The Communist. Vol. 17 No. 5. May, 1938.

Contents: Review of the Month by A.B., Building the Democratic Front by Clarence A. Hathaway, Notes on the Defense of American Democracy by Gene Dennis and Gil Green, Unemployment-An Old Struggle Under New Conditions by H. B., The Economic Crisis by Robert Stark, Edgar Snow’s “Red Star Over China” by V. J. Jerome and Li Chuan, Fascist Penetration in Latin America by Samuel Putnam, Philosophic Nihilism Serves Reaction by Morris Childs and Frank Meyer.

There are a number of journals with this name in the history of the movement. This ‘Communist’ was the main theoretical journal of the Communist Party from 1927 until 1944. Its origins lie with the folding of The Liberator, Soviet Russia Pictorial, and Labor Herald together into Workers Monthly as the new unified Communist Party’s official cultural and discussion magazine in November, 1924. Workers Monthly became The Communist in March ,1927 and was also published monthly. The Communist contains the most thorough archive of the Communist Party’s positions and thinking during its run. The New Masses became the main cultural vehicle for the CP and the Communist, though it began with with more vibrancy and discussion, became increasingly an organ of Comintern and CP program. Over its run the tagline went from “A Theoretical Magazine for the Discussion of Revolutionary Problems” to “A Magazine of the Theory and Practice of Marxism-Leninism” to “A Marxist Magazine Devoted to Advancement of Democratic Thought and Action.” The aesthetic of the journal also changed dramatically over its years. Editors included Earl Browder, Alex Bittelman, Max Bedacht, and Bertram D. Wolfe.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/communist/v17n05-may-1938-The-Communist-OCR.pdf