In May, the Socialist Alliance national conference adopted a perspective proposed by a non-aligned caucus of 160 SA members to move the alliance towards becoming a united, multi-tendency socialist party. Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly's KERRYN WILLIAMS spoke to SA national co-convener and a key organiser of the non-aligned caucus, JOHN VAN DER VELDEN, about the political situation underpinning this perspective and the progress being made in its implementation.
What are the main factors necessitating SA's transformation into a single, broad, multi-tendency socialist party?
There are several factors converging to make this an absolute imperative: progress in the development of the alliance since its inception, the state of the socialist movement, and the broader political environment. The decisions that we, as socialists, make right now, or fail to make, will have lasting consequences for our movement and for all working people.
The May conference decision marked a turning point in the SA's development from a predominantly electoral united front between eight foundation groups to an organisation in which there are more non-aligned members than members of affiliates. With more people like myself, looking for a permanent, broad socialist formation, coming into the alliance it was a natural progression that a leadership role for non-affiliated members would emerge.
The socialist unity vision that the affiliates showed in forming the alliance has been embraced — and in some respects transformed — by non-aligned socialists in SA. We now have a much more profound socialist regroupment through the non-aligned socialists we're joining, who are now a central part of both the activist layers in the branches and the leadership at the state and national levels.
At the same time, we have reached a crossroads in terms of the resources needed to further develop the alliance. Affiliates' prioritising the production of separate publications, maintaining separate offices and organising separate events is less and less compatible with them also continuing to provide the financial and activist resources to build the alliance. Affiliates are being forced by the circumstances of their own success in building the alliance to make a choice: either grab the expanding opportunities for developing the alliance as the political priority or pursue a minimalist, predominantly electoralist path still focused on building themselves.
A central component of the non-aligned caucus's proposal adopted at the May conference was allowing for and encouraging the greater integration of those affiliates that want to prioritise building the alliance.
How is the broader political context impacting on SA's development?
The backdrop is the current upswing in the prospects for building a socialist alternative after so many difficult years.
The deepening crisis in Labor is part of a general crisis in social democracy across the advanced capitalist countries. Here the ALP has gone through a spectacular evolution from reforming capitalism for workers to reforming capitalism for capital. Today Labor is struggling to carve out a policy message that distinguishes it from the Howard government, never mind actually improving the lives of working people.
So is Labor finished as a party for working people?
The ALP still has a working-class constituency and there are still some "rusted on" members who long for a return to the "reform socialist" principles Labor once stood for. But, yes, that ship has well and truly sailed.
The leading left voices in the ALP are mere echoes at the edges (like Carmen Lawrence's call for a more humane refugee policy) while the policy lurches rightward. That has driven a lot of people away from the Labor Party and has created a huge political space for the socialist left.
However, the sober reality is that the revolutionary left hasn't picked up over this period. The fact that working people have been looking for an alternative is most obviously reflected in the recent dramatic growth of the Greens, as they expanded their range of progressive policies. We, the socialist left, should also have experienced growth and we need to address our failure to do so.
The fight against Stalinism took a heavy toll on the revolutionary left. It created a sectarian culture of marginalisation, organisational splits, the "in-house" elevation of and endless refinement of theory, program and language as an end in itself, and a focus on organisational difference and competition for the "vanguard party" position in the working class. The sooner we come to terms with the fact that we are down to the remnants of a long and difficult struggle and regroup into a more positive and collectively stronger socialist organisation the better.
So should the revolutionary affiliates simply dissolve into the broader socialist perspectives of the alliance?
No, not at all. But eight different groups (plus a few still outside the alliance) all saying, "We are the vanguard — we have 95% agreement with each other, but the 5% difference is decisive in transforming capitalism, so you should join our group rather than the others" is just not a message that's being accepted.
Ninety percent of the working class doesn't know we exist and the rest doesn't understand the differences between us. We need to collectivise our resources and our commitment to the ideals we share. And we need to find a fresh path and an inclusive culture.
As a multi-tendency party, the SA can celebrate unity in diversity, with full democratic voice and tendency rights to organise around particular perspectives. But putting socialism back on the political agenda most of all requires the bringing together of a broader party milieu where the accent is on a common message of socialist unity. Failure to collectivise our political message and resources will greatly weaken our ability to take advantage of the current opportunities to rebuild the socialist movement.
A temporary tactical or strategic united-front manoeuvre aimed at building our little cadre groups from 10 to 20, or even from 300 to 400, is not going to make a decisive difference in Australian politics. But a broad-based socialist movement of 2000, 3000 or 5000, getting back up to the old Communist Party membership levels, that's where we start making a difference.
Do you think that's realistic in the foreseeable future?
Yes, I do. When I came to this country in 1980, the CPA still had thousands of members but, battered by Stalinism, it was in decline. However, the Socialist Alliance has formed at a time when working people are looking for an alternative. Two or three thousand people in a period of upswing can make a lot more of a difference than 5000 or 10,000 people in despair, unable to see a way forward.
So who are the non-aligned members of the SA?
We have people who at one time or another have been members of the current affiliates, other groups of Trotskyist origin here and overseas, the old Communist Party, the former Socialist Party of Australia and Maoist groups, as well as ex-members of the ALP and the Greens. The alliance process has drawn them back into being activists and leaders in the socialist movement.
We also have long-standing union militants who have won real leadership in the working-class movement, and a growing number of new activists who have radicalised through the various campaigns — anti-war, anti-racism, civil liberties, public education, and so on — that the alliance has been involved in building.
So it's a deep and very profound convergence, well beyond the existing affiliates.
That's pretty diverse. How have you achieved such unity in such a short time?
The single thing that unites the non-aligned members network in SA is seeing the necessity to break out of the factional competitiveness of the past to build a more positive alternative. We want the unique perspective and contribution that each affiliate brings to the alliance but for us the political authority of each affiliate will flow from how seriously they build the alliance.
The leadership role of the non-aligned members will before long, and in some ways already does, supersede many of the roles of particular affiliates. We are seeing an organic collective SA leadership emerging, which includes non-aligned members and members of affiliates for whom building the alliance is the priority, first and foremost.
Some affiliates are much further down the track than others in understanding and accepting this new period and the opportunities it offers, and we are still working through it in a comradely fashion. The main thing is that by working together we have broken down a lot of the old barriers, and continued discussion, democratic decision-making and unity in action will go a long way to keeping everyone moving forward together.
Where do you think SA's continued growth is likely to come from?
We are still in a process of reconsolidating the established socialist left. It's happening through the growing proportion of non-aligned members, who historically come from a whole range of political currents. But the SA has also just joined another affiliate, the socialist youth group Resistance, and we are hoping to join a couple more affiliates soon.
There are still a lot of people out there waiting to see if this socialist unity is real before recommitting their hopes and resources to the socialist movement that they never really left in their minds and hearts. If we get it right, the Socialist Alliance is going to rejuvenate and reactivate a lot more experienced people, and attract a whole new generation of radical young people. It is a unique generational opportunity that should be seized with both hands.
We still have a lot of work to do to build up the necessary infrastructure for a permanent, broad-based socialist party that working people can embrace. However, we have about 1000 members across 30 branches now, and are being seen to lead many local and national campaigns. So we are at a point where we're achieving a political critical mass that will set us up for presenting a credible alternative. The progress we've made in a very short time has laid a solid foundation for taking qualitative steps forward in the opportunities that are ahead of us.
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From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, December 10, 2003.
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