Lindsay Tanner The Left in Crisis The various groupings on the left can no longer ignore the serious decline of socialism in Australia, argues Lindsay Tanner. He argues that socialists must confront the real causes of this failure to mobilise long-term support and thereby seek new initiatives to ensure the future of socialism in Australia. A hard-headed examination of the Australian leading national figures like Jim Cairns because of ;i jCM political scene in 1985 suggests that the Left is now temporary hiatus between the expiring older generation in a very serious state of decline. Whether one looks and a rising new generation of Left leaders. At the stale at superf icial indicators or deeper trends, the short-term level, the Left is strong only in Victoria and Nev. Sotnh outlook lor the Left is bleak and the longer-term outlook Wales. Yet. in New South Wales, the Right forces ,Lemain simply unknown. ftrmlv in control of the party and. in Victoria, the relative The Communist Party is in severe difficulties after strength of the Left at the parliamentary level is merely having proved to be a relatively durable if not dynamic exacerbating the deep divisions within the Socialist Lett force in the turmoil of the 'sixties and 'seventies. The over the role of labor governments. contradictions of a Eurocommunist line in a small socialist Within the trade union movement, the Left's position sect have gradually been exposed. The departure of the has fluctuated. The massive assault on the A M W U Victorian C P A leadership to form Socialist Forum in 1984 (Amalgamated Metal Workers Union) has been averted has had a traumatic impact on the Victorian AL.P Left and for the time being, but has highlighted the v ulnerability of union movement. The emergence of Socialist Forum has progressive unions to attack by external forces with vast amounts of money. The I eft has made ma jor gains in w hite " .... the short-term outlook for the left is collar unions and more or less held its position in other bleak and the longer-term outlook simply areas. However, the divisions within the trade union Left, particularly over the Accord and relationships with labor unknown." governments, have severely hampered the Left. led to quite vicious internal conflict both within the A L P Among the rank and file of the labour movement, and in the community generally. the situation is a good deal more Left and in the trade union movement. The C P A is now serious. The proportion of the population professing a seriously contemplating the formation of a new political commitment to socialism is small, and apparently party founded explicitly on the sort of "community declining. The absence of a unifying, inspirational focus on coalition" approach which gave birth to Socialist Forum. the Left and the increasing fragmentation of Left forces The major area of disagreement between the two groups has brought things to the point where Outright appears to be ovr the issue of forming a new socialist part j marginalisation looms. The political debate in Australia rather than attempting to influence or convert the AL P — appears to be over the issue of forming a new socialist party over the next five years is likely to be fought between rather than attempting to influence or conver the A L P — Thatcherite radicals and social democrat preservers of the the perennial dilemma of Australian socialists. status quo. The socialist sects, which have been characterised by a renewed bout of splits and realignments, have fared ".... the Left is rapidly acquiring an image suffered the problem of S W P entrism and is now also in of an old-fashioned, outmoded theology." disarray and decline. However, thousands of Australians are now actively involved in community groups and issue Young working class people have retreated from campaigns which tend to reflect Left attitudes and political activity, and the idealism of middle class youth of philosophy, such as animal liberation, consumer groups, the late 'sixties and early 'seventies has been usurped by People for Nuclear Disarmament, the women's movement mindless hedonism and self-interest. Rank-and-file and so on. Both the Socialist Forum group and the involvement in trade unions and the Labor Party, remaining C PA stalwarts have recognised the importance particularly among the young, is very low, and appa enilv of harnessing the latcm political energy which rests in these declining, the trade union movement is more unpopular, forces. even among union members, than it has been for decades. The values ol the Right are spreading, and the Left is n parliament, and in the trade union movement, the rapidly acquiring an image of an old-lashioned. outmoded Loft's position is weakening. In federal parliament, theology, perhaps appropriate during the'forties, but now though more organised and cohesive than ever before, completely out of touch with contemporary reality. the Left remains in an entrenched minority, lacking /16 Australian Left Review The Left in Crisis Causes of Decline he primary causes of the declining strength of the Left lie inevitably in the dramatic changes in Australian socicty in recent decades. In particular, the semi-tribal working clas communities of earlier years have all but been destroyed by suburbanization, rimprovements in transport and communications, the development of the mass media, and burgeoning materialism and theconsumerculture. The post-war boom raised individual expectations and reduced the influence of work relations over social horizons. Increasing detachment of working class leaders in union and party apparatus from the people they represent has been accompanied bv the disintegration ol an entire political ' culture The "consciousness industries" which blossomed during the 'sixties, such as television, music and fashion, have dramatically eroded the distinctive working class culture ol the shop floor, trade union consciousness ;md the ethics of socialism. Trade union consciousness has been diluted by the artificial accretion of paper membership brought on by the spread of compulsory membership bv means ol agreement between union and company rather than Lindsay Tanner pressure from below product of burgeoning tertiary education, while collar "The older generation within the Left employment, and radical professional activism. appears to believe that bad publicity does The older generation within the Left appears to believe that had publicity does not really matter, as it will not not really matter." affect the faithful rank and file. Many left leaders still shun the media because il is the "capitalist press" run bv The changing industrial structure in Australia has establishment lackcys like Rupert Murdoch. The same rapidly reduced the numerical and industrial strength of leaders drive around in cars manufactures by American the manual working class, traditionally the primary b;isc ol multinationals which oppress Ausiralian workers and the 1 .clI and the labour movement There are now more cheat Australian consumers, I ike everything else, members o! the Australian working class working in including the Labor Party and the trade union movement, Ol (ices than in factories. The I eft has compounded the the media is part of Australian capitalism. To use it effects of this change irt the structure ol Australian society intelligently lo convey the Left's message does not by its almost obsessive attachment lo the images of the necessarily imply capitulation to superficial "image factory floor and the blue collar worker and its failure to politics". analyse the change and adjust its political approach the media is naturally biased against the l.elt, but is accordingly, lo r years the Communist Party clung to a obliged by its own precepts lo provide the Left with some position ol "proletarian sectarianism", and the Victorian coverage: the Left should, therefore, aim to use that Socialist l.elt is still heavily permeated with an idealised cove rate to neutralise to the greatest extent possible the conception of the revolutionary blue collar worker and a impact of that bias. It is a sad fact, but true, that the perception of the tertiary educated white collar employee ordinary A! P member and trade union member gets the as "middle class". This attitude is not calculated to bulk ol his her political information from The Sun, engender wide appeal for the Left within the ranks of white C hannel 9 News, and so on. collar workers. he increasing dominance ol educated professionals The Left and Economic Theory M within the AI I’ has provided a base for the he I eft has failed to come lo terms w ith the demise of I formation ol a Centre-! ell. Wedded to the concepts state capitalism of Keynesian economics in the mid- ol efficiency, professionalism and elitism, most people in seventies. The l ed has vacated the field ol economic thisgioup tend to recoil from the industrial militancy and policy and allowed the A L P Right to dominate almost economic policies ol the Left, and content themselves with J unchallenged: consequently. the central economic debate radical reformism on social issues. The l.elt laces the in Australia today is between spciaI democratic supporters difficult task ol trying to separate out the truly radical ol ihe status quo and privatising l iberals. Yet there are spints from the naked opportunists among the centrists, signs that the l.elt is now slowly and painfully coming to white avoiding being "colonised" ys a power vehicle to be terms with recent change: nationalisation is now widely Used in a struggle for internal party supremacy against the regarded as an inadequate solution, there is growing Right. I he I ell also needs lo develop a strategy lot coping realisation that Keynesianism is essentially a social With the increasing problem ol blue collar alienation from democratic rather than a socialist economic sirategy.