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The Committee for a Workers' International (CWI; , or CIT; or CIO) was an international association of
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 ...
political parties and organisations. Today, two groups claim to be the continuation of the CWI, the refounded Committee for a Workers' International and
International Socialist Alternative International Socialist Alternative (ISA) is an international association of Trotskyist political parties. ISA was founded by sections on one side of a split in the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI). History In 2018 and 2019, a di ...
.


History


Founding

The origins of the CWI can be traced to a group of British Trotskyists which were expelled from the USFI in 1965, after disagreements regarding the Colonial Revolution, Guerillaism, Studentism and the post war boom. But it is not till 1974 that they set about building an international. The founding conference of the CWI was held in London on 20 to 21 April 1974 and attended by supporters of what was then called
Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...
(or the Militant tendency), from 12 countries including Britain, Ireland and Sweden. In the early years of the international, sections generally pursued a policy of
entryism Entryism (also called entrism, enterism, infiltration, a French Turn, boring from within, or boring-from-within) is a political strategy in which an organization or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually larger, organiz ...
into
social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
or
labour parties Labour Party or Labor Party is a name used by many political parties. Africa Burkina Faso * Party of Labour of Burkina, active 1990–1996 * Voltaic Labour Party, active South Africa * Labour Party (South Africa) * Labour Party (South Africa, ...
. As such, the CWI was originally secretive because to organise openly risked the expulsion of its sections from the parties in which they were working.


End of entryism

The CWI largely ended its strategy of
entryism Entryism (also called entrism, enterism, infiltration, a French Turn, boring from within, or boring-from-within) is a political strategy in which an organization or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually larger, organiz ...
in the early 1990s. The international developed an analysis that many social democratic parties had fundamentally changed in nature and become outright capitalist parties, their main example being the UK Labour Party. This was strongly resisted by
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 tendency, Militant and later Socialist Appeal (UK, 1992), ...
, one of Militant's founders. After a lengthy debate and special conference in 1991 confirmed overwhelmingly the position of the CWI in the England and Wales section, Grant and his supporters sought official faction status within the organisation, which was granted for some time, but later was revoked by the leadership. Ted Grant and his supporters were expelled and founded the International Marxist Tendency (now the Revolutionary Communist International). Since their Open Turn CWI sections have, in a number of countries, stood candidates under their own name. One section has representation in a state parliament, 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 th ...
, which at its height had three TDs in
Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...
in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
. The CWI also has elected members in a number of regional legislatures or local councils in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
; (Germany) (members of The Left);
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
;
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
; and the United States, where Socialist Alternative elected Kshama Sawant to
Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...
in 2013 and again in 2015. In the 2005 Sri Lankan presidential elections the CWI affiliate, the United Socialist Party, came third (with 0.4%). Supporters of the CWI launched a youth organisation, International Socialist Resistance, in 2001.


New mass workers' parties

CWI members stood as National Conscience Party candidates in the 2003 Nigerian legislative elections, winning 0.51% of the national vote. In Germany CWI members have been active in the new WASG since its foundation in 2004 and in December 2005 were elected part of the new leadership of its
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
district that ran candidates on a clear anti-cuts programme in the 2006 Berlin regional election, gaining 3.1% and several borough council seats, but the Berlin WASG later merged into Die Linke. In Brazil, CWI members helped found the P-SOL
Socialism and Liberty Party The Socialism and Liberty Party (, ; PSOL ) is a left-wing political party in Brazil. The party describes itself as socialist and democratic. The party leader is Paula Coradi and the federal deputies Ivan Valente, Talíria Petrone, Sâmi ...
after left wing parliamentarians were expelled from the PT. In the
2011 Irish general election The 2011 Irish general election took place on Friday 25 February to elect 166 Teachta Dála, Teachtaí Dála across Dáil constituencies, 43 constituencies to Dáil Éireann, the lower house of Republic of Ireland, Ireland's parliament, the Oir ...
the CWI's Irish affiliate, 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 th ...
won two seats in the Dáil as a part of the wider left group, the
United Left Alliance The United Left Alliance (, ULA) was an electoral alliance of left-wing political parties and independent politicians in the Republic of Ireland, formed to contest the 2011 general election. The grouping originally consisted of three existing ...
which won five seats in total in
Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...
. However, one of the elected members of the Socialist Party later left the party to continue as an independent. In the by-election in Dublin West in 2014, the Socialist Party gained a second seat in the Dáil again, and a third seat in the 2014 Dublin South-West by-election as part of the
Anti-Austerity Alliance Solidarity (), formerly known as the Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA), is a Trotskyist political party in Ireland, launched in 2014. It had been registered as a political party to contest local elections, and ran at least forty candidates in the 20 ...
.


Dissolution

In 2018 and 2019, a dispute within the Committee for a Workers' International developed around the questions of socialism and
identity politics Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, Race (human categorization), race, nationality, religion, Religious denomination, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, Socioeconomic status, social background ...
. One faction founded the In Defence of a Working Class and Trotskyist CWI (IDWCTCWI) faction, which considers itself a continuation of the original CWI, using the same name. Several groups subsequently split away from the IDWCTCWI to form International Revolutionary Left. A second faction, in support of the majority of the CWI's International Executive Committee, later renamed itself
International Socialist Alternative International Socialist Alternative (ISA) is an international association of Trotskyist political parties. ISA was founded by sections on one side of a split in the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI). History In 2018 and 2019, a di ...
and also considers itself the continuation of the original CWI.


Structure


Sections at the time of the split

Around the time of the split, the international maintained a list of numerous claimed national sections as part of the organisation. Notable national sections from this time include:


Youth against Racism in Europe

Youth against Racism in Europe (YRE) was an anti-racist organisation founded by the Committee for a Workers' International (the international network of the
Militant tendency The Militant tendency, or Militant, was a Trotskyist group in the British Labour Party, organised around the ''Militant'' newspaper, which launched in 1964. In 1975, there was widespread press coverage of a Labour Party report on the infiltrat ...
) it campaigned among young people in 16 countries in Europe. YRE was launched by an international demonstration of a claimed 40,000 people, in Brussels in October 1992. In the UK, YRE was launched in 1992, at a time of rising racist violence and electoral support for the far right. YRE was formed by Militant Labour as an alternative to the rival
Socialist Workers Party (UK) The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a far-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded as the Socialist Review Group (SRG) by supporters of Tony Cliff in 1950, it became the International Socialists in 1962 and the SWP in 1977. The p ...
's Anti-Nazi League (ANL), relaunched the previous year, and the Anti-Racist Alliance. In 2010 it was revealed that the group been infiltrated by an undercover police officer working for the Metropolitan Police. In 2012, it called for the shutting down of the Golden Dawn organisation and its weekly newspaper on the grounds that "they propagate violent messages of hate".


See also

*
List of Trotskyist internationals This is a list of Trotskyist internationals. It includes all of the many political internationals which self-identify as Trotskyist. Of the organizations listed, two claim to be the original Fourth International founded in 1938: the reunified ...
*
Revolutionary socialism Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revo ...


References


External links


A history of the CWI

A selection of documents arising from the 2019 split
- A selection of documents from both sides of the 2019 debate
Continuing the Fight for International Socialism
- ISA perspective on the split.

50 years of the CWI. {{Authority control Committee for a Workers' International,