Monday 18 October 2010

The Workers Party Index

1. Marxists And The Workers Party, examines the attitudes of today's sectarians compared to the position of Marx and Engels.

2. The Labour Party Is Dead, Long Live The Labour Party, argues that most of the Left's attitude to work in the LP is upside down.

3. Pits, Pongs and Politics, details my own experience of the LP from the 1970's onwards.

4. Communities In Control, looks at the Green paper of that name, and argues that Marxists have to begin to build the Labour Movment from the ground up by building rank and file organisations, and self-activity in each community.

5. Dialectics At Work, argues that for a Marxist what constitutes the Workers Party is not a fixed thing. It should not be reified, but understood concretely in terms of its historical specificity, and examines that in relation to the attitude of two Left groups today.

6. Being A Revolutionary Means Getting Your Hands Dirty, is a copy of a 1983 document I wrote as a member of the WSL arguing against the Thornett Group's attitude to work in the LP, and against a sectarian position to working in the Labour Movmeent in general.

7. Marxists And The Labour Party, examines yet another zig and zag in the attitude of the AWL to the LP.

8. The Commoditisation Of Politics, examines the way the reduction of mainstream political activity to a search for votes, had reduced it to the kind of marketing activity of competing firms. It argues this is inevitable as a consequence of the level of class consciousness of workers, which is a function of their material conditions. No political space outside the mainstream could be opened up without changing those material conditions, and thereby raising the class consciousness of workers.

9. No Dog In This Fight, argued that the wrangling between Blairites and Brownites were a diversion for the left in the LP, who should have simply go on with the job of turning outwards to the working class, and rebuilding the movement.

10. Learning The lessons Of The Elections, looked at the 2009 Euro and County Council Elections.

11. Primus Inter Pares, looks at the power of the Prime Minister.

12. Why The Sectarian Left Really Hate The Labour Party, argues that the attitude to working in the LP doesn't stack up, and is a reflection of the Left's sectarian attitude to the working class itself.

13. Why We Need A Socialist Campaign For A Labour Victory, argues that the SCLV of 1979 shows how the Left inside and out of the LP could come together to provide a socialist basis for voting Labour, and building the Labour Movement.

14. A Lost Opportunity, argues that the left's sectarian politics during the election were another lost opportunity.

15. Machinations, looks at a strange article published by the AWL, which appeared to signal yet another sharp change in direction.

16. John McDonell Withdraws, argues that his withdrawal from the leadership contest was not a significant setback for the Left.

17. Oh Sweet Irony examines another strange article printed by the AWL.

18. Pure evil, examines a contemporary TV retrospective by Alan Davies featuring Neil Kinnock. It argues that at such times as the 1980's with events such as the Miners Strike and the attack on Liverpool City Council, the question that is primary is “Which side are you on?” Kinnock, and others of the LP soft left were on the side of Thatcher and the Capitalist Class.

19. Ed miliband wins, argues that the Left should be less concerned with Leaders and more concerned with building a grass roots movement from within workers communities.

20. US Socialists Should Campaign For a Vote for Hillary Clinton and the Democrats