Socialist Studies (1989)
Encyclopedia
Socialist Studies was first published in 1989 by the Camden
and North West London
branches of the Socialist Party of Great Britain
, though since issue № 3 (1991) it has been published by an independent organisation (see History and activity below).
The early issues consisted primarily of material reprinted from the works of Karl Marx
and the Socialist Standard
, though the paper now consists of original material. The format has remained the same for the past fifteen years: three to twelve A4 sheets of single-column word-processed text, photocopied and folded to produce an A5 booklet. The publication is text-only, with no graphics or photographs; none of the articles have a byline
, and until № 35 (Spring 2000), none of the issues were dated. It is sold in small numbers by mail order and at Socialist Studies propaganda meetings.
Some of these ex-members, comprising sixteen individuals, refused to recognise the expulsions and attempted to continue operating as the Socialist Party of Great Britain, which they claimed to have "reconstituted". As the original Socialist Party of Great Britain had never been dissolved, and indeed continued to operate following the expulsions, this was generally seen as fraud
ulent. Their attempts to pass themselves off
as the SPGB were consistently blocked by the police, courts, government, and other organisations. For example:
Because of these problems, and to differentiate itself from the original SPGB, the group has variously referred to itself in its publicity material as the Reconstituted Socialist Party of Great Britain, the New Socialist Party of Great Britain, and Socialist Studies. Third parties refer to them as the Socialist Studies group.
The group's activity consists primarily of publishing Socialist Studies and various pamphlets, and holding occasional propaganda meetings. They claim they are eager to debate with anyone but in practice they have turned down offers to debate with rival political groups such as the International Communist Current
. Socialist Studies was not a registered political party until December 2006, when they registered with the Electoral Commission as Socialist Studies Party (1904). , though, they have never contested a local, national, or EU
election.
and North West London branches, though the two branches operate jointly for all practical purposes. A joint branch business meeting is held one evening per month from September to July.
, Socialist Studies has been criticised, both from within and by third parties, for not being run openly and democratically. Critics observe that the group has no formal constitution
or rulebook; does not hold internal elections, polls, or referendums; holds secret meetings which are closed to the public and not even announced to its own membership; and summarily expels dissident members. One Socialist Studies member summed up the organisational problems as follows:
The group's current General Secretary, Richard Lloyd, was elected in 2004 unanimously by a poll of just eight of the group's then 30 members; no nominations had been solicited from the membership at large.
s to establish elementary democratic
and trade union
rights, especially in Eastern Europe
in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The stance of the SPGB since 1939 is summarised by the following 1990 party conference resolution:
Socialist Studies, on the other hand, regards the struggle by workers living under a dictatorship to establish some measure of political democracy as a reformist
struggle which socialists should oppose. They believe that the difference between democratic capitalist governments and dictatorial capitalist governments is of no significance to workers, that political democracy is not essential for the propagation of socialist ideas, and that workers in dictatorships should not directly confront the forces of suppression. Instead, Socialist Studies believes that they must be "hostile to such movements for democracy and to call on workers to form instead a socialist political party based on [their] principles".
The SPGB does not consider Socialist Studies's position to be incompatible with socialism, but rather simply a different (albeit illogical) interpretation of its principles:
Socialist Studies's attitude towards capitalist law is apparently a recent ideological development, as members of the group had previously registered as candidates for parliamentary and council elections when they were members of the SPGB. Also, the group as a whole has occasionally appealed to the state's legal institutions, such as their 1994 lawsuit against the Britannia Building Society and their use of the police to guard their private meetings. In 1993 the group publicly accused the Socialist Party of Great Britain of "criminal libel
" and has repeatedly indicated that it is prepared to sue if necessary.
publicises itself as "The Conservative Party".) The resolution was made partly to codify an existing practice, and partly to avoid what some members considered the nationalistic
connotation of "Great Britain".
Socialist Studies interprets the 1988 resolution as having completely changed the party's name and proscribing the use of the full form. They see this resolution as conflicting with the party's Declaration of Principles, one clause of which mentions the party's full name explicitly. It is largely on this basis that they justified their continued operation as the Socialist Party of Great Britain: they claim that they were expelled from "The Socialist Party", not "The Socialist Party of Great Britain". They also claim that they are entitled to use the name because the original Socialist Party of Great Britain no longer exists:
in parliament should vote against reform measures even when they are in the interests of the working class.
The SPGB considers Socialist Studies's position on how socialist MPs should vote to be "a legitimate position for a socialist to hold, even though it is not the one that, as a matter of historical fact, has been adopted by the SPGB", and "do[es] not regard it as a matter for serious dispute".
ideas and not sufficiently emphasising the parliamentary aspect of the socialist revolution. Socialist Studies claims that the SPGB's position is that the state would be abolished immediately upon the overthrow of class society, whereas Socialist Studies's position is that the state would "gradually wither away" instead. Referring to the SPGB's 1984 Conference resolution (since rescinded) that "Socialism will entail the immediate abolition of and not the gradual decline of the State", Socialist Studies writes,
-based Socialist Party" or the "Socialist Party of Clapham". The group variously claims that the SPGB is anarchist, reformist, capitalist
, fascist, Stalinist, Trotskyist, undemocratic, and democracy fetishist. According to Socialist Studies, the Socialist Party of Great Britain colludes with the Electoral Commission to "prevent Socialists [from] carrying out political propaganda on the web
", and does this because its own propaganda is not being read as widely as that of Socialist Studies. Socialist Studies also claims that the SPGB has a secret de facto leadership of "godfathers
", at least one of whom is a secret agent for MI5
, who conspire to suppress socialist ideas and to destroy Socialist Studies.
Socialist Studies has repeatedly called on the SPGB to respond to some of these accusations and to engage in debates on their ideological differences. However, as these calls were made at the time Socialist Studies was still claiming to be the Socialist Party of Great Britain, the SPGB refused to recognise their legitimacy. The only official published comment the SPGB has made on the Socialist Studies group has been in an article devoted to the history of breakaway groups
in the centenary issue of the Socialist Standard, which described them as "a small group of rather disgruntled ex-members".
Camden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
and North West London
North West London
North West London may refer to:*NW postcode area*Western part of North London...
branches of the Socialist Party of Great Britain
Socialist Party of Great Britain
The Socialist Party of Great Britain , is a small Marxist political party within the impossibilist tradition. It is best known for its advocacy of using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes; opposition to reformism; and its early adoption of the theory of state capitalism to describe the...
, though since issue № 3 (1991) it has been published by an independent organisation (see History and activity below).
The early issues consisted primarily of material reprinted from the works of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
and the Socialist Standard
Socialist Standard
The Socialist Standard is a monthly socialist magazine published without interruption since 1904 by the Socialist Party of Great Britain. The magazine is written in a simple, direct style and focuses mainly on socialist advocacy and Marxian analysis of current events, particularly those affecting...
, though the paper now consists of original material. The format has remained the same for the past fifteen years: three to twelve A4 sheets of single-column word-processed text, photocopied and folded to produce an A5 booklet. The publication is text-only, with no graphics or photographs; none of the articles have a byline
Byline
The byline on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name, and often the position, of the writer of the article. Bylines are traditionally placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines place bylines at the bottom of the page, to leave more room for graphical...
, and until № 35 (Spring 2000), none of the issues were dated. It is sold in small numbers by mail order and at Socialist Studies propaganda meetings.
History and activity
The history of the group now known as Socialist Studies dates to 1991, when the Camden and North West London branches were expelled from the Socialist Party of Great Britain after a party-wide referendum found them to be engaged in persistent undemocratic behaviour. A number of factors led up to the expulsions (see Differences with the Socialist Party of Great Britain below), but the action the branches were ultimately charged with was failing to abide by a 1988 party resolution regarding the use of the party's name for publicity purposes.Some of these ex-members, comprising sixteen individuals, refused to recognise the expulsions and attempted to continue operating as the Socialist Party of Great Britain, which they claimed to have "reconstituted". As the original Socialist Party of Great Britain had never been dissolved, and indeed continued to operate following the expulsions, this was generally seen as fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
ulent. Their attempts to pass themselves off
Passing off
Passing off is a common law tort which can be used to enforce unregistered trademark rights. The tort of passing off protects the goodwill of a trader from a misrepresentation that causes damage to goodwill....
as the SPGB were consistently blocked by the police, courts, government, and other organisations. For example:
- In the early 1990s the group attempted to open accounts in the name of the SPGB at various bankBankA bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
s and building societiesBuilding societyA building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially mortgage lending. These institutions are found in the United Kingdom and several other countries.The term "building society"...
, but in each case the account was frozen and/or cancelled for alleged or actual fraudulent use. - In 1994 the group sued Britannia Building SocietyBritannia Building SocietyThe Britannia is a financial services institution and trading name of the Co-operative Bank Plc in the United Kingdom.Before the merger with the Co-operative, Britannia was a mutual building society, with headquarters in Leek, Staffordshire...
for having frozen an account it had opened in the name of the SPGB. The court refused to recognise the group as the Socialist Party of Great Britain and instead joined the original Socialist Party of Great Britain to the suit as intervenors. - In 2000 the group gained control of an Internet domain nameDomain nameA domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
registered to the SPGB. The domain name registry, Nominet, determined this to be domain hijackingDomain hijackingDomain hijacking or domain theft is the act of changing the registration of a domain name without the permission of its original registrant....
and returned control of it to the SPGB. A subsequent hijacking was attempted in 2006 but was discovered and prevented by Nominet. - In 2003 the group opened a post office boxPost Office boxA post-office box or Post Office box is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office station....
in the name of the SPGB; the Royal MailRoyal MailRoyal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
and London Metropolitan Police subsequently shut it down on suspicion of identity fraudIdentity fraudIdentity fraud may occur when someone steals personal information, opens credit card accounts in the victim's name without permission, and charges merchandise to those accounts. Conversely, identity fraud does not occur when a credit card is simply stolen. Stealing one’s credit card may be consumer...
. - The Electoral CommissionElectoral Commission (United Kingdom)The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections...
does not permit Socialist Studies to register under the name "Socialist Party of Great Britain", as it recognises the original Socialist Party of Great Britain as the only party permitted to register under that name.
Because of these problems, and to differentiate itself from the original SPGB, the group has variously referred to itself in its publicity material as the Reconstituted Socialist Party of Great Britain, the New Socialist Party of Great Britain, and Socialist Studies. Third parties refer to them as the Socialist Studies group.
The group's activity consists primarily of publishing Socialist Studies and various pamphlets, and holding occasional propaganda meetings. They claim they are eager to debate with anyone but in practice they have turned down offers to debate with rival political groups such as the International Communist Current
International Communist Current
The International Communist Current is an international centralised left communist organisation which was formed in 1975 and which has sections in France, Great Britain, Mexico, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Venezuela, Brazil, Sweden, India, Italy, USA, Switzerland, Philippines and...
. Socialist Studies was not a registered political party until December 2006, when they registered with the Electoral Commission as Socialist Studies Party (1904). , though, they have never contested a local, national, or EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
election.
Organisational structure
, Socialist Studies claims to have 24 members, almost all of whom are in the UK. Officially they are divided into separate Camden/BloomsburyBloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
and North West London branches, though the two branches operate jointly for all practical purposes. A joint branch business meeting is held one evening per month from September to July.
Criticism
In common with its companion group, the World Socialist Party of IndiaWorld Socialist Party of India
Founded in March 1995 in Calcutta by members of the Marxist International Correspondence Circle in collaboration with the Bengali language journal Lal Pataka group having broken away from the Communist Party of India in 1982, the World Socialist Party inaugurated on 1–3 March 1995 in the...
, Socialist Studies has been criticised, both from within and by third parties, for not being run openly and democratically. Critics observe that the group has no formal constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
or rulebook; does not hold internal elections, polls, or referendums; holds secret meetings which are closed to the public and not even announced to its own membership; and summarily expels dissident members. One Socialist Studies member summed up the organisational problems as follows:
[Socialist Studies] is not democratically organised. There is no committee that is representative of the will of the general membership. It is true that there is a Joint Branch Meeting, but this meeting is composed of members who are not elected… the [Executive] Committee is meant to be elected annually by all Party members. This has not been done… Indeed, I have never been asked to vote on anything in the two years I have been a member.
The group's current General Secretary, Richard Lloyd, was elected in 2004 unanimously by a poll of just eight of the group's then 30 members; no nominations had been solicited from the membership at large.
Differences with the Socialist Party of Great Britain
Socialist Studies adopted the object and principles of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, and thus claims to hold that party's general ideology and stance on most social, economic, and political issues. However, there are several ideological and practical differences between Socialist Studies and the Socialist Party of Great Britain, most of which arise from the former's narrower interpretation of the object and principles and its views on how strictly these interpretations must be adhered to. For the matters discussed in this section, Socialist Studies generally adopts the position that anyone who does not hold their interpretation cannot be regarded as a true socialist. On the other hand, the Socialist Party of Great Britain holds that at least some of the following issues are ones upon which genuine socialists may disagree with each other; disagreement with the majority position does not automatically disqualify one from being a socialist or from membership in the Party. Socialist Studies's less accommodating stance has been labelled "doctrinaire", a characterisation which they categorically reject.Political franchise
The principal ideological disagreement Socialist Studies has with the Socialist Party of Great Britain is its attitude towards attempts by workers living under political dictatorshipDictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
s to establish elementary democratic
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
and trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
rights, especially in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The stance of the SPGB since 1939 is summarised by the following 1990 party conference resolution:
This Conference re-affirms the stand taken in the September [actually October] 1939 Socialist Standard and repeated in the September 1989 Socialist Standard, that the Socialist Party of Great Britain wholeheartedly supports the efforts of workers everywhere to secure democratic rights against the powers of suppression. Whilst we avoid any association with parties or political groups seeking to administer capitalism, we emphasise that freedom of movement and expression, the freedom to organise in trade unions, to organise politically, and to participate in elections, are of great importance to all workers and are vital to the success of the socialist movement.
Socialist Studies, on the other hand, regards the struggle by workers living under a dictatorship to establish some measure of political democracy as a reformist
Reformism
Reformism is the belief that gradual democratic changes in a society can ultimately change a society's fundamental economic relations and political structures...
struggle which socialists should oppose. They believe that the difference between democratic capitalist governments and dictatorial capitalist governments is of no significance to workers, that political democracy is not essential for the propagation of socialist ideas, and that workers in dictatorships should not directly confront the forces of suppression. Instead, Socialist Studies believes that they must be "hostile to such movements for democracy and to call on workers to form instead a socialist political party based on [their] principles".
The SPGB does not consider Socialist Studies's position to be incompatible with socialism, but rather simply a different (albeit illogical) interpretation of its principles:
Indifference to moves by workers to try to establish a minimum of political democracy has, once again, been a minority position within the SPGB though not a matter for expulsion. If [a companion party] were to adopt this position, we could live with it and would not consider it a matter for its exclusion from the World Socialist Movement (though we would reserve the right to criticise it as illogical).
Cooperation with capitalist law
Despite calling for the establishment of socialist political parties, Socialist Studies believes that such parties should not engage in political action which requires use of or active cooperation with what they call "capitalist law" or "bourgeois legislation". This arises from their interpretation of Clause 8 of their Declaration of Principles. That clause states that "Socialist Studies… enters the field of political action"; the group interprets this as specifically excluding "legal or moral action" and as "overrid[ing] any other consideration". In light of this, they accuse the Socialist Party of Great Britain of being capitalist collaborators for having registered with the Electoral Commission, which is a legal requirement to contest elections in the UK.Socialist Studies's attitude towards capitalist law is apparently a recent ideological development, as members of the group had previously registered as candidates for parliamentary and council elections when they were members of the SPGB. Also, the group as a whole has occasionally appealed to the state's legal institutions, such as their 1994 lawsuit against the Britannia Building Society and their use of the police to guard their private meetings. In 1993 the group publicly accused the Socialist Party of Great Britain of "criminal libel
Criminal libel
Criminal libel is a legal term, of English origin, which may be used with one of two distinct meanings, in those common law jurisdictions where it is still used....
" and has repeatedly indicated that it is prepared to sue if necessary.
Party name
The Socialist Party of Great Britain had been using the short form of its name, "The Socialist Party", for publicity purposes as far back as 1910. In 1988, the party passed a resolution at its annual conference indicating when to use the full-form and short-form names: the full-form name was to be retained as the official name for use on legal documents and publication credits, and the short form was to be used for most other purposes, including election ballots and propaganda. (This is analogous to how the Conservative and Unionist PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
publicises itself as "The Conservative Party".) The resolution was made partly to codify an existing practice, and partly to avoid what some members considered the nationalistic
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
connotation of "Great Britain".
Socialist Studies interprets the 1988 resolution as having completely changed the party's name and proscribing the use of the full form. They see this resolution as conflicting with the party's Declaration of Principles, one clause of which mentions the party's full name explicitly. It is largely on this basis that they justified their continued operation as the Socialist Party of Great Britain: they claim that they were expelled from "The Socialist Party", not "The Socialist Party of Great Britain". They also claim that they are entitled to use the name because the original Socialist Party of Great Britain no longer exists:
The Socialist Party of Great Britain of 52 Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UN, is defunct and no longer exists as a political party. It does not produce political literature, hold propaganda meetings or contest elections. It cannot exist merely as a name without a body… We are the only political organisation in this country bearing the title 'The Socialist Party of Great Britain'.
Reformism
The SPGB has a longstanding position that it is "opposed to a reform programme and to reformist organisations, but not opposed to reforms as such"—that is, the party does not campaign for reforms itself, since its sole object is the establishment of socialism, but is not opposed to reforms passed by the government when they are clearly in the interests of the working class. The Socialist Studies group disagrees with this position, explicitly stating that socialist MPsMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in parliament should vote against reform measures even when they are in the interests of the working class.
The SPGB considers Socialist Studies's position on how socialist MPs should vote to be "a legitimate position for a socialist to hold, even though it is not the one that, as a matter of historical fact, has been adopted by the SPGB", and "do[es] not regard it as a matter for serious dispute".
Abolition of the state
Socialist Studies accuses the SPGB of coming under the influence of anarchistAnarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
ideas and not sufficiently emphasising the parliamentary aspect of the socialist revolution. Socialist Studies claims that the SPGB's position is that the state would be abolished immediately upon the overthrow of class society, whereas Socialist Studies's position is that the state would "gradually wither away" instead. Referring to the SPGB's 1984 Conference resolution (since rescinded) that "Socialism will entail the immediate abolition of and not the gradual decline of the State", Socialist Studies writes,
If you are in favour of the immediate abolition of the State when Socialism is established then you are in favour of its immediate abolition here and now, which is of course the anarchist position… Unless Socialists use the power of the machinery of government to dispossess the capitalist class they will be unable to establish Socialism. We find it inconceivable that intelligent Socialists of a future generation would even consider such an act of monumental stupidity.
Relations with the Socialist Party of Great Britain
Much of the material published by Socialist Studies is highly critical, and often outright contemptuous, of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, which it refers to as the "ClaphamClapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
-based Socialist Party" or the "Socialist Party of Clapham". The group variously claims that the SPGB is anarchist, reformist, capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, fascist, Stalinist, Trotskyist, undemocratic, and democracy fetishist. According to Socialist Studies, the Socialist Party of Great Britain colludes with the Electoral Commission to "prevent Socialists [from] carrying out political propaganda on the web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
", and does this because its own propaganda is not being read as widely as that of Socialist Studies. Socialist Studies also claims that the SPGB has a secret de facto leadership of "godfathers
Crime boss
A crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...
", at least one of whom is a secret agent for MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
, who conspire to suppress socialist ideas and to destroy Socialist Studies.
Socialist Studies has repeatedly called on the SPGB to respond to some of these accusations and to engage in debates on their ideological differences. However, as these calls were made at the time Socialist Studies was still claiming to be the Socialist Party of Great Britain, the SPGB refused to recognise their legitimacy. The only official published comment the SPGB has made on the Socialist Studies group has been in an article devoted to the history of breakaway groups
Socialist Party of Great Britain breakaway groups
The Socialist Party of Great Britain has weathered a number of internal disputes since its foundation in 1904, some of which have led to organisational breakaways.-Background:...
in the centenary issue of the Socialist Standard, which described them as "a small group of rather disgruntled ex-members".