Dear LeftLinkers
On the heels of S11 and in the midst of exciting global anti-capitalist
revolt, upcoming discussions about lessons to be drawn and where to go from
here couldn't be more welcome and timely. To go forward and meet the
opportunities presented by the new anti-WEF coalitions, as Trotsky might
have said, one must understand the past. A new publication called "Crisis
and Leadership," published by Red Letter Press, is a superb resource for this.
Written in 1965, the book examines how and why the U.S. Socialist Workers
Party, originally a vibrant model of principled Trotskyist organising and
thought, abandoned its revolutionary program. When the radical 1960s
exploded, the SWP was paralysed by its ties to the most privileged sectors
of the union movement and its ambivalent and wildly contradictory approach
to the upsurges of African Americans, youth, and women. In an attempt by
the Kirk-Kaye Tendency (Richard Fraser and Clara Fraser) to re-orient the
SWP, "Crisis and Leadership" studies the SWP's political errors in relation
to Cuba, the unions, the civil rights movement, feminism, youth, and the
emerging far right. The authors provide a visionary analysis of world
economic and political developments. They track down the source of the
bureaucratic methods that prevented the ranks from correcting the party's
downward spiral.
Although the SWP failed to change course, the political critique presented
in these pages became the seeds for a new beginning. The authors formed the
Freedom Socialist Party, which became the first and only Bolshevik feminist
party. Founding documents of the FSP are published for the first time in
this book. Extensive notes clarify the issues and historical events of the
time, as well as identify the people and organisations involved.
Today's new generation of organisers against global corporate rule will
find the perspectives offered in "Crisis and Leadership" as fresh and
relevant as when first written. It also provides answers for a generation
of exSWPers who dropped out of politics or tried to start new organisations
or who turned against Trotskyism/Leninism because of their experience.
Here's how to order from the publisher:
Red Letter Press
PO Box 266
West Brunswick Vic 3055
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fax: 03-9386-5065
For more information, visit our website at www.socialism.com
Cost:
Australia: $19.95, postage $2.50.
In struggle
Debbie Brennan
Freedom Socialist Party
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