The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party Adopted by the SEP Founding Congress August 3-9, 2008 © 2008 Socialist Equality Party Contents The Principled Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party ......................................................................................................................1 The Origins and Development of Marxism .................................................................................................................................................2 The Origins of Bolshevism ..........................................................................................................................................................................3 The Theory of Permanent Revolution ........................................................................................................................................................4 Lenin’s Defense of Materialism ...................................................................................................................................................................5 Imperialist War and the Collapse of the Second International ..................................................................................................................6 The Russian Revolution and the Vindication of Permanent Revolution ..................................................................................................8 The Communist International ..................................................................................................................................................................10 The Origins of Stalinism and the Founding of the Left Opposition .........................................................................................................12 The Consequences of “Socialism in One Country” ..................................................................................................................................13 The Expulsion of Trotsky ..........................................................................................................................................................................14 The Early Struggles of the International Left Opposition ........................................................................................................................15 The Victory of Fascism in Germany ..........................................................................................................................................................16 The Fourth International and the Struggle against Centrism .................................................................................................................17 The Treachery of the Popular Front ..........................................................................................................................................................17 The Revolution Betrayed ...........................................................................................................................................................................19 The Founding of the Fourth International ...............................................................................................................................................20 The Outbreak of World War II and Trotsky’s Last Struggle ......................................................................................................................21 Trotsky’s Defense of Materialist Dialectics .................................................................................................................................................22 The Petty-Bourgeois Opposition and Party Organization ........................................................................................................................23 The Fourth International and the Outbreak of World War II ..................................................................................................................24 Trotsky’s Place In History ..........................................................................................................................................................................26 The United States Enters the War ..............................................................................................................................................................27 The End of the War and the “Buffer States” .............................................................................................................................................28 The United States and the Restabilization of Capitalism .........................................................................................................................28 The Post-war Upsurge of the Masses .........................................................................................................................................................29 The Chinese Revolution ............................................................................................................................................................................30 The Establishment of Israel ......................................................................................................................................................................30 The Korean War .........................................................................................................................................................................................31 The Origins of Pabloite Revisionism .........................................................................................................................................................31 Pablo’s Repudiation of Trotskyism ............................................................................................................................................................33 The “Open Letter” and the Formation of the International Committee .................................................................................................34 The Lenin-Trotsky Theory of the Party .....................................................................................................................................................35 Stalinism in Crisis .....................................................................................................................................................................................36 Castroism and the SWP’s Return to Pablo ................................................................................................................................................36 The SLL’s Defense of Trotskyism ...............................................................................................................................................................37 The Pabloite Reunification and the Betrayal in Ceylon ...........................................................................................................................38 Opposition in the SWP: The Emergence of the ACFI ................................................................................................................................39 The Third Congress of the ICFI .................................................................................................................................................................39 Pabloism, the New Left and Guerrillaism ................................................................................................................................................40 “Continuity” vs. “Reconstruction” of the Fourth International..............................................................................................................41 The Formation of the Workers League ......................................................................................................................................................41 Split in the International Committee .......................................................................................................................................................43 The Founding of the Workers Revolutionary Party and the World Crisis of 1973-75 .............................................................................44 Wohlforth’s Break with the Workers League .............................................................................................................................................44 The Workers League After Wohlforth .......................................................................................................................................................45 The Origins of the “Security and the Fourth International” Investigation .............................................................................................46 The Role of Joseph Hansen ........................................................................................................................................................................47 A Phony “Verdict”: The Pabloites Endorse the Cover-up of Stalinist Crimes ..........................................................................................47 A Shift in the World Situation: The Capitalist Counter-Offensive .............................................................................................................49 The Crisis in the Workers Revolutionary Party .........................................................................................................................................50
Recommended publications
  • The CPC Its Mission and Contributions
    The CPC Its Mission and Contributions The Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee Contents Preamble I.Serving the People Wholeheartedly 1.Putting the People First 2.From Victory to Victory with the People 3.The People as Masters of the Country 4.A Good Life for the People II.Realizing the Ideals of the Party 1.Upholding Marxism 2.Firm Ideals and Convictions 3.Breaking New Ground 4.Defusing Risks and Overcoming Challenges III.Robust Leadership and Strong Governance 1.A Strong Central Committee 2.Sound Guidelines and Strategies 3.Effective Implementation of Decisions and Plans 4.Pooling the Efforts of All Sectors 5.Fostering High-Caliber Party Officials IV.Maintaining Vigor and Vitality 1.Upholding Intra-Party Democracy 2.Correcting Mistakes 3.Protecting the Party's Health 4.Promoting Study and Review V.Contributing to World Peace and Development 1.Safeguarding World Peace 2.Pursuing Common Development 3.Following the Path of Peaceful Development 4.Building a Global Community of Shared Future Conclusion Preamble The Communist Party of China (CPC), founded in 1921, has just celebrated its centenary. These hundred years have been a period of dramatic change – enormous productive forces unleashed, social transformation unprecedented in scale, and huge advances in human civilization. On the other hand, humanity has been afflicted by devastating wars and suffering. These hundred years have also witnessed profound and transformative change in China. And it is the CPC that has made this change possible. The Chinese nation is a great nation. With a history dating back more than 5,000 years, China has made an indelible contribution to human civilization.
    [Show full text]
  • Pablo Bio-Bibliographical Sketch
    Lubitz' TrotskyanaNet Michel Pablo Bio-Bibliographical Sketch Contents: Basic biographical data Biographical sketch Selective bibliography Basic biographical data Name: Michel Pablo Other names (by-names, pseud. etc.): Abdelkrim ; Alain ; Archer ; Gabe ; Gabriel ; Henry ; Jérôme ; J.P. Martin ; Jean-Paul Martin ; Mike; Molitor ; M.P. ; Murat ; Pilar ; Michalēs N. Raptēs ; Michel Raptis ; Mihalis Raptis ; Mikhalis N. Raptis ; Robert ; Smith ; Spero ; Speros ; Vallin Date and place of birth: August 24, 1911, Alexandria (Egypt) Date and place of death: February 17, 1996, Athens (Greece) Nationality: Greek Occupations, careers, etc.: Civil engineer, professional revolutionary Time of activity in Trotskyist movement: 1928 - 1964 (1995) Biographical sketch A lifelong revolutionary, Michel Pablo for some one and a half decades was the chief leader of the Trotskyist Fourth International – or at least of its majority faction. He was perhaps one of the most renowned and at the same time one of the most controversial figures of the international Trotskyist movement; for all those claiming for themselves the label of "orthodox" Trotskyism, Pablo since 1953 was a whipping boy and the very synonym for centrism, revisionism, opportunism, and even for liquidationism. 'Michel Pablo' is one (and undoubtedly the best known) of more than about a dozen pseudonyms used by a man who was born Michael Raptis [Mikhalēs Raptēs / Μισέλ Πάμπλο]1 as son of Nikolaos Raptis [Raptēs], a Greek civil engineer, in Alexandria (Egypt) on August 24, 1911. He grew up and attended Greek schools in Egypt and from 1918 in Crete before, at the age of 17, he moved to Athens enrolling at the Polytechnic where he studied engineering.
    [Show full text]
  • Khrushchev's Zig-Zag Course Reflects Crisis
    Khrushchev’s Zig-Zag Course Reflects Crisis t h e MILITANT By Harry Ring PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE JULY 17 — A series of obviously improvised and Vol. XXI - No. 29 267 NEW YORK, N. Y., MONDAY, JULY 22, 1957 PRICE 10c contradictory moves during the past week marked the drive of Nikita Khrushchev to consolidate his victory over the four bureaucrats whose downfall was announced July 3. unless they can achieve a meas­ The present zig - zag course ure of popular support. There­ illuminates the powerful oppos­ fore concessions must be prom­ ing pressures underlying the now ised and even granted. The acute crisis of the ruling bureau­ vanquished bureaucrats must be cracy. made the scapegoats for the Eisenhower Seen Cooking Up After the death of the crimes committed against the “supreme arbiter,” Stalin, the people by the entire bureaucracy. bureaucracy had to rule through The winner is driven to try to the vehicle of “collective leader­ play both “hard cop” and “ soft ship.” But wracked by the inner cop” at the very same time. conflict of special privileges and TWISTS AND TURNS material interests, the ruling caste is driven along the road of Last week they were trying to Rights Bill Deal with Racists throwing up a single new execute the twists and turns supreme authority. This process demanded by this situation. On is expressed in the uninterrupted July 10 the Moscow radio in­ Putting the Pressure On Congress power struggles of the rival formed the world that Malenkov, cliques within the bureaucracy. who had been ousted from the Liberals in Senate Seek to Patch Up Party Presidium for “anti-party A NEW STAGE activity,” had been made man­ The unique feature of this in­ ager of a hydroelectric plant in ternecine warfare is the context remote East Kazakhstan and that Rotten Compromise with Southerners in which it takes place— the new the other ousted chieftains, stage of the Russian revolution.
    [Show full text]
  • Now British and Irish Communist Organisation
    THE I C PG ·B NOW BRITISH AND IRISH COMMUNIST ORGANISATION From its foundation until the late 1940s, the Communist Party of Great Britain set itself a very clear political task - to lead the British working class. Its justification was that the working class required the abolition of capitalism for its emancipation, and only the Communist Party was able and willing to lead the working class in undertaking this. l'he CP recognised that it might have to bide its time before a seizure of power was practicable, mainly, it believed, because the working class .' consciousness was not yet revol­ utionary. But its task was still to lead the working class: only by leading the working class in the immediate, partial day-to-day class struggle could the CP hope to show that the abolition of capitalism was the real solution to their griev­ ances. It was through such struggle that the proletariat would learn; and without the Communist Party to point out lead the Left of the Labour Party to abolish c~pitalism: The 'll lacked the vital understand~ng and w~ll to the lessons of the struggle, the proletariat would draw only Labour Party s t 1 . · partial and superficial conclusions from its experience. · L ft Labour was open to Commun~st 1nf1 uence. do th~s. But e h · ld cooperate with the Labour Party because t e Commun~sts cou , h d h By the mid-1930s, the Communist Party was compelled to ack­ · 't f the Labour Party s members also a t e vast maJor~ Y o 1 nowledge that the Labour Party had gained the allegiance of .
    [Show full text]
  • The Workers' Inquiry from Trotskyism to Operaismo
    the author(s) 2014 ISSN 1473-2866 (Online) ISSN 2052-1499 (Print) www.ephemerajournal.org volume 14(3): 493-513 The Workers’ Inquiry from Trotskyism to Operaismo: a political methodology for investigating the workplace Jamie Woodcock abstract This article discusses different approaches to conducting a workers’ inquiry. Although there is a certain level of ambiguity in the term, it is taken to mean a method for investigating the workplace from the point of view of the worker. The article aims to examine the methodological concerns involved with conducting a contemporary inquiry and to consider the different debates that have emerged from its use. It examines a particular set of examples from Marx, the breaks from orthodox Trotskyism with the Johnson-Forest Tendency and Socialisme ou Barbarie, and early phase of Operaismo or Italian Workerism. It is intended as a specific intervention that aims to understand what can be learned from an unorthodox Trotskyist interpretation of a workers’ inquiry and how this moment can provide an inspiration for the rethinking and reapplication of Marxism, both in terms of theory and practice, to the changing world. Introduction The aim of this article is to consider what can be learned from a number of different attempts at workers’ inquiries. This will be neither an exclusive nor an exhaustive study, but examine particular moments of interest. The different groups that broke with orthodox Trotskyism and the later Italian tradition sought to critically reassess the changing world around them, something that remains an important task today. The current conjuncture in the UK is characterised by the continuing impact of austerity.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecosocialism & Environmental Activism
    Ecosocialism & environmental activism SUBSCRIBE TODAY CANADA U.S. 1 year $20 $25 2 years $35 (save $5) $45 (save $5) 3 years $50 (save $10) $65 (save $10) Supporting: Add $20 Institutional and overseas international: $50 per year All prices in Canadian dollars Send cheques to: New Socialist Box 167, 253 College Street Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R5 www.newsocialist.org Union rights in Canada FALL 2007 Indigenous politics Issue No. 62 $4.95 Socialist history www.newsocialist.org Palestine The Ugly Canadian EDITORIAL here is an ever-widening chasm between the myth of met in an effort to promote the agenda of the Security and Canada as a peaceful and humanitarian nation and the Prosperity Partnership (SPP), which is pushed by the North realityT of Canadian foreign policy. American Competitiveness Council made up of 30 key cor- Stephen Harper says Canada is back as a credible politi- porate figures from the three states. cal and military player in world affairs. This highlights the The SPP’s proponents are pushing for weaker regulations urgency of building a strong movement of opposition to Ca- on business under the guise of “harmonization.” The consoli- nadian imperialism. dation of a US-style Homeland Security model in Canada is In Afghanistan, Canadian troops are on the front lines of also being pursued. Far more integrated and openly restric- counter-insurgency war, propping up the US puppet regime tive and racist border security policies are being promoted. of Hamid Karzai. Ninety percent of Canadian spending in North America is to be made even safer for profit-making, Afghanistan is military.
    [Show full text]
  • The Personal, the Political, and Permanent Revolution: Ernest Mandel and the Conflicted Legacies of Trotskyism*
    IRSH 55 (2010), pp. 117–132 doi:10.1017/S0020859009990642 r 2010 Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis REVIEW ESSAY The Personal, the Political, and Permanent Revolution: Ernest Mandel and the Conflicted Legacies of Trotskyism* B RYAN D. PALMER Canadian Studies, Trent University, Traill College E-mail: [email protected] JAN WILLEM STUTJE. Ernest Mandel: A Rebel’s Dream Deferred. Verso, London [etc.] 2009. 460 pp. $34.95. Biographies of revolutionary Marxists should not be written by the faint of heart. The difficulties are daunting. Which revolutionary tradition is to be given pride of place? Of many Marxisms, which will be extolled, which exposed? What balance will be struck between the personal and the political, a dilemma that cannot be avoided by those who rightly place analytic weight on the public life of organizations and causes and yet understand, as well, how private experience affects not only the individual but the movements, ideas, and developments he or she influenced. Social history’s accent on the particular and its elaboration of context, political biography’s attention to structures, institutions, and debates central to an individual’s life, and intellectual history’s close examination of central ideas and the complexities of their refinement present a trilogy of challenge for any historian who aspires to write the life of someone who was both in history and dedicated to making his- tory. Ernest Mandel was just such a someone, an exceedingly important and troublingly complex figure. * The author thanks Tom Reid, Murray Smith, and Paul Le Blanc for reading an earlier draft of this review, and offering suggestions for revision.
    [Show full text]
  • The Electoral Geography of European Radical Left Parties Since 1990
    ‘Red Belts’ anywhere? The electoral geography of European radical left parties since 1990 Petar Nikolaev Bankov, BA, MSc Submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social and Political Sciences College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow January 2020 Abstract European radical left parties (RLPs) are on the rise across Europe. Since 1990 they became an integral part of the party systems across the continent and enjoy an increased level of government participation and policy clout. The main source for this improved position is their increasing electoral support in the past three decades, underpinned by a diversity of electoral geographies. Understood as the patterns of territorial distribution of electoral support across electoral units, the electoral geographies are important, as they indicate the effects of the socio-economic and political changes in Europe on these parties. This thesis studies the sources of the electoral geographies of European RLPs since 1990. The existing literature on these parties highlighted the importance of their electoral geographies for understanding their electoral and governmental experiences. Yet, to this date, it lacks systematic research on these territorial distributions of electoral support in their own right. Such research is important also for the general literature on the spatial distribution of electoral performance. In particular, these works paid limited attention to the relevance of their theories for individual political parties, as they
    [Show full text]
  • The Bolshevil{S and the Chinese Revolution 1919-1927 Chinese Worlds
    The Bolshevil{s and the Chinese Revolution 1919-1927 Chinese Worlds Chinese Worlds publishes high-quality scholarship, research monographs, and source collections on Chinese history and society from 1900 into the next century. "Worlds" signals the ethnic, cultural, and political multiformity and regional diversity of China, the cycles of unity and division through which China's modern history has passed, and recent research trends toward regional studies and local issues. It also signals that Chineseness is not contained within territorial borders ­ overseas Chinese communities in all countries and regions are also "Chinese worlds". The editors see them as part of a political, economic, social, and cultural continuum that spans the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, South­ East Asia, and the world. The focus of Chinese Worlds is on modern politics and society and history. It includes both history in its broader sweep and specialist monographs on Chinese politics, anthropology, political economy, sociology, education, and the social­ science aspects of culture and religions. The Literary Field of New Fourth Artny Twentieth-Century China Communist Resistance along the Edited by Michel Hockx Yangtze and the Huai, 1938-1941 Gregor Benton Chinese Business in Malaysia Accumulation, Ascendance, A Road is Made Accommodation Communism in Shanghai 1920-1927 Edmund Terence Gomez Steve Smith Internal and International Migration The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Chinese Perspectives Revolution 1919-1927 Edited by Frank N Pieke and Hein Mallee
    [Show full text]
  • Fourth International 666
    Vol. 7, No. 26 0 1969 Intercontinental Press July 14, 1969 $1 DOCUMENTS World Congress of the FOURTH INTERNATIONAL 666 fied to the active way in which the Trotskyists in most countries are participating in vanguard struggles. Special Issue A noticeable feature of the congress was the youthful- ness of many of the delegations. They represented the most politically conscious sector of the new generation One of the features of Intercontinental A.ess which of rebel youth that is stirring the world today. The many of our well-wishers have told us is especially question of how the Fourth International can take still appreciated is the number of documents which we reg- better advantage of the great new openings interna- ularly make available in translation from various lan- tionally to recruit fresh contingents from this source guages and from various sectors of the political spec- was one of the major items on the agenda. It was trum. In this issue the entire contents comes under the likewise interlaced with other points in the deliberations heading of rrdocuments” and these documents are all of the delegates. from a single gathering, the world congress of the Fourth The discussion was an intense one throughout the International held last April. congress, constituting the most graphic evidence of how In our opinion, this was a political event of some the democratic side of the principle of democratic cen- importance to the revolutionary-minded left. As the tralism is observed in the Fourth International in con- Third World Congress since the Reunification, it reg- trast to the stultifying, antidemocratic practices charac- istered the solidity achieved by the world Trotskyist teristic of the Stalinist and Social Democratic organiza- movement after a major split that lasted for almost tions with their iron-fisted and ivory-headed bureau- ten years until the breach was closed in 1963 on a cracies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Soviet Union and the Fourth International, the Class Nature of the Soviet State
    University of Central Florida STARS PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements 1-1-1934 The Soviet union and the fourth International, the class nature of the soviet state Leon Trotsky Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Book is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Trotsky, Leon, "The Soviet union and the fourth International, the class nature of the soviet state" (1934). PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements. 152. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism/152 FOURTH TERNATIONAL Tht Ciass Nature of the Soviet state TEN CENTS THE CLASS NATURE OF THE SOVIET STATE HOWthe Question is Posed The break with the Commdt I$termtional and thc orientation toward the New InterPatid have pod anew the question of the social character of the U. S. S. R. Doesn't the cohpse of the Communist International dao mean at the same time the collapse of that state whi& emerged from the October Revolution? Here, indeed, h both instances one and the same ruling organization is con- cerned : the Stalinieb apparatus. It had applied identical methods within the U. S. 6. R. as in the international arena. We, Marxists, were never patrons of the double bookkeep iag system of the Braadlerites according to which the pol- idea of the St~lini~itrare impeccable in the U.8.S.R.
    [Show full text]
  • Review of European and National Election Results Update: September 2019
    REVIEW OF EUROPEAN AND NATIONAL ELECTION RESULTS UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 2019 A Public Opinion Monitoring Publication REVIEW OF EUROPEAN AND NATIONAL ELECTION RESULTS UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 2019 Directorate-General for Communication Public Opinion Monitoring Unit May 2019 - PE 640.149 IMPRESSUM AUTHORS Philipp SCHULMEISTER, Head of Unit (Editor) Alice CHIESA, Marc FRIEDLI, Dimitra TSOULOU MALAKOUDI, Matthias BÜTTNER Special thanks to EP Liaison Offices and Members’ Administration Unit PRODUCTION Katarzyna ONISZK Manuscript completed in September 2019 Brussels, © European Union, 2019 Cover photo: © Andrey Kuzmin, Shutterstock.com ABOUT THE PUBLISHER This paper has been drawn up by the Public Opinion Monitoring Unit within the Directorate–General for Communication (DG COMM) of the European Parliament. To contact the Public Opinion Monitoring Unit please write to: [email protected] LINGUISTIC VERSION Original: EN DISCLAIMER This document is prepared for, and primarily addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament to assist them in their parliamentary work. The content of the document is the sole responsibility of its author(s) and any opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent an official position of the Parliament. TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL 1 1. COMPOSITION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 5 DISTRIBUTION OF SEATS OVERVIEW 1979 - 2019 6 COMPOSITION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LAST UPDATE (31/07/2019) 7 CONSTITUTIVE SESSION (02/07/2019) AND OUTGOING EP SINCE 1979 8 PROPORTION OF WOMEN AND MEN PROPORTION - LAST UPDATE 02/07/2019 28 PROPORTIONS IN POLITICAL GROUPS - LAST UPDATE 02/07/2019 29 PROPORTION OF WOMEN IN POLITICAL GROUPS - SINCE 1979 30 2. NUMBER OF NATIONAL PARTIES IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONSTITUTIVE SESSION 31 3.
    [Show full text]