The Spark is a

Trotskyist 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 rev ...

group in the United States aligned internationally with the

Lutte Ouvrière The French Trotskyist political party Union Communiste (Communist Union) is usually known as Lutte Ouvrière (Workers' Struggle, ), after the name of its weekly paper. Arlette Laguiller has been the party's spokeswoman since 1973 and ran in each ...

tendency.

History

Spark originated as a "faction" within the

Spartacist League The Spartacus League (German: ''Spartakusbund'') was a Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. It was founded in August 1914 as the "International Group" by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and other ...

that was attracted to the French group Voix Ouvrière's method of propagandizing in the factories. They allied themselves with the

Turnerites Under a variety of names and within a number of organizations over at least 17 years, the group around Harry Turner, or Turnerites was a presence within Trotskyism in the United States. History The group originated in a controversy within the ...

against the

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

, but left independently before the League expelled the Turnerites late in 1968. This tendency formally organized as "Spark" in 1971, with two locals in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. The organization began a monthly magazine ''The Spark'' in July 1971, which became a

biweekly A weekly newspaper is a general-news or current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspaper is published once every two weeks. Weekly news ...

in early 1976. It also produced a variety of newsletters based at local factories, such as the ''Ford Spark'', ''Eldon Spark'' etc. Another magazine, ''Class Struggle'', began in 1980. The movement was wary of becoming too enmeshed in "

petty bourgeois ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, literally 'small bourgeoisie'; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a French term that refers to a social class composed of semi-autonomous peasants and small-scale merchants whose politico-economic ideological ...

" movements - members wished to firmly base themselves in the

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...

. But neither did they completely eschew work in such movements. For instance, referring to the

anti-nuclear movement The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nationa ...

of the late 1970s and early 1980s, they proclaimed "They should participate in its activities when such participation does not detract from their basic activity in the working class. But we must be clear that the building of a revolutionary organization rooted in the working class comes before participation in any petty bourgeoisie movement". In mid-1982 Spark had locals in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Working Class Party

Members of the Spark have been active in the

Working Class Party The Working Class Party (WCP) is a left-wing, political party, based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Working Class Party competed in the 2016 Michigan election, presenting three candidates. The party filed twelve candidates in the 2020 ...

. The party originated from a campaign initiated by members of the Spark. The party ran its first candidates in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

(as independents, as the party did not have ballot access yet). However, a petition drive to get ballot access was successful in 2016. The party fielded two candidates for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and one for the State Board of Education, the latter of which won enough votes to guarantee ballot access. In 2020 the party gained political party status in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

References

Publications

*''The people's democracies: are they socialist states?: the meaning of their present evolution toward a liberation'' by Voix Ouvriere Detroit, MI: The Spark, 1966 *
For a Trotskyist Organization in the Working Class
' Baltimore: The Spark, 1971 *''The double nature of the mass communist parties'' Detroit, MI: The Spark, 1976 *''Workers states or bourgeois?: what determines the class nature of a state?'' Detroit, MI: The Spark, 1976 *

reprints of articles from the class struggle'' Detroit, MI: The Spark, 1977

External links

Spark's homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spark (U.S. Organization) Internationalist Communist Union Political parties established in 1971 Politics of Baltimore Politics of Michigan Communism in Maryland Trotskyist organizations in the United States Communist organizations in the United States