July 12 MHI Meeting: “The Party” as a Propellant for Mass Movements

 
by MHI

 
Marxists-Humanists reject the idea that the social revolution requires the leadership of a party of Marxist intellectuals who bring “revolutionary consciousness” to the workers, but that does not mean we believe that Marxist theorists, and even “the party,” have no role in the self-emancipation of the proletariat. In fact, Raya Dunayevskaya’s writing and speeches on organization advance a novel conception of “the party” as a political-philosophical organization whose goal is to unleash the creative energies of the working class.

Theresa Henry will defend and elaborate on the Marxist-Humanist idea of “the party” at the next Marxist-Humanist Initiative (MHI) meeting on Sunday, July 12, 2026, 1–3 pm Eastern Daylight Time.

Our July 12 meeting will be held on Zoom and be open to the public (more information below).

Raya Dunayevskaya

 
Meeting Information

Henry will give a presentation based on her upcoming article, “‘The Party’ as a Propellant for Mass Movements.”

In her presentation, Henry will discuss Dunayevskaya’s unconventional use of Marxist terminology and conception of “the party.” She will also argue that Dunayevskaya’s conception of “the party” furthers the self-emancipation of the proletariat, explore some of the organizational implications of the “philosophic moment” of Marxist-Humanism, and discuss what is required to realize our philosophy in a sustainable organizational form.

Anne Jaclard and Ralph Keller will respond to the draft article and presentation. In the second half of the meeting, the floor will be open for participants’ comments and questions. If you would like access to a draft of Henry’s article, please write to mhi@marxisthumanistinitiative.org.

To join the Zoom meeting, please click this link:

https://zoom.us/launch/jc/94712580378

You may need the following information:

Meeting ID: 577 290 3052

Passcode: 00554

 
 
Biographical Notes

Theresa Henry is a Canadian service-industry worker and Marxist-Humanist theorist. In the last few years, she has published numerous articles defending Lenin’s positions on the right to national self-determination and socialist internationalism against campism, pseudo anti-imperialism, and other forms of bourgeois nationalism that have crept into the Marxist movement. She has also written and given talks on the law of value, the labor and decolonial movements in Canada, and the revolutionary movement in Iran.

Anne Jaclard has been a Marxist-Humanist for nearly 60 years. She worked with Raya Dunayevskaya in the original Marxist-Humanist organization, and was a founder of MHI. She has also been an activist in the U.S. Black, women’s, labor, anti-imperialist and anti-war movements over the same period.

Ralph Keller is a Marxist-Humanist whose particular interest of study is Hegel’s dialectical thought, on which Marx built his economic analysis of capitalism. Keller has written on various topics, including Brexit, the rise of the far right in Germany and the UK, the war in Ukraine, Marx’s theory of the falling rate of profit, and other topics. Ralph works with the Temporal Single System Interpretation of Marx’s Capital, which provides him with the theoretical framework for addressing unanswered questions in bourgeois management science and economics.