THE major part of the statement on revolutionary unity provides an important mary of the principles on which we should work together locally and nationalv. However. the final attempt to crystallise the call for unity in three national projects has a hollow about it, especially in the case of Socialist Unity and 'a united revolutionary youth movement.
The final declaration, which after all will give practical shape to whatever unity occurs. puts me off signing the statement. But because I believe in the intention behind the overall statement I want to explain my misgivings in the hope that they might influence the next steps you lake The first national project on rank and file movements is already part of the basic political statement, as are a number of other areas of national work such as the socialist feminist movement, the ANL, etc. At this stage I think national projects should be left at the level of these general commitments.
Agreement to support Socialist Unity election campaigns and to build a united revolutionary youth movement are inadequately discussed among the wide layer of revolutionaries open to united work that they would seriously limit the possibinues of unity.
Take Socialist Unity: it's true that Socialist Unity campaigns did bring together some of the signatories of this statement at a nanonal level, and in some localities. But since the initial by-election and local election successes there has been no lasting impact, if any, in the localities; at least no public evaluation.
Its stated objectives were to stimulate class struggle allinot to make revolutionary propaganda for a few weeks. Is there any evidence that it has begun to do so?
Furthermore, as an attempt to build something broader sumring than a revolutionary electoral affected by within the Labour Party which influence the of class These allegiances vary considerably locality locality depending Labour Party's relation to local government, the traditions of the local labour movement, etc.
While it is very important to fight for a socialist alternative In terms national policies, entirely unrealistic to argue that its electoral expression could take a uniform national form at this stage.
You might agree; in which case seems premature, in a basis of unity, to plump for the unproven Socialist Unity agreed basis for activity.
So for different reasons the utopian IN the days of CND demonstrations. members of one of the organisations of the left used to stand on the pavement with leaflets headed Why We Are Not Marching'. I hope this doesn't read like the same sort of exercise.
commitment to build a united crucially revolutionary developments ment. On the face of it, a good Taca electoral alle- But when one thinks of the struggle difficulties facing all attempts to get a revolutionary movement off the ground in the past, when one thinks of the on the rarity of precedent for such a project, it seems extraordinarily glib to include this as a condition of joint activity.
and The IMG have no doubt discussed this thoroughly but there's been discussion.
Surely by including these national projects in the unity extremely statement you've process of revolutionary unity wrong way round. Especially as the single when the revolutionary left is so electoral diffuse, and involved in such a variety of unco-ordinated local and national projects not signing the 'Appeal for Joint Work' are as follows: 1) Revolutionaries are surely capable trade union struggles, the woHOVENCE. activities, etc. without first re quiring grammatic explanation. 2) It is hard to see who will be persuaded by the Appeal to engage in joint work with the signatories, and would not have done so anyway. 3) The document does little to clarify what kind of work is to be done. Some readers may Put briefly, my reasons for | suspect (quite CHRIS ARTHUR, dent socialist LIZ Socialist Teacher.
JILL HALL, youth moveAbortion Campaign.
VIV LACEY, CPSA executive. youth dependent socialist.
historical campaigns 'unity from below, little public projects could come alliances specific strengthened by got the only on the and co-operating anti-racist them 3,000-word prounjustly, of ber, past member of Editorial JIM POPE, Board of Building Worker.
indepen- tion group, HARRY WICKS, a founder of UTOM. the British Trotskyist moveList Unity, CURTIS, independent MICK TONY GRAHAM, editor of Students.
ex-SWP candidate in Ashfield by-election LIZ SUE WATKINS, recent fulltime organiser of the National Free Ireland ex-member of ALASTAIR RENWICK, incapacity.
Wouldn't it be better to base local and national joint work on the general statement and then, after a period of such establish some national conference from which more specific national In the meantime these local and joint work in national movements could be more open discussion about the sort of revolutionary organisation we are trying to build and about the problems with the Leninist model; discussion based not classical experi ences of building revolutionary course) that the authors tend to the not uncommon belief that revolutionary in drafting a programme setting out a number of objectives one is already working to achieve OTORCON 4) The Appeal is utopian, in that the series of aims is unre. lated to any analysis of the existing consciousness and or ganisation of the working class.
5) The reliance on the crude old slogans of trade union bureaucracy and rank and file (a grossly oversimplified dicho- programmes tomy even in the days of the Profintern) encourages a belie that the receptivity of the work Revolution editorial board, Glasgow RevoluSham Army LARRY HERMAN, Glasgow for PAUL GALLAGHER, SocialGlasgow for ARCHER executiv member, National Union o secretary, Wandsworth her.
CURTIS independent socialist and Committee for a ALASTAIR RENWICK, independent socialist, Committee for a Free Ireland All the above in a personal parties in the early part of the 20th century but on the new forms of organisation which are being formed through the women's movement, through the rank and file trade union through local socialist meeting points like socianst centres, and so on I thought the final part of the statement, asserting a commitment to a united revolutionary organisation, as if we all knew and agreed what that meant, was insufficiently sensitive to these problems. It could therefore tend to HILARY WAINWRIGHT ing class to socialist politics and struggle blocked principally by the sinister manipulations of a corrupt This assumption has been responsible for quite enough dis astrous strategies on the left in the past half century. I can't help believing that re-thinking of the analyses and theories which have failed us in the past is a more important task than issuing declaratory RICHARD HYMAN Socialist