In the latest of an ongoing series of exchanges with Luke Cooper, a
young British revolutionary whose critique of “Leninism” I share, Paul
Le Blanc referred to some fairly ancient history that will likely be
obscure to most on the left, even those who have been following this
debate and others like it for the past decade or so.
In trying to paint James P. Cannon, the father of American Trotskyism,
as someone open to the kinds of broad left unity taking in place in
Britain today, Le Blanc refers to the “regroupment” period of the
mid-50s which had Cannon sounding sweet and reasonable at a public
meeting: in 1958:
Socialists of different tendencies have begun to think of each other as
comrades. Free discussion and fraternization, and sentiment for united
action and regroupment of all the scattered forces, are the order of the
day for us now everywhere. I say that’s a good day for us and for our
cause – the cause of American socialism.
This is part of a delicate balancing act being undertaken by the
International Socialists Organization. They recognize that lip-service
must be paid to the powerful historical tides are moving in the
direction of broad left unity but are loath to give up the sectarian
framework that has worked so well for them in the past. When you can
build up an organization of more than a thousand committed activists in
a relatively brief period based on the party-building methodology of
people like Tony Cliff, James P. Cannon, Ted Grant et al, you feel
vindicated. There is of course a need to speak in terms of becoming part
of a broader vanguard party down the road but until history comes
knocking on your door, why give up on the “market share” approach that
has worked so well in the past?
full: http://louisproyect.org/2013/06/25/who-were-the-cochranites/
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