Solidarity (U.S.)
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Solidarity is a socialist group in the United States that describes itself as "a democratic, revolutionary socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization".[1] It comes out of the Trotskyist tradition but has departed from many aspects of traditional Leninism and Trotskyism. It is more loosely organized than most "democratic centralist" groups, and it does not see itself as the vanguard of the working class or the nucleus of a vanguard. It was formed in 1986 from a fusion of the International Socialists, Workers' Power and Socialist Unity. The former two groups had recently been reunited in a single organization, while the last was a fragment of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). Solidarity's name was originally in part an homage to the Polish Solidarność — Solidarność had been an independent labor union which in Solidarity's view had challenged the Soviet Union from the left.
From the beginning, Solidarity was an avowedly pluralist organization that included several currents of Trotskyists, left-wing Shachtmanites, Luxemburgists, socialist-feminists, and veterans of New Left groups. Solidarity sought to "regroup" with others to create a large revolutionary socialist and feminist organization. They hoped to initiate a broad regroupment that would include, for example, some of the fragments of the disintegrating New Communist Movement and many more socialist-feminists and New Left veterans. Discussions of regroupment and "Left Refoundation" have been initiated between Solidarity and other left groups of varying tendencies from the 80's to the present, but these have not yet led to broader fusions.
Smaller-scale regroupments have occurred, however. During the 1990s, two organizations fused with Solidarity—the Fourth Internationalist Tendency (a group expelled from the SWP) and Activists for Independent Socialist Politics (a Socialist Action split that had previously worked in Committees of Correspondence). In 2002, members of the Trotskyist League joined Solidarity.
Solidarity has had substantial impact in trade unions,[citation needed] working in many unions for shop-floor militancy and rank-and-file democracy. Solidarity members have worked in many other mass movements in the US, including the anti-Apartheid, reproductive rights, Central American solidarity, Free Mumia, anti-war, and Global Justice movements, as well as the Green Party and the Labor Party. Solidarity prides itself on a "non-sectarian" approach to building these movements, and traditionally has prioritized this over building itself. Solidarity publishes a bi-monthly left journal, Against the Current,[2] which is produced by an editorial board including Solidarity members and independents.
In 2000, Solidarity endorsed both the Green Party's Ralph Nader and Socialist Party USA's David McReynolds for President (Solidarity permits joint membership in the Socialist Party USA). In August 2004 Solidarity again endorsed the candidacy of Ralph Nader.
[edit] References
- ^ Solidarity | A democratic, revolutionary socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization official Web site.
- ^ Against the Current Web site.
- Founding Statement, 1986.
- In Defense of American Trotskyism: Rebuilding the Revolutionary Party. Edited by Paul Le Blanc. Published by the Fourth Internationalist Tendency, First Edition: December, 1990. Archived on Marxist Internet Archive. Retrieved April 20, 2005.
