Proposals for Socialist Bloc

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday July 17, 2003 13:00 by Kevin Wingfield - Socialist Workers Party swp at clubi dot ie

Open Letter issued by SWP

The following Open Letter has been issued by the SWP addressing the issue of co-operation among socialists in the context of the huge audience for radical ideas opened up by the anti-capitalist movement and the anti war movement.

AN OPEN LETTER TO SOCIALISTS

Over the last four years a new movement has risen across the globe to challenge neo-liberal globalisation and corporate capitalism.

In Seattle, Prague, Genoa, Barcelona, Melbourne, Florence and most recently Evian tens and hundreds of thousands have gathered to protest against the corporate and political elites responsible for poverty, war and environmental destruction.

This new movement reached its highest point in the global movement against war on Iraq which saw over ten million people take to the streets on 15 February this year. The 150,000 people who took to the streets of Dublin and over 20,000 in Belfast on 15 February proved that Ireland is no exception in the growth of the new global movement.

A new generation of activists is emerging in Ireland and across the globe that wish to challenge a system that puts profit and war before the needs of people.

As our own rulers and rulers across the world seek to deepen the attacks on working people and drag us further into militarism and war, so too the resistance to capital and war is certain to deepen.

This growing global movement of resistance to the system opens up exciting opportunities for socialists not seen since the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many have identified capitalism as the problem – even if they are not yet convinced that socialism is the solution.

One of the key strengths of the new movement, seen most dramatically on 15 February was the new spirit of co-operation and unity between different currents of socialists and anti-capitalists.

Relatively small numbers of activists from different organisations or from no organisation at all came together to spectacular effect. Crucially these organisations and individuals coming together proved to be more than the some of their parts.

The anger against the war is now spilling over into enormous anger against the lies and betrayals of the Ireland’s neo-liberals.

In the South, thousands see that Fianna Fail and the PDs have torn up their election promises and are pushing privatisation and cutbacks as their alternative to the death of the Celtic Tiger. Labour, the Greens and Sinn Fein claim to offer this alternative but leave open to possibility of coalition with Fianna Fail or Fine Gael which are all openly capitalist parties. At some future time, they will seek to manage the system rather than overthrow it.

In the North, the frustration caused by the Belfast Agreement means that there is a rise in low-level sectarian conflicts. But there is also a substantial minority who are now looking for an alternative to communal politics, with a recent poll indicating that 17 percent want an alternative to the old communal parties.

All of this indicates that there is a clear need to start constructing a viable socialist alternative that rules out deals with the parties of big business and bases itself on ‘people power’ and the struggles of workers.

The Socialist Workers Party and the Socialist Party are the two major radical socialist parties in Ireland. Along with a number of smaller groups and non-aligned individuals they have played the leading role in mobilising people in the anti war movement, anti capitalist protests, the campaigns against the bin tax and in support of striking workers.

However, on their own, neither the SWP, SP nor any of the smaller socialist organisations can offer a viable alternative at a national level.

But as part of a united socialist blockk the SWP, SP and others could create a credible pole of attraction for people looking for a genuinely radical left alternative.

We believe such a bloc could work on a whole series of fronts within the trade unions, as part of local campaigns, within the anti-war and anti capitalist movements, and at elections.

Specifically,

* We should form joint left caucuses in unions, which hold open regular meetings. We acknowledge there are differences between us on tactics but there is far more that unites us. As long as we debate such differences openly and in democratic structures, they can be a source of strength not weakness.

* We should hold regular discussions between both our organisations to agree on campaigns that we can initiate together and to work on joint strategies for how the campaigns we both work in can win.

* There should be a socialist bloc, which advances a common programme in the coming elections. The first such election will occur in Northern Ireland for the assembly sometime, probably, after the summer. After that there are the local elections and the Euro elections in the South. We believe that a socialist bloc should be fielding candidates in both. The exact nature of this block should be a matter for discussion

We have raised this proposal informally and have heard two objections. The first is that it is ‘premature’.

We fail, however, to see how the objective conditions are ‘premature’ in light of the threat of war, the growing stagnation of the world economy, the rising working class opposition to neo-liberal politics, the continued vibrancy of the global anti-capitalist movement.

Even in terms of the existing membership of both organisations a socialist bloc would start with about one thousand members and supporters. It would be up to us to build quickly on this base.

The second objection follows from the first – that it is necessary instead to support ‘independent’ working class candidates, such as hospital campaigners, as a first step. However, without any ties to an explicit, minimal socialist programme and block there is no guarantee how these candidates will vote on wider issues – such as racism, women’s rights or on sectarianism.

As with the anti-war movement, we believe that a socialist block could be more than the sum of its parts and offer a political home to thousands of activists looking for a real alternative.

We call publicly on the members of the SP and other socialist organisations to join us in serious discussions with a view to establishing such a block. The global anticapitalist movement was achieved by establishing a new unity. A global socialist movement will require the same.

Richard Boyd Barrett
Socialist Workers Party