Raya Dunaevskaya American political philosopher Date of Birth: 01.05.1910 Country: USA

Content:

1. Early Life and Introduction to Marxism
2. - Daughter of Rabbi Joseph Spiegel and Braina Dunayevskaya
3. Joining Trotsky in Mexico:
4. - Severed ties with Trotskyism in 1939
5. Socialist Politics in the United States
6. Return to Socialist Workers Party and Departure
7. Departure from SWP:
8. - Advocated for "humanistic Marxism"
9. Later Years and Legacy
10. Influence on Left-Wing Thought:

Early Life and Introduction to Marxism

Birth and Immigration:
- Born in 1897 in Yarychev, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)

- Immigrated to the United States with her family during her childhood

- Daughter of Rabbi Joseph Spiegel and Braina Dunayevskaya

Political Activism and Trotskyism
Communist Party Expulsion:
- Joined the Communist Party USA at age 18

- Expelled as a "Trotskyist" for opposing Leon Trotsky's deportation from the Soviet Union

Joining Trotsky in Mexico:

- Traveled to Mexico in 1937 to work as Trotsky's secretary
- Remained in Mexico from 1937-1938
Break with Trotskyism
Divergences with Trotsky:

- Disagreed with Trotsky's continued belief in the U.S.S.R. as a workers' state

- Severed ties with Trotskyism in 1939

Development of "Real" Marxism:

- Credited the break with Trotskyism as the catalyst for her "real" intellectual development

Socialist Politics in the United States

Participation in Workers Party:
- Actively involved in the Socialist Workers Party split in 1940
- Co-led the "Johnson-Forest Tendency" within the Workers Party
Rejection of Bureaucratic Collectivism:

- Argued that the U.S.S.R. exhibited a form of state capitalism, distinct from Western capitalism

Return to Socialist Workers Party and Departure

Return to Socialist Workers Party:

- rejoined Workers Party in 1947 due to differences within the Workers Party

Departure from SWP:

- Left Socialist Workers Party again in 1951 during the Korean War
Development of "Marxist Humanism"
Hegelian Dialectics and "News and Letters":

- Studied Hegel's "Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences" in the 1950s

- Founded the "Correspondence Publishing Committee" and the newspaper "News and Letters"

- Advocated for "humanistic Marxism"

Rejection of Leninist Party Model:

- Believed in the spontaneous revolutionary potential of the working class, following the miners' strike of 1949

Later Years and Legacy

"News and Letters" as a Platform:
- Continued to publish "News and Letters" until her death

- Used the newspaper to promote Marxist humanism and fight against discrimination

Influence on Left-Wing Thought:

- Theoretical contributions to Marxist thought, especially her analysis of state capitalism

- Her writings and activism inspired and influenced left-wing movements worldwide

Philosophy

Peter Singer	Stanislaw Vincenz	Michel Foucault
Ioane Petritsi	Alfred Baeumler	Kuno Lorenz