Why the IMT is a cult – a social media analysis

When I first joined the IMT, the organisation was in the middle of developing its social media presence. This is at the heart of the organisation’s cultish nature. This is what the cult expert Lifton called ‘milieu control’. Against my better judgement, I was persuaded to get Facebook for the first time in order to … Read more

How I raised my differences in the IMT, or Debate in Trotskyist Sects: Part 7

When I joined the IMT, I found myself in this strange environment with which I was both personally, and, as it would turn out, politically incompatible. It was inevitable that it would all end in tears and that, as with so many other times in my largely depressing life, separation, ostracism and anger all round … Read more

The Sensational Anti-Semitism of Ted Grant (and other Marxists)

I had my criticisms of Ted Grant and Socialist Appeal, but I considered it free of the taint of anti-Semitism – until now. You see, our position on Israel-Palestine was obviously absurd, but was distinct from the overtly racist position of the SWP, which has no problem with the ‘reactionary’ Israeli working-class being driven into … Read more

The Poverty of Dialectics: A Debunking of Dialectical Materialism

Introduction A central feature of Marxism (and indeed, Trotskyism) is dialectical materialism. Marx developed his theory of dialectical materialism from his re-interpretation of Hegel’s philosophy. Hegel borrowed the concept from Heraclitus, an ancient Greek thinker, who famously argued that the world was in flux and contained contradictions. On this basis, he stated that ‘No one … Read more

My Letter of Resignation from the International Marxist Tendency

Introduction Today marks exactly a year since my resignation from the International Marxist Tendency. I republish here in full my resignation letter, which most members of the organisation have not read. These things are naturally withheld from the membership. It will help set the record straight about my departure, since all sorts of lies are … Read more

The terrible truth about the Marxist Student Federation

As a member of the IMT from October 2017 to March 2020, I was also part of the Marxist Student Federation (MSF). This was advertised as the youth and student wing of Socialist Appeal. From what I learned when I joined the organisation, it was originally designed to be one of the organisation’s many front … Read more

Dennis Tourish and the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) as a political cult

Dennis Tourish, Professor of Leadership and Organisation Studies at the University of Sussex, has written at length about cults. Like many cult experts, he was in one – he worked as a full-timer for the Militant Tendency in Northern Ireland in the 1980s. In 1998, he wrote a paper entitled ‘Ideological Intransigence, Democratic Centralism and … Read more

The BITE Model and the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) as a political cult – Part 2

The BITE model is an extremely useful way of looking at cults and gauging the severity of cultic practices inflicted upon their members. Steven Hassan created an ‘influence continuum’, with traits belonging to destructive cults at one end, and those belonging to healthy organisations at another. The very worst cults are at the extreme cultic … Read more