The third camp, also known as third camp socialism or third camp Trotskyism, is a branch of socialism which aims to support neither capitalism nor Stalinism, by supporting the organised working class as a "third camp". Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community[1] for the purposes of increasing social and economic equality and cooperation. ... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... For architecture, see Stalinist architecture. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ...

Leon Trotsky described the Soviet Union as a degenerated workers' state which should be defended against capitalism, while supporting anti-bureaucratic political revolution against Stalinism. Third campists typically disagree with his analysis of the Soviet Union and claim that their position of favouring neither "camp" is in the spirit of Trotsky, although not his conclusions. Leon Trotsky (Russian:  , Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7 [O.S. October 26] 1879 – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (), was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. ... 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. ... In the Trotskyist movement, the term political revolution refers to an unpheaval in which the government is replaced, or the form of government altered, but in which property relations are predominantly left intact. ...

This approach was developed by Max Shachtman and is one of the major components of left Shachtmanism. It underpins his theory of bureaucratic collectivism. Analyising the USSR's invasion of Finland in 1940, Shachtman concluded that the USSR's policy was one of imperialism and that it was a reactionary war in which the best result for the international working class would be the defeat of the USSR. Conversely, Trotsky argued that a defeat for the USSR would strengthen capitalism and reduce the possibilities for political revolution.^[1] Max Shachtman (September 10, 1904 - November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. ... Shachtmanism is a critical term applied to the form of Trotskyism associated with Max Shachtman. ... Bureaucratic collectivism is a theory of class society. ... Finnish ski troops in Northern Finland in January 1940 The Military history of Finland during World War II covers the history of Finland from 1939 to 1944. ... Cecil Rhodes: Cape-Cairo railway project. ...

The Congress Socialist Party of India also adopted a Third Camp position, with the slogan “We want neither the rule of London or Berlin; nor the rule of Paris or Rome; nor that of Tokyo or Moscow.” (September 1939).^[2] The Congress Socialist Party was founded in 1934 as a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. ...

Shachtman's support for defeat of official Communist nations' expansionism (the second camp) drifted rightward into support for the capitalist nations (the first camp). This position has led mainstream Trotskyist groups to declare the position reactionary. However, some supporters of the third camp split with Shachtman and continued to develop their analyses of the changing world situation. In economics, a capitalist is someone who owns capital, presumably within the economic system of capitalism. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into ICFI. (Discuss) Orthodox Trotskyism is a branch of Trotskyism which aims to adhere more closely to the methods and positions of Trotsky and the early Fourth International than other Trotskyists. ...

While Tony Cliff, founder of the British SWP later became a bitter critic of Shachtman, Cliff's organisation initially cooperated with Shachtman and sold his tendency's magazine. They adopted similar positions including neutrality during the Korean War and its slogan "Neither Washington nor Moscow but International Socialism", which has led some outside the party to describe them as having held a third camp position. However, Cliff's supporters point out that this slogan has a broadly Trotskyist heritage, rather than a specifically third campist one: the manifesto of the Fourth International's world congress in 1948 was titled "Against Wall Street and the Kremlin". Tony Cliff (May 20, 1917 – May 9, 2000) was a Trotskyist revolutionary activist. ... The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a political party of the far left in England It sees itself as standing in the revolutionary socialist tradition. ... Combatants United Nations:  Republic of Korea,  Australia,  Belgium,  Luxembourg,  Canada,  Colombia,  Ethiopia,  France,  Greece,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  New Zealand,  Philippines,  South Africa,  Thailand,  Turkey,  United Kingdom,  United States Medical staff:  Denmark,  Australia,  Italy,  Norway,  Sweden Communist states:  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,  Peoples Republic of China,  Soviet Union Commanders... For other uses, see Fourth International (disambiguation). ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A third camp position is held today by the Workers Liberty groups^[3], New Politics^[4], and by some in the multi-tendency Marxist organization Solidarity in the United States, as well as some in the Democratic Socialists of America and the Socialist Party USA. The Worker-Communist Parties of Iran and Iraq, which do not come from a Trotskyist background, also hold a third camp position.[1] The Alliance for Workers Liberty (AWL), also known as Workers Liberty is a small Trotskyist group based in the United Kingdom. ... New Politics is an independent socialist journal. ... Solidarity is a socialist group in the United States, led by Trotskyists and post-Trotskyists. ... Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest socialist organization in the United States and the principal U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International, a federation of socialist, social democratic and labour parties and organizations. ... The Socialist Party USA (SP USA) is one of the heirs to the Socialist Party of America of Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas. ... There are some Iranian and Iraqi parties known as Worker-Communist Parties. ...

Other uses of the term

More recently, a movement has emerged calling for a "Third camp against US militarism and Islamic terrorism"[2], mainly an initiative of Iranian leftists, such as Maryam Namazie. Militarism or militarist ideology is the doctrinal view of a society as being best served (or more efficient) when it is governed or guided by concepts embodied in the culture, doctrine, system, or people of the military. ... Islamist terrorism, sometimes called Islamic terrorism, is terrorism that is carried out to further the political and religious ambitions of a segment of the Muslim community. ... Maryam Namazie is a world-renowned Communist activist of Iranian descent. ...

References

1. ^ A series of articles and letters from Trotsky's debates with Shachtman was published posthumously under the title "In Defense of Marxism."
2. ^ Sherman Stanley "India and the Third Camp" (April 1940)
3. ^ Workers’ Liberty and the “Third Camp”
4. ^ Alan Johnson "The Third Camp as History And a Living Legacy"

External links

• Max Shachtman, The Soviet Union and the World War
• Leon Trotsky, Balance Sheet of the Finnish Events
• Pierre Frank, Under Pressure of the Coming War, Imperialism Beckons “Third Camp”
• Tony Cliff, Marxism and the theory of bureaucratic collectivism

Pierre Frank (1906-1984) was a French Trotskyist leader. ...

See also

• Centrism
• Anti-Stalinist left
• Third Way (A social-democratic theory, popularly supposed to have been a significant influence on Tony Blair - it has no political connection with Third Camp Socialism).