International Socialist Tendency

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International Socialist Tendency
Red stylized fist.svg
founding 1960
Headquarters London
newspaper International Socialism Journal
Alignment Socialism
unorthodox Trotskyism
Colours) red
International connections Sections in 27 countries
Website [1]

The International Socialist Tendency (IST) is an international grouping of socialist Trotskyist organizations referring to the ideas of Tony Cliff . Cliff is the founder of the British Socialist Workers Party . The IST has sections worldwide, it is strongest in Europe, especially in Great Britain and Ireland .

Political classification

Politically, the IST is similar to many other Trotskyist Internationals . The main differences relate to the view of the Soviet Union, which the IST sees as state capitalism , and not as a degenerate workers state , and to the theories of permanent armaments and permanent revolution .

In contrast to many other similar groupings, the IST has no formal organizational structures and also keeps its decisions covered. The only publicly known decision of the IST is the separation from the American International Socialist Organization.

history

The origin of the IST goes back to the British Socialist Review Group , whose members - including Tony Cliff - were expelled from the Fourth International in the 1950s .

In the 1960s, the IST established links with insurgent movements in a number of countries, leading to the establishment of IST groups there. Probably the first such group was the Irish International Socialists (1971), further groups were founded shortly afterwards in Australia , Canada and West Germany ( Socialist Workers' Group SAG). In addition, connections were established with the American Independent Socialists , from which the International Socialist Organization would later become; the ISUS split due to the contacts with the IST in 1978.

There was no formal organizational structure for the IST, but since the 1970s there were meetings of the leadership of the International Socialist Group, usually in connection with the Marxist Summer School of the Socialist Workers Party in London . The term "International Socialist Tendency" has been in use for this group since the 1990s.

In the 1980s, new groups were formed in France , Belgium , Denmark , the Netherlands , Norway and the Greek Revolutionary Socialist Organization strengthened its links with the IST. Also Turkish members (in exile in West Germany and the UK) were recruited. The IST continued to grow in the 1990s ( Austria , Cyprus , Spain , New Zealand , South Africa , Zimbabwe and Korea ). IS groups were also founded in former socialist states ( Poland , Czech Republic ). A Russian group only existed for a short time.

At the same time, however, there were also serious problems in the 1990s. Along with the geographic expansion, there were also losses and fragmentation. There were a number of splits that were independently attributed to the fact that the internal organization of the IST had become bureaucratic and undemocratic. There were divisions and problems. a. in Germany, South Africa, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France and Belgium.

This ambivalent development has continued in recent years. On the one hand, a number of new groups have been formed (for example in Finland , Uruguay and Ghana ). At the same time, the largest organizations outside the UK split and the American International Socialist Organization was expelled from the IST after the demonstrations in Seattle because of differing opinions about the importance of the anti-globalization movement . Something similar happened in Greece .

IST constituents

The following is a list of IST affiliates, although it cannot be exhaustive or accurate.

  • Devrimci Sosyalist İşçi Partisi, Turkey
  • Comunismo dal basso, Italy
  • En Lucha, Spain
  • Ergatiki Demokratie, Cyprus
  • Internasjonale Sosialister, Norway
  • International Socialister, Denmark
  • International socialists, Netherlands
  • Solidarity, Australia
  • International Socialist Organization, Ghana
  • International Socialist Organization, Puerto Rico
  • International Socialist Organization, Zimbabwe
  • International Socialists, Canada
  • Internationella Socialister, Sweden
  • Izquierda Revolucionaria, Uruguay
  • Keep Left, South Africa
  • Klum Prachatipatai Rangarn, Thailand
  • Linksruck , Germany dissolved in September 2007, successor organization marx21
  • Left turn, Austria
  • Pracownicza Demokracja, Poland
  • Socialisme par en bas, France
  • Socialismo Internacional, Brazil
  • Socialistická Solidarita, Czech Republic
  • Sosialistiko Ergatiko Komma, Greece
  • Sosialistiliitto, Finland
  • Socialist Workers Organization, New Zealand
  • Socialist Workers Party , UK
    • Socialist Worker Platform (in the Scottish Socialist Party)
  • Socialist Workers Party, Ireland

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For example, the IST website refers to Suara Socialis in Indonesia as a member organization, which however only consists of one website.