Labour Monthly was a monthly magazine associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). It was published from June 1921 to March 1981, spanning nearly six decades. From its inception until his death in 1974, it was edited by leading CPGB member and theoretician Rajani Palme Dutt, with only a few months' absence in 1922 when he was deputised by Tom Wintringham. After Dutt's death, the editorship passed to Pat Sloan (1976), Harry Smith (1979), and Andrew Rothstein (1981).
History and Purpose
The magazine was not technically published by the CPGB, and particularly in its later period, it carried articles by left-wing trade unionists from outside the Party. The name "Labour Monthly" was carefully chosen to appeal to a broad left-wing audience rather than bearing an explicit party imprint. The Communist International was interested in a publication that would reach out to the wider labour movement, and the magazine's orientation was clearly that of the Communist International, of which the CPGB was described as its British Section. The intention was also to try to keep open a potential channel of communication to Party members in the event of the CPGB being banned at any point.
Content and Features
The defining feature of the magazine was the several-page editorial entitled "Notes of the Month," written by R. Palme Dutt, which represented official CPGB policy. The magazine was strongest on analysis rather than news reporting, which was the preserve of other party publications such as the Workers Weekly, Sunday Worker (1925–29), and from 1930 the Daily Worker.
The magazine published a wide range of contributors, including:
- International figures: George Bernard Shaw, Leon Trotsky (early contributions), Jawaharlal Nehru (on India), Palmiro Togliatti (on Italy), Jomo Kenyatta (on Kenya), Henri Barbusse, and Mao Zedong.
- British Labour figures: G.D.H. Cole, George Lansbury, Ellen Wilkinson, H.N. Brailsford, and Aneurin Bevan.
- CPGB figures: Harry Pollitt, William Gallacher, R. Page Arnot, and others.
- Classical Marxist texts: An important occasional feature until the 1950s was the first English publication of previously untranslated short writings by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Editors
- 1921–1974: R. Palme Dutt
- 1922: Tom Wintringham (acting)
- 1975: Andrew Rothstein (acting)
- 1976: Pat Sloan
- 1979: Harry Smith
- 1981: Andrew Rothstein
Decline and Closure
Following Dutt's death in 1974, the magazine's decline hastened. Pat Sloan of the British-Soviet Friendship Society succeeded him but died in 1978. Harry Smith briefly took over, and the final volumes were edited by Andrew Rothstein and Robin Page Arnot, two founder members of the CPGB who had been involved in planning the journal in 1921. They were aged 83 and 90 respectively when the final number appeared in March 1981. Before closure, the monthly had on occasion been forced to become bimonthly. A shortage of renewals in late 1980 and early 1981 resulted in a decision to close it down in an orderly manner to allow debts to be settled.
Archives
Complete runs of Labour Monthly can be found in major public and university libraries. Digitised archives are available through the Marxists Internet Archive, HathiTrust, and the Internet Archive.
