Committee for a Workers' International
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The Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) is an international association of Trotskyist parties. Members include the Socialist Party of England and Wales, the Socialist Party (Ireland), the Socialist Party (Australia) the Democratic Socialist Movement in South Africa and Nigeria and groups using the name Socialist Alternative in the United States, Canada, along with parties in Sweden, Germany - representatives in 40 countries worldwide making the CWI the second largest Trotskyist international after the Fourth International.
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[edit] History
The CWI was founded in 1974 at a conference in London on 20/21 April[1] by supporters of what was then called the Militant tendency in Britain, Sweden, Ireland and several other countries. At that time CWI sections generally pursued a policy of entrism into social democratic or labour parties, although it was not the only strategy pursued.
This strategy ended in the early 1990s. The CWI developed an analysis that these parties had changed in nature and had become simply capitalist parties. This was strongly resisted by Ted Grant, Militant's founder. After a lengthy debate [1] 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and his supporters sought official faction status within the organization, which was granted for some time, but later was revoked by the leadership when Grant's followers refused to pay dues to the CWI and after documents leaked indicating that Grant's faction planned to engineer a split. The revocation of faction status thus expelled Ted Grant and his supporters, who later went on to form the International Marxist Tendency.
Grant dismissed the leadership of the CWI, especially Peter Taaffe, as sectarians because they had deserted, in his view, the mass parties of the working class. Grant cited the success of the Militant in Britain, which as entryists had secured Dave Nellist, Terry Fields and Pat Wall as MPs. However this was countered with the argument that the clear determination of the Labour leadership under Neil Kinnock to destroy Trotskyist influence in the party, as well as Labour's move away from socialist policies, had changed the situation in the party. However, out of nearly 8,000 members only 200 were successfully expelled from the Labour Party. It was no longer possible, the CWI argued, for Militant to carry out activity in the way it had been done up to the late 1980s. In the UK, Kinnock had Terry Fields MP removed as a Labour MP in 1991, and Dave Nellist MP was suspended from Party membership around the same time. (Pat Wall MP had died.) Since the abandonment of entryism the UK section's influence and membership has dwindled for a number of reasons though it remains significantly larger and more influential than Grant's group.
[edit] Activities
Since their open turn CWI sections have, in a number of countries, run candidates under their own name electing Joe Higgins to the Irish parliament Dáil Éireann as a Socialist Party candidate as well as several councillors in Britain, specifically in London and Coventry, and the Republic of Ireland. The CWI also has elected members of regional legislatures or local councils in Sweden, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands (members of the Dutch Socialist Party who are also CWI members), Pakistan, Sri Lanka and in the former Soviet Union. In the 2005 Sri Lanka presidential elections the CWI affiliate, the United Socialist Party, came third (with 0.4%) while gaining the highest left vote.[2]
Supporters of the CWI launched a youth organisation, International Socialist Resistance, in 2001. [3]
CWI members played a leading role in founding the Scottish Socialist Party. The CWI later left the SSP, establishing a new party in Scotland, Solidarity, in conjunction with the Socialist Workers Party.
CWI members stood as National Conscience Party candidates in the 2003 Nigerian elections, gaining the best results that the NCP (reaching 0.51% on a national scale) achieved. 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 district that ran candidates on a clear anti-cuts programme in the 17 September 2006 Berlin regional election, gaining 3.1% and several borough council seats, but the Berlin WASG fell apart soon after the elections. In Brazil CWI members helped found the P-SOL Socialism and Freedom Party after left wing parliamentarians were expelled from the PT.
[edit] List of CWI sections
The following are the sections claimed by the CWI.
- Australia - Socialist Party ([2])
- Austria - Sozialistische LinksPartei (Socialist Left Party, [3])
- Belarus - Socialist Resistance of Belarus
- Belgium - (Flemish) Linkse Socialistische Partij (Socialist Left Party) / (French) Parti Socialiste de Lutte (Socialist Party of Struggle) [4]
- Bolivia - Alternativa Socialista Revolucionaria (Revolutionary Socialist Alternative)
- Brazil - Liberdade, Socialismo e Revolução (Freedom, Socialism and Revolution) [5])
- Canada - Socialist Alternative
- Chile - Socialismo Revolucionario
- China - China Worker (News and Analysis of Workers Struggles in China) ([6])
- Cyprus - CWI Cyprus
- Czech Republic - Socialistická alternativa Budoucnost (Socialist Alternative the Future)
- England & Wales - Socialist Party of England and Wales ([7])
- France - Gauche Révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Left) ([8])
- Germany - Sozialistische Alternative (Socialist Alternative) ([9])
- Greece - Xekinima - Socialist Internationalist Organisation ([10])
- Ireland - An Pháirtí Sóisialach / Socialist Party ([11])
- India - Dudiyora Horaata (New Socialist Alternative[12])
- Israel- Ma'avak Sotzialisti (Socialist Struggle) ([13])
- Italy - Lotta per il Socialismo (Struggle for Socialism)
- Japan - Kokusai Rentai
- Kashmir - CWI Kashmir
- Kazakhstan - Socialist Resistance of Kazakhstan ([14])
- Lebanon - CWI Lebanon ([15])
- Malaysia - CWI Malaysia ([16])
- Moldova - Activitatea Socialista
- Netherlands - Offensief ([17])
- Nigeria - Democratic Socialist Movement ([18])
- Norway - CWI Norway
- Pakistan - Socialist Movement Pakistan
- Poland - Grupa na rzecz Partii Robotniczej (Group for a Workers Party)
- Portugal - Alternativa Socialista (Socialist Alternative)
- Russia - Sotsialisticheskoye Soprotivleniye (Socialist Resistance[19])
- Scotland - International Socialists (Scotland), CWI platform in Solidarity (Scotland) ([20])
- Spain - Manifiesto (Manifesto)
- Sri Lanka - United Socialist Party
- South Africa - Democratic Socialist Movement
- Sweden - Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna (Socialist Justice Party) ([21])
- Ukraine - Robitnichi Sprotiv (Workers Resistance)
- United States - Socialist Alternative ([22])
- Venezuela - Socialismo Revolucionario (Revolutionary Socialism)
The CWI also claims supporters in the following places
[edit] External links
- SocialistWorld.net CWI News and analysis
- Marxist.net CWI Theoretical site
- In Defence of Marxism IMT official website
- Socialist Party publications and Socialist Alternative literature - Two sites containing links to many publications of the CWI.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Taaffe, P. (2004) A Socialist World is Possible London: CWI Publications and Socialist Books, pg.67
- ^ United Socialist Party (cwi) comes third in presidential election - retrieved 17/08/07
- ^ 500+ at Brussels ISR conference - retrieved 17/03/08
