The International Socialist Movement was 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 ...

current inside the

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pàrtaidh 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 ...

(SSP) from 2001 until March 2006. It came into existence as a change of name by

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' ...

, the since defunct Scottish section of the

Committee for a Workers' International The Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) was an international association of Trotskyist political parties. Today, two groups claim to be the continuation of the CWI. History Founding The origins of the CWI can be traced to a group of ...

. In January 2002 it disaffiliated from the CWI after increasing clashes the CWI's leadership around

Peter Taffe Peter Taaffe (born April 1942) is a British Marxist (Trotskyist) political activist and journalist. He was the general secretary of the Socialist Party of England and Wales from its founding until 2020 and was a member of the International Exec ...

, although a significant minority based mainly in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

stayed with the CWI and formed a pro-CWI platform in the SSP called the International Socialists. For a few years the ISM was effectively the leadership of the SSP. It developed strong relationships with other currents in the socialist movement, including the

United Secretariat of the Fourth International The Fourth International (FI), founded in 1938, is a Trotskyist international. In 1963, following a ten-year schism, the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International, the International Secretariat and the International Comm ...

. Members of the

International Socialist Group The International Socialist Group (ISG) was a Trotskyist organisation in Britain. It was the British section of the Fourth International (Post-Reunification), Fourth International (FI) until 2009 when it dissolved into Socialist Resistance. ...

in Scotland joined the ISM. The ISM dissolved in March 2006 stating that it had completed its mission. The reasons for doing so were rather complex. In practice it was having difficulty operating as a coherent political organisation. It had been badly divided internally in the context of a rather heated debate in the SSP around 50-50 representation for women in the run up to the 2003 Scottish election. These divisions became exacerbated by the resignation of

Tommy Sheridan Tommy Sheridan (born 7 March 1966) is a Scottish politician who served as convenor of Solidarity from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as convenor of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) from 1998 to 2004 and as co-convenor of Solidarity from 2 ...

as convenor and the election of the new convenor, which was a contest between two ISM members, Colin Fox and

Alan McCombes Alan William McCombes (born 1955) has been a leading member of the Scottish Socialist Party for several years, and was the editor of the ''Scottish Socialist Voice'' until 2003. With Tommy Sheridan, he was also author of Imagine: A Socialist Visi ...

. Some leading members of the SSP, particularly women, had left the ISM or never joined, while others remained nominally members but were not taking part in meetings (e.g. only one member of the SSP executive, Joanna Harvie, attended the ISM meeting which decided to dissolve) and it had become an organisation of SSP middle cadre e.g. branch organisers. However its journal, ''

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

'', continues publication as an "Independent Marxist voice in the SSP".

External links

Statement on the future of the ISMFrontline
former ISM journal, now independent {{Scottish Socialist Party Factions of the Scottish Socialist Party Defunct Trotskyist organisations in the United Kingdom 2001 establishments in Scotland 2006 disestablishments in Scotland