NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Socialist Workers Party (Britain)

The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a political party of the far left in England The term far left refers to the relative position a person or group occupies within the political spectrum. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the Queen (King) England() â€“ on the European continent() â€“ in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified - by Athelstan 967 AD Area - Total 130,395 kmÂ² 50,346 sq mi Population - 2007 estimate...

It sees itself as standing in the revolutionary socialist tradition. It does not currently contest elections as a party but is a member of the Respect coalition which has one MP (who is not a member of the SWP) and a small number of councillors (several of whom^{[citation needed]}, including Michael Lavalette, are members of the SWP). In Scotland the SWP existed as a platform of the Scottish Socialist Party, but in August 2006 it decided to split from the SSP in order to pursue a new political grouping with Tommy Sheridan^[1]. To that end, the Socialist Workers Party in Scotland now constitute part of the new electoral coalition, Solidarity. Flag of the Revolutionary Socialists Revolutionary Socialism is a political ideology based on the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels advocating the revolutionary yet democratic liberation of the Proletariat. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Michael Lavalette during a Make Poverty History rally Michael Lavalette is a RESPECT national council member and councillor in Preston, England who was elected as a Socialist Alliance candidate shortly after the Iraq War. ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Cha togar mfhearg gun dioladh (Scottish Gaelic)1 Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II... The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) (Scottish Gaelic: ) is a radical left-wing Scottish political party which campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence. ... August 2006 is the eighth month of that year, and has yet to occur. ... Tommy Sheridan (born 7 March 1964, in Glasgow) is a Scottish socialist politician and a leading figure in the new Scottish political party Solidarity. ... Solidarity (full name Solidarity - Scotlands Socialist Movement) is a political party in Scotland, launched on September 3, 2006 as a breakaway from the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP)[1] in the aftermath of Tommy Sheridans libel action. ...

The SWP has an industrial department, which co-ordinates its work within the working class movement and a student section, named the Socialist Workers' Student Society which has groups at numerous universities. It participates in a number of united fronts, most notably the Stop the War Coalition. On the international level it leads the Trotskyist organisation the International Socialist Tendency. The word student is etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb stÅdÄ“rÄ•, meaning to direct ones zeal at; hence a student is one who directs zeal at a subject. ... The Socialist Workers Student Society, commonly known as SWSS (pronounced swizz), is the student section of the British revolutionary socialist group the SWP. It organises mainly in Universities and higher education colleges, and is an active faction in the National Union of Students. ... In Leninist bogus, a united front is a coalition of Clinton likeleft-wing working class forces which put forward a common set of demands and share a common plan of action, but which do not subordinate themselves to the front, retaining their abilities for independent political action and continuing to... The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) (informally just Stop the War) is a UK anti-war group set up on 21 September 2001. ... Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. ... 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. ...

Publications

The SWP publishes a weekly newspaper Socialist Worker, a monthly magazine, Socialist Review (now a supplement to Socialist Worker), and a quarterly theoretical journal, International Socialism. In addition it publishes an international bulletin and an internal bulletin Party Notes, various pamphlets and books (often through its publishing house, Bookmarks), and with others its publishes a number of rank-and-file newspapers, such as Post Worker^[2], for specific industries. Socialist Worker is the name of several socialist/communist newspapers. ... The Socialist Review is the monthly magazine of the Socialist Workers Party (UK). ... International Socialism (ISJ) is a quarterly journal of socialist theory published by the Socialist Workers Party (Britain) and currently edited by Chris Harman. ...

Leadership

The leadership is formed by a central committee of around 10, and a national committee. Elections to the central committee are held yearly at the national conference. As of 2006 the central committee members are: Chris Bambery, Weyman Bennett, Michael Bradley, Alex Callinicos, Lindsey German, Chris Harman, Chris Nineham, Moira Nolan, John Rees, Martin Smith and Candy Udwin ^[3]. 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chris Bambery is the editor of Socialist Worker and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. ... Weyman Bennett is a British Trotskyist and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. ... Alex Callinicos Alex Callinicos (born 1950 in South Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)) is a Marxist intellectual (a contradiction in terms) and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. ... Lindsey German Lindsey German is a British Trotskyist politician and member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. ... Chris Harman is the editor of International Socialism, a former editor of Socialist Worker and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. ... Chris Nineham is a British Trotskyist and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. ... John Rees John Rees is a British Trotskyist politician and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. ... Martin Smith is National Secretary of the Socialist Workers Party (since 2004) and is a member of its Central Committee. ...

The national committee consists of 50 members elected annually at national conference. At least four party councils a year are to be arranged by the central committee. At these councils 2 delegates elected from each branch plus the national committee will be entitled to attend. ^[4]

Other prominent members include: John Molyneux, Paul McGarr, Michael Lavalette, John Rose, Ian Birchall, Mike Gonzalez, Pat Stack and Mark Steel. John Molyneux is a British Trotskyist and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party and former central committee member. ... Paul McGarr is a Socialist historian, author and political activist. ... Michael Lavalette during a Make Poverty History rally Michael Lavalette is a RESPECT national council member and councillor in Preston, England who was elected as a Socialist Alliance candidate shortly after the Iraq War. ... John Rose is a British Trotskyist politician and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party. ... Ian Birchall is a British Marxist historian, a member of the Socialist Workers Party and author of numerous articles and books, particularly relating to the French Left. ... Mike Gonzalez is a Marxist historian and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party in Britain, and part of Solidarity - Scotlands Socialist Movement. ... Pat Stack is a British Trotskyist and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party and former organizing committee member, he wrote a column in the Socialist Review magazine called Stack On The Back from the 1980s until July 2004. ... Mark Steel (born 1961) is an English socialist columnist and comedian. ...

History

The Socialist Review Group

The origins of the SWP lie in the formation of the Socialist Review Group (SRG) which held its founding conference in 1951^[5]. The group, initially of only 8 members^[6] was formed around Tony Cliff's analysis of Russia as a bureaucratic state capitalist regime and were expelled from the Revolutionary Communist Party. Three documents formed the theoretical basis of the group: The Nature of Stalinist Russia^[7], The Class Nature of the People's Democracies^[8] and Marxism and the Theory of Bureaucratic Collectivism^[9]. ^[10] Tony Cliff (May 20, 1917 â€“ May 9, 2000) was a Trotskyist revolutionary activist. ... The Revolutionary Communist Party was a British Trotskyist political party, formed in 1944 and active until 1949, and publishing the Socialist Appeal fortnightly newspaper, a theoretical journal Workers International News and an entrist paper for its Labour Party fraction The Militant. ...

The tiny size of the group meant that they adopted a position of working in the Labour Party in order to reach an audience and recruit ^[11]. Of particular importance was the Labour League of Youth. Of the 33 members at the first recorded meeting, 19 were in the LLY ^[12]. The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in England, Scotland and Wales. ...

Through campaigning within the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the new Labour Party youth movement the Young Socialists the Socialist Review Group was able to recruit among a new generation of activists and by 1964 had a membership of 200.^[13]. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo In British politics, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has been at the forefront of the peace movement in the United Kingdom and claims to be Europes largest single-issue peace campaign. ...

Labour Worker and International Socialism Group

The paper Industrial Worker was created in 1961, and was quickly renamed Labour Worker before evolving into Socialist Worker. Socialist Review was reduced in size and then scrapped ^[14]. The Socialist Review Group became the International Socialism Group (IS) at the end of 1962 ^[15].

With the Labour Party in power, and many Labour members becoming disillusioned, IS started doing more work that was external to the Labour Party. After 1967, few IS members were active in that party. In 1965, an article in Labour Worker said "Obviously Marxists should take those positions which give access to the direct workers’ organisations. But in the wards and GMCs the practice of buying the right to discuss politics by over-fulfilling the canvassing norms, should cease or be reduced to the minimum." ^[16].

It marked a turn to more of a focus on work in the trade unions, and a key part of this process was the pamphlet published in 1966: Incomes policy, legislation and shop stewards, which opposed the Labour Party's incomes policy and discussed how it could be fought.^[17] This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

1968 saw the IS heavily involved in the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign and large numbers of student struggles from which it recruited^[18]. As a result the IS grew from 400 to 1,000 members but also suffered many splits ^[19]. The Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) was originally set in 1966 up activists around the International Group with the personal and financial support of Bertrand Russell. ...

The early 1970s saw the creation of rank and file newspapers and a general turn to industry, including setting up factory branches ^[20]. During the 1972 miners strike, Socialist Worker was taken and sold by miners ^[21]. Between March 1972 and March 1974, the membership of IS increased from 2,351 to 3,310, and also recruited a large number of manual workers into membership.^[22]

Labour in power, the SWP formed

In 1974 Labour returned to power. A key part of their struggle was to introduce the Social contract which sought to introduce a voluntary incomes policy. It was backed by left wing union leaders such as Hugh Scanlon and Jack Jones. This period also saw an increase in the number of full time union convenors and these factors along with an increase in unemployment have been blamed by Tony Cliff and the SWP for a drastic fall in union militancy^[23]. In 1974 the IS was ambitious and optimistic^[24] expecting to double the number of factory branches over the year. In practice they declined swiftly from 38 in 1974 to only three or four by 1976. When the firefighters went on strike in 1977 against the Social Contract the IS was unable to deliver any significant solidarity. The national rank and file movement fell apart. In 1976 the SWP decided to stand in parliamentary by-elections but the results were very poor and the original idea of standing in 60 seats at the next election was dropped^[25]. The Social Contract is a term used to describe policy by the Labour government of Harold Wilson in 1970s Britain. ... Hugh Parr Scanlon, Lord Scanlon of Davyhulme (26 October 1913â€“27 January 2004) was a British trade union leader. ... Jack Jones (born March 29, 1913) is a British trade union leader and former general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union. ... A by-election or bye-election is a special election held to fill a political office when the incumbent has died or resigned. ...

In January 1977 IS was renamed the Socialist Workers Party. This decision was a result of the move to stand in elections along with a perception that: "IS’s ability to initiate activity, rather than simply join in movements launched by others, had never been greater. Industrially, there were more members than ever able to lead disputes in their own workplaces" ^[26]. According to Martin Shaw this occurred with no real discussion within the organisation^[27] and Jim Higgins has claimed "Its founding was for purely internal reasons, to give the members a sense of progress, the better to conceal the fact that there had actually been a retreat"^[28].

Anti-Nazi League and Rock against Racism

Another campaign to which the SWP was central at this time was the Anti-Nazi League. The National Front had grown in the 1970s, and by 1976 they had polled 15,340 votes in Leicester and large votes elsewhere. They were even more visible on the streets through graffiti, racist attacks and street protests. A key turning point came when, on August 13, 1977, thousands of anti-fascists, including large numbers of local black youths, prevented the NF from marching through Lewisham. This was to lead to the creation of the ANL as an initiative between the SWP and sections of the Labour Left. It also received support from other Trotskyist groups and the Communist Party. Anti-Nazi League logo The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up with left-wing trade union money in 1977 to oppose the rise of what they deemed to be far-right groups in Britain. ... In the United Kingdom, the British National Front (most commonly called the National Front or NF) is a far right-wing political party that had its heyday during the 1970s and 80s. ... Leicester city centre, looking towards the Clock Tower Leicester (pronounced ) is the largest city and unitary authority in the English East Midlands. ... Anti-Fascism is a belief and practice of opposing all forms of Fascism. ...

In response to Eric Clapton's public support for Enoch Powell, Rock Against Racism was set up in close collaboration with the ANL, and a series of successful carnivals were organised. Some of the bands involved with Rock Against Racism were The Clash (as seen in the film Rude Boy), The Buzzcocks, Steel Pulse, X-Ray Spex, The Ruts, Generation X and the Tom Robinson Band. By 1981 the NF was in retreat and had split, and the campaign was wound up.^[29] Eric Patrick Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer and composer, who is one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century,[1] garnering an unprecedented three inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... Simon Heffers biography of Enoch Powell, published in 1999 John Enoch Powell, MBE, PC, (June 16, 1912 â€“ February 8, 1998) was a right-wing British politician and Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) between 1950 and February 1974, and an Ulster Unionist MP between October 1974 and 1987. ... Rock Against Racism (RAR) was a campaign set up by Red Saunders, Roger Huddle and others in winter 1976. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Rude Boy is a 1980 film about a roadie for the punk band The Clash. ... Buzzcocks were a punk rock band, formed in Manchester, England in 1976. ... Steel Pulse is a well-known roots reggae musical band. ... This article is about the punk band. ... The Ruts The Ruts were a reggae-influenced British punk band notable for the 1979 top 10 hit Babylons Burning (right). ... Generation X is a term used to describe generations in many countries around the world. ... Tom Robinson began gigging in London in 1976 with a constantly shuffling lineup of musician friends backing him and by the end of the year, he had decided to put together a permanent band. ...

The "downturn"

From 1978 Tony Cliff became convinced by some of his comrades that the period of rising militancy had come to an end^[30]^[31] and a downturn had begun. Cliff writes that: "The crisis in the organisation went on for about 3 years, 1976-79". By 1982 the SWP was refocused completely on a propagandist approach, with geographical branches as the main unit of the party, a focus on Marxist theory and an abandonment of perspective of building a rank and file movement. The rank and file organisations were wound down as was the women's organisation "Women's Voice" and the paper for ethnic minorities "Flame". The closure of Women's voice in particular was bitterly disputed^[32], a sharp debate taking place between those who believed the result would be to ignore the specificities of women's oppression, and those who believed that feminist theories were in danger of losing contact with the united interests of men and women workers.

During the 1984-85 miners strike the SWP's propaganda concentrated on the need for solidarity and explaining why this was not happening. Cliff described the approach as one of concrete propaganda - "It had to answer the question 'What slogan fits the issue the workers are fighting over?'"^[33]. The miners strike of 1984-5 was a major piece of industrial action affecting the British coal industry. ...

This change in outlook and methods was viewed by many on the left as being a retreat into sectarianism by the SWP^[34] but this change in methods is credited by the SWP as allowing it to survive a very hostile period with substantial numbers of party members ^[35]. In contrast Murray Smith described it as "jumping from one campaign to the next and hostility towards the rest of the left" ^[36].

The 1990s

The early 1990s for many of the far left was a period of demoralisation and disorientation due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. However for the SWP this was seen as a vindication of their long held analysis that the Soviet Union was a state capitalist society. They believe that "the transition from state capitalism to multinational capitalism is neither a step forward nor a step backwards, but a step sidewards. The change only involves a shift from one form of exploitation to another form for the working class as a whole", ^[37].

The SWP were involved in the campaign against the Poll Tax in England although is has been claimed they failed to intervene in Scotland ^[38]. They also helped relaunch the ANL in 1992 in response to the growth of the British National Party, the successor to the NF and campaigned against the Criminal Justice Bill (with the memorable slogan of "Kill the Bill"). A poll tax, head tax, or capitation is a tax of a uniform, fixed amount per individual (as opposed to a percentage of income). ... The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right political party in the United Kingdom. ... The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 was an act of parliament brought into law by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

In 1997, despite being highly opposed to Tony Blair's policies, they called for a vote for the Labour Party, with the belief that there would rapidly be a crisis of expectations in Labour which would lead New Labour voters to question their allegiances and open up opportunities and space for organisation and activity to the left of Labour that are traditionally occupied by Labour when it is in opposition. John Rees wrote in July 1997: "In the mid-term the 'sado-monetarist' strategy followed by the Labour government will clash increasingly sharply with a working class movement which has drawn hope and confidence from its electoral victory over the Tories."^[39]. For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency...

Recent Activity

More recent work is influenced by the SWP's analysis of a "current revival in consciousness and combativity, discernible from the mid-1990s and unmistakable since the Seattle demonstration in 1999."^[40]. Recent activity has seen the SWP involved with the Socialist Alliance in England and Wales. Its Scottish members joined the Scottish Socialist Party as the Socialist Worker Platform in May 2001 ^[41]. Involvement in the Scottish Socialist Party has now been succeeded by involvement in Solidarity, and involvement in the Socialist Alliance has been succeeded by involvement in Respect. The Socialist Alliance was a left-wing electoral alliance in England in existence between 1992 and 2005. ... The Welsh Socialist Alliance was a socialist political organisation in Wales. ... Solidarity is a political party in Scotland, launched on 3rd September 2006 as a breakaway from the Scottish Socialist Party. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

On a campaigning front the SWP has been heavily involved in the anti-war movement through the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) - Lindsey German is convenor of StWC. The SWP has also been involved in the anti-globalization movement, which it believes is more accurately described as the 'anti-capitalist' movement, mostly through the Globalise Resistance organisation and the World Social Forum and European Social Forum. The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) (informally just Stop the War) is a UK anti-war group set up on 21 September 2001. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Globalise Resistance (GR) is a British anti-capitalist alliance. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The European Social Forum (ESF) is an annual conference held by members of the alter-globalization movement (also known as the Global Justice Movement). ...

The SWP organises Marxism, a five day 'long weekend' of meetings and events held in central London each July since 1977^[42]. It is the largest annual event held by any far-left group in Britain, and one of the largest of its kind in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

Role in the Tommy Sheridan Defamation case

The SWP joined the Scottish Socialist Party as a platform in 2001. In November 2004, Pat Smith, a member of the SW Platform and SSP EC member attended an emergency meeting to discuss allegations in tabloid newspapers about Tommy Sheridan's personal life. Accounts of the meeting are contested, with several leading SSP members stating that Sheridan admitted to visiting a swinger's club at the meeting, while Sheridan and others denied this claim. In the course of the meeting Sheridan was recalled from the convenorship, a unanimous decision supported by Smith. It transpired that Smith took this decision without consulting the SW Platform and the SWP disagreed with the EC decision to recall Sheridan describing it as a “blunder” by the SSP leadership and calling for Sheridan’s immediate reinstatement.^[43]. The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) (Scottish Gaelic: ) is a radical left-wing Scottish political party which campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence. ...

Sheridan took the News of the World to Court for defamation in Summer 2006. At the trial Pat Smith testified that at that meeting Sheridan had denied attending a swingers club and having extra-marital affairs. Her evidence was supported by another SW platform member, Mike Gonzalez, who testified that although he did not attend the meeting, he believed the allegation to be unfounded. A jury subsequently found in favour of Sheridan and awarded him £200,000 damages. An appeal by the News of the World is scheduled for December 2007 and an investigation into perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice are ongoing. Mike Gonzalez is a Marxist historian and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party in Britain, and part of Solidarity - Scotlands Socialist Movement. ...

In the aftermath of the trial, the SW platform left the Scottish Socialist Party together with the Committee for a Workers International, Tommy Sheridan and Rosemary Byrne to set up a new party called Solidarity. The Committee for a Workers International (CWI) is an international association of Trotskyist Parties. ... Tommy Sheridan (born 7 March 1964, in Glasgow) is a Scottish socialist politician and a leading figure in the new Scottish political party Solidarity. ... Byrne lives in Irvine and was a teacher and a trade union activist for several years. ... Solidarity (full name Solidarity - Scotlands Socialist Movement) is a political party in Scotland, launched on September 3, 2006 as a breakaway from the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP)[1] in the aftermath of Tommy Sheridans libel action. ...

Theory

Duncan Hallas, who was a founding member of the predecessor of the SWP, wrote: "The founders of the group saw themselves as mainstream Trotskyists, differing on important questions from the dominant group in the international, but belonging to the same basic tendency."[29]. Here "the group" refers to the Socialist Review Group, forerunner of the SWP and "the International" to the Fourth International - the main Trotskyist grouping. Duncan Hallas was a prominent member of the Trotskyist movement in Britain. ... For other uses, see Fourth International (disambiguation). ...

Because it sees itself as Trotskyist, the SWP describes itself as a 'revolutionary socialist party' and considers itself to stand in the 'tradition' of Leon Trotsky. It also shares many of the political positions of other Trotskyist groups, a tradition rooted in Marxism and Leninism (see for example Tony Cliff, Marxism at the Millennium [30]). In common with other Trotskyists the SWP defends the body of ideas codified by the first four Congresses of the Communist International and the founding Congress of the Fourth International of Leon Trotsky in 1938. Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. ... (Russian: Ð›Ñ‘Ð² Ð”Ð°Ð²Ð¸Ð´Ð¾Ð²Ð¸Ñ‡ Ð¢Ñ€Ð¾Ñ†ÐºÐ¸Ð¹, Lyov Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7 [O.S. October 26] 1879 â€“ August 21, 1940), born. ... Marxism takes its name from the praxis (the synthesis of philosophy and political action) of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin, and by other theorists who claim to be carrying on Lenins work. ... The first edition of Communist International, journal of the Comintern published in Moscow and Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) in May 1919. ... For other uses, see Fourth International (disambiguation). ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Its supporters often refer to their beliefs as 'socialism from below', a term which has been attributed to Hal Draper. This concept can also be traced back to the rules of the First International which stated: "the emancipation of the working classes must be conquered by the working classes themselves"[31] They see this as distinguishing themselves from other socialist groups, particularly both from reformist parties, such as (the Labour Party) and from various forms of what they disparagingly term 'Stalinism'—forms of socialism usually associated with the former Soviet Bloc and the old Communist Parties. These are seen as advocating socialism from above. In contrast Cliff argued: "The heart of Marxism is that the emancipation of the working class is the act of the working class. The Communist Manifesto states: All previous historical movements were movements of minorities, or in the interest of minorities. The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority." [32] For more on this see Marxism at the Millennium (2000) [33] 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. ... The International Workingmens Association, sometimes called the First International, was an international organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing political groups and trade union organizations which were based on the working class. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Reformism (also called revisionism or revisionist theory) is the belief that gradual changes in a society can ultimately change its fundamental structures. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in England, Scotland and Wales. ... Joseph Stalin Stalinism is the political and economic system named after Joseph Stalin, who implemented it in the Soviet Union. ...

The SWP also seeks to differentiate itself from other Trotskyist tendencies. Three key theories are at the centre of its difference from other Trotskyists: State Capitalism, Deflected Permanent Revolution and The Permanent Arms Economy (see below for more details).

Unlike most Troskyist organisations, the SWP does not have a formal program (see for example the Transitional Program) but an outline of the SWP's ideas called "Where We Stand" [34] is published in Socialist Worker every week. A party platform, also known as an manifesto is a list of the principles which a political party supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said partys candidates voted into office. ... 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. ...

State Capitalism

The SWP maintains an opposition to what it terms 'substitutionist strategies'. This is the idea that social forces other than the proletariat, which is for Marxists the potentially social revolutionary class due to its 'radical chains', may substitute for the proletariat in the struggle for a socialist society (see above). This idea led the founder of the SWP, Tony Cliff, to reject the idea that the USSR was a degenerated workers' state, the position held by other Trotskyists and derived from Leon Trotsky's analysis in the 1930's. Cliff was to argue that in fact the USSR was a form of capitalism which he referred to as bureaucratic state capitalist and also argued was the case in Eastern Europe and later in other countries ruled by what he termed Stalinist parties such as China, Vietnam and Cuba. Cliff's approach to this idea was published in the 1948 article The Nature of Stalinist Russia [35] The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. ... Tony Cliff (May 20, 1917 â€“ May 9, 2000) was a Trotskyist revolutionary activist. ... 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. ... There are multiple definitions of the term state capitalism. ... Map of Eastern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange),members of the Warsaw pact (light orange), and other former Communist regimes not aligned with Moscow (lightest orange). ...

Other IS/SWP theoreticians such as Nigel Harris and Chris Harman would later extend and develop a distinct body of state capitalist analysis based on Cliff's initial work. This theory was summed up in the slogan "Neither Washington nor Moscow, but International Socialism". The slogan is said to have originally come from Max Shachtman's group, the Workers Party, in their paper 'Labor Action' and was only borrowed by the IS/SWP at a later date. This is seen as ironic because one of Cliff's concerns when first developing his idea of state capitalism was to differentiate his ideas from the idea of bureaucratic collectivism associated with Shachtman (see for example The theory of bureaucratic collectivism: A critique (1948) [36]). However, the formula also echoes the Fourth International's 1948 manifesto, Neither Wall Street nor the Kremlin. Cliff's version of the theory of state capitalism must also be differentiated from those associated with other dissident Trotskyists and left communists, such as CLR James and Raya Dunayevskaya. Nigel Harris (born 1935) is a British economist specializing in the economics of metropolitan areas. ... Chris Harman is the editor of International Socialism, a former editor of Socialist Worker and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. ... Max Shachtman (September 10, 1904 - November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. ... The Workers Party (WP) was a Third Camp Trotskyist group in the United States. ... Bureaucratic collectivism is a theory of class society. ... For other uses, see Fourth International (disambiguation). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Left Communism is a term describing a whole range of communist viewpoints which oppose the political ideas of the Bolsheviks from a position which is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views held by the Communist International after its first two Congresses. ... Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901â€“19 May 1989) was a journalist, and a prominent socialist theorist and writer. ... Raya Dunayevskaya (1910 â€“ 1987) was a Ukrainian born immigrant to the United States of America who was a member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). ...

Deflected Permanent Revolution

As a Trotskyist tendency, the SRG/IS was faced with developing an explanation as to why and how a number of countries in the former colonial world had succeeded in overthrowing the rule of various imperial powers and forming states characterised by the SRG/IS as being bureaucratic state capitalist. In part, such an explanation was needed to understand why these colonial revolutions had not developed into uninterrupted or Permanent Revolutions, as predicted by Leon Trotsky in his theory of the same name. Taking Trotsky's theory as his starting point, Tony Cliff developed his own theory of 'deflected permanent revolution'. He argued that where a revolutionary working class did not exist, the intelligentsia could, in certain limited circumstances, take the leadership of the nation and lead a successful revolution in the direction of a state capitalist solution. The outcome of such a revolution would be deflected from the goal of a social revolution as envisaged in Trotsky's original work. Permanent Revolution is a term within Marxist theory, which was first used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels between 1845 and 1850, but has since become most closely associated with Leon Trotsky. ... Permanent Revolution is a term within Marxist theory, which was first used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels between 1845 and 1850, but has since become most closely associated with Leon Trotsky. ...

Cliff's essay Permanent Revolution was first published in International Socialism Journal, No. 12 Spring 1963 [37], in response to the Cuban Revolution and largely took it and the earlier Chinese Revolution as its subject. However the general concept of a deflected permanent revolution would be much exercised as a key analytical tool by IS theoreticians in the coming years. Most notable in this respect is the work of Nigel Harris in relation to India and later of Mike Gonzalez on Cuba[38] and Nicaragua. Most recently the theory has been given a central place in Cem Uzun's work Making the Turkish Revolution. The Cuban Revolution refers to the revolution that led to the overthrow of General Fulgencio Batistas regime on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July Movement and other revolutionary elements in the country. ...

The permanent arms economy

State capitalism and deflected permanent revolution came to be seen as central to a distinct IS politics by the mid-1960's along with the theory of the permanent arms economy (PAE). This theory sought to explain the long boom in the global economy afer the Second World War. This boom was in contrast to the period after the First World war where there was a period of stagnation. The permanent arms economy is a Marxist theory which seeks to explain the sustained economic growth which occurred in the decades following World War II, especially amongst developed countries. ... The long boom was a period associated with the 1990s when the U.S. economy appeared to be doing particularly well. ...

The three theories taken together are often seen as being the hallmarks of the IS tradition, although this is contested by some former leaders of the IS, including Nigel Harris and Michael Kidron both of whom worked on the PAE and now repudiate it, and by some other Trotskyists outside the IS Tradition. The PAE, the most contested of the three theories, is also the only one that did not originate with Tony Cliff. Michael Kidron Michael Kidron was a revolutionary thinker and cartographer. ...

The PAE originated with a member of Max Shachtman's Workers' Party/International Socialist League named Ed Sard in 1944. Sard, writing as Walter J. Oakes, argued in Politics that the PAE was to be understood as allowing capitalism to achieve a level of stability by preventing the rate of profit from falling as spending on arms was unproductive and would not lead to the increase of the organic composition of capital. Later in 1951 in New International, this time writing as T. N. Vance, Sard argued that the PAE operated through its ability to apply J. M. Keynes multiplier effect. Although briefly mentioned by Duncan Hallas in a Socialist Review of 1952 the theory was only introduced to the IS by Cliff in 1957.[39] John Maynard Keynes (right) and Harry Dexter White at the Bretton Woods Conference John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, CB (pronounced cains, IPA ) (5 June 1883 â€“ 21 April 1946) was a British economist whose ideas, called Keynesian economics, had a major impact on modern economic and political theory as well...

In his May 1957 article Perspectives of the Permanent War Economy[40], Cliff offered the PAE to readers in a version derived from Sard's earlier essays but without reference to Keynes and using a Marxist theoretical framework. This was the only attempt to develop the idea, which it is suggested explains the long post war boom, until the publication of Mike Kidron's Western Capitalism Since the War[41] in 1968. Kidron would further develop the theory in his Capitalism and Theory. Additional work was also contributed by Nigel Harris and later by Chris Harman. However it should also be noted that Mike Kidron was to repudiate the theory as early as the mid-1970s in his Two Insights Don't make a Theory[42] in International Socialism No 100. This was followed by a rejoinder from Chris Harman (Better a valid insight than a wrong theory)[43]. Since this time the PAE has assumed less importance within IS theory, as the long boom which it seeks to explain recedes into history.

Practice

Certain ways of working have also become part of the SWP tradition and groups linked to it in other countries. Accessible and actively-sold publications are central to the SWP way of working. This includes a quarterly theoretical journal which aims at being accessible to most activists. This contrasts with the very academic publications produced by many Trotskyist groups around the world.

Secondly, an extremely open way of recruitment - the SWP is extremely easy to join. Many people who join do not stay long, but the party considers that this is the best way to test people's interest and determination, rather than going through some sort of "apprenticeship" as other revolutionary goups have been known to set up (for example Lutte Ouvrière in France. Along the same lines, the SWP has never gone in for pseudonyms, "party names" etc, as have sections of the Fourth International.

Thirdly, permanent factions are not permitted by the SWP constitution. Factions may be formed around any issue in the few months before a party conference, but the party conference decides the issue and the factions may not continue after the conference. This contrasts with Fourth International organizations such as the LCR in France, where permanent factions are very present in party life. Some commentators defend the idea of permanent factions as a sign of healthy debate and democracy. Others consider that permanent factions can only lead to paralysis in party activity, and a tendency to avoid key decisions.

Criticism

The SWP has been criticised by some in the direct action, anti-capitalist, and anarchist movements for its perceived attempts to manipulate them for its own ends ^[44]. These criticisms were echoed by some within the anti-war movement. The SWP, for its part, tends to promote the view that reliance on direct action by small groups is elitist, and instead favours mass mobilisations, strikes, and the most militant mass action that can be achieved at any given time.^[45] Direct action is a form of political activism which seeks immediate remedy for perceived ills, as opposed to indirect actions such as electing representatives who promise to provide remedy at some later date. ... Anti-capitalism is any and all opposition to capitalism. ... Anarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. ... Anti war protest in Melbourne, Australia, 2003 Anti_war is a name that is widely adopted by any social movement or person that seeks to end or oppose a future or current war. ...

The SWP has been accused of being overly accommodating to the allegedly reactionary concerns of some practising Muslims; for example its anti-Zionist stance has been accused of being anti-semitic and it has also been accused of sidelining the issues of gay rights and abortion. Such criticism has tended to come from pro-war liberals but it has also been voiced by some left-wing groups^[46]. Much of this criticism is directed at the policies of the Respect coalition of which the SWP is a large component.^[47]. There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: Ù…Ø³Ù„Ù…, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: Ù…Ø³Ù„Ù…Ø§Ù†, Turkish: MÃ¼slÃ¼man, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Anti-Zionism is a term used to describe opposition to Zionism, the movement supporting the right of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The gay rights movement is a collection of loosely aligned civil rights groups, human rights groups, support groups and political activists seeking acceptance, tolerance and equality for non-heterosexual, (homosexual, bisexual), and transgender people - despite the fact that it is typically referred to as the gay rights movement, members also... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

For its part the SWP denies these accusations; it argues that it supports abortion rights and campaigns against the lowering of time limits for abortion^[48], also it claims that the Respect coalition has a clear commitment to opposing homophobia^[49].

The SWP has also caused controversy by supporting the elements of the Iraqi insurgency, describing it as the Iraqi resistance^[50] and endorsing George Galloway's support of Hezbollah, who they describe as "the resistance"^[51]^[52]. The Iraq resistance movement is the armed resistance by diverse groups to the coalition occupation of Iraq. ... George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a Scottish politician noted for his far left views, confrontational style, and rhetorical skill. ... For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ...

The Alliance for Workers' Liberty has attacked the SWP's politics as "second campist" - i.e, in their view, too uncritically supporting all groups opposed to the United States government, without offering independent working-class perspectives.^[53] They claim that the group's "anti-imperialism", rooted in a 1987 change in attitude to the Iran-Iraq war when the USA 'intervened', forces it to ally with anti-socialist groupings for the sake of opposing a "common enemy".^[54] [[Category:]] The Alliance for Workers Liberty (AWL), also known as Workers Liberty is a small Marxist group based in the United Kingdom. ... Statue of a coal miner in Charleston, WV, USA. Working class is a term used both in academic sociology as well as in ordinary conversation. ... Combatants Iran Iraq Commanders Ruhollah Khomeini, Abolhassan Banisadr, Ali Shamkhani, Mostafa Chamranâ€ Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan al-Majid Strength - 305,000 soldiers, - 500,000 Passdaran and Basij militia, - 900 tanks, - 1,000 armored vehicles, - 3,000 artillery pieces, - 65 aircraft, - 750 helicopters[1] - 190,000 soldiers, - 5,000 tanks, - 4...

There has also been criticism and debate in, around and outside the party about its perceived failure to intervene or be a visible part of many united front movements; some commentators criticising it as sectarian. Nevertheless the SWP has, for example, started campaigning on climate change in the past decade and is involved heavily in united fronts such as the Stop The War Coalition and Unite Against Fascism, and has been involved in many such fronts in the past, most notably the Anti-Nazi League. However, this strategy in turn has been criticised by others who see the SWP as using these alliances opportunistically or as front organisations. In Leninist bogus, a united front is a coalition of Clinton likeleft-wing working class forces which put forward a common set of demands and share a common plan of action, but which do not subordinate themselves to the front, retaining their abilities for independent political action and continuing to... Sectarianism is an adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination, it also usually involves a rejection of those not a member of ones sect. ... The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) (informally just Stop the War) is a UK anti-war group set up on 21 September 2001. ... UAF Logo representing unity between people Unite Against Fascism is a fascist pressure group in the United Kingdom that campaigns against far right-wing and fascist parties and groups in Britain, primarily the British National Party (BNP), which it identifies as the principal threat. ... Anti-Nazi League logo The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up with left-wing trade union money in 1977 to oppose the rise of what they deemed to be far-right groups in Britain. ... Opportunism is a term used in politics and political science. ... A front organization, also known as a front group (if it is structured to look like a voluntary association) or a front company or simply a front (if it is structured to look like a company), is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization. ...

Members of other socialist political parties often claim that the SWP is undemocratic.^[55] However, this is fiercely countered, and the SWP has an annual conference with its central (using a slate system) and the national committee elected by delegates, as well as policies for the next year being proposed and voted on with alternatives offered to some proposals.

The Scottish Socialist Party is also critical of the Socialist Workers Party, which was formerly a platform within it, for the role that it played in the Sheridan libel case, and the subsequent split to form Solidarity, accusing them of unprincipled opportunism. [44]. The SWP have responded to such allegations by suggesting that the Personality is Political [45] The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) (Scottish Gaelic: ) is a radical left-wing Scottish political party which campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence. ... There are various Socialist Workers Parties throughout the world. ... Sheridan v News International (Thomas Sheridan v News Group Newspapers Ltd. ...

Some accuse the SWP of being centrist - vacillating between revolution and reform[46]. While the SWP has a revolutionary programme in "Where We Stand", Permanent Revolution (UK) and Workers Power argue that their position of winning reforms through the Respect coalition is reformist, and therefore makes the SWP a centrist, rather than revolutionary party. The SWP in turn accuse these parties of being "ultra left" derived from Lenin's book "Left Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder". In politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes. ... Permanent Revolution is a revolutionary Trotskyist group which split from the League for the Fifth International (L5I) in July 2006. ... Workers Power is an orthodox Trotskyist group, affiliated to the League for the Fifth International, which they were prime movers in founding. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Notable members

Current

Alex Callinicos Alex Callinicos (born 1950 in South Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)) is a Marxist intellectual (a contradiction in terms) and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. ... Lindsey German Lindsey German is a British Trotskyist politician and member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. ... China MiÃ©ville China Tom MiÃ©ville (born September 6, 1972, Norwich) is a British writer of fantastic fiction. ... Mark Steel (born 1961) is an English socialist columnist and comedian. ...

Former (including former members of the IS)

Garry Bushell Garry Bushell (born May 13, 1955 in Charlton , South East London) is an English television critic, television presenter, and newspaper columnist. ... Terry Eagleton (born in Salford, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester), England, on February 22, 1943) is a British literary critic and philosopher. ... James Fitzpatrick (born 4 April 1952) is a politician in the United Kingdom. ... Nigel Harris (born 1935) is a British economist specializing in the economics of metropolitan areas. ... Christopher Eric Hitchens (born April 13, 1949, in Portsmouth, England) is an Anglo-American author, journalist and literary critic. ... Peter Hitchens Peter Jonathan Hitchens (born 28 October 1951 in Sliema, Malta) is a British journalist, author and broadcaster. ... The Redskins were a British band of the 1980s notable primarily for their left-wing politics. ... Rod Liddle (born 1960) is a controversial British journalist best known for his term as editor of BBC Radio 4s Today programme. ... Sean Matgamna, also known as John OMahony (the English language equivalent of Sean Matgamna) is a Trotskyist theorist. ... Roger Protz is a British writer and campaigner. ... Laurie Taylor is a British sociologist and radio presenter from Liverpool. ... Samuel West, sometimes billed as Sam West, (born June 19, 1966) is a British actor, the son of Prunella Scales and Timothy West. ...

Deceased (including deceased ex-members)

Tony Cliff (May 20, 1917 â€“ May 9, 2000) was a Trotskyist revolutionary activist. ... Duncan Hallas was a prominent member of the Trotskyist movement in Britain. ... Michael Kidron Michael Kidron was a revolutionary thinker and cartographer. ... Paul Foot addressing a miners rally, June 1984 Paul Mackintosh Foot (November 8, 1937 â€“ July 18, 2004) was a British radical investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). ... Peter Sedgwick (1934-1983) was a translator of Victor Serge, author of a number of books including PsychoPolitics and a revolutionary socialist activist. ... Harry Wicks (16 August 1905 - 26 March 1989) was a British socialist activist. ... David Widgery (27 April 1947 â€“ 26 October 1992) was a British Trotskyist writer, journalist, physician, and activist. ...

Contents

Publications

Leadership

History

The Socialist Review Group

Labour Worker and International Socialism Group

Labour in power, the SWP formed

Anti-Nazi League and Rock against Racism

The "downturn"

The 1990s

Recent Activity

Role in the Tommy Sheridan Defamation case

Theory

State Capitalism

Deflected Permanent Revolution

The permanent arms economy

Practice

Criticism

Notable members

Current

Former (including former members of the IS)

Deceased (including deceased ex-members)

See also

Notes

External links

SWP pages

Non-SWP pages

Contents

Publications GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Leadership

History

The Socialist Review Group

Labour Worker and International Socialism Group

Labour in power, the SWP formed

Anti-Nazi League and Rock against Racism

The "downturn"

The 1990s

Recent Activity

Role in the Tommy Sheridan Defamation case

Theory

State Capitalism

Deflected Permanent Revolution

The permanent arms economy

Practice

Criticism

Notable members

Current

Former (including former members of the IS)

Deceased (including deceased ex-members)

See also

Notes

External links

SWP pages

Non-SWP pages

Publications