades of tireless writing, speaking, campaigning and organising. John threw himself into political work in Ireland. As well as editing Irish Marxist Review, and joining in the work of the Socialist Worker Network, People Before Profit and the Global Ecosocialist Network that he helped found, he continued to write for International Socialism here in Britain, which I’ve edited in recent years.
I saw John less often in person, but he would phone me from time to time, usually for a chat about some or other problem of theory. Our last conversation was just a couple of days before his death: he wanted to sound me out about a couple of passages from “Capital”. We managed to squeeze in a twenty-minute chat, between him attending various protests and me dealing with union work and teaching. I’ll miss those conversations, often challenging, but always warm and always insightful.
For comrades not familiar with John, there’s a fine volume of “Selected Writings”, published by Bookmarks Publications earlier this year. It was edited by John’s friend and comrade Huw Williams, and I was flattered to be invited to write an introduction. As John points out in his own preface, being a member of a real, living revolutionary organisation is to be influenced by thousands of comrades. In turn, John, through his writing, his speeches and his activity, exerted a huge influence on thousands of others in the revolutionary tradition and the working-class movement. He will be greatly missed. Condolences to his partner, Mary, and all who are mourning him today.
Really, really saddened to learn of the passing of John Molyneux. An incredibly committed socialist and anti-racist. His dedication to just causes was awe-inspiring and tireless. An ever present at demos and rallies, usually laden down with pamphlets or booklets, often containing his own incredibly interesting and informative writings on countless topics.
He loaned me this biography of Tony Cliff one evening in the house he shared with Mary as we discussed Palestinian solidarity (Tony Cliff, the founder of the SWP, was born in Paleatine in 1917). I had it inside my door for months to give back to John.
I’ll hugely miss his quiet strength and sage words and decency. His loss to many movements for social justice is immeasurable.
Ní bhfeicimid a leithéid arís ann. Rest in Power a chara. 
I’m devastated with the loss of a dear friend, John.
It won’t be the same when analysing events over many pints anymore.
John was one of the first people from People Before Profit that I worked with and I’m forever grateful.
The last thing he said to me was “don’t let them grind you down, Hazel “
Thanks for all the memories comrade
Others will write much better tributes to John than I can.
Many will because he has had a huge impact of the socialist left in Ireland and abroad. In his many decades of struggle I only knew him for the last one but like many owe so much to him.
John Molyneux was a fantastic and committed activist. The rare intellectual who was not only a fountain of knowledge but he had tons of patience for those just learning. His Marxism wasn’t a stale academic one but based on action and working class solidarity.
For him the point was to change things and so he threw himself into that goal. John taught me so much and I don’t think I’ll really understand the loss for a while yet.
But it wasn’t just his many books, articles and pamphlets, it was the many chats in the Teachers Club, after demos, in the pub after Political Committes etc.
He would talk about everything and anything of interest to me and anyone else who wanted to fight back.
He remained committed to international socialism to the end and while we are weaker without him the movement is stronger to have had him.
Alongside others John has played a huge role in my education and I hope we can continue to legacy. For an anti-racist, ecosocialism from below.
It’s hard to imagine the movement without him in But while 1968 may have been his start but he didn’t hold to these days with nostalgia, he fought today. La lutte continue.
Devastating news.
John had an immense influence on me and so many others in our movement. His deep knowledge and understanding of the world was matched only by the kindness and generosity he showed to those around him. He embodied the spirit of liberatory politics and devoted his life to building organisations and movements in that spirit, teaching many of us along the way.
As an activist, a mentor, a comrade and a friend to many on the Left in Ireland, Britain and around the world, he will be badly missed. In fact, it’s hard to imagine political life in Dublin without John. The politics he held and fought for all his life will live on through all of us.
Sincerest condolences to Mary, John’s family and to all his loved ones.
Rest in peace John Molyneux.
I couldn’t believe it when I heard this morning that our friend and comrade John had passed away – he was one of those people that you can’t imagine not being around.
Reading everyone’s tributes makes clear the impact his kindness and intelligence had on so many people. He was the first person to really encourage me to write, something I will never forget. His book ‘Lenin for Today’ changed how I understand the world and history – certainly it has shaped how I approach my research today. He always encouraged me to avoid limiting myself to one paticular topic or another. That really shows what his vision of politics was like; everything matters, from history to art to ecology to mental health and beyond. As well, he was never short of books to recommend, or to slate, for that matter. I will miss those conversations very much.
His love of art and culture, and his understanding of how vital they are for our existence, always moved me. I will never forget one particular conversation we had at the pipers corner where we found we had the same favourite painting – the snail by Henri matisse. Or rather, the same favourite cut out.
Looking at the political world today, you would want someone with John’s commitment and experience more than ever. He will always be with us in our ongoing fight for a better world. All my love and thoughts with Mary now, and John’s family.
Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís. Rest in power John.
It’s fair to say John Molyneux was an extraordinary man.
He had an amazing mind, insight, and ability to relate and encourage people on there level and terms.
We only were talking him a few weeks ago at the raise the roof rally and he was as determined as ever in his spirits to build a better world based on decency, dignity and people power.
All the tributes rolling in from all across the world today tell a picture of a life filled with purpose, love, a beautiful comradeship and hope.
I’m so sorry for Mary, his family, friends, comrades and the countless people who have been influenced by Johns activism, writing and presence .
RIP John Molyneux
I can still barely come to terms with the news of John’s sudden passing, he was always such a constant on the Irish left. Whether it was protests on anti-racism, palestinian solidarity, the housing and climate crises, you name it, John was there. Activism in Dublin will never be the same again without him. He was a commited socialist campaigner and revolutionary who dedicated his life to changing the world for the better. I’ve learned so much from my conversations with him and I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to have any more with him. Rest in power comrade!
Deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of friend and comrade John Molyneux. John gave more than 50 years of his life to the struggle for socialism. A great writer, principled anti-racist, a committed activist and a mentor to many young activists like myself.
John was always warm, friendly and helpful. Always on hand to give advice. He would give great feedback, constructive or otherwise, on points you made or pieces you’d written.
Importantly, he was personable. When I had received personal stick on social media for taking a principled stance against the George Nkencho murder, John rang me personally to make sure I was ok and to make sure I knew that he and other comrades were in my corner.
My thoughts are with his partner Mary, his family and his many comrades and friends.
Rest in power comrade
Saddened to hear of the passing of John Molyneux. I admired his writing for many years in particular his book Rembrandt and Revolution. When I met John it became clear to me that I was in the presence of not only a giant (me being 5 foot 5 and shrinking) physically but also politically. A nice person with a warm handshake and smile who patiently explained complicated ideas in simple ways that people could understand and relate to. He leaves us at a difficult time, which now gets more difficult without his experience and example to help us. My condolences to Mary Smith at this terrible time.
I showed this picture to many people, but I never told the story behind it and I think there is no better moment than this one.
In 2015 and after almost two years of militancy, my membership in Podemos was hanging on by a thread. I was tired of the Neo-Eurocommunist current on one side and the unsubstantial Laclauian left populism on the other, and I was thinking of leaving.
At that time I came to Ireland on holiday for over two weeks. Walking along the Liffey I saw on a light pole an event of the Irish Anti-War Movement in Unite the Union HQ. It was there that I met John Molyneux for the first time, he gave a brilliant speech about the refugee crisis. I remember I didn’t contribute to the debate because I wasn’t feeling comfortable about speaking in public at that time, but I was determined to have a conversation with that man.
I reach him at the end and had a brief conversation. I remember him telling me that if he were in Spain, he would be in Podemos because there was potential to build a new anti-neoliberal left. He also warned me about the possible dangers, pointing at what had happened with Syriza in Greece. He talked about how PBP was an early example of an anti-neoliberal party with a core group of revolutionaries in the leadership.
The truth is that after that brief conversation I came back home and put through my application to join Anticapitalistas, which back then was a revolutionary group within Podemos. Now, 7 years after that moment, I can say that I owe this time to that brief conversation with John.
I would like to send my condolences to his family and friend.
“Porque fueron, somos; porque somos, serán.”
I was so lucky to be involved in several meetings and other sorts of discussions with a great comrade like John Molyneux.
This one is from Izmir, on a great sunny day in 2014, just before heading up to DSIP’s summer camp with him.
Looks like we were having a serious heated debate on this or that question regarding the liberation of the working class and the oppressed.
He’ll sorely be missed. And we build on his example of a tireless fight for building revolutionary organisations all across the globe.
It is with great sadness we report the passing of our founding member John Molyneux. John was a leading force behind United Against Racism and a tireless activist. We have learned so much from John and he will be a great loss to us and our struggle. We honour his life and legacy by continuing to fight against racism. John, we will miss you. Thank you for everything you did. Rest in power!
Like many, I’m devastated by the news of John’s passing.
John encapsulated for many of us what it was to be a revolutionary socialist. A titan of Marxism theory and one that grounded this theory in organising ordinary people to change the world. This is what made him the fantastic activist he was.
The first time I met John was almost coincidently the first protest I helped to organise around refugees in 2015. For anyone that knows John, though, this is no coincidence. His passion for refugees knows no bounds and has existed right up to his untimely passing.
I thought I’d share the speech he gave at that rally, the context at the time of the brutal war in Syria is mirrored in the wars we see in Ukraine, Yemen and throughout the world. La lutte continue John Molyneux.
“We have the resources to house the Syrian refugees, to house the travellers, to house the homeless. The problem is how those resources are distributed, who controls them, and the fact that the whole system works on the priority of profit and not on human need. We stand in solidarity with the refugees and in solidarity with the homeless. The terrible catastrophe of the civil war in Syria has displaced 7 million people… this is not a problem that is going to go away. The question of how we respond to refugees is one of the key questions – do we live in a decent society that puts human needs first, or do we live in a vicious barbaric society that turns their backs on people. Solidarity with the refugees – they should be welcome here.”
John Molyneux
Terrible news – John has died. He was a revolutionary all his adult life, a Marxist writer and great explainer. He wrote regularly for SWP publications and since his move more than a decade ago, was a key member of the People Before Profit and Socialist Workers Network in Ireland.
This is only to scratch the surface of his life’s revolutionary activity.
Personally I counted him as a important friend and comrade. His generosity of spirit has got me out of a hole more than once. Generations of socialist revolutionaries in these islands will be forever in his debt for his inspiration, clarity of thought and example.
Condolences to his partner Mary and all his family, friends and comrades everywhere.
It is with great sadness to hear that our comrade John Molyneux has died.
He was an inspiration to me. He explained complex ideas in a way that I could understand. As someone who has always found it hard to read, John’s explanations meant I had access to concepts and ideas that I wouldn’t have done otherwise. It meant I could take part in political life and strenthen my ideas, thinking and imagination – one of the biggest gifts anyone can give. He made even the most difficult theories accessible with real life examples and everyday relatable explanations. His short books and pamphlets were relevant, relatable, and brought me so much clarity. Hearing him speak helped me understand things I wouldn’t have from reading alone.
I had dismissed high art and didn’t understand it when I was younger. I found it inaccessible but his analysis and explanations helped me to decode and makes sense of it from a historical materialist perspective. He kept alive great work such as from John Berger, someone I never would have known about otherwise, and helped me see art, design and my own work in an entirely different way. I loved visiting John and Mary in Ireland for May day in Dublin one year, visiting the picket lines and ca.paigning for Equal Marriage. I learnt so much from one of the the kindest, most generous comrades i could ever know. He was always willing to explain and encourage. And as a Leninist no more so of the need for a revolutionary party. He was not afraid of polemic but his work on Marxism and anarchism during the 2010 student and workers uprisings scross the world was non dogmatic. It demonsteated a real understanding of the context, the arguements and brought sharp clarity and understanding to those of us navigating a very fluid social and political movement. Personally I used it to sharpen my understanding of identity politics – not because it was the same issue but because its attraction was a manifestation of the same political period. Something that required the same sensitivity and non dogmatism in exposing it as a political cul -de sac – something John had clearly understood by being honest about its attractions. Political life will not feel the same without him.
As the title he chose for one of his books on philosophy he quoted Marx saying “the point is to change it” and as someone from the ’68 generation John would be the person I would most attribute to being inspired to find out more for myself and learn all about art in the Russian revolution and art as a tool for change.
John’s introductions to so many ideas quite literally opened my eyes to seeing the world and visual communication in a different way. I owe many years of experiences being enriched by this lens. By insight and meaning I would not have seen otherwise.
“Travailleurs la lutte continue; constituez-vous en comité de base.” (Workers, the fight continues; form a basic committee).
“La lutte continue!”
(The struggle continues)
Rest in power John 
Shocked and saddened to hear that our comrade and friend John Molyneux has passed away. John made a huge contribution to the socialist movement over many decades, he was relentless in his activism and the writing of Marxist theory. John had a wonderful ability to cut through nonsense and explain complex theoretical ideas in a popular way. I learnt a lot from John over the years, reading his books and listening to him speak. He will be deeply missed by many. Gutted for Mary Smith and John’s family. Thank you, John, for a life that was truly well lived.
Very sad to hear of the passing of the great John Molyneux a man never afraid to speak his mind and someone with a deep profound understanding of Marxism.
A great loss indeed
RIP comrade
I’m struck with an overwhelming sadness by this news.
John was a great teacher of the socialist movement. There’s very few socialists who haven’t benefitted reading, chatting, or debating with him.
An inveterate fighter for socialism , he was consistent in his support and belief in the working class against the manifold tyrannies it faces at home and internationally.
He also saw the beauty in life and was a kind man who made a significant impact on me as a young socialist.
His larger than life presence will be missed and his contributions carried on in the fight for an equal world.
My condolences to Mary Smith and his family and friends.
Rest in power comrade
Ní bheith a leithid ann arís.
Dr. Eóin Ó Murchú
Everyone in People Before Profit will feel shock and sadness at the unexpected death of John Molyneux.
He was a lifelong trade union member though an excluded member of Unite. It was to their detriment.
He was a warm inclusive teacher and comrade and friend. He was one of the strongest ecosocialists, most vigilant anti-racists, and best advocates of constant responsive political action.
He leaves a tremendous legacy for the left in Ireland. He heaped on us numerous valuable tracts, reviews, essays, articles, and books. He built and nurtured the Irish Marxist Review. His commitment to ecosocialism and revolutionary politics were exemplary and not just in publication- he was everywhere there was a demo or a meeting. He was a stalwart of the stalls and happy to meet after any meeting. He did the doors too. Walked the walk and talked the talk.
Handing out leaflets was where I first encountered him. I remember the ‘John The Baptist’ figure he cut when he handed me an ‘Anti-water Charges/Join People Before Profit’ leaflet at Tara Street station in 2014. That’s how I got involved in the organised left in Ireland, his leaflet.
I last saw him at the United Against Racism demonstration on Wednesday night, holding the banner and megaphone- actually it wasn’t the last place… the last was in the pub after that demonstration meeting with his friends and comrades, talking politics, building for the next event. As usual. I was happy to be there with them.
He was above all the most enormous sustainer of the Socialist Workers Network and its very successful project, People Before Profit. He was immensely inclusive and remains a revolutionary.
Through his writing, his direct action, and his political organisation he brought together and built power with and for many people. He left us readier, smarter, sharper, and stronger. Thanks John. RIP
Shocked and heartbroken by the loss of friend and comrade John Molyneux. From the first moment I met him through People Before Profit he always had time to talk, to Challenge my thoughts and ultimately to help develop my politics. The many movements and individuals he helped to grow will forever remember him.
A great hole has been ripped in the socialist movement for his passing but we must continue to organise, educate, and agitite in his honor.
Rest in power comrade.
I am devastated to hear of the death of John Molyneux a friend and comrade. John will be missed at International, National and most importantly for us at a local level for his kindness, support and amazing intellect and activism. Rest in peace John
RIP John Molyneux. Absolutely devastated by the news of his sudden passing. Condolences to Mary, their family and friends. I have no words to express how much I liked, admired, aspired to and looked up to John as a comrade, activist and Marxist. His loss is terrible, but the legacy he is leaving behind is tremendous. Rest in power.
(News/Passing/Comrade) Hearing news about the passing of Comrade John Molyneux (a giant in the Irish & British Socialist movement), Academic, passionate Internationalist activist, Great thinker, a principled man, who was kind, and always helpful. Deepest sympathies to Family, Friends and Comrades…Rest in Power 
I’m very upset to hear that John Molyneux has died. He was a big influence on my views on politics, art and philosophy. And a campaigner right to the end. Only saw him on Thurs last at a rally in the freezing cold. Even though I’m not in PBP any more he was always friendly when we met. Condolences to Mary and all his friends and comrades.
I’m really at a loss for words after hearing of the passing of my dear friend and comrade John Molyneux There was no one like him and he will be sorely missed. Rest in power
The mist covers the houses
The frost that doesn’t speak
All around the globe
A sense of loss and grief
The meeting halls sit empty
The demos have dispersed
When we heard the dreaded news
It really was the worst
Everybody says the same
We can’t believe you’re gone
Our comrade,
Our fighter,
Our John
Very saddened at the news of the sudden passing of John Molyneux. John loved our struggle, he loved being a revolutionary, he loved sharing his deep knowledge with us all and supporting us all to grow in our politics. He was a giant human, as giant in his commitment to the betterment of all humanity as he was of heart and mind. He died doing what he loved, strolling home after a political meeting.
He adored Mary Smith and it was always touching to see their mutual love and respect. Deepest condolences to Mary, his family, comrades and friends.
It is a huge loss.
The struggle lives on and he through the struggle. Rest in power John Molyneux.
There are so many things I would like say on behalf of Portsmouth Socialist Workers Party following John Molyneux’s death in Dublin on Saturday 10 December. It is such an immense loss in so many ways. We are devastated. Our thoughts and condolences go out to Sara, Jack and Mary and all of John’s family, comrades and friends.
I first met John in 1986 when I joined the SWP in Portsmouth and became an active member. John’s exceptionally deep understanding of Marxism and his ability to explain things in ways you could really understand was one of the first things that struck you. John had been part the revolutionary turmoil at the end of the 60’s and had glimpsed at how another world is possible. He was on the anti-Vietnam war demonstrations and in Paris in 68 when students and workers rose up. John’s writing about the future socialist society reflects this and in my opinion has never been bettered.
John excelled in all aspects of being a revolutionary socialist. He wrote wonderful books which have been read around the world in various translations. He was an inspiring and brilliant speaker, whether at a small meetings, at rallies in Dublin, at the Marxism Festival or on the steps of Portsmouth Guildhall. He was an active trade unionist. He was a stalwart on Commercial Road selling Socialist Worker. He was instrumental in United Front work such as the Anti Nazi League and the Stop the War Coalition. He was completely involved in building the SWP and the International Socialist Tendency at the level of the branch, nationally and internationally. For example, his books had big impact on comrades in South Korea and he played a very active part in the Cairo Conferences and work with our Egyptian comrades.
John did all this while working and bringing up a family. His work rate was phenomenal and he drove himself too such high standards throughout his life. His passion for getting rid of the ‘muck of ages’ and freeing up the true potential of humanity never dimmed. John was truly an outstanding Marxist and his legacy and influence will live on in the international workers movement for years to come.
John could really write, whether short columns, articles or books. His last book of selected writings is something to treasure and gives us a flavour of the breadth and depth of his work. John’s passion for, and understanding of, art was unparalleled. His book ‘The Dialectics of Art’ is amazing and many of us remember to the wonderful talks he gave at the Marxism Festival on art. There are so many books that John wrote that are essential reading.
But John wasn’t just an exemplary revolutionary. He was one of the kindest, most generous people I have ever known. If someone John knew was in need, John would always do everything he could to help. Class solidarity was not an abstract concept or just on picket lines for John. His humanity was not confined to party members or activists. He understood at very deep and personal level how the brutal system of capitalism wrecks people lives and how we need to support and care for each other. John was a wonderful example of what a revolutionary socialist should be like. He talked the talk and he walked the walk.
John’s influence has a profound effect on many of us. As Huw Williams has said, he was such and amazing resource for anyone who really wants to change the world. There are so many comrades who were influenced by John. We used to joke about if all the comrades who spent time in Portsmouth SWP Branch had stayed after finishing at the Polytechnic/University, we would have been the biggest in the country! It is in a large part testament to John that many of those comrades are still very active and leading the party.
John was truly an independent thinker. His knowledge of Marxism was second to none, but he did not shy away from hard arguments and being in minority at times. His loyalty to the International Socialist Tendency and the SWP was never in doubt, but he was always in favour of open and honest debate.
When John moved to Ireland in 2010 is was a big loss for us in Portsmouth but we all knew we owed such a debt to John that we did all pull together made sure he had a branch he could remain proud of. We loved keeping in touch with John and hearing about the movement in Ireland. John was always interested in his comrades and what they were doing. Only 2 weeks ago John was in Portsmouth giving the eulogy to his dear friend and comrade, Max. We spent the evening with John in the pub and I’m sure many of wish we had been able to tell him how much he means to us and how much he changed our lives.
John Molyneux will never be forgotten, he will always be in our hearts and we will honour him by continuing the struggle for socialism, the struggle in which he was such a beacon.
‘An ounce of practice is worth a tonne of theory’. Few others that contribute as much as John Molyneux did to socialist theory manage to embody this the way he did.
I was very sad and shocked to hear yesterday’s awful news.
Over a decade ago now, in the midst of one war or another (not sure which), I remember hearing him in a meeting make a short and sharp point about why no-fly-zones are an aggressive act. Like nearly everyone’s first interaction with John, I learnt something.
He gave me a new perspective on the question at hand – and given that I hadn’t been around the left long at that point there was probably a useful lesson in there that I didn’t know it all!
I’ve thought about that largely run-of-the-mill episode a few times in the years since as I came to realise the critical role of organisations for socialism. An argument about a no-fly zone could easily be taken for granted, but it was actually an example of something rare and valuable: lessons from the past, kept alive and transferred to the struggles of today.
Of course, this is one of the cornerstone reasons why we need organisations. John wrote much and often about ‘the party’, why they’re crucial and all the rest. It’s important, incisive stuff that should be read and re-read.
But a key ingredient for any socialist organisation, one without which the whole project would flounder and one which John might not have admitted to in his books and articles but which he had in absolute abundance: generosity.
As is clear from all that has been written and said today, John *shared* his experience. Patiently, gladly, encouragingly. Agus nach mór an t-ádh a bhí orainn.
Comhbhrón ó chroí le Mary, teaghlach, cairde, comrádaithe.
To me, John Molyneux was first and foremost a teacher. There wasn’t a question he couldn’t answer, and he was so generous with his time in giving guidance. I have never met a more intelligent and thoughtful person.
The breadth of his knowledge was shocking. Art, history, politics: he could speak at length about anything, and I would always come away with having learnt something new and having something to think about.
I’m still in shock at his passing this weekend. My thoughts and condolences are with Mary, his family and everyone who have the privilege of calling him a friend and comrade.
In the relatively short time I knew him, I learnt so much from him. I, and countless others, will continue to learn from him. The impact he has had on my politics, how I see the world and my activism is immeasurable.
We have lost a dear comrade, but we continue his work, all the while wishing we had had more time with him.
JOHN MOLYNEUX 1948 – 2022
We are greatly saddened by the passing of People Before Profit member John Molyneux.
John became a socialist in 1968 and already had a lifetime of campaigning behind him by the time he moved to Ireland in 2010. But far from slowing down when he arrived here, he threw himself into building People Before Profit and the struggle for socialism from below in this country.
He was a fantastic writer who wrote many books and articles on wide-ranging topics, which remain a rich resource for those who are trying to build the struggle today. He was deeply committed not just to write about ideas, but to put them into practice. This was evident in particular in the work he did to build the environmental movement, the anti-racist struggle, and in his tireless building of his own local People Before Profit branch in Drimnagh.
His loss is an enormous one, both for the wider socialist movement and for everyone who knew him as a friend. We extend our deepest sympathies to his partner Mary and to all of his family and friends.
Devastated to hear about John Molyneux‘s passing. John was a giant of the left who had a huge impact on my own political outlook and who I had the privilege of calling a comrade. My last conversation with him was over Zoom at the height of the pandemic. John will be sorely missed for his kindness, generosity and patience as a theorist, activist and revolutionary. Sending my condolences to Mary and everyone in Ireland – and elsewhere – who knew and struggled alongside him.
So sad of the loss and passing of John Molyneux. What a lovely modest man who thought me so much about Marxist Theory. He was speaking out about climate change and effects of our capitalist system has on the earth for over a decade and always treated everyone with respect. It was an honour to have know John. My deepest condolences to Mary Smith and Brid Smith. You will be so missed.
John Molyneux has sadly passed…
One of the foremost Marxist theorists of the last 50 years..
I met John many times in the early 2000s when he would come to Ireland to speak at events…
He moved here around 2010 and became a driving figure in the Irish left…
For the last few years I only knew him through Facebook…He was always very supportive of anything that was going on up here….
There’s far too many proper tributes from folk who knew him well for me to add anything new.
So I’ll simply say that he was a very gentle giant of progressive thought and theory….
He died after leaving an anti war meeting…
Like an old cowboy he went out with his boots on…
I first met John back in 2018 at one of my first PBP national councils in Wynns Hotel.
When the speaking was opened to the floor John stood up and spoke of how we need to be clear on our politics, how our struggles would be won on the streets and that bringing people over to our side of the argument was the most important weapon a socialist had in the fight for a better society, a fairer society.
If I’m honest he was a towering intellectual and one that you could find intimidating but he was a very open kind man and a person I came to respect greatly and to form a great friendship with.
When I was around John I would ask him questions in relation to our politics and especially around the mindset of those people who would be very right wing he would always take time to answer my questions and do so in a very affable way.
I had the pleasure of Johns company on many private social events and you would see another side to John, he would always be smiling and happy and I found we both shared a love of cinema we even took in a directors presentation of Mike Lees Peterloo in the IFI and like that John was one of the few people who got up and asked a probing question about the movie we had just seen and you could see the director knew he was dealing with a man who was very well versed on the subject so no bluffing here.
It was John who advised me to read about the Black panthers and their shared fight for people with disabilities and like that he would ask me about the failings of the state towards people with disabilities in Ireland.
He would always say to me we were doing a great job highlighting this inequality and it was a fight that had been overlooked for too long by socialists as with the rest of society, and he felt people didn’t really know how to engage with PWD but that was changing and he loved to hear Sophia speak he said it made him so happy to hear her calling out racsism and discrimination and he wished more adults could see the world through her eyes.
Just a week ago John rang me and asked would Sophia like to speak at the united against racism rally that was being held near the spire and she was delighted to be asked plus she would have an opportunity to bully me along with another great freind Memet, John laughed as they both slagged me off stating Sophia would be the next PBP TD. John had a copy of his latest piece for me as he had seen some flak I’d gotten on social media once again John was watching out for us.
I want to extend my deepest condolences to Mary and all of Johns family, to his close friends in the party and all of those who called John a friend and comrade, he will be greatly missed and his writings will be mulled over for a long time to come.
Rest In Power. 
I’m so sad to hear the news that my friend and comrade, John Molyneux has died. I only found out this afternoon when a fellow member of Kerry PBP Branch told me when I was on the phone to him.
I first met John when I moved to Portsmouth from Birmingham in England in 1986 to take up studying for a BA degree in history. We were both involved in the Portsmouth Anti-Pol Tax Union and the campaign in support of the mass protests in Tiananmen Square, Peking (Beijing), in 1989.
It was some years later when I bumped into John again when he came to live in Ireland. Most recently I worked closely with John, amongst other members in the Socialist Workers’ Network in preparing and publishing my article on the Civil War in Kerry for the latest issue of the Irish Marxist Review for which John was an extremely dedicated editor. I am extremely grateful to John and indeed all of the IMR team for allowing me the opportunity to get my article on the Civil War published in IMR. My only regret is that I was not in a position to do more.
John was a revolutionary first and foremost who dedicated his life to the emancipation of the working-class and the cause of international socialism.
RIP John and sincere condolences to Mary Smith and and his family and comrades. ‘The power is yours’.
We’re deeply saddened by the shocking news that John Molyneux passed away.
Apart from his invaluable theoretical contributions to the tradition of socialism from below, for dozens of years he’s been a great and consistent fighter against racism, climate change, exploitation and all sorts of ruling class ideas suppressing and dividing the working class.
We are inspired by his role in building the organisations of the International Socialist Tendency in Britain, Ireland and all over the world.
Many new generations of socialist activists will have a lot to learn from his writings on Marxist theory, defending the centrality of the working class in order to bring real social change and building a revolutionary organisation in this regard.
We wish to communicate our condolences to his partner, family, friends and comrades.
Warmest revolutionary greetings from Turkey,
DSIP
Solidarity comrades in Australia were shocked and saddened to hear the news from Ireland that John Molyneux had died.
John’s books and pamphlets such as “The Future Socialist Society”, “The Real Marxist Tradition,” “Marxism and the Party,” and “Anarchism, a Marxist critique,” are an invaluable contribution to the international socialist tradition and indispensable reading for comrades.
John had an untiring commitment to socialism from below and building the revolutionary organisation needed to make that vision a reality.
His long-standing contribution has enriched the Tendency. He will be sadly missed in Australia and by comrades across the world.
Ian Rintoul, National Committee, Solidarity, Australia
In the summer of 2020 I drew this sketch of him from a photo I found on the net. I had posted the picture to him at the time to ask, if I may post on social media and if he was happy with the likeliness of the portrait.
He was so kind to write that it is ok to post it and the likeness was very good (gently correcting my English ♥️).
We all learned so much from him. He influenced our way of communicating within the class very much, stressing clarity and comprehensibility.
Best regards from Cologne, Germany,
Francis Byrne
The news of Joh Molyneux’s death came as a shock to socialists in many countries around the world, including us in Poland. John made a very important contribution to what—following the title of one of his pamphlets—we can call the real Marxist tradition.
He explained Marxism with great clarity in a very accessible style, both when he wrote and when he spoke— about everything from the potential reality of a future socialist society to showing what a revolutionary party is and what it isn’t. He was able to locate great artists in their historical time and place, while illustrating what was distinctive about their art. He was always an activist, taking part in, and helping to organise, small pickets as well as big demonstrations. A model revolutionary.
John’s arguments about genuine Marxism are important to socialists everywhere. In countries like Poland, where a few decades ago fake Marxism was in power, they have a particular relevance. We have translated many of John’s writings over the years. They are a great resource for our members, young and old. This is what one of our members, Marek Uchan, said after hearing the sad news of John’s death. “The day before yesterday, while browsing the video list of Marxism 2022, I picked out and watched his presentation on the art of Francis Bacon. I always carry John’s pamphlet on socialism from below in my backpack.”
We last saw John passionately engaging in the International Socialist Tendency online meeting on climate catastrophe and the need for revolution. Personally I have known him since the mid-seventies and always found him warm, friendly and able to argue without animosity.
We send our condolences to all the comrades who knew John, his family and especially his partner Mary Smith.
Andy Zebrowski, Pracownicza Demokracja (Workers Democracy) – the SWP’s sister organisation in Poland
I, like many, will so miss John Molyneux. I remember when he started curating art exhibitions in the SOAS basement at Marxism and included a piece by myself.
I was particularly amazed the next year when we all could see the incredible stone bust of Tony Cliff by Chanie Rosenberg amongst other 3D pieces.
His meetings and contributions were always so clear and incisive.
Dave Holes
When I joined the Socialist Workers Party in 1989, at the age of 18, John Molyneux’s weekly Teach Yourself Marxism columns in Socialist Worker and his book Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism (which collected many of those columns) did more than anything else to wed me to the Party’s politics.
From the nature of the Stalinist regimes to the abolition of money, John explained complex issues in terms that were brilliantly clear, while never over-simplifying his subject or patronising the reader.
Whenever I encountered John in the three decades that followed, I was always impressed by his uncompromising intelligence, his patience and his kindness. He was an exemplar of the Marxist as humanist.
I worked closely with John when I first joined the University of Portsmouth in the 90’s. We shared an office, as we both taught History and Theory of Art in the School of Art, Design and Media. John did so much to teach students the value of understanding art from a social and socialist perspective. When he retired and I had moved into another role in the University we kept in touch, continuing the debates on the dialectics of art. I lost touch with John latterly, but I know I was and still am hugely influenced by the dedication and clarity of his thinking and his profound humanity.
Dr Jenny Walden
Still trying to deal with the shock of hearing that my dear friend and comrade John Molyneux has died. I worked closely with John in the Portsmouth branch from 1998 to about 2005. He helped me at Portsmouth Uni on my (still unfinished) Phd on the language of the Blues, introducing me to the work of Bakhtin, Voloshinov and Walter Benjamin.
He was a Marxist writer and speaker of great effectiveness and a central figure in the building nationally of the IS and the SWP. But he was also engaged with building Portsmouth branch at many levels. On a rainy, windy Saturday, often accompanied by his friend and comrade Max, he was always first at the town centre paper sale, unfolding the table and generally setting things up. As a writer and speaker, he had that rare ability to explain complex things simply, which was why for years before I met him, his regular Socialist Worker column was always the part of the paper I read first. He was a demon at chess and poker. Watching him eviscerate an opponent at chess was a delight as well as an education.
But there was one incident that I remember as summing up so many aspects of the man. He and I were in a Chinese restaurant opposite King’s Cross. It was fairly late when a group of about seven customers decided it would be a good laugh to get up and leave without paying.
It was a small family restaurant and the stunt was clearly racist. The small, middle-aged Chinese woman on the till was begging them. Seven meals with lagers was a lot of money. John got up, walked over and engaged the ringleader in conversation. Quite quietly and calmly he questioned the man: did he really think it was a good idea to take money off these people, who had very little to start with, and who worked all the hours in the day to be able to afford the rent? Would he have done the same if the restauranteurs had been white? And so on in the same vein, without a trace of anger or aggression. And in the end, amazingly, the group paid up.
That was John. We have lost not just a brilliant Marxist, but also a fighter against injustice and an implacable tribune of the oppressed. Rest in power, my friend.
Tim Evans, Swansea Branch
The news of John Molyneux’s sudden death came as a terrible shock. Right until the last he was contributing to the struggle—on picket lines and protests, writing and editing, fighting for the better world he knew was possible.
John has been a major figure in my life for more than 40 years, from near and far. As a young member of the Portsmouth branch of the SWP living in rural Hampshire in 1981, I’d get regular calls from him patiently convincing me that the upcoming branch meeting was very important, important enough to drive into town after a long day at work.
John was a major theoretician but he knew all too well that theory meant nothing without the humdrum tasks of branch building.
Those calls paid off when war broke out with Argentina the following year over the Falklands/Malvinas. The SWP’s clear anti-imperialist politics meant we stood against the jingoism— and the patient branch-building meant that we could organise anti-war protests in Portsmouth, the historic home of the Royal Navy.
I was proud to stand with John and other comrades against the deluge of pro-war propaganda.
John was a prolific author and speaker. In more recent times he’s best known for his books on art and his activism around the environmental crisis. But for me, his contribution to clarifying the real Marxist tradition and the role of the revolutionary party was seminal. I’ve benefitted from reading many of John’s books, not least Marxism and the Party and What is the Real Marxist Tradition? What was the key message? John could boil it all down to a simple but powerful proposition: Marxism is the theory of international proletarian revolution.
I was in the audience at the Marxism festival in 1985 when John debated Monty Johnstone from the then considerably more influential Communist Party on the question of Trotsky. Like many young SWP members, I’d cut my teeth in debates with the various Trotskyists of the various Fourth Internationals, lampooning their sometimes cartoonish efforts to squeeze random Trotsky quotes into current realities. We all knew one thing for sure—we weren’t Trotskyists, we were “state capitalists”.
That is until John spoke. He outlined four reasons why Trotsky was of crucial importance today: the central role of the working class in changing the world; the need for internationalism; the case for revolution rather than reform; and the need to build the revolutionary party.
By the time he finished, I like many others in the audience was a Trotskyist and I remain proud to call myself so.
John argued that the revolutionary party had to be democratic, not for abstract reasons but so the party could collate, debate and synthesise the real experience of workers, all the better to lead. He lived that democracy, arguing against the SWP’s position in a debate that ran from 1984 to 1986 over the question of whether working class men benefit from women’s oppression.
I think John was wrong, but we all learned a lot in the debate, not least how to carry a position within the party without damaging its collective work.
I moved to Australia and John, much later, to Ireland. Our contact was mostly reduced to the occasional Facebook message. I watched every video of him speaking at Marxism and wrestled, not always satisfactorily, with his arguments about art.
But I always knew that somewhere, across the globe, John was a comrade in the ongoing struggle. Until, suddenly, this week he wasn’t. The movement has lost a big figure in every sense of the word. My condolences to his partner, Mary Smith, his family and comrades everywhere.
David Glanz, Solidarity, Australia
Jules Townshend, (later Professor of Politics at Manchester Met) Mel Doyle (later DGS of the WEA) and myself were mainly responsible for enrolling John into the Southampton branch of the IS.
John arrived at Southampton University in 1967 having originally attended Cambridge, but rejected it after a term and walked out. In between, he was able to make a living as a poker and chess player.
He modestly claimed he was the fifth best poker-player in the country at the time and was certainly good enough to be welcomed at the Victoria Sporting Club among the high rollers, even though he was a scruffy student.
Having been robbed on a visit to New York, he was able to support himself by playing chess for money against the locals and came back with more money than he took with him.
So he was very, very clever, and hungry to learn about Marxism and socialism. We were ahead of him in this, and in our shared student house in Thornhill he would drain our brains with endless questions and follow-up discussions.
You felt him coming up on the rails, ready to fly past you. We had recently set up the IS in Southampton, mainly with student members, and a few campaigns around the docks and other industries. John’s focus was on Socialism and Marxism, rather than nuts-and-bolts trade union struggles, and this is what he concentrated on throughout his life, linking these to jazz, art and culture.
Dr John Fisher, formerly Director of Research and Education, TGWU (now Unite)
It was a great shock to learn of the sudden passing of John Molyneux. John was a lifelong revolutionary who radicalized in the context of the great movements of the 1960s, and throughout the years he always projected his confidence in the revolutionary potential of the working class and in the explanatory power of Marxist ideas.
Socialists around the world, including in Canada, have drawn inspiration from his writings including Marxism and the Party, Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism, What is the real Marxist tradition and many others. But his activity was no less inspiring, and the two were closely bound together.
John had a remarkable energy, working on many different fronts at any given time. He was genuinely interested and curious about emerging new struggles, not in an abstract or detached way, but with a fusion of theoretical and practical concerns. He followed developments around the world with a sharp eye, allowing himself to be inspired while not shying away from raising sometimes difficult questions and disagreements.
John’s legacy as a revolutionary can be seen in the numerous tributes from his many comrades and friends around the world, and we cannot do justice to it here. But his single-minded focus on the need for socialists to bend every effort to build revolutionary organization stands out to us as one of the most powerful and enduring.
In his important book Marxism and the Party, he wrote: “…running through everything that the party is and does, the thread connecting all its key characteristics and tasks is the striving to unite theory and practice. The party exists to translate the general aims of socialism into concrete practical activities and to link every immediate struggle to the ultimate aim of socialism. Through the party, theory – the materialist interpretation of history, the analysis of capitalism and its contradictions and the understanding of the historical role of the working class – informs practice, and through the party, practice – the struggle to change the world – stimulates, directs, tests and ultimately realises theory.”
John gave every fibre of his being to the revolutionary struggle to overthrow capitalism, to working class self-emancipation, to international socialism – right to the very end of his life. Days before he died, he was part of organizing an anti-fascist protest in Dublin, and was interviewed in local media.
His example and legacy live on in the activity of the many individuals and organizations he collaborated and polemicized with around the world. Our condolences to his partner Mary Smith, his children, and comrades in Ireland, the United Kingdom and around the world.
Rest in power, John Molyneux. La lutte continue.
Carolyn Egan and Michelle Robidoux, International Socialists, Canada
The death of the great Marxist revolutionary John Molyneux is a huge loss to the International Socialist movement. A veteran of Paris May 1968, he had first-hand experience that workers had the potential to overthrow capitalism.
He also understood the necessity of the revolutionary party to that process. He kept faith with both in the course of his long, rich and productive life.
John was a great teacher of Marxism. His long-running column in Socialist Worker was crucial to my political development. I’m sure there are many comrades who owe him the same debt. It was the first thing I turned to every week,
It helped me apply Marxism as a tool of analysis and as a guide to action.I wish I’d told him that while he was alive.
John was a giant of Marxism, and he will not be forgotten.
His work will continue to light the road to socialism. My thoughts are with his partner Mary, his comrades in Ireland and his family and friends. Thank you for your service to the working-class John.
Rest in Peace.
Sasha Simic, Hackney SWP
Rest In Power John comrade!
Your life will continue to inspire everyone who knew you. We remember your contributions and your struggles for a better world. It will be a world where people will no longer work for money or exchange but for their love and commitment to contribute to something greater.
A world where working class children are no longer sent to fight in imperialist wars but rather will live in peace and unity, eliminating borders and all that divides us. John Molyneux, you will never be forgotten
Ibrahim Alsahary, Labor organizer at the Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC-CTI), Montreal, Quebec
So sorry to hear that John Molyneux has died. He was a wonderful humane Marxist and art historian— and there are lots of inspiring commentaries appearing that testify to his brilliance. I just wanted to add a note about his embrace of ecology.
Over the last few years, from this sometimes lonely outpost in Mid Wales, I would send him articles I had written, or was writing, about the extinction crisis and other themes.
While that exercise with others would result in excellent and useful comments being made on documents, John would just ring me up to give me feedback and interrogate my evidence and ecological arguments in depth. Long conversations—peppered with warm humour despite the topics —would take place over tiny phone screens on WhatsApp and we would part company the richer; he in some ecology, and me with better ideas on how to shape and frame ecological arguments so that they sit within the class struggle.
In our final conversation a couple of months ago, after discussing wildfires and capitalism, we spoke about art, nature and ecology— particularly about Henri Rousseau’s 1891 beautiful and home-crafted painting of the tiger and jungle (‘Surprised!’) that hangs in the National Gallery.
He made so many wonderful points about Rousseau’s primitivism that I found myself having to write them all down on my desk because I didn’t want to get up for some paper and lose my concentration on what he was saying (I can see the words carved into the wood varnish in front of me as I type this).
He asked me what other paintings I admired in the Gallery and was pleased to hear that I liked Carravaggio’s ‘The Supper at Emmaus’. I told him that, together with other Carravaggio-stylistic elements (threadbare clothing, immaculate still life and use of shadow), I was particularly intrigued that the outstretched hands of the pilgrim seated to Christ’s left were out of perspective and proportion (the furthest hand being at least twice the size of the nearest).
I wondered naively if that larger hand was the hand of God. John responded that all great masters— having become great— just did as they wanted irrespective of norms, authenticity or accuracy (as with the disproportionate hands of Michelangelo’s ‘David’).
John’s greatness, in contrast, was tightly channelled by the struggle for a better world—an ecologically just world—and he leaves us a lasting and profound legacy for that endeavour. Hwyl fawr John!
Ian Rappel, SWP, Talgarth, Wales
We are deeply shocked about the sudden death of our comrade John Molyneux. His ideas and writing have helped us a lot to build marx21 as a network of revolutionary socialists in Germany.
He never hesitated to speak his opinion even when it was controversial in the International Socialist Tendency. We welcome his recent proposal to debate the question of fascism in the light of Italian developments.
We will miss his support and his arguments. Our thoughts are with the Irish comrades and John’s partner and family.
Coordination Group of Marx21, Germany
We have with deep sadness received the news of John Molyneux’s sudden passing. John was a great friend of the Danish group throughout our existence. At the annual Marxism event in London he always took time to talk to and support the comrades who came from Denmark. He has also been a guest at our Danish Marxisme.
His inspiration to us has been enormous. We have a whole range of his pamphlets and books—quite a few are translated— in our bookshop. His The Real Marxist Tradition has been sold to new comrades and been the starting point for many in their lives as revolutionary socialists. On a whole range of issues from philosophy to party building, he has been an inspiration.
This great person and Marxist will be sorely missed. We send our thoughts and condolences to his partner, family and close friends, and to all the comrades in the Irish Socialist Workers Network.
Charlie Lywood, on behalf of the Danish Internationale Socialister
It’s with great sadness that we learned of the passing away of John Molyneux. John was a great thinker and populariser of revolutionary socialist ideas. In the Netherlands, a lot of comrades over several decades were introduced to socialism through John’s books and articles.
He visited our Marxism Festival several times, the last time in 2018, often combining it with his interest in art. After finishing his book Rembrandt and Revolution, he took comrades for a tour of the Rijksmuseum, where many of Rembrandt’s paintings are located.
John was always very approachable and eager to talk with comrades about the environment they were organizing in and the debates they conducted. On political differences he could be hard, but always with a softness for the people.
We thank John for starting the Global Ecosocialist Network (Gen), that initially was meant as a revolutionary pole within the climate movement towards Cop26. Gen later kept on evolving in a broad network to connect ecosocialists across the globe. Gen is one of the great legacies that John left behind.
We would like to express our solidarity with John’s family and partner, Mary, and everybody who has come to know John over the decades.
Internationale Socialisten in the Netherlands
John gave so much and still had more to give. A giant has fallen. I’ve known him for close to 50 years, since he was a lecturer at Portsmouth University and I lived close by.
I was always impressed by the number of students he recruited and then developed as leading cadres, with at least two becoming members of the SWP’s Central Committee.
His ability to explain Marxism was unsurpassed. His many books left a big impression on me, especially Marxism and the Party, which I keep returning to and have lent to many comrades.
John was an independent thinker and often found himself in the minority, but he never regarded differences as heresies, rather as a way of reaching better conclusions and maintaining unity of purpose, where we all learned more about politics and leadership.
His impact was global, not limited to Britain and Ireland. We recall his brilliant keynote lecture at the 1917 centenary in Johannesburg. The photograph shows him about to give that address. The chair is uMkhonto we Sizwe freedom fighter and former government minister Ronnie Kasrils.
His death will be a great loss to the Global Ecosocialist Network, which he founded and energised. He was a major theorist, but his writings were always rooted in practice and innovating new strategy, as with his role in People Before Profit in Ireland.
Goodbye my friend. Condolences to Mary, his partner, and to his family and loving comrades. Long live the memory of Comrade John Molyneux, long live!
John Molyneux, a stalwart revolutionary who fused theory and practice to shape socialist politics around the world, writes Alex Callinicos
Socialists around the world were shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden death of John Molyneux in Dublin on Saturday. He was 74. John was one of the most important Marxist writers and activists in the generation of students and young workers who rebelled against the system in the 1960s and 1970s.
He joined the International Socialists (IS), predecessor of the Socialist Workers Party, in 1968. A student at Southampton University, he was radicalised by his involvement in the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign and by a visit to Paris during the great May 1968 revolt. He was actually recruited to (IS) by its founder Tony Cliff.
John remained a committed revolutionary socialist for the rest of his life, first in the SWP and later in its Irish sister organisation, now the Socialist Workers Network (SWN). John taught as a lecturer at Portsmouth Polytechnic, later the University of Portsmouth. His influence helped to attract many of his students towards revolutionary Marxism. He was a determined activist, and the mainstay of the SWP’s Portsmouth branch till he moved to Ireland.
But his most important contribution was as a writer. His first book, Marxism and the Party—in completing which he enjoyed Cliff’s editorial assistance—was published in 1978. This was a time of confusion and debate among revolutionaries internationally, and John brought tremendous clarity to the central problem of socialist organisation.
He showed the same combination of lucidity and erudition in the weekly column he wrote for Socialist Worker for many years. It would arrive like clockwork, handwritten but always perfectly legible, demonstrating the relevance of the Marxist tradition to the issues and debates of the day. Some were spun off as pamphlets or collected in books.
One of John’s most influential texts was the article “What is the Real Marxist Tradition?”, first published in 1983 and widely reproduced and translated in pamphlet form and online. Here he sought to distinguish the classical revolutionary Marxism of Marx and Engels, Lenin and Trotsky, Luxemburg and Gramsci and its conception of socialism as the self-emancipation of the working class from the distortions and corruptions of Stalinism and social democracy.
But John wasn’t content to remain a simple expounder of orthodoxy. In Leon Trotsky’s Theory of Revolution, 1983 he sharply criticised what he regarded as the theoretical and political weaknesses shown by the Marxist he also described as his great hero. Similarly, his practice as an activist was never unthinking or mechanical. John broadly agreed with the approach the SWP leadership took to building the party amid all the twists of turns of the situation in Britain and internationally.
At the same time, he wasn’t afraid to criticise and even to challenge us when he thought we got it wrong, particularly in how we conducted debates within the party. But when Respect, the radical left coalition we had helped to initiate, went into crisis in 2007-8, John sprang to the SWP’s defence. It was a class question, he said.
As time went on, John’s Marxism became broader and more creative. He became increasingly interested in the Marxist approach to art, nourished by a lifelong love of painting. He developed his conception of art as “work produced by unalienated human labour and characterised by a fusion or unity of form and content” in The Dialectics of Art, 2020. He wrote superbly about individual artists such as Rembrandt, with an eye for detail that never lost sight of the historical context.
As ever with John, theory and practice were united. As a lecturer at the School of Art and Design at the University of Portsmouth from 1992 onwards, he inspired students in their own art. In 2007-10 he organised the Left in Vision art exhibition at the annual Marxism Festival.
In 2010 John retired, and moved to Ireland to be with his partner, Mary Smith. He threw himself into political activity in Dublin, and joined the SWN leadership as it became the driving force of the highly successful People before Profit coalition.
He was as busy as ever—editor of the SWN theoretical journal Irish Marxist Review and a member of the Coordination of the International Socialist Tendency. But John’s greatest efforts went into hammering out a Marxist approach to the accelerating destruction of nature by capitalism.
We both agreed that climate change was simultaneously the greatest threat to humankind and the greatest stimulus to revolution. This preoccupation is reflected in John’s final Selected Writings on Socialism and Revolution, 2022. He initiated the Global Ecosocialist Network to coordinate and strengthen the anticapitalist response to this existential crisis.
The closest I came to downtime with John was when we both attended a conference at Niteroi, in Brazil, in 2009. John was staying in Rio de Janeiro, on the other side of the bay from the conference. Getting around the Rio area isn’t that easy, so John had to travel a lot. But he was always full of energy, questions, arguments, curiosity, and comradeship. He befriended a Brazilian student who invited him to visit his family in the favela they lived in.
One could truly apply to John the motto Marx adopted for himself—“Nothing human is alien to me.” But now this stream of non-stop activity has been quenched. All my sympathies go to Mary, John’s partner, and to his family, especially his children Sara and Jack, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, as well as to his comrades and friends in Ireland, Britain, and around the world.
I am deeply saddened to report that my friend and comrade John Molyneux died in Dublin on Saturday. A Marxist activist, writer and educator for more than five decades, he was a revolutionary to the end, an inspiring example for all of us to follow.
His work in bringing together people and organizations from a wide range of socialist traditions in the Global Ecosocialist Network was exemplary: his passing is a major blow to the ecosocialist movement, but we will work hard to maintain and honor his legacy.
This interview with John, conducted by Leo Zeilig for the Review of African Political Economy (roape.net), was published on the Global Ecosocialist Network website in February 2020.
Ian Angus
A great teacher, academic, Marxist whose warmth and dedication has left those of us who met him enriched. John Molyneux cannot be replaced. I am devastated.
An attempted portrait…
Immensely sad to hear that John Molyneux died suddenly last night in Dublin. Earlier this year, I was part of getting John’s Selected Writings ready for publication and was struck by how much of his writing, spanning 50 years, I had previously read because it was really essential for becoming and remaining a revolutionary socialist in those decades of retreat and defeat for the working class movement. John had an outstanding intellect, vast knowledge and endless patience and empathy in making his points, in a straightforward and compelling way. In his foreword to the book John makes the point that to be a part of a revolutionary organisation over many years is to benefit greatly from the influence of hundreds, perhaps thousands of comrades. John made a huge contribution to that community of militants, to thousands of people across the world, who shared his view that “the self-emancipation of the working class, its revolutionary role as the agent of socialism, is the fundamental principle of Marxism, the starting point on which all else is built”, and his legacy will live on in the struggles that he dedicated his life to and that they will continue to be engaged in. My deepest condolences to his partner Mary, his wider family and to all his friends and comrades in Britain, Ireland and further afield.
Vale John Molyneux
The news of John Molyneux’s sudden death came as a terrible shock. Right until the last he was contributing to the struggle – on picket lines and protests, writing and editing, fighting for the better world he knew was possible.
John has been a major figure in my life for more than 40 years, from near and far. As a young member of the Portsmouth branch of the SWP living in rural Hampshire in 1981, I’d get regular calls from him patiently convincing me that the upcoming branch meeting was very important, important enough to drive into town after a long day at work. John was a major theoretician but he knew all too well that theory meant nothing without the humdrum tasks of branch building.
Those calls paid off when war broke out with Argentina the following year over the Falklands/Malvinas. The SWP’s clear anti-imperialist politics meant we stood against the jingoism – and the patient branch building meant that we could organise anti-war protests in Portsmouth, the historic home of the Royal Navy. I was proud to stand with John and other comrades against the deluge of pro-war propaganda.
John was a prolific author and speaker. In more recent times he’s best known for his books on art and his activism around the environmental crisis. But for me, his contribution to clarifying the real Marxist tradition and the role of the revolutionary party was seminal. I’ve benefitted from reading many of John’s books, not least Marxism and the Party and What is the Real Marxist Tradition?. What was the key message? John could boil it all down to a simple but powerful proposition: Marxism is the theory of international proletarian revolution.
I was in the audience at the Marxism festival in 1985 when John debated Monty Johnstone from the then considerably more influential Communist Party on the question of Trotsky. Like many young SWP members, I’d cut my teeth in debates with the various Trotskyists of the various Fourth Internationals, lampooning their sometimes cartoonish efforts to squeeze random Trotsky quotes into current realities. We all knew one thing for sure – we weren’t Trotskyists, we were “state capitalists”.
That is until John spoke. He outlined four reasons why Trotsky was of crucial importance today: the central role of the working class in changing the world; the need for internationalism; the case for revolution rather than reform; and the need to build the revolutionary party. By the time he finished, I like many others in the audience was a Trotskyist and I remain proud to call myself so.
John argued that the revolutionary party had to be democratic, not for abstract reasons but so the party could collate, debate and synthesise the real experience of workers, all the better to lead. He lived that democracy, arguing against the SWP’s position in a debate that ran from 1984 to 1986 over the question of whether working class men benefitted from women’s oppression. John was wrong, but we all learned a lot in the debate, not least how to carry a position within the party without damaging its collective work.
I moved to Australia and John, much later, to Ireland. Our contact was mostly reduced to the occasional Facebook message. I watched every video of him speaking at Marxism and wrestled, not always satisfactorily, with his arguments about art. But I always knew that somewhere, across the globe, John was a comrade in the ongoing struggle. Until, suddenly, this week he wasn’t. The movement has lost a big figure in every sense of the word. My condolences to his partner, Mary Smith, his family and comrades everywhere.
I´m deeply saddened to hear of John Molyneux´s death. It is a very personal loss of a friend as well as the loss of someone from whom I learned so much.We were friends for many years, not always in agreement but always guided by our mutual respect. John and I arrived in Portsmouth at more or less the same time. I had come back from Mexico unsure of my next political steps until John drew me into the SWP. It was the group´s politics that convinced me , but equally it was John himself as an example of what it meant to be a socialist. John was a brilliant intellectual, a thinker but also a dedicated activist with the sensitivity to address the day to day manifestations of capitalism in the lives of others. Thought and action combined. He was also, throughout his life, convinced of the significance of literature and the imagination for Marxism. It was something we talked about at length and an element we both continued to develop. But his independence of mind did not guarantee him an easy life in the party we had both chosen though he was unwavering in his commitment to it. I have a lovely photograph of the tall, bulky John with my small daughter to remind me of his gentleness.Like all his friends I was delighted for him that he found happiness with Mary in Ireland, and impressed, as always, by his renewed commitment and activism as well as the creation of the Irish Marxist Review.He is a terrible loss to us all, but I am fortunate to have memories of our conversations – and our arguments -that will keep him present.
So sad to know you’re gone comrade. From such a young age you enlightened me on understanding Leninism today.
What is a war? Why does racism even exist? Why doesn’t human nature exist? So many existential questions that your arguments for Revolutionary Socialism answered and guide the thoughts of so many young revolutionaries…
Thoughts with the Irish comrades at the Socialist Workers Network
The Kerry Branch of People Before Profit was so sad to hear the news that our friend and comrade, John Molyneux has died.
John took a keen interest in the Kerry branch and on one memorable occasion came down here to address a very successful public meeting with representatives from the local Traveller and Islamic communites on the issue of racism. John also contributed to a greater understanding by the branch of the climate emergency. More recently he has suported the branch in its efforts to promote a greater class analysis of the traumatic events of the Irish Civil War in Kerry.
John was a revolutionary first and foremost who dedicated his life to the emancipation of the working-class and the cause of international socialism.
RIP John and sincere condolences to Mary Smith and his family and comrades. ‘The power is yours’.
JOHN MOLYNEUX RIP
It was with great shock and sadness that we heard of the sudden death of our Dublin PBP comrade and friend John Molyneux. Our immediate thoughts are with his partner Mary Smith, his children, grandchildren, his Dublin comrades and friends, as well as his friends and comrades in Britain and across the globe.
John was an energetic and committed revolutionary socialist, a wonderful Marxist writer with a prodigious output and the capacity to make political ideas and theory accessible to all. He was blessed with the ability to be a great listener with the capacity for patient explanation.
His books included, The Future Socialist Society, Arguments for Revolutionary Socialism, Is Human Nature a Barrier to Socialism as well as on Art History, Eco Socialism, Climate Science, Anti Racism and Stalinism etc. John was also editor of the Irish Marxist Review.
Older Waterford and Irish comrades would have first encountered John in the mid to late 70s, in the Institute Bar, where we’d gather for chat and craic, whilst attending the annual mid-summer Marxism Festival at London University.
John moved to Dublin with his partner Mary Smith many years ago and became a popular and well-known Dublin activist and PBP member. John will be sorely missed by all in PBP and by socialists and progressives in Ireland and around the world. Our lasting tribute to John will be to continue to build the struggle for equality and a world without war, famine, environmental destruction, homelessness, racism, sexism and homophobia etc.
Rest In Power John.
I met John Molyneux when I arrived in 2016, in a protest of UAR.
We had many opportunities to march side by side for UAR and PBP, and something remarkable about that big Irish man was his kindness.
John was the solidarity manifested in a person. The left in Ireland lost a soldier ready to fight for people and climate change.
During the pandemic, I contacted him offering to translate his videos into Portuguese. My intention was the Brazilian community in Ireland learnt about him and his ideas. I did my best to do that work, but I realised it was too much. He kindly said: “you are not ready yet. You will be!”
Kieran wrote, “in the last week of his life, he featured in an Irish Independent video challenging the racist arguments that ‘unvetted refugees’ were a threat to the good people of East Wall.” I’m glad I had the chance to tell him my gratitude for all his interest and support to us and the migrants in Ireland.
Rest in power, Comrade!
As Kevin Doyle said, Marx was at heaven’s door to welcome him.
I am sending much love to you, Mary Smith
John did not write about politics to the exclusion of all else. In 2002 he wrote a piece called ‘Poker in the Strand’ specially for this book, about his life as a neophyte gambler in sixties London (he was a dab hand at poker, and earned a fair bit of money from it).The place he played was an illegal gambling den called the En Passant, in the Strand. Here is just a taste of it: “The En Passant was a poker club, hiding behind the very tiniest fig leaf of a chess club. Actually, this is not quite true. It was really a poker game, not a club. There was nothing you could join, no membership fee or list, no records of any kind, no entrance fee, no reception or receptionist, no doormen, no security – though the people who went there, some of them at least, were more than capable of dealing with any trouble that might present itself and capable, if they chose, of creating more trouble than any doorman or security could handle. There was just a game of poker, occasionally two games – seven or eight men sitting round a table playing cards permanently…in its heyday the poker game at the En Passant ran continuously 24 hours round the clock, one endless game of cards without beginning or end…The small gangster types all had Runyonesque nicknames: Johnny the Builder, Chills Tony, Little Art, Jumbo, Scouse Billy, Paddy George, Chrissy Doobie, Brian the Burglar and such like…Johnny the Builder was a small wiry man, middle aged going on old, with a harsh rasping voice that testified to chain smoking and could hardly utter a sentence without several expletives. “Fucking cards. I ain’t seen a fucking pair since bloody eight o’clock…”
It may be out of print by now but if you can get hold of a copy it’s a great read. Try Bookmarks first.
Ein Nachruf auf John Molyneux. Von Christine Buchholz
Oft bin ich ihm begegnet. Auf Konferenzen oder bei internationalen Protesten, denn John war in erster Linie ein unermüdlicher Aktivist. Er war immer in Bewegung oder im Gespräch. Er war eine stattliche Erscheinung. Aber nicht das prägte seinen Auftritt, sondern seine freundliche, humorvolle und zugewandte Art.
Geboren im Großbritannien der Nachkriegszeit wurde er in der 68er Bewegung sozialisiert, in der er sich der Kampagne gegen den Vietnamkrieg anschloss. Er trat schon bald in die Gruppe International Socialists (später Socialist Workers Party) um Tony Cliff ein. Im Jahr 1978 schrieb er das Buch »Marxism and the Party«, in dem er die Geschichte revolutionärer Organisierung erzählt: vom Bund der Kommunisten zur Zeit von Karl Marx und Friedrich Engels bis zur Vierten Internationale zur Zeiten Leo Trotzkis. Er kommt zu dem Schluss, dass Revolutionäre Organisationen aufbauen müssen, die Theorie und Praxis vereinen.
John war seit Anfang der 90er Jahre Dozent an der School of Art, Design and Media, University of Portsmouth. Er hat unzählige Bücher und Schriften veröffentlicht. John und seine Schriften haben mich in meiner politischen Sozialisation und Arbeit begleitet. Er vermochte es, das Wesen des Marxismus in einfacher Sprache auf den Punkt zu bringen. Ein Beispiel dafür war die Broschüre »Ist die Natur des Menschen ein Hindernis für den Sozialismus?«, in der John tiefgründig und klar argumentierte, dass Sozialismus nicht an »den Menschen« scheitert, sondern dass Menschen fähig sind, sich und die Gesellschaft zu verändern.
Ein anderes Beispiel war seine kritische und zugleich solidarische Auseinandersetzung mit anderen politischen Strömungen in der Linken. In einem Interview mit marx21 sagte John Molyneux, der in seiner Jugend selbst Anarchist gewesen ist: »Für mich ist die Entwicklung der anarchistischen Bewegung ein sehr positives Zeichen dafür, dass junge Menschen in der ganzen Welt gegen das System aufbegehren.« Zugleich zeigte er auf, dass der Anarchismus keine Perspektive zur Veränderung der Welt bietet.
John ließ sich immer wieder auf neue Themen und Fragestellungen ein – ohne dabei den Kompass zu verlieren. Die Klimakatastrophe bewegte ihn tief, die Frage der Klimagerechtigkeit spielte in seinen jüngeren Schriften eine wichtige Rolle. Zugleich initiierte er das Global Ecosocialist Network, um marxistischen Stimmen in der Klimabewegung stärkeres Gehör zu verschaffen. Und er ließ nie Zweifel daran, dass die Debatte und der Austausch mit Genoss:innen international entscheidend waren für seine produktiven Beiträge.
John gehörte zu denen, die nicht davor zurückscheuten, politische Fragen und Kontroversen auch in den eigenen Reihen aufzuwerfen und zu bearbeiten. Er tat dies immer mit einer tiefen Grundsolidarität mit den Genoss:innen der International Socialist Tendency (IST). Im letzten Jahrzehnt hat er die irische Socialist Movement in deren Koordination vertreten.
Die Frage des Aufbaus einer revolutionär-marxistischen Organisation in den Kämpfen der Zeit blieb für John ein zentrales Thema, auch in Zeiten der Krise der revolutionären Linken. Im Jahr 2019 intervenierte er in die internationale Debatte mit dem Beitrag »In Defense of Party Building« (Zur Verteidigung des Parteiaufbaus) und hielt dazu auch einen Vortrag auf der Londoner Konferenz Marxism.
Ein weiterer Beitrag ist es wert, erwähnt zu werden: Kaum jemand hat es vermocht, in der Art und Weise wie John Kunstwerke und ihre Schöpfer in ihre Zeit einzuordnen. Damit hat er eine Tradition im Marxismus fortgeführt, die schon auf Marx und Trotzki zurückgeht. Er veröffentlichte unter anderem ein beeindruckendes Buch über Rembrandt sowie im Jahr 2020 »The Dialectics of Art«.
Für das irische Socialist Workers Network, die Partei People Before Profit und für die internationale revolutionäre Linke ist sein Tod wie ein herber Verlust.
Meine Gedanken sind bei seiner Partnerin Mary, seiner Familie und den irischen Genoss:innen.
Auf kaum jemanden trifft das geflügelte Wort »Don’t mourn – Organise« des US-amerikanischen Gewerkschaftsaktivisten Joe Hill besser zu als auf John Molyneux.
Genau das hätte John uns jetzt gesagt – mit einem verschmitzten Lachen.
An obituary for John Molyneux. By Christine Buchholz I met him often. At conferences or at international protests, because John was first and foremost a tireless activist. He was always on the move or in conversation. He was handsome. But that was not what characterized his appearance, but his friendly, humorous and approachable manner. Born in post-war Britain, he was socialized in the '68 movement, where he joined the campaign against the Vietnam War. He soon joined Tony Cliff's International Socialists (later the Socialist Workers Party). In 1978 he wrote the book Marxism and the Party, in which he tells the history of revolutionary organizing: from the League of Communists in the days of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to the Fourth International in the days of Leon Trotsky. He concludes that revolutionaries must build organizations that combine theory and practice. John has been a lecturer at the School of Art, Design and Media, University of Portsmouth since the early 1990's. He has published countless books and writings. John and his writings have accompanied me in my political socialization and work. He was able to get to the heart of the essence of Marxism in simple language. An example of this was the pamphlet Is Human Nature an Obstacle to Socialism?, in which John argued profoundly and clearly that socialism does not fail because of "the people," but that people have the ability to transform themselves and society . John Molyneux was an indomitable revolutionary Another example was his critical and, at the same time, solidarity with other political currents in the left. In an interview with marx21, John Molyneux, who was an anarchist himself in his youth, said: »For me, the development of the anarchist movement is a very positive sign that young people all over the world are rebelling against the system.« At the same time he pointed out that anarchism offers no perspective for changing the world. John always got involved with new topics and questions - without losing his compass. The climate catastrophe moved him deeply, and the question of climate justice played an important role in his recent writings. At the same time, he initiated the Global Ecosocialist Network to give a stronger voice to Marxist voices in the climate movement. And he never left any doubt that the debate and exchange with comrades internationally were crucial for his productive contributions. John was one of those who did not shy away from raising and dealing with political issues and controversies within their own ranks. He always did this with a deep basic solidarity with the comrades of the International Socialist Tendency (IST). For the last decade he has represented the Irish Socialist Movement in its coordination. The question of building a revolutionary Marxist organization in the struggles of the time remained a central theme for John, even in times of crisis on the revolutionary left. In 2019 he intervened in the international debate with a paper entitled "In Defense of Party Building" and also presented at the London Marxism Conference. Another contribution worth mentioning is that few have been able to place works of art and their creators in their time in the way John has done. In doing so, he continued a tradition in Marxism that goes back to Marx and Trotsky. His publications include an impressive book on Rembrandt and, in 2020, »The Dialectics of Art«. John's contributions will remain His death is a bitter loss for the Irish Socialist Workers Network, the People Before Profit party and the international revolutionary left. My thoughts are with his partner Mary, his family and Irish comrades. Hardly anyone applies the dictum »Don’t mourn – organize« of the US trade union activist Joe Hill better than to John Molyneux. That's exactly what John would have told us right now - with a mischievous laugh.
Newsletter of the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries at Portsmouth University.
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of former University of Portsmouth School of Art, Design and Media lecturer, John Molyneux, who was a ‘giant’ of socialist and anti-racism causes. John was a leading figure in a variety of causes across the city and beyond, with his efforts ranging from anti-racism marches to protests against the war in Iraq in 2003. John, who was much loved by staff and students, went on to write extensively on socialism and Marxism, attracting an international audience for his books and articles. His most recent books The Selected Writings on Socialism And Revolution (2022) and The Dialectics of Art (2021) were showcased at the recent 30th UoP celebrations in Eldon Buiding.
Coincidentally, I’m currently reading a book that John Molyneux wrote. I bought it at my first PBP branch meeting in 2016. I didn’t know him then and I was surprised to learn he was in the same area some time afterwards. I was expecting him to be an intimidating and distant intellectual but I was very wrong. I got to know him since and he has left a lasting impact on me. He was humble and patient. We discussed Marx and how to tackle him over tea in my house. He never looked down on my ignorance or lack of understanding.
We’ve been on many demos and protests together, but one that stands out for me is the time just the two of us stood outside Inchicore College to hand out leaflets about an upcoming protest. He had a busy day of organising and working but his commitment to the smallest of actions for the greater good was just one example of his selflessness. He would have been there even if I hadn’t.
We would doubtlessly cross paths at every protest. He’d come up for a chat about the turnout and the speakers. Then he’d open his bag and say, “Jimi, have you got one of these yet”. Before I knew it, I’d be down a fiver and I’d have the latest IMR under my arm. I met him after at the end of the housing demo a few weeks ago and poignantly, he didn’t have any copies left. He gave me a pamphlet he had written instead and he had a chat with my little fella. He always had time.
I will miss his gentle presence but his knowledge and understanding of politics will be a loss for socialists everywhere. I haven’t known anyone so committed to human progress as John was and I doubt I will again.
RIP
I am saddened by the loss of my friend and comrade John Molyneux. John was one of the most dedicated socialist activists and intellectuals. He wrote extensively on politics, philosophy, art and culture. And as many have said, he had a talent for explaining complex ideas in a way that was easy to understand.
John came to Sligo a number of times; to launch his book Lenin for Today in Hearts Desire coffee shop. He also spoke at an event remembering John Berger in the Hawk’s Well. It was a wonderful evening, and afterwards John, Mary and Friends went for pints in the snug in Connollys, with chats about art and politics until late. Great memories.
He was the driving force behind the Irish Marxist Review and it was great to work together with him on the design of it over the last couple of years. John has the lead article of the latest edition – which everyone should read. https://irishmarxistreview.net/index…/imr/article/view/472
John was kind, smart and had an unwavering dedication in fighting for a better world. A huge loss to the socialist movement both in Ireland and internationally. A life well-lived.
Condolences to Mary, his family and all his friends.
Go well, John
İlk kez konuşmacı olarak katıldığı istanbul’daki bir toplantıda tanışmış ve sonrası da ayaküstü sohbet etme imkânı bulmuş olduğum 68 kuşağının son temsilcilerinden John Molyneux vefat etmiş.
Birkaç konuşmasını dinledikten sonra kendisini sosyal medya üzerinden takibe başlamıştım.
Marksizm’in güncele aktarılması için teorik çalışmalarının (kitap, makale ve söyleşiler) yanında özellikle Avrupa’da yayılanan Irkçı ve İslamofobik dalgaya karşı ve yayılan küresel hegemonyaya karşı hep alanlarda ön saflarda duran birisi olduğunu gözlemledim. Belki de bu yüzden daha kıymetli bir insandı ve vefatının toplumsal mücadeleler için büyük bir kayıp olduğunu düşünüyorum.
One of the last representatives of the 68th generation whom I met at a meeting in Istanbul where he attended for the first time as a speaker and then had the opportunity to talk to on foot, has passed away.
I had started following him on social media after listening to few of his speeches.
Besides his theoretical studies (books, articles and interviews) for the current transfer of Marxism, he is a person who is always on the front lines in areas against the Racist and Islamophobic wave spreading especially in Europe and against the spreading global hegemony I’m weak. Maybe that’s why he was a more valuable person and I think his death is a great loss for social struggles.
مەرگی ناوەختی بیرمەندی مارکسیست و سۆسیالیستی شۆڕشگێڕ (جۆن مالینۆ – ١٩٤٨ – ٢٠٢٢)
زۆر زۆر بەداخەوە بە بیستنی هەواڵی مەرگی ناوەختی بیرمەندی مارکسیست و سۆسیالیستی شۆڕشگێڕ (جۆن مالینۆ). بە ڕاستی هەواڵی مەرگی هاورێ جۆن مالینۆ تەزاندمی و منی برد بۆ دونیایەکی تر. سەرەخۆشی لە گشت هاورێیان دەکەم لە تەواوی دونیا. یادی هەمیشە زیندووە و رێگای شۆڕشگێرانە و بەرهەم و ئەزموونە شۆڕشگێرییەکانی رێنمایی شۆڕشگێرانەن بۆ ئێمەو نەوەی دوای ئێمە و بۆ هەمیشە.
The death of a Marxist intellectual and socialist revolutionary (John Molyneux – 1948 2022)
It is very sad to hear about the death of the intellectual Marxist and socialist revolutionary (John Molyneux). The news of my friend John Molyneux’s death really shocked me and took me to another world. I send my condolences to all my friends all over the world. Memory is always alive and the revolutionary path and the products and experiences of revolutionary guidance for us and the next generation and forever.
علمت قبل قليل بوفاة المفكر والمناضل الماركسي البارز جون مولينو.
جون مولينو من أهم المفكرين الماركسيين في عصرنا يتميز باتساع الأفق والمعرفة، بالارتباط الوثيق بالممارسة يرافقها تواضع كبير. التقيته مرات عديدة في لندن وتركيا. واخر حوار لي معه كان قبل اربع ايام ، اي الخميس الماضي، حيث تحدثنا عن الندوة التي كان من المفترض أن نقيمها له يوم السبت القادم.
اخسر رفيقا رائعا. ونخسر مفكرا ثوريا فذا. عزائنا الوحيد انه ساهم ،ويبقى يساهم ، بأفكاره ونشاطه في بناء جيل واسع من المناضلين/ات الاشتراكيين الثوريين. وأن ما ساهم في بنائه، وأجيال قبله، سيتابع النضال العمالي والثوري. وبذلك يبقى جون حيا.
I have just learned of the death of the prominent Marxist thinker and activist John Molino.
John Molyneux is one of the most important Marxist thinkers of our time, characterized by broad-minded and knowledgeable, close connection to practice accompanied by great humility. Met him many times in London and Turkey. My last conversation with him was four days ago, last Thursday, when we talked about the seminar we were supposed to hold for him this coming Saturday.
Lost a great friend And we lose a revolutionary notebook. Our only consolation is that he contributed, and remains to contribute, with his ideas and activity in building a wide generation of revolutionary socialists fighters. And what he helped build it, and the generations before it, will continue in the labor and revolutionary struggle. And that’s how John stays alive
Sadly we lost my Dad yesterday. He was so much to me. In the beginning he was my primary caregiver, my teacher, my guide, my playmate, my number one supporter.
In later years he was still my number one supporter, but he was also my confidant,my friend and when times were tough always my rock.
He was an amazing husband to my mum and I believe partner to Mary, whom it was so nice to see him find love with, later in life.
He fought so hard and bravely, for social justice and societal change, and was always on the right side of history. Overall he was my role model, my inspiration and some might say hero. I will miss him more than words can express.
I learned this afternoon that my friend and comrade, John Molyneux, a gifted theoretician and populariser of Marxism, editor of Irish Marxist Review, has died suddenly in Dublin. He was a good friend of MIA. I will shortly be posting an archive of some of his works.
I was shocked to hear of the death of John, who I have known for over 40 years, first through my work on the early Marxisms in London and later through my work at Bookmarks. I remained in occasional email contact with him over the years meeting him at various Marxisms during the 1990s. Later he was very helpful when I started work on the Marxists’
Internet Archive, particularly after his move to Dublin and helped to establish Irish Marxist Review, which I have mirrored (after a bit of a delay on MIA). I’ve had a number of very interesting discussions and conversations over the years.
I particularly remember one meeting in Prague, where both of us hads been invited to speak at a conference. We were staying in the same flat and ended up talking about all sorts of topics, mainly political until at least 4 in the morning although both of us had to be at the conference by 10. Somehow we both made it and contributed to the discussion (John much more eloquently than I did).
John convinced me earlier this year that I should write an article on the German Revolution for IMR. I haven’t started on it yet but had planned to start after Christmas. In memory of John I willendeavour to keep to this plan.
I received my last communication from John on Saturday afternoon – he was asking me for advice about a simple introduction to socialism/Marxism for a young German comrade – I presume he was asking for a comrade based in Ireland. I replied to him later that afternoon.
I’m writing a short obituary for The Left in Berlin website. I hope to be able to send it in by tomorrow. My emphasis will be on John’s theoretical contribution – but I will include that anecdote about Prague. I will miss my email exchanges with John – but I hope to contribute to upholding his memory by maintaining a fairly comprehensive archive of his major works as well as adding stuff from his blogs and links to his podcasts.
My sincerest condolences to Mary and all of John’s family as well as his comrades.
Best wishes to you all, Einde O’Callaghan
As announced earlier here is a preliminary version of the new John Molyneux Archive:
More material will be added later
A friend John Molyneux has passed away. I remember us having long conversations in one of the iconic pubs in Dublin. He helped me when I was in need.
That case in 2018 about discrimination, when I was mistreated by staff of one of the known pubs in Dublin, which ended with out of court settlement, articles in GCN and Irish Times, and my appearance in Sean O’Rourke show on RTE Radio, all that would have never had happened without help of John. He supported me at the time of that incident, and after the incident. He helped me finding a lawyer, who won our case. Winning that case was a win for LGBT community 
Thank you John!
I will miss you 
RIP John Molyneux I still can’t get head around news. Can’t imagine the loss for Mary and your family. You were a fountain of knowledge I loved every discussion we had, learned so much from you, you will be so missed. But your heart was bigger that’s why everyone loved you. Will miss discussions, having an analysis hearing your thoughts, I valued it so much. We will continue the fight with you in our hearts and minds. Sleep tight friend xxxx
It’s impossible to convey into words how devastating the death of John Molyneux is. On a personal note I have known John since 1985 when I moved to Portsmouth already an active revolutionary and became part of the local SWP branch. I had of course read his weekly column in Socialist Worker, seen him speak at the annual Marxism festival which had been running for a few years and read his first major book “Marxism and the party”. I was 20 yrs old.
I last spoke to John on Friday discussing arrangements for the couple of days he was going to visit between Xmas and new year. He was delighted to hear about a local anti racist “Riot ” in a Bristol school and wanted to know how my son Dylan’s first meeting had gone and how I must be really proud and whether he could get a card to him for his 18th birthday or leave it until he came to stay. We discussed China , Iran and the UK strikes and he outlined his concerns for the recent racist mobilisation in Dublin and how this could be combatted. World cup also featured but not for long This would be a fairly typical conversation with John. We would often start a conversation with a statement like “Will have to be quick” but end up as then speaking for over an hour.
We became very close comrades in Portsmouth and afterwards even closer as friends and have remained so for the following 37 years. I consciously took the decision to take advantage of being in the same branch as him and discuss and debate and pick his brains as much as possible. The recollections of those days sitting in his house after the weekly branch meeting , smoking , drinking whiskey sometimes until the light came up will always remain. He had an amazing ability to do this and then around 5am we would discuss what next weeks “Teach yourself Marxism ” column should be which he would then write up and in those days phone in to the Socialist Worker paper at around 8:30am . Whilst I would head off home to my bed shattered he would go to work in the local FE college ! I think we worked out he wrote about 650 of these columns . He didn’t seem to sleep at all.
Then myself and two other young members Jon Woods and Richard Peacock moved into a house on the same road as John. John would often pop in after work and being utterly skint we would cadge his beloved golden Virginia roll ups which he would then leave and say he’d forgotten them . We built a relatively large branch in Portsmouth and some of us thought John was conservative (John I think got the scale of the miners defeat in a way I simply didn’t) and we had i remember a meeting in Tony Cliff’s chalet at Skegness to iron out the difficulties. John could well have been pissed off with me but was the exact opposite and said young revolutionaries should be inpatient. He lent me book after book, article after article , got me to do meetings in Portsmouth and ringing up other branches to book me and encouraged other young comrades to do likewise . He listened to people and wanted to know what they were thinking and why.
John politically was yes an independent thinker and I think the IS/SWP tradition was encouraging of that and its what he loved about it and for a period I guess in the 90’s felt a bit of despair of our defensiveness sometimes . Debate and questioning everything was John’s way. He was so shaped by 1968 . When we recently discussed what chapters should be in his book we laughingly (Not seriously) discussed one that could be entitled “Articles that have got me in the shit” .
John however was to his core a revolutionary who was totally committed to building revolutionary organisation. He was and totally remained very much someone shaped buy the politics of Tony Cliff even when he disagreed with him! John didn’t do much reminiscing but when he did it was often related to Cliff and his impact. John I think encapsulated the SWP at its best – one of a relatively large number of very serious marxists who wrote and thought and debated even if they weren’t on the central leadership of the organisation which in Johns case was in my view a bad mistake. . He was however I think pretty unique in that he combined this with daily revolutionary activity and had very sharp disdain for academic marxists not engaged in practice. He would be involved in myriad of campaigns both national and local, workplace and community. He was also for a while a NAFTHE branch sec. He booked the speakers for the party branch for about 30 or more years !! He was always talking and thinking about the future and how radical revolutionary politics needed to connect with much wider forces.
Lastly the loss of John will I know be of huge sadness for his children Jack and Sara and his grand children. He was so proud of them all. He was really looking forward to seeing them all at Christmas . When John’s life long partner Jill tragically died this had a terrible impact on John who shortly afterwards said to me he wasn’t going to write about politics anymore but only occasionally about art. John was in a very dark place at that time and I am sure I wasn’t the only person to think this was going to end soon in tragedy.
How come then he was at his most industrious writing large numbers of article and books in the following years? The simple answer it seems to me was for him to meet Mary Smith and decide life was still worth living . Anyone who could get John to go walking, and lose lots of weight, eat healthly must have meant the world to him ! and it was so abundantly clear she did. He had such huge respect for Mary obviously but also politically and the move to Ireland and its new politics opened up for John a new lease of life. He said to me he learned so much from the Irish comrades and that it gave him a new perspective on revolutionary organisation and its relationship to the working class.
So today is an awful day and I am no writer but the thought of not seeing or talking to John ever again is very painful. My son Dylan said to me that John was like family and that was sort of true. However when I was sat at home devastated I thought of John and jumped in the car and went to the postal workers picket line as I know he would have said that’s where we need to be . These workers wouldn’t have known or heard of John but is it too trite to say he was there in spirit? I don’t think so.
John Molyneux was one of the first people I met outside of Belfast in People Before Profit. At a meeting at Marxism, he more succinctly than I had ever heard at the time made the argument for internationalist socialism. And he was undoubtedly a guiding political figure for hundreds of activists in the party who joined after me.
His impact as a revolutionary socialist in Ireland cannot be understated – from his contributions to the case for ecosocialism, his anti-racist activism, unwavering Marxist principles, and the endless time he gave to building a socialist party for the masses on this island.
More than anything, John was affable, warm and patient, even with the newest of socialists. His dedication was something to behold and a brilliant example. I was deeply saddened to learn of his passing today. And I am very sorry for Mary, his family and comrades who worked with him day in day out.
We are richer for the contributions of John Molyneux.
JOHN MOLYNEUX 1948-2022
It is with great sadness and sorrow that we learned of the sudden passing of John.
In 2018 we were on strike to defend our Defined Benefit Pension Scheme. For most of us it was the first time ever on strike and each day of our dispute John attended lending his support and solidarity to us.
His kindness, empathy and friendship at that critical time in our struggle will never be forgotten by our Branch.
John was later to attend and speak at our socials and workshops and talk about the need for fighting unions to represent ordinary worker’s interests. We were always honored to have John attend.
Memet is the Vice Chair of our Branch and we all recognised the special friendship that Memet and John shared. They were strategists, campaigners and activists and indeed one of the last rallies they attended was the Unite Against Racism Rally at the Spire to Welcome Refugees and to stand tall against the Far Right.
Inspired by the activism of John and Memet many of us fully supported the views they espoused whether it was in relation to Direct Provision, Anti-Racism, Anti War, Imperialism, Repeal, Left Wing Politics, Eco Socialism, LGBT and Trade Unionism.
We also witnessed first-hand the great esteem in which John was held in PBP and Marxists and internationally. We came to know John as a prolific writer and lecturer but what was ever more powerful was John’s enthusiasm to bring his message to ordinary working people whether that was holding open air talks on Marx during the lockdown or producing a fantastic series of videos to help explain topics.
We invariably met with John on campaigns and protests outside embassies, in working class areas like Crumlin/Drimnagh, the Dail,The Garden of Rembrance, the GPO, The Spire handing out leaflets for the cause and promoting the IMR.
John joined Unite Trade Union and attended the Unite Dublin Area Activists meetings and supported the ordinary grassroots members of the union. John’s extensive range of international contacts and knowledge of the political nuances around the world were second to none and he helped us organise speakers from different countries to help highlight their situation.
John lit a flame in us and opened our minds and inspired us.
John Molyneux had a great human empathy.
