Encyclopedia of Trotskyism | Marxists’ Internet Archive

The New International

The following pages provide the only complete cumulative index to what was probably the most important journal of Marxist theory in its period.

Most, though not all, of the published volumes contained an annual index which was currently supplied by the magazine; but these annual indexes were not altogether complete, and the subject-index sections were based on extremely broad classifications. A cumulative index, with the same type of classifications, is extant also for the period up to March 1940, no further.

The present index is entirely new, not based on either of these previous efforts. There are six sections to this index:

Section A (Author Index) includes organizations and periodicals as authors; also the headings Editorials and Unsigned. The articles under each author are listed alphabetically. (This section is still under construction)

Section B (Subject Index) and Subject C (Geographical Index) are both subject indexes; in the latter, the subjects are countries and geographical areas. The articles are listed in chronological order of publication.

The headings in Section B often refer mainly to the U.S.; articles dealing with other countries, whatever the subject, are more likely to be found in Section C, under the given country. For example, political organizations or figures abroad are most likely to be found indexed in Section C.

Section D (Index to Books Reviewed) is arranged by the name of the author under review, under whom are listed the titles of the books reviewed, in alphabetical order. Access to book reviews by the name of the reviewer is given in Section A; and Section B or C gives access through the subject; in these sections the titles listed are the titles of the review itself, rather than of the book reviewed. (This section is still under construction.)

Section E (Table of Issues Published) makes it possible to translate the designation of an issue by date into volume-and-number. (This section is still under construction.)

Section F(Contents by Issue) contains a list of all articles published with links to the articles where they are available in either the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line or the Marxists’ Internet Archive. This section is based on the contents page of each issue. This section is in three parts: 1934-1940 (until the split), 1940-1946 and 1947-1958 (when the magazine ceased publication).

The most detailed information about the articles appears in Section A: for example, titles of installments, variations in titles, references to corrections, etc.

Additional notes on Section A (Author Index) will be found at the beginning of that section.

SPECIAL NOTES

POLITICAL AUSPICES

The magazine was founded as the organ of the Trotskyist group, named the Communist League of America, which formed out of a split from the Communist Party. The CLA merged with the American Workers Party (a left-socialist group led by A.J. Muste, James Burnham et al.), to form the Workers Party of the US (Jan. 1955 issue), The magazine was suspended (last issue June 1936) when the Trotskyists joined the Socialist Party; and was reissued (Jan. 1938) when they split with the Socialist Party, forming the Socialist Workers Party. The SWP in turn split in the spring of 1940, and the magazine went (Apr. 1940) with the then minority, which organized itself under the name of Workers Party. This organization changed its name to Independent Socialist League after April 1949. Throughout these political changes, the formal publisher of the magazine was the “New International Publishing Company” (except for the first year, 1934, when it was the “New International Publishing Association”).

PLEASE NOTE: The political leadership of the SWP continued the Trotskyist traditions of original New International with the launching of Fourth International in April of 1940. This magazine lasted well into the 1950s, when it became International Socialist Review, and remained the main English language theoretical journal of the Fourth International.

FREQUENCY

Most of the time monthly, though it actually came out 12 times in the years 1938, 1939 and 1944 only. It was bi-monthly from Oct. 1935 to June 1936, and again during the years 1950-51, after which it became quarterly.

FORMAT

The magazine’s appearance in its first period, up to June 1936 (up to its suspension), was characterized by a distinctive colored-design cover. Then it was re-established in January 1938, its size was a little smaller; it shrank a bit twice again before becoming “pocket-size” at the beginning of 1950.

“WHOLE NUMBERS”

A warning: Beginning with Feb 1936 (“Whole No. 13”), the magazine was given a “Whole No.” designation in addition to the date and volume/number designation; but as a result of several errors, this “Whole No.” was usually wrong, and is best ignored. The “Whole No.” was correct only for the following periods: Feb. 1936 to Feb. 1938 (Whole No. 13-17); Apr. 1938 to June 1941 (Whole No. 19-54); Sept. 1941 to Oct. 1941 (Whole No. 57-58); Feb. 1948 to Nov-Dec. 1952 (Whole No. 124-157). Otherwise, the “Whole No.” was usually one less than the correct figure.

EDITORS

A list of the editors follows. When no editor was listed, the editorial board is given. No distinction is made here between “editor” and “managing editor.” When the magazine listed an “editor” in addition to a “managing editor,” the former title was a formality.

July 1934 to Dec. 1934: Max Shachtman.
Jan. 1935 to June 1936: Max Shachtman & John West [i.e. James Burnham].
Jan. 1938 to Mar. 1939: Ed. Bd.: James Burnham, Max Shachtman, Maurice Spector.
Apr. 1939 to Mar. 1940: Ed. Bd.: James Burnham, Max Shachtman.
May 1940 to Sept. 1941: Max Shachtman.
Oct. 1941 to June 1943: Albert Gates.
July 1943 to Aug. 1945: Max Shachtman.
Sep. 1945 to May 1946: Ernest Erber (Max Shachtman listed as formal “editor” for a time.)
Aug. 1947 to Dec. 1947: Albert Gates.
Jan. 1948 to Mar. 1949: Hal Draper.
Apr. 1949 to Dec. 1949: Max Shachtman.
Jan-Feb 1950 to Jan-Feb 1953: Emmanuel Garrett (Shachtman listed as “formal editor”).
Mar.-Apr. 1952 to end: Julius Falk (Shachtman listed as formal “editor”).

TABLE OF ISSUES

Notes for table

1. April 1941 issue, Vol. 7, no. 3: erroneously called “No. 4” in editorial box on page [35].

2. May 1941 issue, Vol. 7, no. [4]: this issue was erroneously marked “No. 5” both in the editorial box and below the masthead on the third page, so that the correct number does not appear at all.

3. June 1941, Vol. 7, no. 5: erroneously called “No. 6” below the masthead on page [99].

4. June 1942, Vol. 8, no. 5: this issue was published in two parts; part I was the normal magazine; part II was devoted to China in the World War by Max Shachtman.

5. July 1942, Vol. 8, no.6: erroneously called “No. 5” in the editorial box on page [162].

6. October 1942, Vol. 8, no. 9: erroneously called “No. 8” in the editorial box on page [258].

7. April 1944, Vol. 10, No. 4: The page folios are erroneously dated “April, 1943” throughout.

8. October 1944, Vol. 10, no. 10: this issue was published in two parts, part I being the normal magazine; part II was called “Supplement” containing Capitalist Barbarism or Socialism by the International Communists of Germany [IKD].

9. This issue was dated “Winter 1955-56” but its volume numbering remained part of Vol. 21.

10. This was published as a double number, “Spring-Summer 1958” with the number “Vol. 24, no. 2-3,” but it was given only a single “whole number,” no. 179 (which was incorrect anyway, as explained elsewhere).

ETOL Newspapers Page  |  ETOL Main Index

Last updated on 23.12.2005