After the Split: How Serious Revolutionaries Rebuild from Sectarian Wreckage
Letters between Wolhforth and WSL leaders including Thornett and Lister show shared goals
The 1975-1977 correspondence between Tim Wolhforth and Workers’ Socialist League (WSL) leaders including Alan Thornett, John Lister and Adam Westoby spanned critical years for the international Trotskyist movement, marked by political divergences, organisational crises, and the urgent task of orienting revolutionary forces towards the working class. These experienced Trotskyists had been forcibly separated from the international tendency led by Gerry Healy. They found themselves at the centre of an international opportunity to comment with recovering Healyites, and with the mainstream of world Trotskyism.
Across these letters, the correspondents grapple with fundamental questions of programme, organisation, and mass work, seeking to forge a path forward amidst theoretical confusion and practical challenges.
Today, as the political traditions founded by Ted Grant and Nahuel Moreno fragment and reform, groups all over the world face similar questions: how can they simultaneously refurbish and correct their theoretical traditions, develop stronger international collaboration and build united front and trade union work that connects them to the masses?
1] Revolutionary Programme and Theory
A central thread running through the letters is the absolute necessity of theoretical clarification. The correspondents agree that rebuilding the Fourth International hinges on objectively examining the historical, theoretical, and political differences that have fragmented the movement. Key historical moments, such as the splits in 1953 and 1963, and the emerging differences in the late 1960s and 1970s, are seen as unresolved questions that must be probed. Clarifying the causes of the International Committee's (IC) degeneration and the disruptive actions of figures like Gerry Healy is viewed as a fundamental precondition for any principled action. The post-war development of Stalinism and analysing processes like overthrowing capitalism in Eastern Europe, China, and Vietnam are highlighted as central, unresolved problems that have repeatedly convulsed the movement. One correspondent notes the special responsibility of those who emerged from the IC to assess its evolution. The Workers Socialist League (WSL) specifically positions its discussion document as addressing these "big political, historical and theoretical questions," aiming to establish a clear area of difference and a firm basis for further discussion. Historical understanding is deemed essential for grasping current political differences. The importance of the Marxist method is affirmed, even while criticising its misuse by others. Studying history, such as the 100 years shaping the current situation or the approaches of Lenin and Trotsky to questions like land and national minorities, is seen as vital for understanding contemporary tactical and strategic issues. While theoretical differences exist between groups, there is hope that these can be resolved through new experience and broad international discussion.
In fighting counter-revolutionary forces, the focus is heavily placed on combating Stalinism and opportunism. The WRP leadership under Healy and Banda is fiercely polemicised against for its slanderous attacks and methods, which are seen as violating the norms of the workers’ movement and destroying the basis for political struggle. Healy's method and the WRP's abstentionism are sharply criticised. The Workers League (Eagle-Hall, Harley) is also categorised as conservative and non-revolutionary for its failure to break from Healy's methodology and its abstention from class struggle interventions. Eurocommunism is analysed as a wing of Stalinism no more reliable than the Moscow current in defending workers’ states or fighting the bourgeoisie. The struggle against racism is framed not merely as a democratic demand but as central to the tactics and strategy of the American revolution, contrasting with groups that fail to participate in this fight actively.
Regarding the defence of workers' states and political revolution, the correspondents express a nuanced view distinct from both Stalinism and some deviations. They advocate for the principled defence of the general struggle for democratic rights for dissidents within the workers’ states, provided these dissidents do not act to restore capitalism. This is sharply contrasted with Banda's approach, which fails to defend these rights and defends the bureaucracy against internal opposition. The bureaucracy is identified as the main threat to the socialist property forms within these states. Trotsky's view of the bureaucracy as a usurper of the political dictatorship is upheld against the formulation of a "deformed dictatorship... exercized through a bureaucracy," seen as a theoretical basis for capitulation to Stalinism. The events in Czechoslovakia in 1968 are interpreted as a movement towards an "opening of workers’ democracy" against the bureaucracy, implying support for the political revolution necessary to restore socialist democracy and workers' control.
2] Revolutionary Organisation (National & International)
The imperative of building a national revolutionary party is seen as deeply interconnected with confronting the problems of the Fourth International. Recruitment is necessary, particularly among minorities and youth. The training of cadres is essential, but this must occur through active participation in the class struggle. Organisations that adopt a non-interventionist policy are seen as failing to develop cadres properly, instead producing an apparatus of "professional critics." The WSL is noted for having a "certain cadre" and needing to forge a new leadership. Rooting party branches in working-class communities is highlighted as a concrete step in party building.
The reconstruction of the Fourth International is identified as a "paramount task." This effort must be based on an open, frank, and non-factional discussion among various tendencies that uphold historical continuity with Trotskyism. Proposals are made for formal approaches to groups like the Healyite IC (conditional on retracting slanders) and the British section of the Fourth International (at that time, the IMG). Slanderous attacks and police allegations are explicitly rejected as unacceptable and destructive to discussion. The "acid test" for groups claiming adherence to Trotskyism is their response to the working class movement in their own country. The discussion should centre on this practical experience, through which old questions can be clarified. The aim is not to perpetuate old divisions but to seek clarification and potentially a regroupment of forces. The US SWP was noted for its genuine concern for the problems of the FI and enthusiasm for its development within the ranks. SWP members of Fourth International leadership bodies were in discussions with both Wohlforth and the WSL. Wohlforth was to later join the SWP, before leaving to focus on writing crime fiction. The WSL attended the 1979 World Congress of the FI. Its successor, the Socialist Group, joined the FI in the 1980s.
Fighting sectarianism and opportunism is crucial for the movement's health and effectiveness. Sectarian groups that abstract internationalism from building real national sections or prefer theoretical debate to practical analysis are criticised. The WRP's use of slanders and their methods are seen as a particularly despicable form of sectarian degeneration. Groups that abstain from key class struggles are likewise criticised. Opportunism is linked to adapting to non-proletarian currents or abandoning principled considerations. The need for a struggle over strategy against groups like the IMG (differences over entrism in the Labour party are mentioned: the WSL supported limited entry, while the IMG was standing candidates against Labour) is raised alongside the possibility of collaboration.
While detailed discussion of organisational effectiveness is limited, the letters touch upon aspects like rooting branches in working-class communities, the importance of a party press independent of bourgeois influence, and the need for clear policies linked to developing the political consciousness of the working class. A cadre, union work, and a paper are noted assets for an organisation.
3] Engagement with the Masses
Applying the revolutionary programme is understood through active intervention in the class struggle. This is particularly highlighted in work in the unions, which is consistently presented as a crucial area. The Transitional Programme should guide this work, and must be applied concretely within the unions. The fight for a labor party in the US is a key component of this work, aimed at breaking the working class from bourgeois parties. Concrete demands, such as calling for a "massive labor demonstration" during the NYC fiscal crisis, are presented as examples of applying a real policy in the unions.
Engaging in mass work is fundamental. Work in the trade unions is a recurring theme, seen as a major strength of groups like the WSL. The US SWP's "turn" towards the working class involves building forces in unions and focusing work among minorities and youth, especially the Black community. The SWP aims to make the labour movement the "heart of a political and social movement of the working class as a whole," fighting in the interests of all workers and specifically against racial divisions. Youth work, particularly among minorities, is essential for recruiting new forces. The necessity of actively participating in struggles against racism is underlined as indispensable for any revolutionary in America. Rooting party branches in working-class communities is seen as a concrete expression of this engagement.
Entrism is not discussed as a general strategy, but the situation of the IMG within the Labour Party is noted, raising questions about how different approaches to mass work (independent vs. working within a social-democratic party) impact potential collaboration between groups.
The use of flexible tactics is mentioned alongside the need for principled politics. However, this flexibility must not lead to "uncritical submergence" in various movements or the abandonment of fundamental principles. Disagreements arise over tactical approaches in specific situations, such as the debate over how to relate to the constituent assembly and workers' councils in Portugal.
Finally, the importance of credible slogans is evident in the discussion of specific demands. The fight against racism, the call for a labor party in the US, and demands raised within union struggles or for democratic rights in the bureaucratized workers’ states are presented as key slogans derived from applying the programme to the concrete conditions of the class struggle.