AWL history

"Rivers of rubbish" and the JSG

Polemic following the article Rivers of rubbish and its polemic against denunciations of Socialist Organiser (a forerunner of AWL) in the paper Workers' Press. An ignorant and sectarian attack on the JSG , by David Rosenberg The Octopus School of polemic , by Sean Matgamna Anti-semitism and anti-Zionism , by Myra Woolfson Good intentions are not enough , by Sean Matgamna An ignorant and sectarian attack on the JSG By David Rosenberg As a longstanding member of the Jewish Socialists' Group (JSG), who only a few months ago was invited in that capacity to contribute a feature article for your...

The "Bad King Cliff" account of what went wrong in IS

In discussing the history of IS — Jim Higgins’ book is an example of it — there is a danger of scapegoating Cliff. For people like Higgins the "Bagehot Question" arises. Walter Bagehot, the Victorian political economist and analyst of the British constitution, asked the question concerning the then reclusive Queen and her playboy son, the future Edward VII: How does it come about that "a retired widow and her unemployed son" can play the pivotal role in the legal structures of the British constitution? How could "Dr Ruth" achieve such power in the organisation that prided itself — to a...

Rivers of rubbish: on the reputation on the left of AWL's predecessor, Socialist Organiser (1991)

Biblical scholars, I understand, have a terrible time of it working out what some of the long-vanished early Christian groups believed. They have to rely on such chance survivals as the "Dead Sea Scrolls". Most of the rich history of the competing Christian groups in the later Roman Empire is lost: the victorious Catholic Christians entwined with the Roman and later states from the early 4th century onwards, suppressed their opponents and left little trace of them and their beliefs except for factional slanders and lies. Mostly we don't know what they believed. If all the files of Socialist...

IS and Ireland (1969)

Workers' Fight (forerunner of AWL) polemicised against the support given by SWP (then called IS) for British troops being deployed in Northern Ireland in 1969. This posting now includes the reply from the IS (SWP) leadership and our response to it.

The AWL tradition: session at AWL's "Ideas for Freedom" school, 23 June 2013 (Audio)

At the AWL's "Ideas for Freedom" weekend event, on 23 June 2013, Sean Matgamna spoke on the political tradition of AWL and its forerunners. Click here to hear the recording Matgamna was a founding member, in 1966, of Workers' Fight, the group to which AWL traces back its political lineage. He explained how our tendency started out seeing itself as taking forward the "orthodox" Trotskyist tradition represented by James P Cannon and others, and, bit by bit, by experience and discussion, evolved politically. The recording includes Matgamna's initial presentation, the discussion from the floor...

"The IS tradition": John Palmer and Sean Matgamna debate at Ideas for Freedom 2013 (Audio)

At the AWL's "Ideas for Freedom" weekend event, on 22 June 2013, John Palmer debated with Sean Matgamna on the political tradition of IS, the group which after 1977 became the SWP. Palmer was a leading member of IS from the 1960s through to 1975. Matgamna is a member of the AWL, and was on the National Committee of IS from 1968 to 1971, representing the minority Trotskyist Tendency which was the forerunner of AWL. Opening speech by John Palmer Opening speech by Sean Matgamna Summing-up at end of debate by Sean Matgamna Summing-up at end of debate by John Palmer

Ireland and "troops out" (1986)

Resolution adopted by the Socialist Organiser Alliance in 1986 on not using "troops out" as a self-sufficient detached slogan for Ireland. Click here to download pdf .

Help us raise £15,000

Workers’ Liberty HQ has rarely known as much excitement as it did on Tuesday 30 April, when our new duplicating machine was delivered. Veteran members said it felt nearly as eventful as the day in 1973 when the office of our predecessor organisation, Workers’ Fight, was raided by Special Branch on suspicion of connections to Irish republican groups. Our purchase of the new, top-of-the-range machine was only made possible because of a series of extremely generous donations from Solidarity readers. We can now print and duplicate the materials integral to our day-to-day work — workplace bulletins...

Introduction

“Standing resolutely on the side of the proletariat, the socialists do everything in their power to facilitate and hasten its victory. But what exactly can they do in this case? “A necessary condition for the victory of the proletariat is its recognition of its own position, its relations with its exploiters, its historic role and its socio-political tasks. “For this reason the socialists consider it their principal, perhaps even their only, duty to promote the growth of this consciousness among the proletariat, which for short they call its class consciousness. “The whole success of the...

The seven ages of the Socialist Workers Party (UK) and its predecessors, Socialist Review and IS

Click here to download as pdf Click here to download as mobi Click here to download as epub Or read online below: Korea The SR Group 1950-5 SR and state capitalism Cliff on Russia and China 1956 SR and ISL SR in the Labour left, late 1950s SR and peace campaigning The turn to “Luxemburgism” From the Labour orientation to the shop stewards “Linking the fragments” mid and late 1960s 1968: growth and demagogy After 1970 The dispute on Europe 1971 1972-5 Chronology We can periodise IS, and the Socialist Review group which came before it, in the following fashion. • From 1948 to their expulsion in...

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