''The New Reasoner'' was a British journal of dissident

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

published from 1957 to 1959 by John Saville and E. P. Thompson. The publication is best remembered as an antecedent of the long-running journal ''

New Left Review The ''New Left Review'' is a British bimonthly journal, established in 1960, which analyses international politics, the global economy, social theory, and cultural topics from a leftist perspective. History Background As part of the emergin ...

''.

''The Reasoner''

''The New Reasoner'' was preceded by a journal entitled ''The Reasoner'', first published in July 1956 by John Saville and E. P. Thompson. The editors proposed the use of the journal as a forum for the discussion of "questions of fundamental principle, aim, and strategy," critiquing

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

as well as the dogmatic politics of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

(CPGB). ''The Reasoner'' took its name from an early 19th-century publication which had attempted to renew and reinvigorate a flagging

Jacobin The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...

Radicalism. Over its five months of existence, the journal angered many within the leadership of the CPGB. Thompson and Saville were ordered to cease publication of their dissident journal, an order they chose to defy. Because of their refusal, Thompson and Saville were suspended from the CPGB.

''The New Reasoner''

In 1957, following their resignation from the CPGB over its support of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's invasion of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, Thompson and Saville began the publication of a new journal, named the ''New Reasoner'', with the purpose of contributing to "the re-discovery of our traditions, the affirmation of socialist values, and the undogmatic perception of social reality." The opening editorial was a reaffirmation of their commitment to the British

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and Communist tradition, despite their departure from the Party. They allied themselves with European workers who were fighting for "de-stalinisation" and called for the rebirth of principles within the movement. In 1960 the ''New Reasoner'' merged with the ''Universities and Left Review'' journal to become ''

''.

Footnotes

External links

Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust website
All the issues of the journal are available in digital format copyright free (CC copyright). The site also includes an article on the journal's history by Peter Worsley, assisted by

Dorothy Thompson (historian) Dorothy Katharine Gane Thompson (''née'' Towers; 30 October 1923 – 29 January 2011) was a social historian and a leading expert on the Chartist movement. She and her husband (and fellow historian) E. P. Thompson became well-known in left-wi ...

and Stuart Hall. {{British New Left Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1957 Magazines disestablished in 1960 Socialist magazines