Contents:

• Introductory notes and survey
• Features about selected research centres and working archives:
• Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur les Mouvements Trotskyste et Révolutionnaires Internationaux (C.E.R.M.T.R.I.) (Paris, France)
• Institut Léon Trotsky (ILT) (Grenoble, France)
• Socialist Platform (London, Britain)
• International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE) and Ernest Mandel Study Centre (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• Centro de Estudios, Investigaciones y Publicaciones 'León
  Trotsky' (C.E.I.P.) (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Prometheus Research Library (PRL) (New York, NY, USA)
• Holt Labor Library (HLL) (San Francisco, Cal.)
• Committee for the Study of Leon Trotsky’s Legacy (New York, NY, USA)
• Torotsuki Kenkyushu [Trotsky Institute] (Tokyo, Japan)

Introductory notes and survey

Within this chapter of our TrotskyanaNet we provide features about selected research centres, working archives and related facilities which were established since the late 1970s in various countries by devoted Trotskyist scholars, activists, or sympathizers. Funded partly by those devoted individuals and partly by Trotskyist parties or groups, these facilities today form  a relevant part of what has been called the 'international Trotskyist family'. Some of the institutions in question are closely affiliated to certain Trotskyist parties, groups or tendencies whereas others prefer to consider themselves independent and non-partisan, strictly denying any determination by party policy or narrow factional interests.
By collecting historical and contemporary Trotskyist publications, by setting up considerable archive and library collections, by allowing scholars and students – whether sharing Trotskyist orientations or not – to consult their holdings, by editing, translating and disseminating written sources by and about Trotsky, these facilities are very conductive to furthering and encouraging Trotskyist scholarship and knowledge about Trotsky and about the history of the movement bearing his name. Most of these facilities are also issuing scholarly journals and newsletters which play an eminent role with regard to the international exchange of information and research results concerning Trotsky and Trotskyism and at the same time are providing forums for up-and-coming young authors in the field of Trotskyana research.
It should be mentioned here that you can find further information about Trotsky research centres and working archives in our Trotsky Bibliography (3. ed., vol. 1-2, München, 1999), particularly in the preface and in chapter 1.3.
 

Features about selected research centres
 and working archives
 

Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur les
 Mouvements Trotskyste et Révolutionnaires
 Internationaux (C.E.R.M.T.R.I.)
(Paris, France)

The Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur les Mouvements Trotskyste et Révolutionnaires Internationaux (C.E.R.M.T.R.I.) was founded in Autumn 1977 by long-time members of the Organisation Communiste Internationaliste (OCI), formally and later called Parti Communiste Internationaliste (PCI), one of the main currents of French Trotskyism, led by old-timer Pierre Lambert. The party later was renamed again and is now known as the Parti des Travailleurs (PT). Although the core of C.E.R.M.T.R.I.’s collections was formed of the PCI/OCI records and of Pierre Lambert’s personal collection, C.E.R.M.T.R.I. claims for non-sectarianism, aiming at the preservation of the collective memory of the revolutionary movements. It is open for researchers regardless their adherance or not to any of the various Trotskyist currents. C.E.R.M.T.R.I. is functioning as an association (“association loi 1901”), registered officially on May 7, 1978. It is funded by its members, by the sale of its publications and by the PT. For many years C.E.R.M.T.R.I. was housed at the OCI/PCI headquarters at 88 rue Saint-Denis, 75001 Paris; in 1997 it moved to its new location at 28 rue des Petites-Ecuries, 75010 Paris. The opening hours are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 13:30 p.m. to 18:00 p.m. C.E.R.M.T.R.I. maintains a website and can be contacted by e-mail: cermtri@wanadoo.fr.
Louis Eemans, a Trotskyist veteran and moving spirit of C.E.R.M.T.R.I., and others involved in running it, have been very busy and quite successful in building a considerable and rich library and archives collection, for example by soliciting the records and papers  from many old-timers of the French Trotskyist and related movements, from the widows or relatives of deceased activists, or from people who once had been militants but later dropped from the movement starting another career. Thus C.E.R.M.T.R.I. has become an eminent and quite unique archive and document centre, perhaps the biggest of its kind, at least in Europe. As of 2004, C.E.R.M.T.R.I. provides some 22,000 books, a very rich collection of Trotskyist, communist, anarchist and other revolutionary journals, newsletters and bulletins, as well as several 1,000 boxes of archives reflecting the history of the revolutionary movement in general and of the (French) Trotskyist movement in particular. Thus C.E.R.M.T.R.I. houses dozens of archives of almost all parties and groups which were active from the 1930s to 1960s (e.g. Parti Ouvrier Internationaliste, Parti Communiste Internationaliste, Union Communiste, Ligue Communiste). Trotskyist groups of Belgium, Germany and Austria are also well represented in C.E.R.M.T.R.I.’s archival holdings as are the records of some international bodies as for example internal bulletins, minutes and other papers of the European and International Secretariat of the Fourth International. With regard to Trotskyist periodicals – by far not only French-language papers – C.E.R.M.T.R.I.’s collection density is quite remarkable and can probably only be topped by Hoover Institution’s. Furthermore C.E.R.M.T.R.I. houses a considerable amount of secondary literature including so-called grey literature such as university works at different levels of academic degree.
As of 2004, François De Massot is president of C.E.R.M.T.R.I. Louis Eemans was long-time curator and treasurer of C.E.R.M.T.R.I., succeeded by Pierre Levasseur. Many activists, scholars and authors, some of them well-known also beyond the boundaries of the French Trotskyist family, were – or still are – members of C.E.R.M.T.R.I.’s Conseil d’Administration, e.g. Jacqueline Bois, Marcel Beaufrère, Henri Berthomé, Pierre Broué, Christophe Cambélis, Roland Filiâtre, Jean-Paul Joubert, Jean-Jacques Marie, Louis Rigaudias, Benjamin Stora, Pierre Turpin, Fred Zeller, Gérard Bloch, Daniel Renard, Jean Rous. The late Trotskyist historian Rodolphe Prager and the late Fred Zeller, formerly a leading Trotskyist and later Grand-Maître du Grand Orient de France (GODF), have been honorary members. Jean Rous and Gérard Bloch donated extraordinarily rich private collections. C.E.R.M.T.R.I. constantly receives donations from BDIC.
With regard to Trotskyism research, C.E.R.M.T.R.I. undoubtedly can be called a goldmine of sources and of reference. However, C.E.R.M.T.R.I.’s relevance is not sufficiently described by highlighting its collections of printed, ephemeral and archival items; mention must be of its continuous publications, too:

• Since 1977, C.E.R.M.T.R.I. has been issuing a valuable quarterly bulletin series titled Les cahiers du C.E.R.M.T.R.I. (ISSN 0292-4943). As of 2004, 114 numbers of Les Cahiers du C.E.R.M.T.R.I., each bearing a distinctive title, have been published containing either inventories relating to the rich archival collections preserved at C.E.R.M.T.R.I. or selected materials from those archives, chiefly compilations of contemporaneous original documents on very specific subjects. Nos. 1-11 of the Cahiers are out of print. The issues of the Cahiers have an average scope of about 60-80 pages, the annual subscription rate is € 23, single issues can be ordered, too (price: € 5,oo), from the address given above. As of 2004, director of this publication is Pierre Levasseur.
  For more information about this research tool see the paragraph on Les cahiers du C.E.R.M.T.R.I. elsewhere on the pages of TrotskyanaNet.
• Les Cahiers du mouvement ouvrier (ISSN 1287-2598) is another current serial issued by C.E.R.M.T.R.I., published quarterly since April 1998, with special emphasis of making available in French translation rare items from recently discovered archives or forgotten pieces from the past. Every number of the Cahiers also features certain parts of the rich C.E.R.M.T.R.I. collections. Director of this publication is the noted French historian Jean-Jacques Marie. As of 2004, 25 nos. have been published. No. 25 (pp. 127-139) contains a subject index for nos. 1-24 (1998-2004). The annual subscription rate is € 30. A complete set of all hitherto published issues (no. 1-24) can be purchased for € 85,oo plus € 30,oo shipment (outside France).
• The Lettre d’information was published from November 1997 to March 2004 as a supplement to Les cahiers du C.E.R.M.T.R.I., sent to subscribers separately. It is a small newsletter (some 4 pp.) containing announcements and topical news relating to C.E.R.M.T.R.I.’s activities (e.g. conferences to be held at C.E.R.M.T.R.I., general membership meetings), announcements and schedules of new or projected publications, notes on special acquisitions, obituaries, etc. Lettre d’information now is disseminated as an online-newsletter, e-mailed to subscribers.

Some literature about C.E.R.M.T.R.I.:

• 25 années d’activités / [prép. par Louis Eemans]. Paris : CERMTRI, 2001. 84 pp. (Les cahiers du C.E.R.M.T.R.I. ; 101) [Contents: La création du CERMTRI et sa gestion - Liste des personnes invitées à l’assemblée de fondation du CERMTRI le samedi 26 novembre 1977 - Le CERMTRI est-il seulement un centre d’archives sur le mouvement ouvrier révolutionnaire? - Les “Cahiers du Cermtri”, 100 numéros à votre disposition - Liste des thèses déposées au CERMTRI - Les conférences organisés par le CERMTRI - Perspectives (etc.)]
• Au sources du trotskysme : archives de luttes, in: Rouge, 2002 (Oct.31=no.1990). [Interview with Pierre Levasseur and Jean-Jacques Marie, conducted by Anthony Bégrand.]
• Lanuque, Jean-Guillaume: Le Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur les Mouvements Trotskyste et Révolutionnaires Internationaux (CERMTRI), in: Dissidences : bulletin de liaison des études sur les mouvements révolutionnaires, 4.2001 (8), pp. 10-11.
• Lanuque, Jean-Guillaume: La C.E.R.M.T.R.I. et la recherche, in: Documents de la IVème Internationale sur la Yougoslavie (1948–1950). Paris 1997, pp. 81-84. (Cahiers du C.E.R.M.T.R.I: ; 85)
• Richardson, Al: The Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur les Mouvements Trotsykste et Révolutionnaires Internationaux, Paris, in: Revolutionary History, 3.1991 (4), p. 24.

Institut Léon Trotsky (ILT)
(Grenoble, France)

In 1977, the Institut Léon Trotsky (ILT) was founded in Paris as an association ("association loi 1901") of French scholars and activists devoted to research on Trotsky. It was the brainchild of the late Pierre Broué (1926-2005); the main purpose of the institute was to intensify and to co-ordinate research with the aim of publishing Trotsky’s works in French language on the basis of profound scholarship, by team effort and by establishing a collaborative network at both national and international level.

The Bureau of the Institut Léon Trotsky (as of 1978, according to Cahiers Léon Trotsky, no. 1, 1979) consisted of Marguerite Bonnet (executrix of Trotsky’s literary estate, functioning as president of the ILT), Pierre Broué (renowned professor and moving spirit of ILT, functioning as its vice president and research director), Rodolphe Prager (scholar and long-time Trotskyist activist, functioning as vice-director), Jean Risacher (functioning as treasurer), Michel Dreyfus, and Anna Libera. Marguerite Bonnet as president was succeeded first by Jean-François Godchau, then by Pierre Broué. Michel Dreyfus left the institute in 1983, Anne Dissez became secretary and treasurer, later succeeded by Gilles Vergnon.

A considerable number of well-known French and international scholars and (ex-) Trotskyists have been contributing in many ways to the institute’s endeavours: Marcel Liebman, Jacqueline Pluet, Jean Maitron, Daniel Guérin, Laurent Schwartz, Tamara Deutscher, Yvan Craipeau, Michel Raptis (Pablo), Ernest Mandel, Joseph Hansen, Pierre Frank, Jean Van Heijenoort, George Novack, François Maspero – to mention only a few of those women and men who were mentioned under Comité de parrainage de l’Institut in Cahiers Léon Trotsky no. 1 (1979).

In 1982, the institute moved to Grenoble; the Bureau’s postal address as of 2003 was: BP 276, 38407 Saint Martin d’Hères Cedex, France.
Because of Pierre Broué’s decease on July 26, 2005, the future of the ILT seems to be uncertain.
The team of the ILT closely co-operated with American colleagues at Pathfinder Press, who in the 1970s had edited 12 regular volumes and 2 supplemental volumes of Trotsky’s Writings 1929-40, by exchanging their material. Institut Léon Trotsky was not only successful in editing and publishing 27 volumes of Trotsky’s Oeuvres between 1978 and 1989 [see below], but at the same could establish a strong link to many individuals and institutions all over the world being interested in similar research work; the launching of the institute’s journal Cahiers Léon Trotsky [Leon Trotsky Notebooks], which began publication in 1979, was quite decisive in building up an (unofficial) international network of Trotsky research and to generate a stimulating international exchange of ideas. It should be mentioned that in the 1980s and 1990s similar research and publishing facilities have been set up in a number of countries, e.g. in Japan.

As mentioned above, the main purpose of the Institut Léon Trotsky was the publication and dissemination of Trotsky’s works in French. Here’s a short survey of all published volumes of Léon Trotsky: Oeuvres for arrangement of which the same chronological method was chosen as for the American Pathfinder Press edition. They are still available from CLT, Luc Aujame, 477 chemin du Puits, 69210 Fleurieux sur l’Arbresle, France, or from French book publishing companies SELIO and La Brèche, respectively:

• Oeuvres. Publ. sous la direction de Pierre Broué. Paris. [1e  série]. Volume 1-24. 1978-1987. [Note: Vols. 1-12 publ. by Etudes et Documentation Internationales (Paris); vols. 13-24 by Institut Léon Trotsky (Grenoble). Vol. 14 has imprint 'Livre Essor' by error. Vol.-numbering for vol. [1] supplied by me]
1. Mars 1933 - juillet 1933. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué et Michel Dreyfus. 1978. 317 pp.
2. Juillet 1933 - octobre 1933. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué et Michel Dreyfus. 1978. 315 pp.
3. Novembre 1933 - avril 1934. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué et Michel Dreyfus. 1978. 356 pp.
4. Avril 1934 - décembre 1934. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué et Michel Dreyfus. 1979. 367 pp.
5. Janvier 1935 - juin 1935. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué et Michel Dreyfus. 1979. 391 pp.
6. Juin 1935 - septembre 1935. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué et Michel Dreyfus. 1979. 299 pp.
7. Octobre 1935 - décembre 1935. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué et Michel Dreyfus. 1980. 278 pp.
8. Janvier 1936 - février 1936. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. Paris, 1980. 239 pp.
9. Mars 1936 à mai 1936. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1980. 308 pp.
10. Juin 1936 à juillet 1936. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1981. 342 pp.
11. Août 1936 à décembre 1936. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1981. 384 pp.
12. Décembre 1936 à février 1937. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1982. 407 pp.
13. Mars 1937 à avril 1937. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1982. 333 pp.
14. Mai 1937 à septembre 1937. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1983. 421 pp.
15. Septembre 1937 à décembre 1937. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1983. 472 pp.
16. Janvier 1938 à mars 1938. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1983. 371 pp.
17. Mars 1938 à juin 1938. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1984. 311 pp.
18. Juin 1938 à septembre 1938. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1984. 367 pp.
19. Octobre 1938 à décembre 1938. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1985. 334 pp.
20. Janvier 1939 à mars 1939. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1985. 354 pp.
21. Avril 1939 à septembre 1939. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1986. 424 pp.
22. septembre 1939 à décembre 1939. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1985. 250 pp.
23. Janvier 1940 à mai 1940. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1986. 356 pp.
24. Mai 1940 à août 1940. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1987. 401 pp.
     
• Oeuvres. Publ. sous la direction de Pierre Broué. Grenoble. 2e série. Volume 1-3. 1988-1989.
1. Janvier 1928 à juillet 1928. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1988. 433 pp.
2. Août 1928 à février 1929. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1989. 466 pp.
3. Février 1929 à mai 1929. Introd. et notes de Pierre Broué. 1989. 261 pp.

Within TrotskyanaNet’s Journal chapter you can find our feature about the institute’s journal Cahiers Léon Trotsky (CLT) and a survey of the contents of its hitherto published issues.
 

Socialist Platform
(London, Britain)

Socialist Platform, situated in London, is an independent, non-sectarian socialist publishing venture of militants and historians of the British far left – opposing both Stalinism and Labourism/reformism – aiming at the information and education of a new generation influenced by Trotskyism and its heritage in the Marxist movement. Socialist Platform publishes labour movement history studies hardly to find elsewhere or overlooked by other publishers, at affordable prices. It maintains an archive and a library and closely co-operates with similar working archives and publishing endeavours abroad, such as the Institut Léon Trotsky in France. People interested in discussing and publishing the history of the revolutionary movement may contact Socialist Platform Ltd. by yellow mail at BCM 7646, London WC1N 3XX, Britain, or by e-mail at Barry.Buitekant@tesco.net (for correspondence regarding literature orders) and tcrawford@revhist.datanet.co.uk (for correspondence with the editorial board), respectively. Phone: +44-208-8065338

Thanks to its ongoing publication Revolutionary History (published since 1988), Socialist Platform can be considered one of the cornerstones of what can be called the unofficial international network of Trotsky(ism) research. Since we have devoted a major feature of Revolutionary History within the framework of TrotskyanaNet, mention should be made here only of some monographic publications which were issued by Socialist Platform and which are of special relevance to those involved and interested in the history of the Trotskyist movement and its protagonists:

• Bornstein, Sam and Al Richardson: Against the stream : a history of the Trotskyist movement in Britain, 1924-38. 1986. XII, 302 pp. ISBN 0-9508423-1-1
• Bornstein, Sam and Al Richardson: War and the International : a history of the Trotskyist movement in Britain, 1937-1949. 1986. XIV, 252 pp. ISBN 0-9508423-3-8
• Ratner, Harry: Reluctant revolutionary : memoirs of a Trotskyist 1936-1960. 1994. XV, 270 pp. ISBN 0-9508423-9-7
• Wicks, Harry: Keeping my head : the memoirs of a British bolshevik. 1992. XI, 226 pp. ISBN 0-9508423-8-9 [out of print]
• Harry Wicks 1905-1989 - a memorial. 1989. VIII, 54 pp. ISBN 0-9508423-6-2
• Higgins, Jim: Speak one more time : selected writings. 2004. V, 191 pp. ISBN 0-9523648-8-3

On Socialist Platform’s aims and purposes see also:
Richardson, Al: Saving our history from academics and sects : John McIlroy interviews Al Richardson, editor of the magazine Revolutionary History, in: Workers Liberty (London), 1995 (23), pp. 22-24.
 

International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE)
and Ernest Mandel Study Centre
(Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

The International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE)* was launched in 1981 as a Belgian foundation, recognized in Belgium as an international scientific association by a royal decree of June 11, 1981. The late Ernest Mandel, renowned political economist, theorist and long-time leader of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International was the founder, first chairman and moving spirit of IIRE which in 1982 opened a centre in Amsterdam. Addresss: Willemsparkweg 202, 1071 HW Amsterdam, The Netherlands (postal address: Postbus 53290, 1007 RG Amsterdam, The Netherlands).

The foundation receives its money chiefly from donations, it is not sponsored or funded by governmental or university institutions. IIRE is closely affiliated with the Fourth International (FI) and it is chiefly through the press of the FI and its national sections that IIRE’s publications are advertized and its various activities are made publicly known. Factually, the IIRE is the research and education centre of the FI, its cadre school, if you want so. Many leaders or educators of youth groups, trade-unionists and political cadres from almost all parts of the world have got decisive parts of their political formation at IIRE which is aiming at the development of scientific research and education on socialism and democracy by stimulating and organizing comprehensive courses, educational schools, seminars and study groups dealing with almost all subjects related to the emancipation of the oppressed and exploited all over the world, including economy, political theory, history, ecology, trade-unionism, national liberation struggles, women’s and other emancipation movements. Lecturers and course teachers as well as those responsible for IIRE’s research work and publication endeavours are coming from various countries and most of them are scholars and/or long-time activists of the Fourth International (see below). But IIRE does not only function as a place where members and sympathizers of the FI are gathering for conferences and educational courses. Its well-equipped conference facilities have also been used for conferences of various non-Trotskyist groups and non-profit organizations as well as for solidarity and other events.

Furthermore, IIRE houses a steadily growing library with more than 25,000 books and several 1,000 periodicals on three floors, chiefly publications in English, French and Spanish, a substantial portion of which has been computer-indexed; the completing of this work is under way. Large- and small scale donations are warmly welcomed. IIREs library collection is not only available to the lecturers and students but to any scholar for consultation by appointment.

The work of the IIRE is carried on by a small permament staff and a number of volunteers from the Netherlands and from abroad. Director of the IIRE as of 2004 is Dr. Peter Drucker, an American who lectures on history, international relations and sexuality, assisted in managing the institute by Paul Mepschen and Penelope Duggan. A board of directors whose chairperson is Dr. Joost Kircz, oversees the institute’s finances and general development. Through the years an international network of fellows has been built up, chiefly comprising people who are (or, were) teaching at university level, most of them combining scholarly and activist expertise just as Ernest Mandel exemplified to them. Some of IIRE’s best known and most outstanding fellows are Gilbert Achcar, Daniel Bensaïd, Michel Husson, Jeanette Habel, Michel Löwy, Pierre Rousset, Catherine Samary, Susan Caldwell, Stephanie Coontz, Eric Toussaint, Marcel van der Linden, François Vercammen, Robert Went (who preceeded P. Drucker as director of the IIRE) and  Peter Waterman. The late Ernest Mandel (1923-1995) and Livio Maitan (1923-2004) had been IIRE fellows, too.

Mention must be of the Ernest Mandel Study Centre which was established in July 1996 on the occasion of the first anniversary of Mandel’s death when a (first) international scholarly conference on his theoretical work was held at IIRE in honour of its founder and promotor. It goes without saying that Mandels books, course papers and other writings are well represented in the institutes library.

Some results of the research and educational work done at IIRE have been reflected in its publications which partly have been published as parallel editions both in English and French and which have been focusing on subjects ranging from contemporary debate to historical or theoretical issues. Most of the publications issued or co-issued by IIRE are based on lectures given in its sessions or read at conferences which took place under its auspices. For further information about IIRE’s ongoing publications please consult our features about the Notebooks and Working Papers series. Members of IIRE’s staff have also been involved in the editing or issuing of some monographic works such as for example The legacy of Ernest Mandel (London, 1999), being an edited version of the above-mentioned conference on Mandel held in 1996; this collection was also published in French (Le marxisme d’Ernest Mandel, Paris 1999) and German (Gerechtigkeit und Solidarität, Köln, 2003)

IIRE maintains a homepage where you can find some more information about its history, mission and aims, about its Ernest Mandel Study Center and about its publications.

Sources used for this survey:
 - IIRE’s WWW site
 - Into a better century. [Undated brochure of IIRE, ca. 2000.] 8 pp.
 - The IIRE from the 1980s into the 1990s. [Brochure of IIRE, ca. 1992.] 19 pp.
 - Newsletter [of the IIRE] 1993,1 - 1995,2.
 - Our letter exchange with Robert Went and Peter Drucker, 1990s.

Centro de Estudios, Investigaciones y Publicaciones
'León Trotsky'(C.E.I.P.)
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)

The Centro de Estudios, Investigaciones y Publicaciones 'León Trotsky' (C.E.I.P., or, C.E.I.P.L.T., for short) [Centre for Study, Research and Publication Leon Trotsky] was set up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in May 1998 by Trotskyist activists and scholars affiliated to various currents of Argentine Trotskyism. C.E.I.P. is chiefly devoted to the collection and dissemination of Trotsky’s works in Spanish language and can be regarded as the Argentinian (or, Hispanic-American) counterpart of similar European institutions like for example C.E.R.M.T.R.I. and Institut Léon Trotsky in France or Revolutionary History (Socialist Platform Ltd.) in Britain with which C.E.I.P. closely co-operates; thus Alejandra Ríos from the C.E.I.P. staff is at the same time a member of Revolutionary History’s editorial board.
C.E.I.P. is located at Calle Pasteur 460, 4a piso, depto G, Capital Federal (Buenos Aires), Argentina; e-mail: ceiplt@usanet, phone: 00-541-149522302; opening hours: Mon-Fri 17-21 p.m., Sat 14-19 p.m.

Since its foundation only a couple of years ago, C.E.I.P. has established itself as a cornerstone of the unofficial international network of Trotsky research facilities. Based upon its library/collection of Trotsky’s writings in Spanish and other languages and of Argentinian and foreign/international Trotskyist papers, newsletters, series and bulletins, C.E.I.P. has been issuing a very considerable number of monographic and ongoing publications both in printed and in machine-readable format. Thanks to C.E.I.P.’s publication activities, far more than 1,000 texts by Leon Trotsky in Spanish language are available in the WWW as of 2004; a good portion of those texts have been translated into Spanish for the first time or had long been unavailable to most Spanish-speaking people.

C.E.I.P. is well-represented in the WWW; its website contains detailed informations relating to the aims, tasks and programmes of C.E.I.P., to its collections and publications, links to other research facilities, journals, Trotskyist organizations, etc. An on-line newsletter called Boletín electrónico is published by C.E.I.P., too.

It should be mentioned here that most of the texts published by C.E.I.P. are available in digital format, too; thus the submenu Textos online of C.E.I.P.’s website is of particular relevance since it contains hundreds of links to the on-line version of those writings of Leon Trotsky (in Spanish language) which recently have been issued in printed format or on CD-ROM by C.E.I.P. Many of the contributions contained in C.E.I.P.’s ongoing publications as well as some writings of Pierre Broué and James P. Cannon (in Spanish translation) have been made available on-line by C.E.I.P., too.

Here’s a selective list of publications (chiefly compilations of writings by Leon Trotsky) issued and disseminated by C.E.I.P. in book or CD-ROM format.
Note: C.E.I.P.’s newsletter Cuadernos is featured elsewhere on TrotskyanaNet.

• Trotsky, León: Escritos filosóficos. 2004. 200 pp.
• Trotsky, León: Escritos latinoamericanos. [Pról.: Christian Castillo], 2. ed. 2000. 368 pp. [1. ed. was publ. in 1999]
• Naturaleza y dinamica del capitalismo y la economía de transición. 1999. 626 pp.
• La teoría de la revolución permanente. [Pres.: Gabriela Liszt ...]. 2000. 606, [10] pp. [Containing Trotsky’s Antes del 9 de enero, Resultados y perspectivas, Lecciones de Octubre, Programma internacional do programma del socialismo en un solo país?, La revolución permanente, Tres concepciones de la revolución rusa, Cartas a Preobrazhensky ...]
• Guerra y revolución : una interpretación alternativa de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Tomo 1. 2004. 464 pp. [Collection of writings of L. Trotsky, R. Klement, J. Van Heijenoort, L. Justo, J.P. Cannon, S. Mangan]
• Trotsky, León: Escritos de León Trotsky, 1929-1940. 2000. 1 CD-ROM. [Containing more than 1,100 letters, articles and other items written by L. Trotsky between 1929 and 1940]

About C.E.I.P. see also:
Gaudichaud, Franck: Centro de Estudios, Investigaciones y Publicaciones (CEIP) León Trotsky, in: Dissidences : bulletin de liaison des études sur les mouvements révolutionnaires, 5.2002 (11), pp. 21-22.
 

Prometheus Research Library (PRL)
(New York, NY, USA)

Founded in the late 1970s, the Prometheus Research Library (PRL) considers itself a working archive of American and international Marxist history, documentation and related interests, a research facility for a wide range of Marxist studies. At the same time PRL functions as the central reference archive of the Spartacist League of the U.S. (SL) which is a section of the International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) (ICL-FI). The history of the Spartacist League goes back to the early 1960s when James (Jim) Robertson and some co-thinkers formed a faction within the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) called Revolutionary Tendency which eventually was expelled from the SWP in January 1964. The Spartacist League was officially founded in 1966. Some years later, SL together with dissident Trotskyist groups and sympathizers in some other countries formed the International Spartacist Tendency (iST) which later was renamed International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) (ICL), claiming the label of authentic, or, orthodox Trotskyism. (For a rough orientation about SL’s and ICL’s pre-history and history see the respective paragraphs in Alexander’s encyclopedia of Trotskyism).
Prometheus Research Library is working under the auspices of the Central Committee of the Spartacist League, it has a staff of devoted Spartacists doing voluntary labour and some individual associates in other countries. PRL is member of the American Library Association (ALA) and strongly supports the collaboration and exchange of historical material with other libraries, thus e.g. it has deposited SL records at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. It co-operated with the late Trotsky bibliographer and collector Louis Sinclair and with noted American Trotskyist historian and Trotsky editor George Breitman.
As at Summer 2006, PRL’s collections consist of some 6,000 books and periodical volumes, some 100 reels of micofilmed documents and serials and some 175 linear ft. of archival documents, bulletins and other internal discussion material with special emphasis on American communist and Trotskyist history. Thus there are substantial materials from the early Communist Party of the U.S., the Communist League of America, the Workers Party, the Socialist Workers Party, the Independent Labor League, etc., an extensive collection of the published and unpublished writings of James P. Cannon, the pioneer of American Trotskyism, bulletins, minutes and other documents from the International Secretariat of the Fourth International, etc. PRL has a strong interest to preserve such historically valuable documents and to ensure that they are not lost; thus it  encourages persons who have relevant archivalia to deposit them at PRL, agreeing to get xerox copies instead of the originals if the donator prefers to keep the originals.
PRL is open to qualified researchers, the collections do not circulate; since PRL is operating on a limited schedule, interested users are required to send written requests about specific projects and for appointment. The PRL is located at Lower Manhattan, New York, the postal address is: Box 185, Canal Street Station, New York, NY 10013, phone: +49-212-9661866, e-mail: prl.ny@verizon.net. In 2006, PRL went online with a website from which most of the above-mentioned facts have been derived.
PRL currently circulates lists of recent acquisitions (titled Acquisition Circular) to interested libraries and individuals.
PRL has its own publication program making available rare materials which it considers an indispensable part of the documentary history of the Trotskyist movement. Thus beginning in 1988, the Prometheus research series has been published, comprising of the following volumes (as at 2006):

• No. 1: Guidelines on the organizational structure of communist parties... 1988. 94 pp. ISBN 0-9633828-3-9. $ 6.oo
• No. 2: Documents on “proletarian military policy”. 1989. 102 pp. ISBN 0-9633928-4-5. $ 9.oo
• No. 3: In memoriam Richard S. Fraser : an appreciation and selection of his work. 1990. 108 pp. ISBN 0-9633828-5-3. $ 7.oo
• No. 4: Yugoslavia, East Europe and the Fourth International : the evolution of Pabloist liquidationism, by Jan Norden. 1993. 70 pp. ISBN 0-9633828-2-9. $ 7.oo
• No. 5: Marxist policies or unprincipled combinationism? Internal problems of the Workers Party. 2000. 88 pp. ISBN 0-9633829-6-1. $ 7.oo

Besides Prometheus research series, the following volumes have been published in recent years:

• Dog days : James P. Cannon vs. Max Shachtman in the Communist League of America 1931-1933. 2002. 752 pp. ISBN 0-9633828-7-X (cloth). $ 30.oo. ISBN 0-9633828-8-8 (paper). $ 19.95
• [Cannon, James Patrick:] James P. Cannon and the early years of American communism : selected writings and speeches, 1920-1928. 1992. 624 pp. ISBN 0-9633828-1-0. $ 14.50
• [Trotsky, Leon] Trotskii, L.: Kommunisticheskii Internatsional posle Lenina. [First Russian-language ed. of Trotsky’s The Communist International after Lenin.] 1993. 309 pp. ISBN 5-900696-01-4. $ 12.oo.

All items listed above can be ordered from Spartacist Publishing Company, Box 1377 GPO, New York, NY 10116, USA.

Holt Labor Library (HLL)
(San Francisco, Cal.)

The Holt Labor Library (HLL) was set up in 1992 as a non-profit organization to provide a working library for labour studies and radical history studies accessible to the general public. Thus anyone interested in Holt’s rich collection is allowed to use this facility (material is not circulating) which is situated at 50 Fell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, phone: 415-241-1370. Opening hours: Mon: 1:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Tue-Fri: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Director and moving spirit of Holt Labor Library is Mrs. Shannon Sheppard, a symbol of helpfulness, e-mail contact: holtlabor@holtlaborlibrary.org. 

As of 2004, Holt Labor Library provides a collection consisting of over 4,500 books about socialist history and Marxist theory, African-American struggle etc., with special emphasis on (American) Trotskyism, some 3,000 pamphlets, brochures and flyers available in subject files, some 90 currently received labour and leftist serials, some 300 videos including movies and documentary films, several hundred audio tapes containing speeches and classes by socialist and labour activists from past and present, innumerable bulletins and papers reflecting the socialist history in the U.S., historic socialist papers, scrapbooks and ephemera from the anti-Vietnam war movement. A significant part of the collection consists of out-of-print and hard-to-find material.

Holt Labor Library maintains an excellent website containing a collection description, a link to its on-line catalogue, a link collection, informations about hours, services, location etc.; each month the website also features a new online exhibit. Within the collection description you can find a list of the pamphlet files subject headings and a list of videos, movies and documentaries.
 

Committee for the Study of Leon Trotsky’s Legacy
(New York, NY, USA)

In November 1994 the first ever international scholarly conference on Leon Trotsky taking place on Russian soil was held in Moscow dealing with The ideological legacy of Leon Trotsky: historical and contemporary significance [click here for a feature about and for publications originating from this remarkable event]. At the end of this conference, which was chiefly organized by the American long-time Trotskyist Marilyn Vogt-Downey and the Russian professor Mikhail Voeikov, a group of interested participants launched an international Committee for the Study of Leon Trotsky’s Legacy (CSLTL) (Russian denomination: Mezhdunarodnyi Komitet po Izucheniiu Naslediia L.D. Trotskogo). The internationally renowned French historian and Trotsky biographer Pierre Broué was elected president and Aleksei V. Gusev and Marilyn Vogt-Downey international co-ordinators of that committee. The initial advisory council of CSLTL comprised Aleksandr Buzgalin, Nadezhda Ioffe, Aleksandr Pantsov, Vadim Rogovin, Robert J. Alexander, Terrance Brotherstone, Robert V. Daniels, George Saunders, Paul N. Siegel, Morris Slavin, Hillel H. Ticktin, Esteban Volkov, Alan M. Wald et al.
The CSLTL aimed at fund-raising with regard to facilitate the scientific publication of some major eminent works by and about Leon Trotsky in Russian language (e.g. Trotsky’s History of the Russian revolution, the Dewey Commission’s The Case of Leon Trotsky and Not guilty), to create an international scientific centre for the organized collection and study of materials linked with the political and theoretical activity of Trotsky, to support the Trotsky Museum at Coyoacán etc. Another main object of the CSLTL was to organize and to sponsor some international seminars and conferences where the legacy,  meaning and understanding of Trotsky could be discussed. Such conferences under CSLTL’s auspices factually were held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, respectively, in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999. With regard to the above-mentioned 1994 Moscow conference, CSLTL published a selection of the conference papers, both in English and Russian language. At the time being it is not  definitively clear whether or not the activities of CSLTL still are continuing.
E-mail contact: mvogt@igc.apc.org. Postal address: P.O. Box 1890, New York, NY 10009, USA.

About CSLTL:
Ticktin, Hillel and Terry Brotherstone: Committee for the Study of Trotsky & his Legacy, 7 KB, URL:
http://www.revolutionary-history.co.uk/otherdox/hillel.htm.
 

Torotsuki Kenkyushu [Trotsky Institute]
(Tokyo, Japan)

The Torotsuki Kenkyushu (Trotsky Institute of Japan) was established in Tokyo, Japan, in 1991 as a non-profit foundation. Its staff and membership consists of Japanese scholars devoted to research on the life and work of Leon Trotsky and on Trotskyism as well as of activists and veterans of the Japanese Trotskyist movement. The institute aims at collecting and keeping Trotsky’s books and articles (in various languages), translating them (as possible from Russian originals) into Japanese and introducing them to average Japanese readers, and at the same time establishing/furthering an international network of Trotsky studies by closely co-operating with similar institutions in various countries of the world.

The address of the Trotsky Institute of Japan is: Atorie Mi-Yu, Bira 4 No. 105, Kumagawa 510, Fussa-City, Tokyo 197, Japan, phone: 042-553-8114, e-mail contact:
trotsky@mvj.biglobe.ne.jp

Since October 1991 the Trotsky Institute of Japan has been publishing a scholarly journal in Japanese language (with English parallel title and an English translation of the tables of contents) called Torotsuki Kenkyu (Trotsky Studies); for more details about this ongoing publication please consult our feature about Torotsuki Kenkyu (Trotsky Studies) provided elsewhere in TrotskyanaNet. Furthermore, the institute is publishing a newsletter (available to members only); as of 2003, 34 issues have been published; the newsletter’s tables of contents are available on the WWW.

The Torotsuki Kenkyushu (Trotsky Institute of Japan) maintains some WWW sites, both in Japanese and English, containing detailed lists of contents of its publications, an exhaustive link collection (more than 500), etc.

In January 2002 the Trotsky Institute of Japan started another English-language WWW site called Trotsky Library in Japan (the Japanese counterpart had already opened in May 2000), the main purpose of which is to systematically present Trotsky’s books, pamphlets and articles in Japanese. Thus, these sites contains links to hundreds of on-line available items (uploaded by the institute) which previously had been published in the institute’s printed journal and newsletter, as well as books and articles which had been translated into Japanese before, but not from the original texts. Many of the texts provided on-line are linked with Russian or English versions available elsewhere on the internet.

Rev. April 2007

© by Wolfgang & Petra Lubitz 2004 — http://www.trotskyana.net