Below we reproduce excerpts from the lecture delivered by Brinda Karat at an international conference on the Centenary of October Revolution organised by the Centenary Committee in London on November 4.AT a time when the world is facing the challenge of an offensive of imperialism, of right wing forces, of xenophobia, of racism, of bigotry, of increased violence against women and marginalised social groups, the need for an alternative vision of human development cannot be over emphasised.

THE centenary celebrations of the Great October Socialist Revolution concluded in Moscow with a rally on November 7. It was attended by not only comrades from Moscow but also leaders of over 100 communist and workers parties from across the world, as the 19th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP) was held in Russia. In the morning, on November 7, there was a military parade at the Red Square in front of the Kremlin, marking the 76th anniversary of the Red Army Parade at the time of preparing for countering the Nazi invasion of the USSR.

THE General Council of the All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU) met in New Delhi on November 4-5. The meeting was attended by 67 members from 14 states. It was presided over by AIAWU president S Thirunavukkarasu. Placing a report, AIAWU general secretary A Vijayaraghavan said the period since the last General Council meeting in Telangana in September, 2016, has seen growing attacks on the rural landless, agricultural workers and rural labourers, leading to suicides and hunger deaths.

ON October 15, 2017, the Venezuelan people went to the polls to elect their regional governors. Tensions swept through not only Venezuela, but across Latin America. Would the attrition of the Bolivarian project in Venezuela now be complete? Would this presage the defeat of the government of Nicolas Maduro in the presidential elections to be held in October 2018? US President Donald Trump waded into the Venezuelan elections, calling for the defeat of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the party led by Maduro. He failed.

THE Russian Revolution marked a historic break from the dominant social democratic reformist current in Europe.  Lenin had hoped that the Russian Revolution would be succeeded by the German Revolution.  However, those expectations were dashed after the crushing of the revolutionary uprising in Germany in 1919.Before the Second World War, there was a keen tussle between the social democratic reformist parties and the Communist parties affiliated to the Third International for winning over the allegiance of the working class in their respective countries.The 1929-33 Great Depression and capit