The Internationalist Workers' Left (, ΔΕΑ; DEA) is a

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

organization in Greece. It was founded in 2001 after splitting from the Socialist Workers' Party-

International Socialist Tendency The International Socialist Tendency (IST) is an Political international, international grouping of unorthodox Trotskyist organisations espousing the ideas of Tony Cliff (1917–2000), founder of the Socialist Workers Party (UK), Socialist Wor ...

(SEK-IST). The organization was particularly active in the Greek Social Forum and the

Coalition of the Radical Left The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance (), best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA ( ; ; a pun on the Greek adverb , meaning "from the roots" or "radically"), is a centre-left to left-wing political party in Greece. ...

. It maintains a sisterhood relationship with the

International Socialist Organization The International Socialist Organization (ISO) was a Trotskyist group active primarily on college campuses in the United States that was founded in 1976 and dissolved in 2019. The organization held Leninist positions on imperialism and the role ...

(ISO) in the United States. Through the ISO, the DEA has developed connections with both the Socialist Alternative in Australia and the Movement for Socialism in Switzerland.

Foundation and early activity

The Internationalist Workers' Left was founded on 3 March 2001, after having split from the Socialist Workers' Party (SEK) – the Greek section of the

– earlier that year. At the time, SEK announced that "A small group had departed" from the party. The DEA, however, reported that the majority of

Athenian Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

members had joined the opposition. According to the DEA, the split was the result of differences in the direction of the party, including the concept of a propagandist "fortress party" as well as the role and tactics of revolutionary organizations in the

Anti-globalization movement The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...

. The DEA refers to the principles of International Socialists and the Organization Socialist Revolution (OSE), the predecessor of the SEK. During the organization's founding conference, the Socialistis Erghatis, a group from Thessaloniki that had left the OSE during the early 1990s, joined the DEA. A group around the politically-left magazine ''Manifesto'' also joined during the founding conference, only to leave with the founding of Kokkino three years later. Resulting from the split was a lack of credibility within the Greek Left. One example was the lack of collaboration with the Youth of Synaspismós during the 2000 Anti-globalization demonstrations in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, causing a lack of credibility towards SEK by the members of Synaspismós. From its foundation, the DEA engaged in the organization of various political movements, beginning with the international demonstration against the G8 summit at Genoa in 2001. The DEA's initiative, called the Greek Committee for the International Demonstration of Genoa, went on to be endorsed by other groups of the Left in Greece, such as the Youth of Synaspismós, Xekinima and A/synechia (later the Communist Organization of Greece), as well as other members of the Space for Dialogue for the Unity and Common Action of the Left. This initiative later took the form of the International Action initiative, which went on to organize the Greek movement participation in the first

European Social Forum The European Social Forum (ESF) was a recurring conference held by members of the alter-globalization movement (also known as the Global Justice Movement). In the first few years after it started in 2002 the conference was held every year, but late ...

(ESF) held in

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...

, in 2002.

Greek Social Forum

The success of the first

, as well as the scheduled assumption of the European Union's presidency by Greece in 2003, facilitated the transformation of the International Action initiative into the Greek Social Forum (GSF). The GSF was the major organizer of the protests against all summits of EU ministers held in Greece during the six-month "Greek presidency", including a rally in

Salonica Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

during the EU leaders summit in June 2003. However, the GSF's major impact in Greece was the organization of the 2003 demonstrations against the war in Iraq, which brought together hundreds of thousands of protesters, especially during February and March 2003. The DEA continues to participate in the Greek Social Forum today. One of the greatest successes of the Forum was the co-organization of the 4th

in Athens in May 2006, which included a demonstration including over 90,000 participants. However, the Greek Social Forum has seen a decline in recent years, mostly the result of the downplay of the GSF by Synaspismós.

Electoral activity

The DEA participated in the Greek legislative elections of 2004 in cooperation with Synaspismós (SYN) and other parties of the Greek Left, under the umbrella of the

(SYRIZA). The organization joined the alliance under the conditions described as the "Four No", which advocate against war, racism,

Neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...

, and

center-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commonl ...

ism. These terms, set in 2004, served as a starting set of principles for a collaboration and have been updated in over the years. During the electoral campaign, the DEA defended the organization's right to use its own leaflets, posters and newspapers, as well as the alliance's. This set a precedent for elections to come, and for other Greek Left organizations that would later join the organization. The DEA did not participate in the

2004 European Parliament elections The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but elect ...

due to the violation of the coalition's principles by SYN leadership. The latter turned once again to center-left politics, through the SYN's president's engagement in a discussion for his election as

President of Greece The president of Greece, officially the president of the Hellenic Republic (), commonly referred to in Greek as the president of the Republic (, ΠτΔ), is the head of state of Greece. The president is elected by the Hellenic Parliament; the ...

– a move that discredited both himself as well as the center-left politics under SYN's membership. The DEA participated again in the Greek legislative elections of 2007 with

SYRIZA The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance (), best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA ( ; ; a pun on the Greek adverb , meaning "from the roots" or "radically"), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politi ...

in the European elections of 2009, where SYRIZA received 5.04% of the vote. Meanwhile, the KOE joined the SYRIZA coalition in 2007, followed by Xekinima in 2008.

2004 crisis

DEA came into a crisis a short time before the

, when two different groups chose to leave the organization. One formed the political group Kokkino, while the other formed a smaller group, named the Internationalist Socialist Intervention (DSP), which soon thereafter joined the Organization of Communist Internationalists of Greece-Spartacus (OKDE-Spartakos), the Greek Section of the

Reunified Fourth International The Fourth International (FI), founded in 1938, is a Trotskyist international. Following a ten-year schism, in 1963 the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International, the International Secretariat of the Fourth Internationa ...

. In the DSP's point of view, the dispute was over the decision as to whether or not to enter the

coalition. Key arguments were based on the reformists' lack of credibility and the relatively small size of the DEA, which they feared would not allow the revolutionaries to intervene in the course of the coalition. On the other hand, in Kokkino's view, the argument was over participating in

without the "written" denunciation of center-leftism. Moreover, this was combined with minimizing the DEA's organizational structures and differences within the SYRIZA coalition, as well as the broader movement as a whole. This tactic was based on the estimation of the "permanent defeat" of

politics within the Greek Left, as well as the European Left as a whole. In 2009, Kokkino would split, with a small group arguing over the failure of the organization's political estimations and strategy towards SYN, as well as its poor organizational methods. The new group, the Anti-capitalist Political Group (APO), later became a part of the Overthrow and Solidarity Front, along with the DEA and other forces from within SYRIZA.

Affiliation with SYRIZA

Student movement, 2007–2008

played a significant role in the movement for public university education in Greece. This was done primarily through the group's movement for the defense of article 16 of the

Greek Constitution The Constitution of Greece () was created by the Fifth Revisionary Hellenic Parliament in 1974, after the fall of the Greek junta and the start of the Third Hellenic Republic. It came into force on 11 June 1975 (adopted two days prior) and has ...

, which advocates only public education, during the Greek constitutional reform of 2007. This policy gave the coalition a unique dynamic, giving it an estimated 18% of the vote in polls during 2007 and 2008. The party of the SYN interpreted this success as a "demand" for a "responsible opposition" and for a "governmental program" – most of which was "realistic" measures (according to the tradition of

Eurocommunism Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties, which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more relevant for Western Europe. During the Cold War, they sough ...

) or even "alternative, realistic bill proposals". This damaged SYRIZA's image, since it gave the signal of a return to

center-left politics Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commonly ...

. The DEA questioned this tactic, and counterpoised the need for emphasis on the support of social struggles.

December 2008 riots

A major landmark in the history of SYRIZA was the December revolt of 2008. SYRIZA became the target of many right-wing parties in Greece after it supported riots following the death of a 16-year-old student by police. Resulting from this move was targeting by the New Democracy Party, the Popular Orthodox Rally,

PASOK The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK (; , ), is a social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Greece, political party in Greece. Until 2012 it was Two-party system, one of the two major ...

and the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece (, ΚΚΕ; ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Greece. It was founded in 1918 as the Socialist Workers' Party of Greece (SEKE) and adopted its current name in Novem ...

. Although this move resulted in SYRIZA's decline in polls, among the youth and worker's it "cleared" the party from SYN's previous history of centerleftism and medioracy.

Re-engagement of left wing activists

During 2007 and 2008,

became an inspiration for many disappointed and demobilized activists on the Left, who now approached the coalition in numbers. This fact was the basis for a discussion to make SYRIZA's position more moderate, including giving rights and obligations to members that are not affiliated to any of the allied organizations. In order to address this issue, SYRIZA established meeting with all of its affiliates throughout Greece. As a result, in recent years local, peripheral and central-level party structures have been established within SYRIZA. Some unaffiliated organizations, including AKOA, argued that the coalition should remain a unified party, and blamed the lack of support in SYRIZA on the fact that too many sub-party organizations existed. Meanwhile, Alekos Alavanos was succeeded in SYN's leadership by

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras (, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. A left-wing figure, Tsipras was leader of the List of political parties in Greece, Greek political party Syriza from 200 ...

, while Alavanos remained parliamentary chairman of SYRIZA.

Leadership conflict within SYRIZA

Shortly after the 2009 European Parliamentary elections, SYN's two main leadership figures – Alekos Alavanos and

– fell into conflict. Although it was a widely discussed conflict, the real reasons behind it were not uncovered. The DEA refused to take sides on the issue, especially since neither leader offered any political arguments on the matter. The DEA participated with SYRIZA in the legislative elections of 2009, which brought the centre-left

to power. After the elections, SYN's leadership turned to the so-called "programmatic opposition", which claimed to "separate the positive and progressive from the negative and neo-Liberal policies of PASOK". To the DEA, this was seen as a method of "giving time" for the new government to adjust, and not preparing the movement for future attacks. In the DEA's view, this meant supporting some government bills which they deemed as "progressive". Similar arguments were also made by the KOE and SYRIZA's parliamentary chairman, Alekos Alavanos, as well as some unaffiliated members of SYRIZA.

Formation of the Solidarity and Overthrow Front

In January 2010, disillusionment with the SYN led to the formation of the Solidarity and Overthrow Front (MMA) by the KOE. According to the DEA, the MAA has made an effort to counterbalance the SYN's turn towards more moderate policies in order to protect and develop the left-wing policies of SYRIZA. First, the MMA rejected the SYN's "Stability Pact", as an "Austerity Pact", as well as the EU Stability Memorandum. The organization also adopted the "Workers' December" as a party slogan, which referred to the attitude of SYRIZA during the

2008 Greek riots The 2008 Greek riots started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos (), a 15-year-old Greek student, was killed by a special officer in Exarcheia district of central Athens. The killing of the young student by police resulted in larg ...

. The SYN accused the MAA of trying to split SYRIZA, as well as advocating " ultraleftism" and "national-centrism". In the following months, the dispute escalated, resulting in a split in the prefectural elections in

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

in November 2010.

Greek prefectoral and municipal elections, 2010

The prefectural elections and municipal elections of 2010 were preceded by Greece's appeal to the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

and six general strikes during 2010. These developments gave the peripheral elections the character of a "poll against or for the government policy". The SYN chose to endorse a candidate of

for the

Attica region Attica ( ; , ) is an administrative region of Greece, that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, the core city of which is the country's capital and largest city, Athens. The region is coextensive with the former Attica Prefecture o ...

, a cadre of

, who clearly voiced his rejection of PASOK policy, yet had no intentions of overthrowing the government. The leadership of the SYN saw this as a "chance to appeal to the voters of PASOK", while "pouring water in the SYN's and SYRIZA's wine". This violation of SYRIZA's policy was rejected by the forces of the MAA. When A. Mitropoulos was announced as the SYN's candidate, the MAA announced its separate participation in the

prefecture elections, endorsing Alekos Alavanos as their candidate. This "tacticism" by the SYN's leadership was criticized by the "Left Current" tendency of the party, as well by the party's youth organization, although they did not openly vote down the official candidate for the elections. The electoral results in the prefecture of Attica were a stalemate for the two separate ballots of SYRIZA. Alavanos was elected into the prefectural council by a very small margin and claimed personal responsibility for the low voter turnout. A. Mitropolulos' ballot managed to elect three representatives to the council, none of whom, however, were members of the SYN. Moreover, the result is believed to show a large disapproval of A. Mitropoulos' candidacy among voters in support of the Greek Left.

2012 national election

DEA took part in the 2012 national election with SYRIZA, as did KOE and a part of unaffiliated members of MAA. As a result of the successive elections of May 6 and June 17, two members of DEA got elected in the Greek parliament. Maria Bolari and Ioanna Gaitani are among the 72 strong parliamentary group of SYRIZA.

SYRIZA Conference 2012

In order to deal with the new situation, SYRIZA decided to hold a Conference in early December. DEA had about one hundred delegates elected (an unexpected 3,5% of the 3,200 total delegates). As part of the Left Platform List (coalition within the Conference between DEA, Left Current, Kokkino organization, Anticapitalist Political Organization and unaffiliated members of SYRIZA), DEA had nine members elected in the new Central Committee of SYRIZA, as well as three more DEA members that were appointed "by right" as the organization's representatives (out of a total of 315 members of the Central Committee).

R-Project: Moves to organise an opposition in SYRIZA

During 2012, in order to counterpose the "realistic" turn and "eurozone at all costs" line within SYRIZA, while keeping distance from Left Current's position of a "Grexit", DEA has joined forces with the majority of Kokkino and the Anticapitalist Political Organization to form an "anticapitalist, internationalist network" within SYRIZA. The aim has been to set a distinct Pole within SYRIZA that will work as a political and organizational center for a radical policy of SYRIZA. As part of this effort, a website has been developed, under the name "the R-Project". As part of this effort, "the R-Project" organized an international meeting of the anticapitalist left, from the 1st to 3 March 2013. Among the invited speakers were Olivier Besancenot and Francois Sabado of the French NPA, Ahmed Shawki of the ISO USA and other international figures of the international left.

Leaving SYRIZA

After the August split in SYRIZA, in which 25 lawmakers left to form Popular Unity (LE), the DEA supported the LE and became a member of that party.

Current activity

Anti-racist and immigrant movements

The DEA has several immigrants in its membership and is well-established in the anti-racist movement through the initiatives of "Sunday Immigrants' School" and the Deport Racism Organization. The main characteristic of the Deport Racism Organization is the idea that both immigrant and local workers have common interests and thus should be in common trade unions and organizations of the Left, which differentiates it from other perspectives in the anti-racist movement. The organization also supports migrant's rights, and challenges the far right and

Fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

. The Deport Racism Organization also took part in the movement defending the 300 immigrants' hunger strike in early 2011.

Youth

In high schools, the DEA is involved with the youth political organization School Students Against the System, as well as the University Students Against the System organization. Each year, the student branches of the DEA organize a summer camp in late July. The summer camp is youth-oriented and attempts to combine political discussions with a kind of collective vacation in organized camping sites near the sea. The political discussions are promoted as an effort to build a youth perspective theoretically on issues of current politics, as well as historic events of the workers' movement and Marxist tradition.

Ideology

The DEA puts itself in the current of the revolutionary Marxist left, founded by

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

s, the mass party that led the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. The organization refers to the contributions of Marxist revolutionaries, such as

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg ( ; ; ; born Rozalia Luksenburg; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary and Marxist theorist. She was a key figure of the socialist movements in Poland and Germany in the early 20t ...

Antonio Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , ; ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosophy, Marxist philosopher, Linguistics, linguist, journalist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, Political philosophy, political the ...

and

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

. The DEA also acknowledges the contributions of

Pandelis Pouliopoulos Pandelis Pouliopoulos (; 10 March 19006 June 1943) was a Greek communist, anti-fascist, and one-time general secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He stood for the internationalist and revolutionary character of the communist movement ...

, the founding member and first General Secretary of the

(KKE) during the 1920s.

Principles

According to the organization's newspaper, the principles of the DEA are as follows: * Socialism through the independent action of the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

, * Revolution, and not

Reformism Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

, * Internationalism, and not "socialism in one country" or "socialism with national colours", and * A Revolutionary party of the most militant workers."DEA." DEA. DEA, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. http://www.dea.org.gr/index.php?option=com_content.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://dea.org.gr
Sunday Immigrants School website

MES website

FES website

Elephtheri Attiki website

Rproject website
2001 establishments in Greece Communist parties in Greece Far-left politics in Greece Former components of Syriza Political parties established in 2001 Trotskyist organizations in Greece