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Party for Socialism and Liberation | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founders | Brian Becker,[1] Richard Becker, Gloria La Riva,[2] William Massey,[3] and others |
| Founded | June 2004 |
| Newspaper | Liberation News |
| Political orientation | Claimed Marxism–Leninism Anti-imperialism |
| Website | |
| https://pslweb.org | |
| Part of a series on |
| Communist parties |
|---|
The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is a claimed Marxist-Leninist political party in the United States founded in June 2004 after a split from the Workers World Party. Their platform is closely related to the broader ANSWER Coalition. The PSL has funded numerous movements within the ANSWER Coalition including the movement to liberate Cuba from Statesian imperialism.[4] The PSL held its first congress in February 2010 in Los Angeles, California.[5]
History[edit | edit source]
At its founding in 2004, the PSL held a two-part congress to establish publications and a party structure. Between 2004 and 2010, it held regular conventions that were open to all members to elect party leadership between conventions. In 2010, the party held its first delegated congress and adopted its constitution and program. The PSL held a second congress in 2013.[6]
Program[edit | edit source]
China[edit | edit source]
PSL stands in critical support of China but they hold that it has undergone a Revisionist turn, alleging that Deng Xiaoping took the PRC down a 'Capitalist Road'.[7] Repeating the unsourced myth that Mao denounced Deng as a Capitalist Roader.
PSL further stated that there was a new Capitalist Class grown within the PRC which collaborates even as it struggles with Imperialism. In 2023, Brian Becker reconfirmed PSL's 2007 stance of China.[8]
Anti-imperialism[edit | edit source]
The PSL supports immediate independence and reparations for Puerto Rico with freedom of travel between Puerto Rico and the United States. It also supports self-determination and potential independence of American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Mariana Islands, and indigenous nations on the U.S. mainland.[9]
Social benefits[edit | edit source]
The PSL advocates for a 30-hour work week, up to two years of paid parental leave, a minimum of one month of paid vacation and 12 paid holidays. It also supports universal citizenship for everyone living in the United States, free education from preschool to college, and reducing housing costs to 10% of total income or less.[9]
Publications[edit | edit source]
The party's main publication is the monthly paper Liberation News,[10] which replaced a quarterly magazine, Socialism and Liberation.[11] The PSL also publishes Breaking the Chains: A Socialist Perspective on Women's Liberation, a quarterly socialist and feminist magazine,[12] and Reds In Ed, a monthly newsletter initiated by teachers who are members of the PSL.[13] Additionally, the PSL publishes Liberation School, which publishes longer-form analysis, Party documents, interviews, and educational resources including study guides, curricula, and video and audio courses.[14]
Controversies[edit | edit source]
The PSL has been accused for decades of being cult-like in its organization methods and permitting sexual harassment and protecting sexual abusers (in locations across the country including Dallas, Philadelphia, Carbondale, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Albuquerque).[15][16]
Some controversies have arisen in recent years regarding some of the affiliations of the PSL, as its prominence grows in the public eye. Among the more prominent examples is its association with Brian Becker, who some critics allege hosted a radio show with "guests being either LaRouchite entryists or outright belonging to the far right," as well as multiple allegedly former CIA analysts.[17][18]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ https://www.liberationnews.org/global-times-interview-brian-becker-on-socialism-and-the-u-s-campaign-against-china/
- ↑ https://missionlocal.org/2019/08/local-socialists-see-the-fog-of-anti-communism-lifting/
- ↑ https://www.liberationnews.org/william-massey-presente-honoring-life-psl-founding-member/
- ↑ An article from the Answer Coalition depicting their stance on Cuba, sponsored by the PSL
- ↑ Ian Thompson (2010-02-22). "PSL’s First National Congress strengthens the struggle for socialism" Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2019-07-14. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
- ↑ "Building democratic centralism: stages of Party growth and internal development" (2014-07-31). Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2022-12-25.
- ↑ “Characterized as “capitalist roaders” by the Mao faction during the activist phase of the Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1969, the Deng faction took power in 1978.”
"For the defense of China against counterrevolution, imperialist intervention and dismemberment" (2007-05-31). Liberation School. Archived from the original on 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2024-12-16. - ↑ “After a two-year-long study and discussion, we published an internal document in 2007, “For the Defense of China Against Counterrevolution, Imperialist Intervention, and Dismemberment.” This was a detailed review of the progress made since the 1949 revolution and the contradictions facing contemporary China. This new PSL book, China's Revolution and the Quest for a Social ist Future, has a different thrust. Its core position is the same as the 2008 publication, but its function is to provide a historical survey of the Chinese Revolution. Its audience is wider. It retains an inherent polemical edge because the core political premise is reaffirmed”
Ken Hammond, Brian Becker, Eugune Puryear (2023). China's Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future: 'Introduction'. 1804 Books. - ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Program of the Party for Socialism and Liberation" (2010). Party for Socialism and Liberation. Archived from the original on 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2022-06-18.
- ↑ https://www.liberationnews.org
- ↑ "Socialism and Liberation magazine is changing". June 5, 2007. January 7, 2018.
- ↑ "About Breaking the Chains". Breaking the Chains. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
- ↑ "Reds In Ed program" (2020-03-13). Reds in Ed. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
- ↑ "Our mission" (2022-01-02). Liberation School. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
- ↑ Medium post that is a directory of various accounts of PSL's bad behavior.
- ↑ Writings of a PSL member who was allegedly abused by Steven Powers
- ↑ dotcommunism (2018-01-05). "PSL’s Brian Becker, Loud & Clear Radio, and Right-Wing Entryism"
- ↑ Medium Article surrounding the actions of Brian Becker (with its own citations)