New Reasoner

New Reasoner was a British political journal associated with dissident Communism and the emergence of the New Left. It was founded in 1957 by the historians John Saville and E. P. Thompson after both men resigned from the Communist Party of Great Britain in opposition to the Party's support for the Soviet invasion of Hungary. The journal continued the editors' effort to create a serious forum for questioning Stalinism, Communist orthodoxy, and the strategic assumptions of the established British Communist movement while retaining an engagement with Marxist and socialist traditions. The publication grew directly out of The Reasoner, a short-lived journal first issued by Saville and Thompson in July 1956. The earlier journal was conceived as a space for debate about fundamental principles, political aims, and strategy. Its editors criticized the dogmatic practices of the Communist Party of Great Britain and sought to examine the consequences of Stalinism rather than simply reproduce official Party positions. The Reasoner lasted only five months, but its publication brought the editors into conflict with the CPGB leadership. When ordered to stop issuing the journal, Saville and Thompson refused and were suspended from the Party. New Reasoner emerged from the political crisis that followed the Hungarian Revolution and the Soviet military intervention of 1956. Its founding marked a break with formal Party membership, but not a rejection of socialism or of the British Marxist intellectual tradition. The journal's opening editorial presented its purpose as the recovery of socialist traditions, the reaffirmation of socialist values, and a non-dogmatic understanding of social reality. It also expressed solidarity with European workers and movements seeking de-Stalinisation and called for a renewal of principles within the wider socialist movement. The journal occupied an important position in the British debates that connected Marxist history, working-class politics, anti-Stalinism, and the developing New Left. It was not a mass-market consumer publication or a commercial product brand; its importance lay in political and intellectual argument. New Reasoner provided a platform for dissident Communist perspectives at a time when the Soviet invasion of Hungary had prompted widespread reassessment among left-wing writers and activists. Its editorial project helped make possible a broader rethinking of the relationship between socialism, democracy, party organization, and historical experience. New Reasoner published through 1959. In 1960 it merged with Universities and Left Review, another British left-wing journal, to form New Left Review. That merger ended New Reasoner as a separate publication but carried its editorial and political legacy into a journal that became a long-running international forum for Marxist and left-wing analysis. The New Reasoner is therefore chiefly remembered as an antecedent of New Left Review and as part of the formative publishing history of the British New Left.

New Reasoner developed from the political and intellectual crisis that affected the British Communist movement during the mid-1950s. Its immediate predecessor, The Reasoner, was first published in July 1956 by John Saville and E. P. Thompson. Both editors were members of the Communist Party of Great Britain, but they believed that the Party's established forms of discipline and argument prevented an adequate discussion of fundamental political questions. The Reasoner was intended to provide a space for debate about principles, aims, and strategy, including a critical examination of Stalinism and the CPGB's dogmatic tendencies. The earlier journal survived for approximately five months. Its challenge to official Communist positions angered elements of the CPGB leadership. Saville and Thompson were instructed to discontinue publication, but they refused to comply and were suspended from the Party. The dispute placed the editors within the broader international crisis caused by the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. For many British Communists and fellow travelers, the Soviet intervention made it impossible to maintain an uncritical relationship with the Soviet Union or with orthodox Party politics. In 1957, after resigning from the CPGB over its support for the Soviet invasion of Hungary, Saville and Thompson established New Reasoner. The new journal represented continuity with The Reasoner, but its title and editorial program reflected a larger attempt to rethink socialism after the collapse of confidence in Stalinist authority. Its opening statement emphasized the recovery of socialist traditions, the affirmation of socialist values, and the study of social reality without rigid ideological formulas. Although the editors had left the Communist Party, they continued to identify with aspects of the British Marxist and Communist tradition and sought to contribute to its renewal rather than simply abandon it. New Reasoner was part of the developing British New Left. It connected historical inquiry with political argument and gave expression to dissident Communist perspectives, anti-Stalinist socialism, and demands for de-Stalinisation. The journal's significance was primarily intellectual and political: it offered a venue in which writers could reassess party authority, socialist democracy, working-class politics, and the meaning of Marxist traditions in light of recent events. It also aligned itself with European workers and movements struggling to reform or renew the socialist movement. The journal published until 1959. In 1960 it merged with Universities and Left Review. The combined publication became New Left Review, which went on to achieve a much longer life and a broader international readership. New Reasoner therefore ended as a separate title, but its editorial personnel, political concerns, and critical approach helped shape one of the most important journals associated with the post-1956 New Left. Its historical role is best understood as that of a short-lived but influential bridge between dissident Communist publishing and the later institutional culture of New Left Review.

• 1960

  Merger creates New Left Review

  [1]New Reasoneren.wikipedia.org

  New Reasoner merges with Universities and Left Review to form New Left Review.

• 1959

  Final publication period

  [1]New Reasoneren.wikipedia.org

  New Reasoner completes its period as an independent journal.

• 1957

  New Reasoner begins publication

  [1]New Reasoneren.wikipedia.org

  Saville and Thompson establish New Reasoner after resigning from the CPGB over its support for the Soviet invasion of Hungary.

• 1956

  The Reasoner is launched

  [1]New Reasoneren.wikipedia.org

  John Saville and E. P. Thompson publish the first issue of The Reasoner, creating the immediate predecessor to New Reasoner.

• 1956

  Editors suspended from the CPGB

  [1]New Reasoneren.wikipedia.org

  After refusing an instruction to stop publishing their dissident journal, Saville and Thompson are suspended from the Communist Party of Great Britain.

A dissident Marxist and socialist journal that promoted critical debate, anti-Stalinism, and a non-dogmatic reassessment of Communist and socialist traditions.

• Political journal · 1957

  New Reasoner

  The journal's principal and only documented publication line was a series of political and intellectual issues addressing socialism, Marxism, Communist Party politics, Stalinism, de-Stalinisation, and the recovery of democratic and critical traditions within the left. It was edited by John Saville and E. P. Thompson and served as a platform for dissident Communist and emerging New Left arguments in Britain. The title was published from 1957 until 1959 before being merged into New Left Review in 1960.

• 1960

  Merger with Universities and Left ReviewM&A

  Background

  New Reasoner was a short-lived dissident left journal whose editorial project overlapped with the broader British New Left represented by Universities and Left Review.

  Action taken

  The two journals combined to establish New Left Review.

  Aftermath

  New Reasoner ceased to exist as an independent title, while its editors and political concerns contributed to the longer-running New Left Review.

  Source

1. 1New Reasoneren.wikipedia.org