It's often pointed out that most of the Trotskyist organisations are small and without influence in general society. Even the bigger outfits like the still discredited Socialist Workers Party have to operate behind "front organisations" to further their influence. The SWP used the Anti-Nazi League, Stop the War Coalition (until it had a split with the leaders of that campaign) and these days hides in plain sight behind Stand Up to Racism.
Others smaller still have more limited options due to their size. Most operate as "propaganda groups" hoping for the day the workers finally drop their mobile phones and follow the party to the glorious revolution. That not happening many choose the route of entering another, larger political party to further their interests.
One of these groups used to be known as Socialist Organiser and was active inside the Labour Party until it managed to get itself proscribed by the Labour Party conference in 1990. The organisation now re-branded as the Alliance for Workers Liberty published yet another newspaper, Solidarity and has it's members buried deep inside Labour.
Indeed they went as far as to infiltrate Momentum and did succeed at first in gaining a modicum of influence especially through the use of a front publication (now deceased) The Clarion. However the AWL are not very popular on the left and this is in part due to the fact that the AWl recognises there was an antisemitism problem inside Labour and they call for a two-state solution unlike the rest of the far/hard left who simply take the genocidal approach.
As much as that was welcome the group still supported Corbyn despite the fact it was down to his rise that made antisemitism so mainstream and frankly acceptable on the left. Their opposition to antisemitism got drowned by the rise of the racist anti-imperialist left.
In print the AWL come over as being part of a more reasonable political tendency than the others on the hard left but in reality they are quite different and having had dealings with them in the PCS union the word "rumbustious" comes to mind. They were involved with a union faction called the Socialist Caucus (now Independent Left) where their supporters engaged in shouting down and frankly bullying opponents.
In fact there reputation for both external and internal sectarianism has meant that despite the ramblings of their guru Sean Matgamna who had previous been in the Socialist Labour League (WRP) but expelled and then Militant founded the tendency as Workers Fight in 1966. His grouping has never exceeded more than 150 members and like most left groups has a revolving door system whereby activists are used, worn out and leave due to either splits or expulsions or more likely sheer exasperation.
Matgamma has led his group into the International Socialists (now SWP) and out again fusing with Workers Power (we will be returning to them in a future post) as the International Communist League which failed. Next was a merger with the Workers Socialist League a splinter from the Workers Revolutionary Party). That didn't work either so into the Labour Party with the Socialist organiser Alliance now proscribed and returned as the AWL.
Unlike most of the Trotskyist groups the AWL does not have it's own international though there is a handful of them in Australia and they continue to talk to other groups for further re-alignments including a new one called Mutiny a split from Counterfire.
That all said the group remains in breach of party rules and constitutes a separate political party with membership, finance, programme and requires both proscription and the expulsion of it's so-called "supporters".
No comments:
Post a Comment