Socialist Resistance

Nick Wrack, National Secretary of Respect, spoke in a personal capacity at the Socialist Resistance dayschool on broad parties

The next in the series of introductions from the Socialist Resistance dayschool is this contribution from Andrej Hunko who looks at the experience of the Left Party in Germany.

This video is one of the most coherent accounts in English of Sinistra Critica’s recent experiences in Italy. Angelo Cardone delivered this talk at the Socialist Resistance dayschool on broad parties.

Kevin Ovenden is a member of Respect’s leadership and works for George Galloway in Parliament. This is a video of his talk to the Socialist Resistance dayschool on the European experience of broad parties.

Joseph Healey is the Green Party’s International Co-ordinator and the co-convenor of the Green Left. In this talk to the Socialist Resistance seminar on broad parties he surveys the European Greens.

The next video from the Socialist Resistance dayschool features Willem Bos.  Willem is a long-standing activist of the Dutch left and a member of the Socialist Party. He spoke in a personal capacity about his experiences in this important and successful party of the left.

This text was voted on and passed at a meeting in London on Sunday 29th June. A Steering Committee was also elected.

      The purpose of this document is to launch a regroupment process, which will culminate in a conference after a period of discussion. It registers the most important areas of agreement we have achieved at the beginning of this discussion. There are other areas, not included, which will have to be the subject of further discussion.

1. This is a proposal made by members of the International Socialist Group (ISG), Socialist Resistance (SR), a group of former members of the SWP and some independent Marxists not presently in any organisation. It is an invitation to everyone who would be interested in establishing a new revolutionary organisation based on an understanding of the need for Marxists to build a revolutionary organisation and to work for the widest unity of the working class on economic, social and political issues.

2. We propose a regroupment, based on our common traditions as active revolutionary socialists. This proposal emerges from practical collaboration over the recent period in building Respect. We also appeal to independent revolutionaries and new militants to join us.

3. We hope that a process of discussion throughout this year will culminate in a founding conference to be held towards the end of this year.

4. We have a shared analysis of the nature of class society and how it can be changed. Capitalism is an outmoded system which cannot satisfy even the most basic needs of billions of the world’s population. The further advance of humanity and the protection of the environment from catastrophe can only be achieved by the creation of a socialist society.

5. The capitalist state cannot be reformed but has to be overthrown and replaced by a workers’ state. This revolutionary act can only be carried out by the working class, the only agency that can transform society.

6. The emancipation of the working class is the task of the working class itself, acting as a class in its own interests. Socialism cannot be achieved from above by reformist politicians or trade union leaders. The struggle for socialism is international; the struggle of workers and the oppressed everywhere is one struggle.

7. We recognize that capitalism uses the oppression of certain social groups to divide the working class. The organisations of the working class must constantly strive to overcome any divisions by advancing the causes of these oppressed groups. We oppose all forms of oppression and defend the right of the oppressed to self-organization. We support, and will participate in, the struggles against national oppression, women’s oppression, racism and Islamophobia and against homophobia.

8. What existed in the “communist bloc” was not socialism. It was a Stalinist perversion of socialism; a dictatorship that brutally oppressed all political opposition, suppressed workers’ rights and trampled on workers’ democracy. Socialism cannot exist except with the extension of democracy so that the working class collectively takes the decisions about the future of its new society.

9. The dominant ideas of the present society are those of the capitalist class. For the revolution to succeed the most militant workers and their allies have to be organised into a revolutionary organisation which challenges and confronts that ideology with one in the interests of the new socialist society.

10. The revolutionary organisation must be part of the working class and take part in the life and struggles of the working class and the oppressed. It seeks to absorb the lessons of working-class struggles from the past and from today. It must give guidance and perspective to its members in their activity in the workplace, communities and campaigns. Theoretical study and discussion serve as a guide to the practical work of the organisation. In this way we can test our ideas in practice and learn from our experience.

11. Any revolutionary organization must be democratic, including the right to organize around minority viewpoints, but must aim to act in a unified manner. Socialist democracy is the only way to develop a genuine political leadership of the working class and its allies.

12. We believe that the decline of the Labour Party and the disintegration of its mass base present the best opportunity for many decades to build a viable alternative to the left of Labour. The signatories of this appeal have been working together as revolutionaries and with others to build such a party. We believe that the building of a united party of the working class is one of the overarching strategic tasks for revolutionary socialists in this period. The role of revolutionary Marxists in helping to build Respect over the next period will be an important one.

13. We state clearly our commitment to building a revolutionary socialist organisation, which will locate itself in working-class struggle – in the workplace, in the community, amongst the oppressed and in the broad party.

14. We are internationalists, against imperialism and war; we stand for mass action from below in the interests of the working class; we do not set ourselves apart from the working class and its organisations but seek the broadest agreement with others, using the methods of the united-front. Our aim is both to advance the interests of the class and the ideas of revolutionary socialism. To these ends we will explore the possibility of links with other revolutionaries internationally.

15. This document is intended only as a preliminary text. We invite all those who are interested in the ideas outlined above to join us in a process of discussion.

For more information or to become involved e-mail

revolutionaryregroupment@googlemail.com

or visit

http://revolutionaryregroupment.wordpress.com

Ivan Beavis of the Communist Party of Britain speaks at the Socialist Resistance seminar on broad parties. He begins by saying:

He’s not seeking to take power because the role of the Communist Party in Britain was defined by Lenin as that of acting within the mass party of the working class, the Labour Party and within the mass organisations of the working class.

It is Communist Party policy that they should be part of the Labour Party and they were part of it until they were expelled in the 1920s. They do not seek to supplant the Labour Party….

A fascinating day of discussion and debate on building broad left parties across Europe

Saturday June 28^th 10.30 – 6.00 ULU Malet St London – nearest Tube Goodge St.

Tickets10 pounds waged five pounds unwaged (two pounds students)

Across Europe working people are looking for a political alternative. Their traditional parties have become parties of the rich. This conference will look at the experiences of socialist from across Europe in building new political voices for the working class.

Opening plenary 11.00

Penny Duggan – LCR.

Miguel Reis - Left Block.

Andrej Hunko - Die Linke.

Angelo Cardone – Sinistra Critica

Lunch – 1.00

First round of workshops - 2.00

The German experience - Andej Hunko

The Portuguese experience - Miguel Reis

The LCR new party project - Penny Duggan

The emergence of Sinistra Critica – Angelo Cardone

Second plenary - 3.30

Willem Bos - Dutch Socialist Party.

Nick Wrack – Respect

Ivan Beavis – Communist Party of Britain

Joseph Healy – Green left

Second round of workshops – 4.30

The CPB approach – Ivan Beavis

The Dutch experience – Willem Bos

Building Respect - Kevin Ovenden

Green parties in Europe – Joseph Healy

End 6.00

Speaker profiles

Penny Duggan. Penny is a leading member of the LCR in Paris. She was a recently candidate on the “100% a gauche” list in both local and national elections in the 20^th district of Paris. She is involved in the current LCR campaign for a new anti-capitalist party in France and will speak on the current stage of this remarkable campaign and the prospects for it.

Andrej Hunko. Andrej is a member of the board of Die Linke in Northrhine-Westfalia and a supporter of the left-wing current inside Die Linke – the Antikapitalistische Linke. He is a long-standing activist of the German anti-war movement and the movement against public service cuts. He will talk about the importance of the emergence of Die Linke and the way it is developing.

Miguel Reis. Miguel is a leading member of the Portuguese Left Block. He will speak on how this important organization of the Portuguese and European left has been built and successes it has achieved in the electoral and other fields.

Angelo Cardone. Angelo is a member of Sinistra Critica (the Critical Left) which left Rifondazione Communista after it joined the pro-capitalist Prodi government. He will talk both this deeply negative experience and of the success of the Critical Left in establishing itself as an independent organization.

Willem Bos. Willem is a long-standing activist of the Dutch left and a member of the Socialist Party. He will be speaking in a personal capacity about his experiences in this important and successful party of the left.

Nick Wrack. Nick is the National Secretary of Respect. He will be speaking in a personal capacity on the struggle for an effective left alternative to new Labour.

Joseph Healy. Joseph is a member of the Green left and will speak on the European Green parties.

Ivan Beavis. Ivan will be speaking as a member of the executive committee of the CBP on its approach to broad left parties. He is also the circulation manager of the Morning Star.

Kevin Ovenden. Kevin is a member of the Respect national council and works for George Galloway MP. He will be introducing a workshop on building Respect.

Socialist Resistance supporter John Lister was recently invited to speak in Belfast on the National Health Service. This is the video of his talk.