SOCIALISTWORKERSPARTYmembers’ handbook

SWPl�01 The politics of the Socialist Workers Party Page 3

l�02Find out more about the party Page 8

l�03How we organise Page 12

l�04Party democracy Page 16

l�05A brief history of the SWP Page 22

How to contact us, and other campaigns we are involved in Page 25

Help us build the partyNow you’ve joined the SWP, why not ask others you know—friends and colleagues for instance—to join too? People can join by filling in a form (available from local branches of the party) or by going online www.swp.org.uk/forms/join-swp

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Welcome to the Socialist Workers Party. Like most who join our organisation you probably share our anger at how the world works. That same anger is felt by millions of people across the planet.It is not hard to see why. After all, the system heaps ever greater indignities on those who live and labour under it. Early in 2018, it was revealed that just 42 people now hold as much wealth as the 3.7 billion who form the poorest half of the world’s population. Some 22,000 children die each day simply due to poverty.

Not only are there enormous—and growing—dis-parities of wealth between the rich and poor, but war is endemic in large areas of the globe, and, accompanying it, flows of refugees who are barred entry to countries such as Britain. Alongside these horrors, ecological catastrophe threatens, as the world’s leaders demonstrate their refusal to shift the economy from its dependence on carbon.

The failures of capitalism are today more evident than ever. In 2008-9 the system plunged into a deep recession. The consensus by every government since then is that ordinary people must pay the price for this crisis—through austerity, privatisation of public services and wages cuts.

A minority enjoy the profits of the system, while the majority suffer the pain. Even in Britain, still one of the richest countries on earth, the attacks have left a million people dependent on food banks.

In order to prop up their authority, our rulers turn, as they have always done, to divide and rule. Migrants, Muslims, and eastern Europeans have all been scapegoated in an attempt to undermine any resistance to austerity.

These failures of the system are widely acknowl-edged. But nobody joins a socialist organisation simply because the world is run in a barbaric way. They join because they hope and believe that things can be different.

Here the SWP adds three important arguments.First, we hold that the problems described above

are a consequence of capitalism. The system we live under is divided between the minority who control

the means of production and those who do not. A small minority run the corporations and banks that dominate the British economy. They draw around them other figures in the ruling class— pro-establishment politicians, the senior police, judges and top civil servants, the owners of the print and broadcast media, and so on. The great majority of those that remain are compelled to work for the minority, and in doing so are ruthlessly exploited.

This exploitation is carried on in an entirely undemocratic manner. While we might have some limited democratic control over who sits in govern-ment, we have no control over the decisions about how our economy or our workplaces will be run, of what gets produced, or how, or for whom.

The overwhelming bulk of the wealth of society is directed by unelected figures whose prime interest is in enhancing their wealth still further.

Not only is the system exploitative, it is also anar-chic. The capitalist class have a shared interest in exploiting workers, but they are also divided among

ACROSS THE world there is massive opposition to Donald Trump

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The SWP aspires to play a leading role in this fight. That is why we work with large numbers of Labour Party members and supporters in broader organisa-tions: the trade unions, Stand Up to Racism, the Stop the War Coalition, Defend Council Housing and so on.

However, as much as we want to win reforms, we do not see them simply as an end in themselves. We see them also as a means of raising the confidence and organisation of the working class movement so that it can press for more sweeping change. Because of that, we will often argue for using the most mili-tant methods to win reforms, the methods that rely on our strength as working class people. Indeed, we think that these methods are the most effective.

If a group of workers go on strike and force the boss to concede a pay rise, the boss will be nerv-ous about trying to take that rise away again. If the same pay rise is achieved simply through negotia-tions between a trade union official and manage-ment, it is likely that far less will be won and that the boss will be more confident in trying to claw it back in the future. So, while revolutionaries in the SWP certainly work with reformists, there are always debates about the tactics to be used.

There are also ideological debates. We understand that racism, sexism, war, austerity and so on are prod-ucts of the capitalist system. They are not simply a reflection of the “wrong people at the top” with the wrong policies. Ultimately systemic change is needed to eradicate these forms of oppression for good. That’s why when we work with reformists we also try to win them to our revolutionary ideas and tactics.

That is why we organise. We want to maxim-ise our ability to carry our ideas into the move-ments in which we participate. Our members are armed with publications such as Socialist Worker, which aims to offer a way forward in the strug-gles we face. We hold meetings locally and nation-ally where we can discuss our ideas, drawing on the rich history of the working class movement, allowing members to argue with more clarity in the outside world.

By acting in this way we can strengthen and give leadership to all of the fights taking place. This is important in the day to day struggles of the working class. In a revolutionary situation it is indispensable.

While every great revolution begins with a mass, spontaneous outpouring of rage by the oppressed and exploited, faced with a moment of deep social crisis, no revolution has ever ended spontaneously. Either our class, the great majority, uses its collective strength to overthrow the system and begin to create a genuinely democratic world, or the old ruling class uses the power of the state to drive back the revo-lution—usually exacting a terrible price from those who dared defy its authority.

Workers can win in this situation, but only if there is a mass organisation of revolutionary workers, who can gain the confidence of those around them, who can overcome the politics of divide and rule, and who can give the necessary direction to the strug-gle. The SWP is not that mass organisation, but we aspire to be the embryo of it and we hope you will help us in that goal.

themselves. They compete to maximise their prof-its: Coca-Cola versus Pepsi, McDonald’s vs Burger King, BP vs Shell. This endless battle of competition enforces the logic of the system.

Anyone who does not exploit their workers, pump profits out of them and then accumulate an ever-greater mass of wealth in their own hands is driven to the wall. “Ethical” capitalism is a utopian dream—those who run businesses rapidly find they have to cease being ethical or cease being capitalists.

The anarchy of this unplanned battle of competi-tion drives the system in its frenzied cycle of boom and bust. Any obstacle to profit-making must be torn apart. It is a world out of control.

The second argument the SWP makes is that there is a force in society that can transform things. That force is the working class. The reason is simple. Lots

of groups in capitalist society face oppression, and many groups have historically fought back and are fighting back now—black people, women, LGBT+ people, disabled people, and others. We support all these struggles. However, these forms of oppression do not inherently give the oppressed any special power.

The exploitation of workers is different: they are oppressed in their workplaces, but they also acquire a power precisely because, to function, the system depends on their collective labour. Capitalism cannot function without us. For this reason, work-ing class struggles can pose a challenge to the whole way society runs.

In the great revolutionary struggles of the past—the Paris Commune of 1871, the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917, the German Revolution of 1918, the Spanish Revolution and civil war of 1936, the Chilean struggle of 1973 or the Iranian Revolution of 1979—workers have shown that they are able to

create, from the bottom upward, new democratic ways of running society. They may be called soviets in Russian, shoras in Persian or workers’ councils in English. But wherever they form they point towards a fundamentally more democratic way of running society, based on the strength workers have when they organise collectively.

While Britain today is a long way from such a revolutionary transformation, we believe that such a change is both possible and necessary. The level of class struggle, of course, goes through ebbs and flows. The working class today has changed from that which existed a couple of generations ago—in many ways for the better, with a more multiracial workforce and one with far more women in work-places than ever before.

Yet many workers have little or no experience of sustained, successful class struggle. Fortunately, in the long run, the position of workers in capitalist society tends to push them to organise against their exploitation and to fight back. While car workers, miners or dock workers constitute a small minority of the workforce today, there is no reason why teach-ers, hospital workers, bank call centre workers or retail workers cannot develop their own forms of col-lective resistance—and many are doing so already.

After all, there was a time (in the 1950s) when car workers were widely seen as too “affluent” and too “privileged” to fight, and a time (in the 1880s) when the dock workers in the East End of London were seen as too “downtrodden” and “precarious” to resist. Both groups ultimately proved the cynics wrong—and new groups of workers in our day will do the same.

The third and final argument the SWP makes regards the necessity of organisation. As people move into struggle, they tend to look initially for ways to reform the system to make it less oppressive and exploitative without fundamentally transform-ing it. There is nothing surprising about that. We are taught every day that the world cannot be other than it is now, so incremental changes, reforms, seem the only realistic option to many.

Because people initially gravitate towards reform-ing the system, it is also unsurprising that reform-ism, the idea that reform rather than revolution is the outer limit of what is possible, has a strong hold within the working class. In the case of Britain this is embodied in organisations such as the Labour Party.

Fighting for reforms is an excellent starting point.

‘While Britain today is a long way from such a revolutionary transformation, we believe that such a change is both possible and necessary’

Revolutionary women played a crucial role in the 2011 Arab Spring

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02FIND OUTMORE ABOUT THEPARTY

Our PublicationsThe SWP produces three regular publications. Social-ist Worker is a weekly paper, which our members buy either from their local branch or on subscription.

However, the paper is not just for internal con-sumption—we try to sell the paper to colleagues in workplaces, fellow students in the colleges and universities, or on public sales organised by the branches. For us, this is about building a wider net-work of people who are familiar with our politics and share at least some of our analysis of the world. In other words, the paper is an organisational tool as well as a source of ideas.

Socialist Worker also has a substantial web-site (www.socialistworker.co.uk) which sup-plements the print edition and has daily updates. Sign up for the daily “Breakfast in Red” email at www.socialistworker.co.uk/subscribe

We have a monthly magazine, Socialist Review, which contains longer articles that can go into greater detail on topical political questions, culture and the history and theory of the movement. To find out more, go to www.socialistreview.org.uk.

Finally, our theoretical journal, International Socialism, comes out four times a year and offers longer and more challenging articles that can help to develop a deeper understanding of socialist theory. The journal’s website is www.isj.org.uk.

BooksAlong with these regular publications, a range of socialist books are available from Bookmarks, the Socialist Bookshop (www.bookmarksbookshop.co.uk). There are several publications that are par-ticularly relevant to new members. Contact Book-marks or ask your local SWP branch if you would like to obtain copies:The ABCs…lArguments for Revolution by Charlie Kimber

and Joseph Choonara. A short introduction to the SWP’s politics.lRebel’s Guides, various authors. A series of brief introductions to radical figures, currently covering Karl Marx, Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Antonio Gramsci, James Connolly, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.lRevolution in the 21st Century by Chris Harman. A great introduction to the relevance of Marxism today.lMarxism at the Millennium by Tony Cliff. A handy collection of essays covering much of the SWP’s basic theory.

Some longer reads…lRevolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx by Alex Callinicos. This is by far the best book-length introduction to Marxist theory and is highly recommended for new members.lTrotskyism After Trotsky by Tony Cliff. An introduction to the theories that shaped the SWP

Now you are a member we want you to participate fully in our party. Here’s a quick guide to how the Socialist Workers Party works

SOCIALIST Worker can be vital in helping workers to organise and fight back

Picture: Guy Smallman

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and its forerunners, allowing it to come to terms with the post-war world.lLenin: Building the Party by Tony Cliff. This classic work by the founder of the SWP is not simply a biography on Lenin, but also offers insights into building revolutionary organisation today.lMarxism and Women’s Liberation by Judith Orr. A useful example of the Marxist approach to oppression.lSay it Loud by various authors. A collection of Marxist accounts of racism and the struggle against it. lThe Comintern by Duncan Hallas. An informative account of the revolutionary upsurge that followed the First World War and the Russian Revolution with lessons for today.lThe Fire Last Time by Chris Harman. An analysis of the revolutionary year 1968 and the surge of struggles that came after.lUnravelling Capitalism by Joseph Choonara. A short introduction to Marxist economics.lZombie Capitalism by Chris Harman. An impressive work of Marxist political economy, looking at capitalism past and present.lA People’s History of the World by Chris Harman. An ambitious attempt to explore world history from a Marxist perspective.lImperialism and Global Political Economy by Alex Callinicos. A comprehensive guide to the theory of imperialism.lLand and Labour: Marxism, Ecology and Human History by Martin Empson. An introduction to debates about the environment.

Bookmarks socialist bookshopBookmarks bookshop is the place to buy all your books including a full range of socialist publica-tions. Go to bookmarksbookshop.co.uk or phone 020 7637 1848 or visit the shop at 1 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3QE

Theory onlineAs well as print publications, there is a huge range of material available online. The best starting point is the SWP’s theory webpage: www.swp.org.uk/theory. Here you will find cate-gorised reading material covering a large number of topics. If there is something missing, you can always email education@swp.org.uk.

Educational eventsMany branches of the SWP run educational meet-ings. They typically involve members doing a little reading in preparation for the educational and will be led off by an experienced speaker on the subject. To find out more about branch educational work or to download resources, go to www.swp.org.uk/education. In addition to these locally organised events, we hold regular national events. These are either party schools open only to members or events open to the public, either on our general politics or around a particular theme.

Fighting racism is a centralpriority for the SWP Picture: Guy Smallman

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03HOWWEORGANISE

The description below applies to the party at this point in time. Of course, it won’t make much sense if you’re in an area of the country where the party is only just getting established. In that situation, you may wish to call the national office to get some advice on how to start a new branch.

Branches and districtsThe SWP is organised into branches and districts. A district of the SWP might encompass a city (eg Man-chester), an area of London (eg South London) or a region (eg Kent). Generally the work across the dis-trict is overseen by a district committee, elected by members in that area. Often large public meetings or rallies will be organised across a district.

Within districts are branches, the basic unit of the party. Branches meet weekly, usually on a Wednesday or Thursday evening, and the various meetings are listed in Socialist Worker. The first half will be presented by a member, either from the local branch or a speaker from elsewhere, who will speak for 20-30 minutes about a topical issue, or some-times an area of our theory, followed by discussion. The second half discusses the activity the branch is involved in or any important political questions that need to be resolved. Shorter items can cover brief announcements about forthcoming events.

Most of our meetings are open to the public, and where possible we put up posters, hand out leaflets and use social media to build them. Sometimes a branch will hold a special “public meeting”, where it makes an extra effort to attract attendees, and which will probably feature a speaker sent by the national office. We want our meetings to be as open to debate as possible, which is why we have a chair or facilitator at most of our meetings. Their job is to ensure that people get called to speak, one at a time,

that the meeting is inclusive, that the business on the agenda is covered in a reasonable time, and that no one person can monopolise the discussion.

We are aware that for those with caring respon-sibilities, and particularly single parents, it can be hard to make branch meetings. Where appropriate branches should discuss ways of facilitating people in this position getting to meetings.

Branches should organise at least one weekly public sale of Socialist Worker—perhaps on Saturday in the local high street—and at least one sale at a major workplace in the area. Stronger branches will do more than this. These sales are an important way of raising the party’s profile and meeting new people. The Socialist Worker circulation department can give advice on how best to organise sales.

A well-functioning branch should have a branch committee. This consists of people elected at a local level who can run the branch on a day-to-day basis.

The way we organise is informed by our politics and the needs of the struggle at a given point in history. That means that the party’s precise organisational form might change from time to time, particularly if the situation in the outside world alters.

THE SWP’S annual Marxism festival is a chance for socialists from across Britain and beyond to share ideas and experiences

Picture: Guy Smallman

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The branch committee should meet each week. Generally branch committee meetings are open to all members, but there should be a core of people who are regular attendees.

To work effectively there should be a division of labour among the branch members. For instance, each branch should have a branch secretary, who is the main point of contact for the branch and who makes sure that the national priorities of the party are carried out at local level. There should certainly be a Socialist Worker organiser who encourages members to sell the paper, organises public and workplace sales, and ensures that the money for sales of the paper gets sent to the national office. The branch treasurer should keep a local bank account and oversee fundraising and expenditure. There may be a meetings organiser who books speakers and

ensures meetings are built and a bookstall organ-iser who encourages reading and orders books. A membership organiser should make sure that new members are contacted and involved in the activ-ity of the party and oversee recruitment. These are just some of the key roles, but there are potentially others that can be allocated depending on the size and strength of the branch.

However, these roles ought not to be done in a bureaucratic way. For instance, a Socialist Worker organiser who just collects paper money and asks people to put their hands up at branch meetings if they can help with the public sale is only doing a fraction of the job. One who can flag up key articles in the current paper that can be used by members to increase sales in the workplace or who encourages a new member to join in the public sale will be far more effective.

In many ways, the main function of branches and districts is to ensure that the party is involved in local activity and struggles in an effective manner. There

is no point maintaining a regular branch meeting if the local branch is doing nothing to shape politics in the area. By engaging with wider networks of activ-ists we can make our politics relevant. That means being extremely attentive to both local and national campaigns. Reading the local press and being involved in locally-based groups on social media is vital to keeping up with developments. There will be moments, too, when we can work with others to ini-tiate activity and set up campaigns—and it is crucial that we seize any opportunity to do so.

In order to ensure that we are effective in these campaigns we will often “caucus” (ie hold a meet-ing of SWP members) before a campaign meeting or demonstration.

Workplace Organisation, Fractions and CaucusesBecause our politics is centred on the working class struggle, we make great efforts to organise in this area. Where we have a large number of members in a workplace or in a particular industry or area of employment, we might organise readers’ meetings for members and those who buy Socialist Worker. These can be held in lunchbreaks or after work and provide a good way of drawing together people who want to organise in a workplace.

At a national level, we have what we call “frac-tions”, which consist of members who are in a par-ticular trade union. They exist to ensure that our work in particular unions is as effective as possible. Our workplace organising department can ensure that you are put in touch with the correct fraction.

There are also a number of nationally organised caucuses for members involved in a particular area of work—for instance, work over climate change or anti-racism. You can contact the national office to find out more about this.

StudentsHistorically, students have played an important role as detonators of struggle—most notably in 1968, when protesting Parisian students helped to spark what was then the biggest general strike in his-tory. Students themselves lack the collective power of workers to halt capitalist production. However, whereas workers’ activity often relies on winning a majority, students often have more freedom to

‘By engaging with wider networks of activists we can make our politics relevant. That means being attentive to local and national campaigns’

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launch struggles as a militant minority. Furthermore, universities can be hubs of political discussion and debate.

It is therefore entirely possible that students can be won to socialist ideas, including the idea of identification with working class struggle. Not only can this play a role in promoting radical ideas in society at large, but in today’s world students generally go on to join the working class once they graduate. For all these reasons, organising among students has long been an important focus for the SWP.

Student members of the SWP organise in the col-leges and universities through the Socialist Worker Student Society (SWSS). SWSS is open to all social-ists on campus, not just SWP members, but is gen-erally led by students in the SWP.

SWSS groups, like branches, organise weekly meetings during term time and sales of Socialist Worker once a week on campus. Students from a particular university will also be linked with a local branch and we strongly encourage students to go to their local branch meeting as well as organis-ing campus meetings. We have found that bringing student members together with more experienced workplace activists offers benefits to both groups—raising the level of discussion and debate in the branches and keeping student activism linked to the working class movement.

For more information, you can contact the Socialist Worker Student Society office (swss@swp.org.uk).

Marxism FestivalOne key event in the party’s calendar is the Marxism Festival (www.marxismfestival.org.uk). This takes place in early July in London and is attended by thousands of people—both members and non-mem-bers, and including many attendees from overseas. It is a key place for political discussions and debates. It features over a hundred meetings along with film showings and cultural events.

Party NotesThe national office sends out a weekly email to members who request it entitled Party Notes. This sets out the main priorities that week and informs members of upcoming events. To request a copy, email enquiries@swp.org.uk. THE SISTER organisation of the SWP protesting in South Korea

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04PARTYDEMOCRACY

The SWP organises through what is often called “democratic centralism”. At its most basic this means there is collective democratic discussion of the problems faced, followed by collective implementation of the decisions reached.In that sense, democratic centralism is practised by a great many workers’ organisations—and probably quite a few horticultural societies or chess clubs...

However, there is a little bit more to it than that. For one thing, democracy is an absolute necessity in developing our theory and practice. Often capitalism throws up situations in which non-revolutionaries are driven to fight in militant ways, while revolu-tionaries can find themselves in workplaces where workers are not fighting. Parties such as the SWP act as the memory of the working class—learning and imparting the lessons of history—but we also want to draw on the experiences of new struggles taking place in the here and now.

If we want to grasp the most important lessons and generalise them among workers, understand the improvisations thrown up, and develop our theory in light of these changes, our activity and ideas must be debated across the party, drawing on the richest possible range of experiences.

Duncan Hallas, in his book Trotsky’s Marxism, puts it well: “A mass party, unlike a sect, is nec-essarily buffeted by immensely powerful forces... These forces inevitably find expression inside the party also. To keep the party on course (in practice, to continually correct its course in a changing situa-tion) the complex relationship between the leader-ship, the various layers of the cadre and the workers they influence and are influenced by, expresses itself and must express itself in political struggle inside the party. If that is artificially smothered by administra-tive means, the party will lose its way.”

But the party is not a discussion circle, in which members endlessly debate in the hope that even-tually everyone reaches a consensus. Debates often conclude with members voting so that decisions can be tested in practice. After all, without members working together to try to implement the decisions it is impossible to know whether the course of action DECISIONS WE make must be tested in practice illuStration: tim SanderS

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was right or wrong—and that is where the “central-ism” part of democratic centralism comes in.

It’s this understanding of democratic centralism that informs how the party operates and how it makes decisions.

The Central Committee and National CommitteeThe day to day leadership of the party is known as the Central Committee (CC). It has varied in size but has recently consisted of about a dozen mem-bers, most of whom work full-time for the party. It meets at least once a week. The CC is elected by the party’s annual conference (see below). The idea is that the CC should consist of a group of people with a shared perspective on how to build the party who are trusted by the wider membership.

Between conferences the CC has a great deal of responsibility for steering the party’s general line of march and implementing the perspective that the party has agreed. Often the CC will have to react to situations quite rapidly, without time to discuss the issue fully across the party as a whole. For instance, when the 9/11 attacks took place in the US in 2001, it would have been impossible to fully discuss what to do. Socialist Worker came off the press that evening with the headline: “The Bitter Fruit of US Imperialism”. Within days moves had been made to establish an anti-war campaign, which eventually became the Stop the War Coalition.

In moments such as these the CC often has to take

bold initiatives. However, the CC is held to account at the annual conference where it stands for election and at a range of other national meetings during the course of the year. If the CC had got the response to 9/11 seriously wrong, it is unlikely that it would have been re-elected.

Along with the CC, the other leading body in the SWP nationally is the National Committee (NC), which is also elected at the annual conference. This currently consists of 50 members from different areas of the country and with different backgrounds. It meets with the CC several times a year and can offer direction and advice, drawing on its experience of trying to imple-ment the party’s perspective on the ground.

Annual conference and other national meetingsThe party’s annual conference currently takes place in January in London. Every branch sends delegates. It is the main decision-making gathering of the party. As well as electing the CC and NC, it discusses the party’s policy and its campaigning priorities for the year, deciding on a perspective for the party.

There is a three-month pre-conference discussion period, in which three bulletins are produced, and in which members are able to submit documents on any relevant issue.

In the run-up to conference each district will hold what’s called an “aggregate”. This is a special meet-ing of party members, led off by someone from the outgoing CC, which discusses and debates the issues

DELEGATES voting at an SWP annual

conference

likely to arise at conference, and which elects the delegates. Delegates are not “mandated” to vote a particular way. They are elected on the basis of their general politics, on the understanding that they will participate in any debates and make up their mind at the conference.

Generally the discussions at conference result in “commissions”, documents drawn up by confer-ence participants that explain the main conclusions reached and which are voted on by delegates. If there are particularly contentious issues, there may also be motions that can be debated and voted upon. The procedure for branches submitting motions is sent out to members at the beginning of the pre-con-ference period along with details of how articles can be submitted to the pre-conference bulletins.

If a group of members has a disagreement over a specific issue, they are entitled to form a “faction” during the pre-conference period in order to put their case. Again, details for how to do this are cir-culated to members at the start of the pre-conference period. Once the issue is decided, the faction has to dissolve itself. This is because we believe that “per-manent factions” or “secret factions” simply entrench divisions within the party and hamper democratic discussions in which people can change their mind and take different positions on different issues.

If a very serious issue arises between conferences, the CC or NC may decide to call a special conference to discuss it.

In addition to conferences, the SWP holds at least one Party Council a year, the timing of which is decided by the CC. This is a national gathering of delegates from branches which can review the work of the SWP between annual conferences.

Democratic Centralism at a local levelIn practice, branches and districts often have to make decisions at a local level—indeed we want members to take initiatives and to interpret our per-spective in a creative manner. Again, this should be done through democratic debate and discussion, followed by unified activity. Where the issues are important, and particularly where they may have national implications, members locally should con-sult with the CC.

However, it is important to say that what local

units of the party do must fit into the nationally agreed strategy. The CC and the members of the party who work in our national office are in reg-ular communication with the branches to try to ensure this. In some of the larger districts the CC may appoint a full-time party organiser who can act as its local representative to help local members to implement the perspective.

What if Something Goes Wrong?It is especially important that new members know what they should expect in terms of the behaviour of other members towards them and that they know where to turn if something goes wrong. In general, although we often have robust debates in the SWP, we expect every member to behave respectfully to those around them. If problems arise we want mem-bers to be able to address them, while preserving their confidentiality.

One issue that has been highlighted by recent movements is the question of harassment of women. To address this issue, the SWP agreed the statement below at its January 2019 conference setting out the expected behaviour of members.

Statement on Expected Behaviour The clarification of ideas, through political debate and discussion that is sometimes robust, is encour-aged throughout the party. It is all members’ respon-sibility to ensure this happens in a safe and stimu-lating environment. Members should feel supported to ask questions, develop politically, gain experi-ence and contribute fully, without feeling put down if they make mistakes.

Comrades should avoid any language that rein-forces negative stereotypes of oppressed groups. The language we use towards each other should be respectful and not abusive. Bullying behaviour and threats of physical violence are not acceptable within the SWP.

Below are outlined some examples of oppressive behaviours we regard as unacceptable. More detailed definitions can be found on our website at swp.org.uk/expected-behaviour

Sexual misconductSexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. It has the purpose or effect of vio-lating the dignity of another person, or creating

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an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.

Something can still be considered sexual harass-ment even if the alleged harasser didn’t mean it to be, nor does it have to be intentionally directed at a specific person.

Domestic abuse refers to abuse that takes place within private and intimate relationships that is one or more of the following: physical, sexual, financial, emotional or psychological (including coercive control).

Consent has to be at the heart of all sexual rela-tions, and should always be freely given. If some-one is incapacitated due to alcohol or drugs, or feels under pressure from someone, then they are not able to consent. Consent on one occasion does not imply consent in the future.

We recognise that the party is not a microcosm of the future communist society. We are all shaped by capitalism, though we strive collectively to over-come this. The pressures of the larger society mean relationships entered into voluntarily by comrades can be unequal, and this can lead to oppressive and unacceptable behaviour.

We always regard sexual misconduct as serious misconduct, and such concerns should be discussed with the Disputes Committee (see below). Suggestions of organisations that can support victims of domestic and sexual abuse can be found on our website.

LGBT+ oppression and transphobiaWe respect everyone’s sexual orientation, and every individual’s right to self-identify their own gender. Where there is uncertainty over how to address someone, just ask and respect their choice.

RacismWe oppose all forms of racism including dis-crimination against a person or group of people based on their ethnicity, religion, skin

colour or place of birth. This includes opposition to all forms of Islamopho-bia and antisemitism.

Disability discriminationThe term disabled people includes people with physical impairment, sensory impairment, learning dif-ficulties/disabilities, life limiting

chronic illness, people who are neurodivergent and people living with mental distress. Oppressive behav-iour towards disabled people can mean, but is not lim-ited to, using offensive language or behaving in such a way that excludes disabled comrades from activity.

Every effort should be made to make our events fully accessible. We should seek where possible to support comrades experiencing mental distress.

What can comrades do if they experience or witness unacceptable behaviour?Every member needs to feel both entitled and empowered to raise a concern if unacceptable behav-iour occurs, including unacceptable behaviour by members in leadership positions, and including such behaviour on social media.

Our branches and fractions, the key places where comrades meet to discuss politics and organise, would normally be the first place where we can try to resolve issues of inappropriate behaviour through informal approaches (such as talking to the individual concerned), unless the concern is of a serious nature. If this fails, complaints should be raised more formally using the links and contacts below.

All comrades must take seriously any such con-cerns raised and can refer to the Disputes Committee (DC) or Central Committee (CC) for advice.

Any disciplinary or potentially disciplinary issues (serious misconduct which could result in a change of status of membership or disciplinary sanction) should always be referred to the DC or CC.

• The current Disputes Committee procedures can be found at swp.org.uk/terms-reference-and-pro-cedures-swp-disputes-committee• The Disputes Committee can be contacted at dc@swp.org.uk• For the Central Committee the current joint national secretaries are Amy Leather amyl@swp.org.uk and Charlie Kimber charlie@swp.org.uk

Party Discipline and DisputesIf a member behaves in a manner deemed unaccept-able, brings the party into disrepute or breaches party discipline in a very serious manner, the CC might have to take disciplinary action against that member, for instance by suspending them for a period from

THE SWP wants every member to feel able to

participate in activity

membership or by expelling them. Fortunately this is a rare occurrence.

If this happens, the member has the right to appeal to the disputes committee. This is a body elected at the party’s annual conference, which exists to help to deal with any issues of discipline or unaccept-able behaviour. It also reports back to party confer-ence each year. Generally cases are referred to the disputes committee by the CC—except, of course, if there is a complaint about a member of the CC or a full time party worker, in which case they may be referred directly to the disputes committee.

You can contact the Disputes Committee in confidence at dc@swp.org.uk

Party Finances Unfortunately, we live in a capitalist society. That means that organising, at any level, is an expensive business. The SWP does not accept corporate spon-sorship or advertising—and it’s unlikely any would be offered. For that reason, we expect members to pay regular “subs” to the party. Usually members do this by monthly Direct Debit, but if this isn’t possible you can make an arrangement with the local branch treasurer to pay by cash each month.

The subs our members pay are higher than in most organisations, reflecting the level of commit-ment our members have, and the sheer amount of material we produce along with the events we hold. University students and unemployed members typ-ically pay £5-10 a month, while someone on an income of £25,000 a year would be expected to pay about £35-55 a month, depending on their personal circumstances. The SWP website suggests recom-mended subs levels: see swp.org.uk/forms/subs

These national subs go towards producing Socialist Worker, organising national events such as Marxism or party conference, printing material such as placards and posters for demonstrations, and sup-porting those who work for the party.

In addition, members are asked to contribute a smaller amount to local subs, organised by branch treasurers to fund local meetings and activity. Your branch treasurer should discuss this with you when you join.

Striking care workers on the march in Birmingham Picture: Guy Smallman

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05A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SWP

This tradition, which emphasised the idea that the self-emancipation of the working class must be the act of the working class itself, was later developed by figures such as Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Rosa Luxemburg in the early 20th century.

By the 1930s this tradition was largely eclipsed by Stalinism. The isolation of the Russian revolu-tion and the decimation of the working class in the civil war that followed, allowed Stalin, standing at the head of the Soviet bureaucracy, to impose him-self as the new ruler of Russia. He carried through a counterrevolution that destroyed the flowering of democracy and liberation that 1917 had repre-sented. Stalin’s main opponent, Leon Trotsky, who sought to defend the tradition of 1917, was killed on Stalin’s orders in 1940.

By the end of the Second World War, there were, in many countries, small groups of Trotskyists. However, these groups tended to hold to the idea that the Soviet Union was a “degenerated workers’ state” and that a change in political leadership would be sufficient to set it back on the course of building a genuine socialist society.

Tony Cliff (whose real name was Ygael Gluckstein) was a Palestinian Jewish Trotskyist who arrived in Britain in 1946. He realised that the ideas of main-stream Trotskyism faced a major dilemma. After the Second World War, societies were created in Eastern Europe almost identical to the Soviet Union, but they were created not by workers’ revolution but by Russian tanks. If no workers’ revolution was required to create a workers’ state, Marx’s concept of workers’ self-emancipation no longer had any real meaning.

Cliff had a quite different understanding of the Soviet Union and the similar regimes that were now springing up. He argued that they were “bureau-cratic state capitalist” societies in which the ruling bureaucracy presided over the economy as if it were one giant capitalist factory. Furthermore, these “state capitalisms” had to compete with the Western powers, particular through military com-petition, and, as they did so, they developed many of the features of capitalism in its traditional form.

So, workers were deprived of all control of the workplace, consumption was subordinated to the need to accumulate capital and a minority, who directed the process, began to enjoy enormous wealth and prestige. It was on this basis that the SWP and its forerunners adopted the slogan during the Cold War: “Neither Washington nor Moscow but international socialism!”

Based on these ideas, Cliff would found the Socialist Review Group in 1950, drawing round him some talented collaborators such as Duncan Hallas and Mike Kidron and publishing a monthly paper. In the early 1960s the group was able to grow, in particular picking up student members through its involvement in movements such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and by entering the Young Socialists—a newly formed Labour Party youth group. The new recruits included Paul Foot and Chris Harman, who would both play an important role in the in the history of the organisation. By 1962 the Socialist Review Group become the International Socialists, based on the name of its theoretical jour-nal for which the group was now best known. The group also launched a newspaper, Labour Worker, aimed at trade union activists.

The SWP stands in a tradition of socialism from below, which stretches back to Karl Marx and Frederick Engels

TONY CLIFF, the founder of the Socialist Review Group which eventually became the Socialist Workers Party

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The year 1968 was an important turning point. The International Socialists went into that revolu-tionary year with a little under 500 members—most of them under the age of 30. Now large numbers of young people, many of them mobilised against the Vietnam War, began to gravitate towards the revo-lutionary left. Labour Worker was renamed Socialist Worker, reflecting the fact that the group was no longer oriented on recruiting people within the Labour Party and was now an independent organ-isation. It also developed a tighter internal struc-ture, adopting “democratic centralism” as its model. This reflected a shift from a loose grouping spread-ing socialist propaganda to an interventionist party that could hope to influence real struggles. By the end of the year, the group had expanded to around 1,000 members.

The priority in the years that followed was for the largely student-based organisation to recruit work-ing class militants to the party. Over the next few

years, as class struggle grew explosively in the early 1970s, the International Socialists were able to win over groups of union activists, reaching a member-ship of a few thousand. Much of the focus in this period was on creating rank and file networks in the unions—based on workers on the shop floor who could organise independently of union officials—and creating factory branches of the organisation.

As the 1970s drew to an end, the workers’ move-ment in Britain was contained. The role of the incoming Labour government in 1974 was crucial. As Labour imposed wage controls, with the tacit agreement of the union leaders, the movement began to face serious reversals, and the International Socialists found themselves too small to decisively transform the situation. Nonetheless, the group,

which was renamed the Socialist Workers Party in 1976, was soon to find itself at the centre of a major political movement.

One of the beneficiaries of the decline of struggle and the demoralisation that set in during the late 1970s was the far right—in particular the National Front. The Anti Nazi League (ANL) and Rock Against Racism were founded in response to this threat. This hugely imaginative and dynamic movement, which included two massive open-air concerts in London along with mobilisations of anti-racists to prevent the fascists from marching or gathering—played a central role in stopping the National Front from achieving the breakthrough for which they yearned.

However, the general retreat of the workers’ movement continued after the election of Margaret Thatcher’s first government in 1979. In this period, the SWP combined efforts to avoid the general drift to the right through serious political educa-tion of members with attempts to engage in activity whenever opportunities opened up. This included, for example, the organisation throwing itself into the Great Miners’ Strike of 1984-5. In the early 1990s there were movements of opposition to the first Gulf War of 1991 and the campaign against Thatcher’s deeply unpopular poll tax. The ANL was also relaunched in 1992 as racist attacks began to rise, due in no small part to the growth in support for the British National Party (BNP), which won a council seat in London in 1993. After the black teen-ager, Stephen Lawrence, was murdered by racists in London, the ANL organised a demonstration at the BNP headquarters Welling, attended by 60,000 protesters.

By the late 1990s, the space for radical ideas was again opening up. The SWP, along with its sister organisations in the International Socialist Tendency, threw itself into the anti-capitalist move-ment that erupted in 1999 as protesters shut down the World Trade Organisation conference in Seattle. A whole series of European and international mobili-sations followed in which the SWP was a participant.

A major challenge was posed to that emerging movement by the response from the US and British governments to the 9/11 attacks on America. Very swiftly the SWP moved to create a coalition of anti-war forces, the Stop the War Coalition, which aimed to prevent military interventions abroad, to stop attacks on civil liberties at home and to challenge the

‘During the Cold War, the SWP and its forerunners adopted the slogan: “Neither Washington nor Moscow but international socialism”.’

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inevitable Islamophobic scapegoating that would be deployed to seek to justify war. This coalition, sup-ported by CND and Muslim organisations, organised one of the largest protest in British history, on 15 February 2003, when an estimated two million took to the streets of London.

Around this time, the SWP was also engaged in trying to fill the space created by the rightward shift of the Labour Party—participating in both the Socialist Alliance and, later, the Respect Coalition. Although the SWP does not believe that real power rests primarily in parliament, or that the world can be transformed simply by electing well-meaning pol-iticians, it does see elections as an important way of presenting its arguments to large numbers of workers.

Unfortunately, these projects were ultimately unsuccessful, largely because they failed to break off a sufficiently large section of the Labour Party’s base, and, in the case of Respect, because of the growing tensions as it sought to build on its early electoral success. More recently, the rise of Jeremy Corbyn within the Labour Party limited the scope of any left electoral challenge to Labourism.

The SWP remains strongly associated with anti-racist work. It played an important role in Unite Against Fascism, which was formed by a merger of the Anti Nazi League with the National Assembly Against Racism. It mounted a number of impor-tant campaigns against the BNP, which was again experiencing an electoral breakthrough, and later the street movement known as the English Defence League (and its Scottish and Welsh counterparts). As the threat from fascist movements was pushed back, a broader organisation, Stand Up To Racism, was formed, aimed at tackling the more generalised racism against Muslims, migrants and refugees—and again the SWP has played a role in building this organisation, alongside other activists and organisations.

The renewed growth of fascist and far right forces requires active resistance again.

Today the SWP is a modestly sized party, with a few thousand members. Whatever else has changed over the decades, we remain committed to building broad, radical movements—and the idea that ulti-mately revolutionary change is needed to create a world based on meeting human needs, rather than the greed of a minority. THE ANTI Nazi League’s Love Music Hate Racism carnival in Manchester in 2002

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Who to contactWebsitesSWP www.swp.org.ukSocialist Worker www.socialistworker.co.ukSocialist Review www.socialistreview.org.ukInternational Socialism www.isj.org.uk

Phone/emailNational office 020 7840 5600 Membership department 020 7840 5602Workplace organising department 020 7840 5605Socialist Worker Student Society 020 7840 5610Socialist Worker circulation 020 7840 5601Socialist Worker editorial 020 7840 5656Socialist Review 020 7840 5630International Socialism 020 7840 5640

Social MediaFacebook Socialist Worker (Britain) Twitter @socialistworker @SWP_Britain @SWSSNewsSign up for our ‘Breakfast in Red’ morning email with updates and analysis of the latest developments. Go to www.socialistworker.co.uk/subscribe

PostSocialist Workers Party, PO Box 74955, London E16 9EJ

The International Socialist TendencyThe SWP is part of an international current of revolutionary socialist organisations known as the International Socialist Tendency. We share a broad political outlook and seek to help each other by exchanging experience and practical support.

For more information and to find out where we have groups, go to www.internationalsocialists.org

Campaign groupsThe SWP works in action alongside others in a wide range of campaigns. These include:

Stand Up To RacismWeb standuptoracism.org.ukFacebook @StandUTRTwitter @AntiRacismDayEmail info@standuptoracism.org.uk

Stop the War CoalitionWeb stopwar.org.ukFacebook @stopthewarcoalitionTwitter @STWuk

Unite Against FascismWeb uaf.org.ukFacebook @UAFpageTwitter @uaf

Unite the ResistanceWeb uniteresist.orgFacebook @uniteresistTwitter @UniteResist