Memories of John Molyneux

by Paul Murphy

The news that John Molyneux has died is devastating. The loss of John to the socialist movement is incalculable.

I got to know John relatively late in my political life. Before he moved to Ireland because of his love for Mary Smith, he was someone I only knew from articles he had written or from reports about the various debates within the British SWP. From afar, he was this interesting, somewhat unorthodox character who wasn’t afraid to follow ideas through or disagree with the leadership. His articles arguing (correctly, I now believe, but against the grain at the time) that working class men benefit (to a marginal degree relative to the ruling class) from women’s oppression are an example of that.

When he moved to Ireland, I got a chance to know him properly, although at first an organisational barrier of membership of two competing parties stood between us. However even then, John was the kind of person who you would fall in with on a demonstration and perhaps start talking about the perspectives for the movement you were participating in, but go on to discuss the correct approach for Marxists in World War II, or the situation of the revolutionary left in another country. He was extremely well read, knowledgeable and smart. I would look forward to our conversations. 

When those of us who formed RISE left the Socialist Party, the friendship and political relationship John and I had was important and developed further. We were able to have frank and political discussions which eased the entry of RISE into People Before Profit. We continued to chat and discuss ideas, over the phone and in person. These conversations were always stimulating, I was more knowledgeable and in better humour after each time we talked.

John was an intellectual. He loved ideas. He enjoyed thrashing them out with others and enjoyed a good debate. At the recent RISE summer camp, John and I debated whether Marxists should adopt the concept of eco-socialist degrowth. I argued for, John against. But the debate was conducted in a genuinely comradely and friendly way. 

John didn’t pull any punches in his intellectual argument, but nor did he get offended when you did likewise. This ability to genuinely disagree and continue to recognise each other as comrades is something that is all too rare. John had it in spades. Afterwards we had a drink and we spoke about Marxist philosophy before he left the next day.

He wrote high quality material which made complex Marxist ideas accessible. Recently I had reason to return to his book, Lenin for Today. It is really striking how it condenses vital concepts of Leninism into short accessible chapters. I never got around to reading Dialectics of Art, which John generously gave me a copy of, but I look forward to reading it and his Selected Writings over Christmas.

John’s unorthodoxy meant that he was quicker than others to recognise new issues and the necessity to change approach, while not giving up on the essentials of a revolutionary Marxist approach. John championed the necessity of an eco-socialist approach within PBP and for PBP to define itself as an eco-socialist party. He saw, quicker than many on the revolutionary left, that the ecological catastrophe has to be central to our analysis and programme today. 

But John was not just an outstanding intellectual, he was a true activist intellectual. He did it all and was not afraid of getting his hands dirty. He wrote many of the key articles in Irish Marxist Review, which he edited, but he also was the prime seller of the magazine. He was clearly a stalwart of his branch. He was a driving force within the anti-racist and anti-war movement. He led the environmental caucus of People Before Profit. His impact on the socialist movement in Ireland was incredible.

But as a revolutionary Marxist, John knew that the world’s problems could not be solved in Ireland alone, nor could we build socialism in one country. He was profoundly internationalist.

John took his analysis about the necessity for a global ecosocialist transformation and followed it through in practice. He launched and drove the Global Ecosocialist Network, which I was happy to participate in. It brought together different parts of the revolutionary left from right across the world, who were united in an eco-socialist analysis, despite the differences which continued to exist between us. It was and is a groundbreaking initiative. It falls to the rest of us to ensure that it is maintained without the animating spirit of John. 

John is irreplaceable. For all of us in the socialist movement, including many of whom haven’t had the chance to know him properly. But above all my heart breaks for Mary Smith, who he clearly loved very much. 

I will especially miss John over Christmas, when we would have a chance to catch up. He rang me during the week after he had participated in a debate RISE and our international co-thinkers in MORE had hosted about how socialists should respond to the invasion of Ukraine. He was stimulated by the debate and wanted to discuss it. We made plans to meet up in the week before Christmas. We were going to have a drink and discuss the debate between Chris Harman and Ernest Mandel on the character of the Soviet Union. His revolutionary optimism was summed up by the hope he had that he would convince me of a state capitalist analysis!

I doubt he would have convinced me. I’m sure I wouldn’t have convinced him either! But, I would have very much enjoyed his company and the exchange of ideas.

I’ll miss you John.