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Obituary: Chris Harman 1942-2009

Sun, 08/11/2009 - 14:22

The death on Friday of Chris Harman, one of the leading members of the Socialist Workers Party and the International Socialist Tendency, is a serious shock to the Left in Britain and around the world.

Harman was one of the principal theoreticians of the SWP, and the author of numerous books on Marxist theory and history, including A People's History of the World, How Marxism Works, 1968: the Fire Last Time and The Lost Revolution: Germany 1918-1923. He was for many years editor of the weekly newspaper Socialist Worker and recently of International Socialism Journal.

Harman joined the International Socialists (the forerunner of the SWP) back in the 1960s and quickly became one of its leading student members, before joining the leadership team around Tony Cliff.

Cliff always valued Harman as a member of the Central Committee and close political ally. During an interview with New Statesman magazine, Cliff was asked whose opinion he trusted the most, he replied "Chris Harman, the editor of Socialist Worker and Lindsey German, editor of Socialist Review. I can't think of a single other living person I could consult."

It would be wrong to say that relations between Chris and Workers Power were cordial. We had major differences with him and the SWP?s political tradition and these would often be aired in public, sometimes sharply. Yet recently, in the midst of the global financial crisis, Chris twice shared platforms with Workers Power editor Richard Brenner and Marxist theoretician Istvan Meszaros to discuss the implications of the credit crunch for the struggle against capitalism. Harman?s writings, including his last book Zombie Capitalism, were important contributions to the debate around the crisis.

There is no doubt that Chris? untimely death is a real loss for the workers movement. Our condolences go to his family, friends and comrades.

Source URL: https://fifthinternational.org/content/obituary-chris-harman