The meaning of the 16th World Congress

  1. redphilly
    redphilly
    The FI leadership's view on the meaning of the upcoming world congress.

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    The meaning of the 16th World Congress


    François Sabado
    World congresses are always significant moments in the history of the Fourth International. Delegates from all the organisations, currents, and militants meet to discuss the international situation, key questions of the revolutionary Marxist programme, and the significant and diverse experiences of construction of anti-capitalist, socialist and revolutionary parties.

    full text: http://www.internationalviewpoint.or...hp?article1787
  2. blake 3:17
    blake 3:17
    I gave it a read and found it pretty vague. Maybe the really important part is the development of a transitional program. There are possibilities of new Left formations both in Canada and the US -- what our aims are and how they correspond to national and regional forces is going to be crucial. The political maps are being redrawn and many commonplace or fall back positions for Trotskyists will need to change.

    As others have mentioned, long term participation in social democratic parties can be harmful to revolutionary parties or currents.

    I'm glad that members of the minority are participating in the Congress -- a layer of leadership is either gone or stuck in the large strategic projects of the last 20 years. Some of those seem to be working, others have gone awry.
  3. redphilly
    redphilly
    What new formation in the US? I know that Solidarity has been doing a bunch of joint work with ex-Maoist/new communist groups like FRSO, LRNA and others. Are they ready to take a step further? All of these groups are popular frontist; supporting Democrats to "defeat the right." I don't see much coming of that personally.
  4. redphilly
    redphilly
    BTW, i got a distressing email from an friend who was in the LCR and now is in the NPA. He tells me there's zero effort to organize discussions amongst FI supporters in the new party. That most don't even realize there's a world congress in the works.

    He describes an electoralist drift in the NPA with 90% emphasis on local elections and almost none of workers struggles and mass activity.
  5. blake 3:17
    blake 3:17
    What new formation in the US? I know that Solidarity has been doing a bunch of joint work with ex-Maoist/new communist groups like FRSO, LRNA and others. Are they ready to take a step further? All of these groups are popular frontist; supporting Democrats to "defeat the right."
    I was actually thinking the opposite, and something longer term than immediate regroupment -- that Obama's renewed War On Terror could make the Dems less attractive.

    It's likely the kind of ultra left error I'm prone to, with a bit of wishful thinking on the side. The challenge on this side of the border is that we do have a workers party than increasingly bases itself on Clinton/Obama Democrats and has the aim of either being in bed with the Liberals, or in its highest hopes, replacing the Liberals to being something akin to the Democrats or New Labour.

    I don't have the energy to fret over the NPA at the moment. Stupid electoralism. I'm on the verge of ranting, but maybe we could have a more private conversation about electoral/bourgeois politics.