''Socialist Appeal'' is the newspaper of the British section of the
International Marxist Tendency
The International Marxist Tendency (IMT) is an international Trotskyist political tendency founded by Ted Grant and his supporters following their break with the Committee for a Workers' International in 1992. The organization's website, Marxi ...
, and also the name used by a group of members and supporters of the
Labour Party who organise around the paper.
It was founded by supporters of
Ted Grant
Edward Grant (born Isaac Blank; 9 July 1913 – 20 July 2006) was a South African Trotskyist who spent most of his adult life in Britain. He was a founding member of the group Militant and later Socialist Appeal.
Early life
Grant's father had s ...
and
Alan Woods after they were expelled from the
Militant group in the early 1990s.
''Socialist Appeal'' is published fortnightly and describes its politics as descending from
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
,
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels ( ,["Engels"](_blank)
'' Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
and
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
.
History
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Trotskyist
Militant tendency
, native_name_lang = cy
, logo =
, colorcode =
, leader = collective leadership(''Militant'' editorial board)
, leader1_name = Ted Grant
, leader1_title = Political Secretary
, leader2_name = Pet ...
had been a significant force within the British
Labour Party. At the height of its influence in the mid-to-late 1980s, Militant had three Labour MPs, control of
Liverpool City Council and later initiated the campaign that they claim forced the abandonment of the
Poll tax. Grant had been one of the founders
and the theoretical leader of the Militant group, but he was expelled with other supporters after the 1991 debate on the
Open Turn.
A special conference decision to endorse the Open Turn by 93% to 7% entailed Militant supporters abandoning the
entryist strategy of working within the Labour Party and leaving to form an independent organisation. The new party was initially known as
Militant Labour, changing its name in 1997 to the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
in England and Wales while in Scotland
Scottish Militant Labour
Scottish Militant Labour (SML) was a TrotskyistDave avidOsle"The Tribune interview: Tommy Sheridan – Tartan Trot"''Tribune'', 30 July 1993 political party operating in Scotland for most of the 1990s and was part of the Committee for a Workers' ...
instigated the formation of the
Scottish Socialist Party
The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pà rtaidh Sòisealach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Socialist Pairtie) is a left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an independent socialist Scotland.
The party was founded in 1998. It c ...
.
The split was caused by the Militant tendency's majority adoption of the Open Turn, Grant's continued support for the tactic of entryism within the Labour Party and what Grant and Woods claimed was the bureaucratic centralist degeneration of Militant's internal regime. After the debate and conference decision, the Militant tendency claimed that Grant and Woods had begun a separate organisation and had split from Militant whilst Grant and Woods claimed to have been expelled. The Socialist Party drew the conclusions that owing to the policies followed by Labour under
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...
, it was effectively a bourgeois political party. Conversely, supporters of ''Socialist Appeal'' argued that the Labour Party was still based on trade unions and that the Labour Party retained support in the working class.
As Labour under
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
embraced the
Third Way
The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born from ...
and moved away from its traditional
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 ...
roots, most Trotskyist tendencies in Britain that employed the tactic of entrism left Labour and either ran candidates under their own banner, such as the Socialist Party, or joined electoral coalitions such as the Scottish Socialist Party or the
Socialist Alliance. The Socialist Party, along with other left-wing organisations, initiated the
Campaign for a New Workers' Party in 2006, arguing that trade unions should break with Labour and construct their own political formation. ''Socialist Appeal'' began publishing their own journal in 1992. In 2000, the group was estimated to have around 250 supporters.
In 2013, the tendency in Britain made a turn towards the
student movement
Student activism or campus activism is work by students to cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. Although often focused on schools, curriculum, and educational funding, student groups have influenced greater political e ...
by launching the Marxist Student Federation.
Following the
Scottish independence referendum in which Scots voted to retain the union with the rest of the United Kingdom, the International Marxist Tendency called for "the building of those forces on the left in Scotland, on a revolutionary and internationalist basis, beginning with the Scottish Socialist Party".
In June 2015,
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...
deputy leader
Shahrar Ali was a guest speaker at ''Socialist Appeals Revolution 2015 summer school.
In June 2017, ''Socialist Appeal'' editor Rob Sewell claimed that "the movement in the direction of revolution is being reflected on the political plane" in Britain and that "the events in Britain have a striking resemblance to the
situation that existed in 1931, which Trotsky described as a pre-
revolutionary situation
In Marxist terminology, a revolutionary situation is a political situation indicative of a possibility of a revolution. The concept was introduced by Vladimir Lenin in 1913, in his article "Маёвка революционного Ð¿Ñ€Ð¾Ð»ÐµÑ‚Ð°Ñ ...
".
In July 2021, the Labour Party's
National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties:
* National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa
* Australian Labor Party National Executive
* Nationa ...
banned ''Socialist Appeal'' and ruled that its members could be automatically expelled from the Labour Party.
Economy
''Socialist Appeal'' is in broad agreement with the classical Marxist view that capitalism inherently results in "boom and bust" cycles as a result of overproduction and thus attempts to prevent this through
monetarism
Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on nation ...
or
Keynesianism
Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output ...
are not possible. Therefore, they believe the only solution to this is the introduction of democratic socialism, based on a planned and nationalised economy as well as on the socialisation of its "commanding heights" (i.e. the top 150–200 financial institutions and companies). They argue that a planned economy is able to replace production on the basis of
profit with production on the basis of need.
Publications
![Socialist Appeal banner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Socialist_Appeal_banner.jpg)
''Socialist Appeal'' refers to the fortnightly journal of the same name. In September 2009, the publication ''Socialist Appeal'' changed from a magazine journal format to a full colour tabloid. An issue of ''Socialist Appeal'' typically contains theoretical articles, industrial reports and political analysis. The group also produce and publish a number of pamphlets and books through their Wellred publishing arm.
''Socialist Appeal'' was also the name of two British Trotskyist newspapers associated with Ted Grant in the 1940s: one was the newspaper of the
Workers International League and immediately following that of the
Revolutionary Communist Party.
It was also the name of the paper of the Trotskyist
Workers Party of the United States
The Workers Party of the United States (WPUS) was established in December 1934 by a merger of the American Workers Party (AWP) led by A.J. Muste and the Trotskyist Communist League of America (CLA) led by James P. Cannon. The party was dissolved i ...
during its period of entryism in the
Socialist Party of America in 1936–1938.
''Socialist Appeal'' is the name of the English-language newspaper of the Workers' International League, the United States section of the International Marxist Tendency and a newspaper in New Zealand which is also affiliated.
International Marxist Tendency
Although they remain small in Britain, they are growing rapidly in size and significance and the international group to which they are affiliated known as the International Marxist Tendency (the modern International) has grown in number especially in the Indian subcontinent, as well as Latin America where they rally support for the
Bolivarian Revolution
The Bolivarian Revolution is a political process in Venezuela that was led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). The Bolivarian Revolution is ...
and instigated the formation of the
Hands Off Venezuela campaign group. As well as publishing their paper ''Socialist Appeal'', the group has also published a number of books by Trotsky, Grant and Woods.
The group has devoted much of their time to developing the multilingual website ''In Defence of Marxism''.
Supporters of ''Socialist Appeal'' value the importance of theory highly and dedicate a large amount of space in their paper and website to theoretical articles. ''Socialist Appeal's'' editors argue that a thorough understanding of Marxism, history, economics and politics is necessary to understand the world today. They also argue that the neglect of theory in the late 1980s led to the Militant tendency turning in an ultraleft direction.
See also
*
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...
References
External links
Socialist Appeal official websiteIn Defence of MarxismWellred online bookshopTed Grant Internet ArchiveMarxist Student Federation
{{Authority control
Entryists
Factions of the Scottish Socialist Party
International Marxist Tendency
Militant tendency
Political parties established in 1992
Far-left political parties
Trotskyist organisations in the United Kingdom
1992 establishments in the United Kingdom
Organisations associated with the Labour Party (UK)
Publications established in 1992
Socialist newspapers published in the United Kingdom