Jim Percy
Encyclopedia
Jim Percy was a founder of the Socialist Workers League of Australia, later called the Socialist Workers Party and the Democratic Socialist Party, and served as national secretary for almost twenty years.
.
In 1967 he helped to found the Socialist
youth organisation Resistance
, based on members of the Sydney University
Socialist Club and the Vietnam Action Campaign.
In 1969, Percy was elected to the initial five-member secretariat of the Vietnam Moratorium Campaign in Sydney
.
In 1972, he became a founder of the Socialist Workers League. He became the League's Organisation Secretary in 1972 and its National Secretary in 1973. Due to the influence of the US Socialist Workers Party, the SWL later took the name Socialist Workers Party, and Percy continued as secretary. The SWP later became the Democratic Socialist Party. That group now has two descendants, the Democratic Socialist Perspective
, a tendency within Socialist Alliance, and the Revolutionary Socialist Party.
Percy was central to the DSP becoming an Australia-wide party during the 1970s. In the 1980s, he oversaw a series of attempts by the party to reach out to new forces and to regroup with other far-left organisations.
He died of cancer on 12 October 1992, at the age of forty-three.
Career
Percy first became active in politics as a high-school student in 1965, helping organize demonstrations against the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
In 1967 he helped to found the Socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
youth organisation Resistance
Resistance (socialist youth organisation)
Resistance is a Revolutionary Socialist youth organisation with its national headquarters in Sydney. Resistance is an independent affiliate of the Socialist Alliance with a strong historical relationship with the Democratic Socialist Perspective, which dissolved into the Socialist Alliance in...
, based on members of the Sydney University
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
Socialist Club and the Vietnam Action Campaign.
In 1969, Percy was elected to the initial five-member secretariat of the Vietnam Moratorium Campaign in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
In 1972, he became a founder of the Socialist Workers League. He became the League's Organisation Secretary in 1972 and its National Secretary in 1973. Due to the influence of the US Socialist Workers Party, the SWL later took the name Socialist Workers Party, and Percy continued as secretary. The SWP later became the Democratic Socialist Party. That group now has two descendants, the Democratic Socialist Perspective
Democratic Socialist Perspective
The Democratic Socialist Perspective was an Australian Marxist political group, which operated as the largest component of a broad-left socialist formation, the Socialist Alliance...
, a tendency within Socialist Alliance, and the Revolutionary Socialist Party.
Percy was central to the DSP becoming an Australia-wide party during the 1970s. In the 1980s, he oversaw a series of attempts by the party to reach out to new forces and to regroup with other far-left organisations.
He died of cancer on 12 October 1992, at the age of forty-three.