''Libertarian Communism'' was a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

journal founded in 1974 and produced in part by members of the

Socialist Party of Great Britain The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1904 as a split from the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), it advocates using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes and oppos ...

."papers relating to Libertarian Communism (a splinter group of the SPGB) including journals and miscellaneous correspondence, 1970–1980 (1 box)" "Socialist Party of Great Britain" at Archives Hub at the Great Research Centre

History

During the 1960s the

was enthused by an influx of new recruits initially politicised by the

CND The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

marches,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and the May Events of 1968. The boost to Party membership and activity at this time was considerable. Influenced by the prevailing political climate, some members who joined in this period wanted to change the emphasis of the Party's propaganda efforts towards taking a more positive attitude to industrial struggles, Claimants Unions and Tenants Associations, but also to

women's liberation The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

and

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

, arguing that the Party had developed a somewhat idealist conception of how socialist consciousness arises, being divorced from the day-to-day struggles of workers. To this effect fifteen activists from the 60s generation signed a mini-

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

entitled “Where We Stand” in 1973 and circulated it inside the Party. One particular group of these activists published an internal discussion bulletin, which, in 1974, converted itself into an externally oriented journal called ''Libertarian Communism''. This was produced with the aid of non-members and supported the idea of

workers' council A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...

s. It openly attacked as " Kautskyite" the Party's traditional conception of the socialist revolution being facilitated through Parliament. At the same time another group of younger members, based mainly in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, was keen that the Party express support for such things as higher student grants (on the grounds that the Socialist Party was always prepared to support demands for higher wages). The arguments of this group found no more favour with the majority in the Party than those put forward by the group around ''Libertarian Communism''. Both groups were expelled for issuing literature that contradicted Party policy.

Aftermath

The prominent activists of the time who were either expelled or left of their own volition typically became involved in

single-issue campaigns Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea. Political expression One weakness of such an approach is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of factions ...

or the radical feminist movement. However, one network of former membersthose based around ''Libertarian Communism'', who were critical of the Party's revolutionary strategy and attracted by

council communist Council communism is a current of communist thought that emerged in the 1920s. Inspired by the November Revolution, council communism was opposed to state socialism and advocated workers' councils and council democracy. Strong in Germany a ...

ideascreated an organisation called Social Revolution along with the Aberdeen and Edinburgh activists, which later joined the

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

group. Some years later a number of these activists were also involved in the foundation of the

Wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

council communist group and one of its successors,

Subversion Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...

Bibliography

# “Critical theory and revolutionary practice” no. 1, October 1972 # Unnamed journal, (undated and unnumbered but annotated no. 2, April 1973) # Unnamed journal, (undated and unnumbered but annotated no. 3, September 1973) # “Revolutionary Communism”, no.4 (no date but late 1973) # “Libertarian Communism”, no.5, April 1974 # “Libertarian Communism”, no.6, June 1974 # “Libertarian Communism”, no. 7, January 1975 # “Libertarian Communism”, no.8 (undated but June 1975 # “Libertarian Communism”, no.9 December 1975 # “Libertarian Communism”, no.10, July 1976

References

External links

Online archive of issues of Libertarian Communism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Libertarian Communism (Journal) Socialist Party of Great Britain breakaway groups Publications established in 1974 Political science journals