still available). the International Socialists Alliance and the International Marxist Group and published in our issue of 4 January (copies and work key tasks the SOMES oppositionists and alternative nonetheless remain uneducated in Marxist methods and retain highly developed reflexes of dualism, sexism and hierarchy and competition.
All these tendencies Ene directly opposed to the theory organisation. and practice democracy and make democratic centralist completely uninhabitable for many workers, feminists, gays and non-whites.
A serious previously unified revolutionary organisation will need to do more than Just repeat the hope and belet that it is possible to advance, but will itself have to lay down devoted the prerequisites burn Socialist Challenge — the organ of the new unified revolutionary organisation in formation?
capitalism woefully hierarchical methods.
Socialist Democracy are socialist structures MOVemeNES socialist feminists tives and programme, approach to a revolutionary for that trade disillusioned yet!' alistch advance: an internal struggle to conferences purge ourselves of sexist and of The formation of a new revolutionary organisation re- quires not only the fusion of Socialist United hitherto separate traditions and IMG, ISA, - but also the development of perspecwhich can only be achieved by the left. democratic centralisation of all SOC dISES and In this, practical steps such as gether and women's appeal.
obviously are called for, as is the organisation collective political intervention in elections.
The best guidelines for such a democratically centralised political practice are in our opinion to be found in the Theses on Democracy OI Ine Secretariat Fourth International, correctly counterposed to the basicalv Stalinist conceptions of democurrent and among most of the British far These Theses should form the basis of a discussion aimed al ine tormation of revolutionary organisation, toWILS the IMG-ISA RESCHI The IS Tradition A tendency appears to have arisen in recent 'theoretical' articles in Socialist Challenge to dismiss the British labour movement, its history ast a load or old traditions, rubbish, compared to some abstract revolutionarv doctrine such as 'internationalism' The point here surely is that internationalism, like any other revolutionary practice. distinct from theory, begins at This is why the revolutionary programme of the International, as the world party of the socialist revolution, must become fused with at least a part of the British labour (Socialist movement, if it is ever to become a real political force in this country. COOKSON For various historical and political reasons, the most likely part of the British labour movement today be Photo: G.M that represented by tradition', including the ISA and Socialist Workers Party.
This represents, however imperfectly, the only revolutionary tendency or tradition among the mass of the working Casse - Britain during this century: the rank and file and shop stewards movements.
To become a part of a mass movement, and even to lead it.
respect for autonomy. Leadership must be proved concretely, in practice, can never be simply declared, or even seized from outside.
What does all this mean for us? Socialist Challenge should seek to become the organ of the unified revolutionary organisation in formation, and its organiser in tact This means that the paper must retain own autonomous character,
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BELOW we print two more contributions to the debate sparked off by the 'Appeal for Revolutionary Unity' jointly signed by
The first is by two comrades in Liverpool who write: 'We have between us over the past fifteen years or so been members of the SLL, IS, Workers Fight, and IMG — and we are not The second is a short comment from a reader in Norway.