Max Shachtman (September 10, 1904 - November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. During his lifetime he evolved from being a Leninist associate of Leon Trotsky to an anti-Soviet democratic socialist. After his death, some Shachtmanites adopted neoconservatism. September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 57 days remaining. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ... (Russian: Лев Давидович Троцкий; also transliterated Leo, Lev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7 [O.S. October 26] 1879 – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Лев Давидович Бронштейн), was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. ... Anti-Sovietism and Anti-Soviet refer to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or the Soviet power within the Soviet Union. ... Democratic socialism is a political movement propagating the ideals of socialism within the framework of a parliamentary democracy. ... Shachtmanism was a form of Trotskyism associated with Max Shachtman. ... For other uses, see Neoconservatism (disambiguation). ...

Beginnings

Shachtman was born in 1904 to a Jewish family in Warsaw, Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire. He emigrated with his family to New York City in 1905. 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The history of the Jews in Poland reaches back over a millennium. ... Warsaw (Polish: , (?), in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto StoÅ‚eczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... Flag Seal Nickname: The Big Apple, The Capital of the World[1], Gotham Location Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area    - City 1,214. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

At an early age he became interested in Marxism and was sympathetic to the radical wing of the Socialist Party. In 1922, he joined the Workers' Council, a communist organisation led by J.B. Salutsky and Alexander Trachtenberg which was critical of the Communist Party USA but subsequently merged into it. He was persuaded by Martin Abern to move to Chicago to become an organizer for the communist youth organisation and edit the Young Worker. After joining the Communist Party, he rose to become an alternate member of its Central Committee. He edited Labor Defender, a journal of International Labor Defense. He associated with a group of dissidents including Abern and James P. Cannon that became supporters of Leon Trotsky. [1] Marxism is the philosophy, social theory and political practice based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German socialist philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary. ... Election poster for Eugene V. Debs, Socialist Party of America candidate for President, 1904 The Socialist Party of America was a socialist political party in the United States, the historic American member party of the Socialist International. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) is one of several Marxist-Leninist groups in the United States. ... Martin Abern, born Martin Abramowitz (December 2, 1898 ? 1949) was a Trotskyist politician. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... The International Labor Defense (ILD) was a legal defense organization in the United States, headed by William L. Patterson. ... James Cannon in Moscow (1922) James Patrick Cannon (1890-1974) was an American Communist and Trotskyist leader. ... (Russian: Лев Давидович Троцкий; also transliterated Leo, Lev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7 [O.S. October 26] 1879 – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Лев Давидович Бронштейн), was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. ...

Trotskyist leader

Shachtman, Cannon and Abern were expelled from the Communist Party in October 1928 after Joseph Stalin took control of the Communist International. These three and a handful of others formed a group around a newspaper called The Militant. Winning new support, including an important group of trades unionists in Minneapolis, the group shortly thereafter formed the Trotskyist Communist League of America (CLA). As Tim Wohlforth notes, Shachtman was already noted as a talented journalist and intellectual: The Militant listed Shachtman as its managing editor. Shachtman took up a series of positions as a journalist which allowed him the time and resources to bring the American Trotskyists into contact with their co-thinkers. The CLA often gave him responsibility for contact and correspondance with Trotskyists in other countries. While holidaying in Europe during 1930 he became the first American to visit Trotsky in exile, on the island of Prinkipo, one of the Princes' Islands in İstanbul, Turkey. He attended the first European conference of the International Left Opposition in April 1930 and represented the CLA on the International Bureau of the ILO. 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... (Russian: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин, Iosif Vissarionovič Stalin; December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s to his death in 1953 and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953), a position... The Comintern (from Russian Коммунистический Интернационал (Kommunisticheskiy Internatsional) – Communist International), also known as the Third International, was an independent international Communist organization founded in March 1919 by Vladmir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and the Russian Communist Party (bolshevik), which intended to fight by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of... The Militant is an international socialist newsweekly connected to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). ... This article is about the city in Minnesota. ... The Communist League of America (Left Opposition) was founded by James P. Cannon, Max Shachtman and Martin Abern in 1928 after their expulsion from the Communist Party USA for Trotskyism. ... Timothy Andrew Wohlforth is a former Trotskyist politician. ... The Militant is an international socialist newsweekly connected to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). ... World map showing Europe Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... The Princes Islands are a chain of nine islands off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey, in the Sea of Marmara. ... The Princes Islands (today Adalar) are a chain of nine islands off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey, in the Sea of Marmara. ... The location of Istanbul Province Maiden Tower and Historical Peninsula of Istanbul Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul) (the former Constantinople, Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ...

Shachtman's working relationship with Abern was strengthened in 1929 and 1930. They invited Albert Glotzer, already an old friend and political colleague of Shachtman from their days as leaders of the Communist youth organization, to work with them. During this time Cannon experienced a spell of depression, during which the CLA's organizing secretary was Abern while Shachtman worked on The Militant. Writing in 1936, Shachtman would criticise Abern's habit of nourishing secret cliques of friends and supporters by supplying them with insider information about debates in the League's leadership. Wohlforth's History reports a factional battle unport Cannon's return, in which the Minneapolis branch successfully backed Cannon's return to leadership against Abern and Shachtman. Glotzer's memoir mentions age as a factor: Cannon and other leaders were older than Shachtman, Abern, Maurice Spector and himself. Maurice Spector (1898 - August 1, 1968) was the Chairman of the Communist Party of Canada for much of the 1920s and an early follower of Leon Trotsky after his split from the Communist International. ...

Shachtman's journalistic and linguistic skills allowed him to be become a successful populariser and translator of Trotsky's work. Wohlforth notes that neither Shachtman nor other US Trotskyists of that time were developing theory: In his opinion, this made it easier for a division of labor in which Cannon led the organisation and Shachtman directed its literature and international relations.

Struggle against Cannon

Frictions between Shachtman and Cannon, especially over Shachtman's work when representing the League in Europe, broke out into a factional struggle in 1932. Trotsky and other leaders of the International Left Opposition complained to the CLA had intervened against them within the ILO's fragile European affiliates. Emily Turnbull and James Robertson, who collected and reviewed the documents from this struggle in Dog Days, comment that "Shachtman attempted to blunt Trotsky's sharp attacks on the opportunism and cliquism of those which whom he has worked in Europe- Kurt Landau, Pierre Naville, Andres Nin and M. Mill. Increasingly frustrated with Shacthman, in December 1931, Trotsky finally wrote to the CLA's national committee to inquire if Shachtman's action in international matters reflected the views of the CLA leadership. In answer, Cannon initiated a fight for the CLA to take a formal position against the trade-union opportunist and dillitantish elements represented by Naville in France." This article is part of the Communism series. ... James Robertson is the National Chairman of the Spartacist League in the United States and leader of the International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) which is an international organization of small Trotskyist groups. ... Pierre Naville (Paris, 1904 — Paris, 1993) was a French writer and sociologist. ... Andrés Nin Pérez, (Catalan: Andreu Nin; February 4, 1892, El Vendrell, Tarragona—June 20, 1937, near Madrid) was a Spanish Communist revolutionary. ...

Shactman retreated from his obstruction of Trotsky, but a complex and draining battle unfolded in the CLA. These tensions were amplified by the social differences within the leadership: the older trade unionists supported Cannon; Shachtman, Abern, Glotzer and Maurice Spector were young intellectuals. Stanton and Tabor explain that the CLA's modest progress also increased the frustration between the factions. It was only a sharp intervention by the ILO in 1933 that ended the fight. Although the line-up of opponents largely anticipated Shachtman's 1940 split from the Trotskyism, the years from 1933 to 1938 restored the co-operation between Cannon and Shachtman. Maurice Spector (1898 - August 1, 1968) was the Chairman of the Communist Party of Canada for much of the 1920s and an early follower of Leon Trotsky after his split from the Communist International. ...

Workers' Party Merger

Early in 1933, Shachtman and Glotzer travelled to Europe. While in Britain the pair were able to meet with Reg Groves and other members of the recently formed Communist League with whom Shachtman had corresponded. When Trotsky's household moved to France in July 1933, Shachtman accompanied them on their journey from Turkey.

In 1934, after the CLA merged with A. J. Muste's American Workers Party to form the Workers Party (United States), Shachtman began editing the party's new theoretical journal, New International. During this time he wrote a notable booklet on the Moscow Trials [2] and translated Leon Trotsky’s The Stalin School of Falsification (in 1937) [3] and his Problems of the Chinese Revolution (between 1932 and 1938) [4]. Abraham Johannes Muste (January 8, 1885 – February 11, 1967) was a socialist active in the pacifist movement, labor movement and the US civil rights movement. ... A number of parties have gone by differing versions of the name Workers Party. The American Workers Party is most well known for its leadership in the 1934 Toledo Auto-lite Strike. ... The Workers Party (WP) was a Marxist group in the United States. ... New International is a Marxist magazine published by Pathfinder Press, from the United States Socialist Workers Party. ... The Moscow Trials were a series of trials of political opponents of Joseph Stalin during the Great Purge. ...

When the development of the WP was cut short by the rapid growth of the Socialist Party, George Breitman recalls that Shachtman and Cannon successfully proposed that the party should dissolve, so that its members could join the Socialist Party. While Trotsky had developed the entry tactic during the French Turn, he told Glotzer: "I am very dissasistfield with the way the American comrades are working in the Socialist Party. It is opportunist." George Breitman (1916 - 1986) was born in a working-class neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey in 1916. ... The French Turn refers to the policy advocated by Leon Trotsky as a plan of action for his followers at various stages throughout the 1930s. ...

Differences with Trotsky

Trotsky believed that Shachtman's refusal to antagonise others led Shachtman, and the publications he edited, to too favorable a view of the party's opponents. Trotsky's review of some of the differences, From a Scratch To the Danger of Gangrene [5], suggests that these differences deepened after Trotsky's critism of Shachtman's approach to the SP. In his 1937 article Towards a Revolutionary Socialist Party, Shachtman argued that the SP, despite the leadership of Norman Thomas, was close to revolutionary marxism and was on the road to becoming a revolutionary party. Trotsky wrote: "Shachtman revealed excessive adaptability toward the left wing of the petty-bourgeois democrats—political mimicry—a very dangerous symptom in a revolutionary politician!" Trotsky felt that these tensions exacerbated by Shachtman's habit of supporting a proposal, only to later undermine it. Trotsky gives the example of his proposal that the Dewey Commission be supported by rank-and-file workers' groups: Shachtman supported the plan, but Trotsky was later told he opposed it. Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 - December 19, 1968) was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. ... The Dewey Commission was initiated in March 1937 by the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky. It was named after its Chairman, John Dewey. ...

After the Trotskyists were expelled from the SP in 1937 Shachtman became a leader of their new organisation, the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). Shachtman gave the report on the political situation at that congress. The SWP included socialists like James Burnham which had come from A. J. Muste's party rather than from the Trotskyist tradition. At the SWP's founding congress Burnham proposed that the USSR was no longer a degenerated workers' state: Shachtman spoke for the majority view that it remained a workers' state, and considered it important enough to hold a vote by roll call on the resolution. In March 1938 Shachtman and Cannon were part of a delegation sent to Mexico City to discuss the draft Transitional Program of the Fourth International with Trotsky: they would later teach a series of classes together in New York about the Program. 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Socialist Workers Party is a communist political party in the United States. ... James Burnham (1905–1987) was an American popular political theorist, activist and intellectual, known for his work The Managerial Revolution, published in 1941, which heavily influenced George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four. Burnham was of English Catholic stock, although he was an atheist for much of his life before converting... Abraham Johannes Muste (January 8, 1885 – February 11, 1967) was a socialist active in the pacifist movement, labor movement and the US civil rights movement. ... In Trotskyist political theory the term degenerated workers state has been used since the 1930s to describe the state of the Soviet Union after Stalins consolidation of power in or about 1924. ... A roll call is the process of checking who is in attendance, usually by calling out and checking off their names. ... Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México, México D.F. or simply México, pronounced /mexiko/ in IPA) is the capital and largest city of the nation of Mexico. ... The full name of the Transitional Program is The Death Agony of Capitalism and the Tasks of the Fourth International:The Mobilization of the Masses around Transitional Demands to Prepare the Conquest of Power. ... The Fourth International has been the Trotskyist movements most important international organisation. ...

Shachtman came into closer contact with other left-wing intellectuals in or around the SWP, including James Burnham, Dwight McDonald and the group around Partisan Review. Shachtman became a focal point for many in the milieu of the New York Intellectuals as they have been collectively described by authors such as Alan Wald. Wohlforth writes that deepened the friction between him and the party's working class base. James Burnham (1905–1987) was an American popular political theorist, activist and intellectual, known for his work The Managerial Revolution, published in 1941, which heavily influenced George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four. Burnham was of English Catholic stock, although he was an atheist for much of his life before converting... Partisan Review was an American political and literary quarterly published from 1934 to 2003. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ...

In April 1938, Shachtman and Burnham voted against the SWP's central committee adopting the Transitional Program, although they endorsed its general line as a draft resolution. At the same meeting Shachtman and Burnham also voted against Cannon's motion that the SWP adopt a memorandum by Trotsky, On the Labor Party Problem. Shachtman also successfully nominated Burnham, Abern and Ernest McKinney as the SWP's three delegates to the Pan-American Conference which prepared the founding congress of the Fourth International, at which Shachtman was a delegate and one of the presiding committee. All three were to follow Shachtman in splitting from the SWP two years later.

In 1939, Shachtman shocked Trotsky by publishing an article in the New International in which James Burnham declared his opposition to dialectical materialism, the philosophy of Marxism. Shachtman declared himself indifferent on the question. 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... New International is a Marxist magazine published by Pathfinder Press, from the United States Socialist Workers Party. ... It has been suggested that Marxist philosophy of nature be merged into this article or section. ... Marxism is the philosophy, social theory and political practice based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German socialist philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary. ...

Following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (August 23, 1939, a non-aggression treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union), the combined Polish September Campaign (September 1 - October 6, 1939) resulted in German and Soviet occupation of Poland. Inside the SWP, James Burnham argued that the SWP should drop its traditional position of defense of the USSR against imperialism. After the Winter War(November 30, 1939 - March 12, 1940) started, when the Soviet Union invaded Finland , Shachtman sided with Burnham, and broke with Cannon and majority in the SWP: He felt that he could no longer give even critical support to the Soviet Union. Molotov signs the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. ... This is the song that never ends yes it gos on and on my friends some people started singing it not knowing what it was they just started singing it forever just becauseThis is the song that never ends yes it gos on and on my friends some... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... A non-aggression pact is an international treaty between two or more states, agreeing to avoid war or armed conflict between them even if they find themselves fighting third countries, or even if one is fighting allies of the other. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Combatants Poland Germany Soviet Union Slovakia Commanders Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Fedor von Bock (Army Group North) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South) Ferdinand ÄŒatloÅ¡ (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions 16 brigades 4,300 guns 880 tanks 400 aircraft Total: 1,000,000[1] 56 German divisions, 33+ Soviet... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years). ... Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires. ... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 200,000 men, 32 tanks, 119 aircraft (In the beginning), 250,000 men, 30 tanks, 130 aircraft (At the end) 460,000 men, 1,500 tanks, 1,000 aircraft (In the beginning), 1,000,000... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days remaining. ... March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...

A bitter dispute opened up in the SWP. The case against Burnham and Shachtman's position is reflected in books by Cannon [6] and Trotsky [7]. Trotsky was especially critical of Shachtman's role as a member of the International Executive Committee of the Fourth International. At the start of World War II, the Fourth International was placed under the control of a resident committee formed by IEC members who happened to be in New York City. Shachtman' tendency held a majority of the resident IEC. Trotsky and others citicised Shachtman for failing to convene the resident IEC or using its authority to reduce the tensions developing in the SWP. Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II...

A year into the debate, a special convention was held in April 1940. After the April 1940 convention of the SWP, Shachtman and his supporters resigned from the SWP. They represented 40% of the party's membership and a majority of the youth group. Even before the Workers Party was formally founded James Burnham resigned from membership and renounced socialism. Many of those who had left the SWP did not join the Workers' Party: Novack's recollection [8] is that around half did. The Workers Party was a Trotskyist group in the United States. ...

Political evolution

While Cannon and his allies regarded the Soviet Union as a "degenerated workers' state," Shachtman and his party argued that the Stalinist bureaucracy was following an imperialist policy in Eastern Europe. They subsequently concluded that the bureaucracy had become a new ruling class. Cannon argued that the Workers' Party's weak roots in the trade unions meant that many of its members would move to the right. In June 1940 he told Trotsky that for the great majority of their suppporters, "Shachtman and Abern are only a stepping stone on the way to Roosevelt". When the WP's paper, Labor Action, appealed "Let's have a program for peace, not war" Trotsky described it as a pacifist tendency, and countered that war was inevitable. In Trotskyist political theory the term degenerated workers state has been used since the 1930s to describe the state of the Soviet Union after Stalins consolidation of power in or about 1924. ... Stalinism is a brand of political theory, and the political and economic system named after Josef Stalin, who implemented it in the Soviet Union. ... Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires. ... Current division of Europe into five (or more) regions: one definition of Eastern Europe is marked in orange Eastern Europe as a region has several alternative definitions, whereby it can denote: the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Central Europe and Russia. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ... FDR redirects here. ... Pacifist may mean: an advocate of pacifism. ...

Alongside Labor Action, Shachtman continued to edit New International, the Trotskyist magazine which his supporters had taken with them on resigning from the SWP. New International is a Marxist magazine published by Pathfinder Press, from the United States Socialist Workers Party. ...

The development of the "Third Camp"

In the early 1940s Shachtman developed the idea of a "Third Camp" that would be equally distinct from Stalinism and Western capitalism. Shachtman no longer endorsed the Trotskyist conclusion that the Soviet Union was a "degenerated workers' state," a post-capitalist country in which political control had been won by a bureaucratic caste that was not a new ruling class. He classified the USSR as a "bureaucratic collectivist" state ruled by a reactionary bureaucratic class that could engage in imperialist invasions. By 1948, Shachtman regarded capitalism and Stalinism to be equal impediments to socialism. His ideology at this time was different from his later thinking that Soviet Communism was the greater obstacle. Shachtman's views were detailed in a famous debate with Communist leader Earl Browder during this period. // Events and trends World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. ... The third camp, also known as third camp socialism or third camp Trotskyism, is a branch of Trotskyism which aims to oppose both capitalism and Stalinism by supporting the organised working class as a third camp. This approach was developed by Max Shachtman and is one of the major components... Stalinism is a brand of political theory, and the political and economic system named after Josef Stalin, who implemented it in the Soviet Union. ... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... Bureaucracy is a concept in sociology and political science. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ... Bureaucratic collectivism is a theory of class society. ... Reactionary (or reactionist) is a political epithet typically applied to conservatism. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Earl Russell Browder (May 20, 1891–June 27, 1973) was an American socialist and leader of the Communist Party USA. // Early years Browder was born in Wichita, Kansas. ...

Shachtman's Workers Party became active in union struggles, though it never gained a considerable influence in the labour movement. In 1948, Shachtman's group dropped its self-description as a "party" and became the Independent Socialist League (ISL). The WP/ISL attracted many young intellectuals, including Michael Harrington, Irving Howe, Hal Draper, and Julius Jacobson. Shachtman also maintained contact with Trotsky's widow, Natalia Sedova, who generally agreed with his views at that time. The labour movement (or labor movement) is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and political governments. ... The Workers Party was a Trotskyist group in the United States. ... This article is about the American socialist politician. ... Irving Howe (1920-1993), was born Irving Horenstein, the son of immigrants who ran a small grocery store that went out of business during the Great Depression. ... Hal Draper (1914-1990) was an American socialist activist, Marxist, Left-Shachtmanite, and author, perhaps best known for his role in the Berkeley, California Free Speech Movement. ... Julius Jacobson (1922 - March 8, 2003) was an American Third Camp socialist activist, Marxist, Left-Shachtmanite, author, and founder of the independent Left journal New Politics. ... Natalia Sedova Natalia Sedova (1882-1962) is best known as the second wife of Leon Trotsky, the Russian revolutionary. ...

During the 1950s, Shachtman and the ISL moved from Marxism to an ideology more in line with democratic socialism. Despite Shachtman's ideological dedication to democracy, critics have argued that he maintained a top-down power structure and strict party discipline in the ISL that resembled negative aspects of democratic centralism. The 1950s were a decade that spanned the years 1950 through 1959, although some sources say from 1951 through 1960. ... Democratic socialism is a broad political movement propagating the ideals of socialism within the context of a democratic system. ... For the various types of hierarchy, see hierarchy (disambiguation) A hierarchy (in Greek: Ιεραρχία, it is derived from ιερός-hieros, sacred, and άρχω-arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things or people, where each element of the system (except for the top element) is subordinate to a single other element. ... Party discipline is the ability of a political party to get its members to support the policies of the party leadership. ... Democratic centralism is the name given to the principles of internal organization used by Leninist political parties, and the term is sometimes used as a synonym for any Leninist policy inside a political party. ...

In 1958, Shachtman published The Bureaucratic Revolution: The Rise of the Stalinist States. This collected and codified Shachtman's key thoughts on Stalinism, and reworked some of his previous conclusions.

Shachtman in the Socialist Party

In 1958 the ISL merged with the Socialist Party, which from its height in the 1910s had fallen in strength to approximately 1,000 members. In Breitman's opinion, the ISL had simply dissolved. Shachtman helped pressure the SP to work with the Democratic Party in order to push the Democrats to the left. This strategy, known as "realignment", proved to be somewhat successful. With the eager participation of the Shachtmanites, the SP took an active role in the civil rights movement and the early events of the New Left. 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Election poster for Eugene V. Debs, Socialist Party of America candidate for President, 1904 The Socialist Party of America was a socialist political party in the United States, the historic American member party of the Socialist International. ... // Events and trends The 1910s represent the culmination of European militarism which had its beginings during the second half of the 19th Century. ... The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. ... Shachtmanism is a critical term applied to the form of Trotskyism associated with Max Shachtman. ... This article is becoming very long. ... The New Left is a term used in political discourse to refer to radical left-wing movements from the 1960s onwards. ...

During this time, Shachtman started the research for a major book on the Communist International. Although the book was never completed, his views were collected in a working paper prepared for a 1964 conference of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University. Shachtman's vast research notes for the book are held at the Tamiment Library. The first edition of Communist International, journal of the Comintern published in Moscow and Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) in May 1919. ... Hoover Tower The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace is a conservative public policy think tank and library founded by Herbert Hoover at Stanford University, his alma mater. ... Stanford redirects here. ...

Organizational and programmatic disputes in the group caused a number of splits, most notably by Hal Draper, who left and formed the Independent Socialist Club in 1964. The Shachtmanites eventually became irreparably divorced from the New Left because of their unwavering support for the Vietnam War (1957 - 1975). In 1972 Shachtmanites supported Democrat "Scoop" Jackson's presidential primary bid, as Jackson was by then the only major candidate who favored a continuation of the War. When George McGovern was nominated instead, the Shachtmanites chose not to endorse him. The International Socialists were a Trotskyist group in the United States. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand the Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 230,000 South Vietnamese wounded: 300,000 US dead... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... Henry Martin Scoop Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was a U.S. Congressman and Senator for Washington State from 1941 until his death. ... The series of U.S. presidential primaries is one of the first steps in the process of electing a President of the United States. ... George McGovern Dr. George Stanley McGovern (born July 19, 1922) was a United States Congressman, Senator, and Democratic presidential candidate, losing the 1972 presidential election to incumbent Richard Nixon. ...

Following the 1972 convention of the SP, Shachtman's followers, organized in the "Unity Caucus", gained control of the SP's leadership. After Shachtman's death on November 4 of that year, the Shachtmanites reconstituted the SP as Social Democrats USA (SDUSA). Harrington and the bulk of the party's membership soon left the organization. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 57 days remaining. ... The Social Democrats USA (SDUSA) is a small coalition of intellectuals and trade unionists. ...

Influence on others

For a full discussion of the currents influenced by Shachtman, see Shachtmanism.

Individuals influenced by Shachtman's organisations have evolved in three principal directions, each sharing his distinctive opposition to Stalinism. Shachtmanism is a critical term applied to the form of Trotskyism associated with Max Shachtman. ...

• Marxism. A number of political organisations have emerged from the Trotskyist movement which have considered themselves to be Marxist. This broad tendency is described as "Left Shachtmanism" and arguably includes followers of Tony Cliff such as the International Socialist Tendency.
• Social Democracy. After Shachtman's death in 1972, many democratic socialist Shachtmanites rose to prominent positions in government and organized labor. Supporters of Social Democrats USA (SDUSA) in the labor movement included Albert Shanker (president of the American Federation of Teachers), as well as AFL-CIO presidents George Meany and Lane Kirkland.
• Neoconservatism. Some conservatives such as Irving Kristol, Nathan Glazer, and Sidney Hook, were around the Shachtmanite milieu in the 1930s and 1940s. Jeane Kirkpatrick was a member of the Shachtmanite-dominated Young People's Socialist League as a university student. In the 1970s Paul Wolfowitz was a speaker at SDUSA conferences ^{[citation needed]}. Joshua Muravchik, Penn Kemble, Carl Gershman, and Max Green, leaders in the Young People's Socialist League, became right-wing think tank insiders.

Glotzer argues that Shachtman's theory of bureaucratic collectivism has also informed unorthodox approaches within Marxism towards the class nature of the Eastern Bloc. Marxism is the philosophy, social theory and political practice based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German socialist philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary. ... Shachtmanism is a critical term applied to the form of Trotskyism associated with Max Shachtman. ... Tony Cliff Tony Cliff (May 20, 1917 – May 9, 2000) was a Trotskyist revolutionary activist. ... The International Socialist Tendency is an international grouping of organisations around the ideas of Tony Cliff, founder of the Socialist Workers Party in the UK. It has sections across the world, however its strongest presence is in Europe, especially in the UK, Greece and Ireland. ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... Democratic socialism is a political movement propagating the ideals of socialism within the framework of a parliamentary democracy. ... Albert Shanker (September 14, 1928 - February 1997) was president of the American Federation of Teachers from 1974 to 1997. ... The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the smaller of the two education labor unions in the United States, representing 1. ... George Meany (August 16, 1894 – January 10, 1980) was an American labor leader, who served as President of the American Federation of Labor from 1952 to 1955, and then, following its merger with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in the latter year, as president of the united AFL-CIO from... Joseph Lane Kirkland (March 12, 1922 - August 14, 1999) US union leader. ... Neoconservatism is a somewhat controversial term referring to the political goals and ideology of the new conservatives (ultraconservative) in the United States. ... Irving Kristol (born 1920) is considered the founder of American neoconservatism. ... Nathan Glazer Nathan Glazer (b. ... Sidney Hook (December 20, 1902–July 12, 1989) was a prominent American philosopher who championed pragmatism. ... Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick (born November 19, 1926) is an American conservative political scientist and member of the neoconservative movement. ... The Young Peoples Socialist League began in 1907 as a youth circle in Chicago, Illinois. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Joshua Muravchik is a Jewish author and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply The Right, are terms that refer to the segment of the political spectrum often associated with any of several strains of conservatism, the religious right, and areas of classical liberalism, or simply the opposite of left-wing politics. ... This article is about the institution. ... Bureaucratic collectivism is a theory of class society. ... A map of the Eastern Bloc. ...

• The approach of Isaac Deutscher and Marcel Liebman leads towards Shachtman's theory.
• A former leader of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Milovan Djilas' book, The New Class, also views the USSR as a new class society. However, there is no evidence that Djilas was aware of Shachtman's work.
• Marxist economist Paul Sweezy, whose familiarity with the Fourth International would certainly have informed his view of Shachtman, also concluded that the USSR was ruled by a new type of ruling class.

Isaac Deutscher (3 April 1907 – 19 August 1967), British journalist, historian and political activist of Polish-Jewish birth, became well-known as the biographer of Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin and as a commentator on Soviet affairs. ... The Communist Party of Yugoslavia (after 1952 the League of Communists of Yugoslavia) was the ruling party of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 until the 1991. ... Milovan Đilas Milovan Đilas (1911-1995) was a Communist politician and theorist in Yugoslavia. ... Paul Marlor Sweezy (April 10, 1910 - February 27, 2004) was a Marxian economist and a founding editor of the magazine Monthly Review. ...

External links

• Max Shachtman Internet Archive

• Shachtman, Max and Earl Browder. Is Russia a Socialist Community? The Verbatim Text of a Debate. March 1950 debate moderated by C. Wright Mills. Published in The New International: A Monthly Organ of Revolutionary Marxism, Vol.16 No.3, May-June 1950, pp.145-176. Retrieved June 6, 2005.

• Norman Thomas and Max Shachtman Audio recording of a 1958 debate between Shachtman and Norman Thomas.
• The Lubitz TrotskyanaNet provides a biographical sketch and a selective bibliography of Max Shachtman

Charles Wright Mills Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916, Waco, Texas – March 20, 1962, Nyack, New York) was an American sociologist. ... Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 - December 19, 1968) was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. ...

Further reading

• Race and Revolution by Max Shachtman, ed. Christopher Phelps, Verso, 2003.
• Documents of the Fourth International: The Formative Years (1933 - 40) Will Reisner (editor) Pathfinder Press, 1973
• Dog Days: James P. Cannon vs, Max Shachtman in the Communist League of America, 1931-1933 Emily Turnbull and James Robertson (editors) Prometheus Research Library ISBN 0963382888
• Max Shachtman Papers 1917-1969. Tamiment 103; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University. *Online guide retrieved April 20, 2005.
• James P. Cannon: The Communist League of America Fred Stanton and Michael Taber (editors) ISBN 0913460990
• The Founding of the Socialist Workers' Party George Breitman (editor) ISBN 0913460915.
• The History of American Trotskyism James Cannon ISBN 0873488148.
• The Struggle for Marxism in the United States: A History of American Trotskyism Tim Wohlforth Labor Publications, 1971.
• The Writings of Leon Trotsky (1939-40) Leon Trotsky ISBN 0873483138
• Trotsky: memoir and critique, Albert Glotzer ISBN 08797554X.
• The Fate of the Russian Revolution - Lost Texts of Critical Marxism Sean Matgamna (editor) Phoenix Press 1998.