Socialist Workers Party | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | SWP |
| Founded | January 1938 |
| Newspaper | The Militant |
| Political orientation | Trotskyism Zionism[1] |
The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a communist party in the United States. Originally a group in the Communist Party USA that supported Trotsky against Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, it places a priority on "solidarity work" to aid strikes and is strongly supportive of Cuba. The SWP publishes The Militant, a weekly newspaper that dates back to 1928. It also maintains Pathfinder Press.
History
The CPUSA expelled its Trotskyist faction in 1928, and its leaders, James Cannon and Max Shachtman, formed the Communist League of America. The CLA then merged with the American Workers Party to form the Workers Party of the United States. The WPUS merged with the Socialist Party, which expelled the Trotskyists. They founded the Socialist Workers Party in 1938, and Shachtman's faction split in 1940 to form the Workers Party.[1]
During the Second World War, the SWP continued labor strikes while the CPUSA pledged not to strike during the war.[2] The Smith Act targeted the SWP for its opposition to the war.[3]:174 In 1958, pro-Soviet followers of Sam Marcy split from the SWP to form the Workers World Party.[2]
In 1970, the FBI caused a split between the SWP and the Revolutionary Youth Movement.[3]:189
Current ideology
The SWP tails behind the most reactionary section of the working class, defending transphobia and claiming that schools teach that all white people are racist. It calls the BDS movement "anti-Jewish."[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 J. Sykes (2023-06-27). "Against Trotskyism: The Socialist Workers Party and the decline of Trotskyism in the United States" Fight Back! News. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Deirdre Griswold (2018-02-26). "Milt Neidenberg ‘fought for the liberation of the workers and oppressed’" Workers World. Archived from the original on 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-12-25.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Albert Szymanski (1984). Human Rights in the Soviet Union: 'The Land of the Free'. [PDF] London: Zed Books Ltd. ISBN 0862320186 [LG]