About us
What we stand for
Socialist Resistance is an anti-capitalist political network that draws its politics from Marxism, and argues for internationalism, ecosocialism and feminism. The ideas of Karl Marx, 200 years after his birth, are still relevant. The Communist Manifesto is still an accurate description of class society today and a necessary passionate call for a revolution to “turn the world upside down”.
Socialism
Poverty, exploitation and oppression and war are products of the capitalist system in which a tiny minority ruling class benefits from the labour of the majority. The alternative is socialism, where the wealth created is owned in common, major assets such as industry and finance are socialised and democratic planning to meet society’s needs.
Socialism is not possible without the fullest possible democracy. It must guarantee freedom of expression and organisation to every range of opinion, other than those who incite violence against the oppressed or the working class.
Internationalism
Capitalism is an international system, so the struggle for socialism must be international, uniting workers of all countries. The world economy is dominated by huge corporations, some bigger than many countries. So we need to organise across borders for action and solidarity. Socialists oppose imperialism – the subjugation of weaker nations by stronger ones —and support the self-determination of oppressed nations and the struggle for national liberation.
Liberation for the oppressed
Capitalism divides working class people along sexual, gender, racial, national and other distinctions; the specially oppressed suffer most. The most effective way to fight back is for those who directly experience discrimination to organise and lead their own struggles. Much has been achieved but not liberation. There can be no liberation without socialism, and no socialism without liberation of the oppressed
Socialists support feminists in their fight for reproductive rights, for equal pay, against patriarchy, and for LGBT+ rights. We stand in solidarity with trans people currently experiencing the sharp end of a backlash against their right to exist.
We are against racism from the state and in any other form, against immigration controls and borders, and support the struggle for migrant rights. We fight to remove the legacy of slavery and colonialism.
We are for the creation of a society without the barriers that exclude those with mental or physical impairments.
The labour movement and socialists must champion these liberation struggles as their own, while recognising the right of the specially oppressed to lead these struggles and formulate their own demands.
Ecosocialism
Socialist Resistance calls itself ecosocialist because the ecological crisis is so profound that it redefines the socialist project. We challenge the growth-based and consumption-driven system of capitalism, which is also responsible for the development of pandemics such as COVID-19.
Today we are the first generation to understand the full depth of the ecological crisis and the last to have the chance to do anything about it. The struggle we are engaged in therefore is not ‘just’ a struggle to end capitalism and build a socialist society but to have a viable planet. This task is urgent. That’s why we need mass movements that compel governments to prevent the rise in global warming below 1.5°C by 2030 to prevent catastrophic and irreversible climate change.
Defend the gains of Corbynism
Labour with Corbyn as leader offered a radical alternative to neoliberalism. It inspired millions but it was unacceptable to the right wing in the party and the ruling class, who are now determined to remove all its traces. We are committed to defending the gains of Corbynism throughout the Labour movement, including fighting to defend the radical policies of the last two Labour party manifestos. At the same time we fight for the Labour left to work with all those organising on the streets, in workplaces and in communities.
For a Labour government
The election of a Labour government at Westminster would still be a blow to the hard right Tory party and could give confidence to millions to fight for deeper change. But the ruling class will only give up their power and wealth through mass struggles of the working class and the oppressed.
Socialist Resistance
We run a website, publish books and organise local meetings and national events. We collaborate with the Fourth International, a worldwide socialist organisation.
Socialist Resistance works with others on the left in campaigns against austerity and war, making refugees welcome, against racism and fascism, scrapping nuclear weapons, defending public services, education and housing and the NHS. We are in favour of independence for Scotland. We support a united Ireland.
We called for a vote to “remain” in the EU in the 2016 referendum. The EU is not a more progressive form of capitalism, but Brexit opened the door to xenophobia and the far right.
Join Socialist Resistance to help build the movement against capitalism and oppression, and for ecosocialism and democracy to meet the needs of people and to save the planet.
