The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.15           April 14, 1997 
 
 
`New International' And Trotsky Are Hot Sellers At YS Convention  

BY GREG McCARTAN
ATLANTA - Carrying armloads of books, participants in the Young Socialists convention went home well equipped to both study and sell books, pamphlets, and Education for Socialists bulletins published and distributed by Pathfinder Press.

Young socialists and communist workers from Canada, France, Iceland, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and elsewhere exchanged political experiences and advice on what books to purchase and how to most effectively get them out to other fighters as a central part of building the communist movement.

Dozens of titles distributed by the publishing house were on special sale to convention participants, who purchased $6,427 worth of literature. This included 317 copies of New International, a magazine of Marxist politics and theory; 220 copies of Education for Socialists bulletins; 17 sets of the six-volume series, The Communist International in Lenin's Time; four sets of 14-volume series, the Writings of Leon Trotsky; and 420 other titles.

After sales to individual participants were completed, orders for thousands of books from 23 Pathfinder bookstores and a member of the Young Socialists from California were packed into boxes. Many orders could not be filled as the stock available at the convention had run out. But nearly 3,000 books and pamphlets were taken back by those at the convention to use over the coming weeks at political events, strikes, protests, and on literature tables.

Jacob Perasso, from Santa Cruz, California, said he bought the series on The Communist International in Lenin's Time and filled out his set of New International. "I bought these books for the sheer necessity to understand how these struggles unfolded and what we can learn from the mistakes, victories, and gains they made.

"New International," he said, "contains articles about a lot that has transpired during my lifetime. The ten issues explain the world today. When I have a political question, I look it up there to get an answer."

Perasso is 22 years old and a student at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He plans to join members of the Socialist Workers Party who are building participation in an April 13 rally in support of the farm workers struggle to be held in Watsonville. "In addition to the books I bought for myself, I purchased a number of titles that I plan on using on literature tables and other events," he said. "There is an event coming up to support Mumia Abu-Jamal. Having these books at these events will help me bring politics to other fighters and tie together struggles they are involved in."

At a large table stacked high with copies of New International in English, French, Spanish, and Swedish, those attending their first YS convention and many YS members got into discussions with veterans of the communist movement on what is contained in the magazines. Many were familiar with recent issues, but not earlier volumes which remain as relevant today as when they were first published starting in 1983.

For example, participants discussed at the table the feature article in issue no. 1, "Their Trotsky and Ours: Communist Continuity Today," by Jack Barnes. Studying the article and holding classes for those interested is one of the best ways to gain a better understanding of the continuity of Marxism and Trotsky's place in it. Many ideas about classes that could be organized were raised.

Trotsky was a central leader of the Russian revolution who fought to continue the communist course of the Bolshevik Party and the Communist International under Lenin. He led the opposition to the rise of what became the Stalinist counterrevolution, and worked with those around the world who were determined to forge communist parties. The Writings Series contains material not available in many of Pathfinder's books of Trotsky's writings, providing invaluable Marxist writings on the central issues of world politics.

A popular feature of the book display was the Collected New International, covering the years 1934-96, which is available on CD-ROM.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home