12 The point is to change it
-
Michael Fitzpatrick
Abstract
Like most organisations of the far left in Britain in the years after 1968, the RCP was small in size and marginal in influence. Starting out with only a few dozen supporters in the mid-1970s, membership peaked at around 200 before its demise in the mid-1990s. Though it emerged out of the left, in many ways it was not of the left and it developed in a struggle against it. In contrast with the spirit of amenable coexistence that prevailed among other factions, the RCP maintained a high level of polemical engagement with the left. Though other far left groups discreetly accepted the RCP’s characterisation of the official labour movement as ‘reformist’, the RCP pointed out that in practice these groups adapted to the reformism of the official movement, reinforcing rather than loosening its grip on militants and activists. The RCP aimed to promote an independent anti-capitalist outlook, thereby to give voice and effect to the interests of the working class and humanity as a whole. It engaged in workplace and trade union struggles and campaigns for women’s rights, and against racism and imperialism, seeking to develop and sustain a creative balance between activities around issues of exploitation and those of oppression.
Abstract
Like most organisations of the far left in Britain in the years after 1968, the RCP was small in size and marginal in influence. Starting out with only a few dozen supporters in the mid-1970s, membership peaked at around 200 before its demise in the mid-1990s. Though it emerged out of the left, in many ways it was not of the left and it developed in a struggle against it. In contrast with the spirit of amenable coexistence that prevailed among other factions, the RCP maintained a high level of polemical engagement with the left. Though other far left groups discreetly accepted the RCP’s characterisation of the official labour movement as ‘reformist’, the RCP pointed out that in practice these groups adapted to the reformism of the official movement, reinforcing rather than loosening its grip on militants and activists. The RCP aimed to promote an independent anti-capitalist outlook, thereby to give voice and effect to the interests of the working class and humanity as a whole. It engaged in workplace and trade union struggles and campaigns for women’s rights, and against racism and imperialism, seeking to develop and sustain a creative balance between activities around issues of exploitation and those of oppression.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Revolutionary vanguard or agent provocateur 11
- 2 Not that serious? 30
- 3 Protest and survive 48
- 4 Anti-apartheid solidarity in the perspectives and practices of the British far left in the 1970s and 1980s 66
- 5 ‘The merits of Brother Worth’ 88
- 6 Making miners militant? 107
- 7 Networks of solidarity 125
- 8 ‘You have to start where you’re at’ 144
- 9 Origins of the present crisis? 163
- 10 A miner cause? 182
- 11 The British radical left and Northern Ireland during the ‘Troubles’ 201
- 12 The point is to change it 218
- 13 The Militant Tendency and entrism in the Labour Party 238
- 14 Understanding the formation of the Communist Party of Britain 258
- Index 277
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Revolutionary vanguard or agent provocateur 11
- 2 Not that serious? 30
- 3 Protest and survive 48
- 4 Anti-apartheid solidarity in the perspectives and practices of the British far left in the 1970s and 1980s 66
- 5 ‘The merits of Brother Worth’ 88
- 6 Making miners militant? 107
- 7 Networks of solidarity 125
- 8 ‘You have to start where you’re at’ 144
- 9 Origins of the present crisis? 163
- 10 A miner cause? 182
- 11 The British radical left and Northern Ireland during the ‘Troubles’ 201
- 12 The point is to change it 218
- 13 The Militant Tendency and entrism in the Labour Party 238
- 14 Understanding the formation of the Communist Party of Britain 258
- Index 277
