Russian Socialist Movement (russian: Российское социалистическое движение) is a left-wing to far left political organisation in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. It was created in 2011 by the merging of various left-wing, socialist, anti-capitalist and communist organisations. It is strongly critical of President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

Foundation

The Russian Socialist Movement was officially founded on 7 March 2011 as a merger of the Socialist League "Vpered" (Forward, Russian section of the

Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) is a revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global capitalism and the establishment of ...

) and

Socialist Resistance Socialist Resistance (SR) is a Trotskyist organisation in Britain. In 2009, the International Socialist Group (ISG) merged into it, making it the British Section of the Fourth International. Origins It was launched in 2002 by two organisations, ...

. The move had been agreed upon by the sixth congress of Vpered and the separate Socialist Resistance conference, held a day earlier on March 6.В Москве создано новое Российское социалистическое движение
(''tr. "New Russian Socialist Movement established in Moscow"'') ''www.nr2.ru'' («Новый регион», 9 марта 2011)Новые левые. В Москве учредили Российское социалистическое движение
(''tr. "New Left. The Russian Socialist Movement was established in Moscow "'') («Каспаров.ру», (''www.kasparov.ru'') 8 March 2011) М. Шевчук
Левые снова пытаются объединиться
(''tr. "The left is trying to unite again"'') («Деловой Петербург», (''www.dp.ru'') 9 March 2011) Shortly afterwards, in April 2011, the

Perm Perm or PERM may refer to: Places *Perm, Russia, a city in Russia ** Permsky District, the district **Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005 **Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005 **Perm Governorate, an administra ...

branch of the Revolutionary Workers' Party also joined. A group of members of the

was formed within the RSM, which has become the new Russian section of the Fourth International.Russian socialists regroup to deepen struggle for new left party
''www.internationalviewpoint.org'' The founding conference supported the draft "road map" for the integration of the left and its focus on building a broad anti-capitalist left party, together with representatives of other Russian left-wing organizations and

social movements A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and ma ...

. The founding conference of the RSM was attended by representatives of the Institute of Globalisation and Social Movements, the Federation of Socialist Youth from St. Petersburg, the Peter Alekseev Resistance Movement, and the French New Anti-Capitalist Party. There was support for the inclusion of the Central Council representative of the Left Front in an advisory capacity. In turn, the Left Front will include in its Executive Committee one representative from the unified organization with an advisory vote. This kind of exchange of ambassadors in the governing bodies of two of the key actors of the Russian left is intended to demonstrate a broad alliance, and the seriousness of the left's intentions of unification.

Ideological principles

The main policy documents of the organisation are the manifesto of the Russian Socialist Movement, entitled 'Revolution - Democracy - Socialism', and a political statement entitled 'Towards the construction of an organisation of the anti-capitalist left'. These documents contain an analysis of the Russian political and economic systems and a left-wing alternative for the development of these systems.Манифест Российского социалистического движения «Революция — демократия — социализм»
(''tr. "Manifesto of the Russian Socialist Movement "Revolution - Democracy - Socialism" "'') ''anticapitalist.ru''
(''tr. "Political statement of the Russian Socialist Movement "Toward the building of an organization of the anti-capitalist left" "'') ''anticapitalist.ru'' According to the manifesto, the RSM defines itself as an anti-fascist, revolutionary, democratic, socialist organisation. As stated in the Manifesto, one of the key objectives of the RSM is "all-round support to all forms of workers' struggle and self-organisation, primarily through militant trade unions. Defending the interests of the labour movement as a whole, the RSM will develop and strengthen independent and grass-roots trade union movements, focusing itself on a decisive struggle for democratic and anti-capitalist demands."

Activities

After the unification of left-wing organisations, the RSM included more than ten regional branches with centres in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kaluga, Novosibirsk, Perm, Saratov, Yaroslavl and other cities. The organisation is actively involved in various social movements, in particular trades unions and urban, environmental and women's movements. Of particular note is the participation of RSM activists in a campaign against the limitation of women's right to abortion, during which actions were staged in many Russian cities. [http://www.baltinfo.ru/2011/06/24/V-Peterburge-proidet-piket-protiv-ogranicheniya-prava-zhenschin-na-aborty-213242 Demonstrators picket in St Petersburg against the restriction of the right of women to abortion">A demonstration was held in Moscow on the reproductive rights of Russians (The Institute of Collective Action, ''www.ikd.ru'', 6 September 2011)Demonstrators picket in St Petersburg against the restriction of the right of women to abortion
(Baltinfo, 24 June 2011) Members of the organisation were prominent in Khimki Forest#Protests over planned highway, protests against deforestation in the Khimki and Siverskiy forests
, which were to have a new highway built that would run through them. The RSM and other leftist and anarchist organisations gave the demonstrations an explicitly left-wing character and opposed the participation of liberal and right-wing politicians in the campaign. The RSM also acted as one of the organisers of a training camp for protesters, which was attended by anarchists and representatives of other leftist organisations.The defenders of the Khimki forest have split
(Kommersant, Kommersant-Online, 27 July 2011) V. Kozlov
Anarchy - Mother Nature
( Moskovskiye Novosti, ''mn.ru'', 27 July 2011) L. Pravin
The split of the Khimki Defenders
( pravda.ru, 27 July 2011) D. Virina
Demolition of power — Theory and Practice
( Novaya Gazeta — Saint-Petersburg, № 74, 13 — 16 October 2011)The Defenders of Siverskiy Forest have decided to break up ecological camp
(Baltinfo, 11 August 2011)The Defenders of Siverskiy Forest carried out a flash-mob in defense of their territory
(Zaks.ru, 3 October 2011) The RSM publishes the newspaper ''Socialist''.

Allied organizations

Federation of Socialist Youth The Federation of Socialist Youth (FSM; russian: Федерация социалистической молодёжи; ФСМ; ''Federatsiya sotsialisticheskoy molodyozhi'', ''FSM'') was a socio-political regional organization of St. Petersburg, w ...

* * Left Front * Pyotr Alexeyev' Resistance Movement * Russian Social Democratic Union of Youth * What to do?

References

External links

Official websiteRussian Socialist Movement in International Viewpoint
{{Socialist parties in the Russian Federation 2011 establishments in Russia Far-left political parties Far-left politics in Russia Feminist organizations in Russia Feminist parties in Europe Fourth International (post-reunification) LGBT political advocacy groups in Russia Political parties established in 2011 Russian democracy movements Socialist feminist organizations Trotskyist organizations in Russia Political organizations based in Russia Opposition to Vladimir Putin