12 Red Action – left-wing political pariah
-
Mark Hayes
Abstract
The political positions adopted by Red Action (RA) precipitated as much concern and consternation on the left as it did in those quarters where hostility was entirely predictable. RA had to move beyond a defensive position and onto the offensive. The initial aim was to develop a mobile combat unit to defend the public meetings, gigs and paper sales of any left-wing organisation under threat of attack. The enduring importance of RA might lie elsewhere, as a consequence of its underlying emphasis on proletarian palingenesis; it was an organisation that simply refused to abandon its attachment to the working class. The RA's critique of the revolutionary left are its rejection of the Leninist party model and its vehement rejection of liberal multi-culturalism along with its critique of global communist alternatives. Given RA's critique of the revolutionary left, it is easy to see how accusations of apostasy could gain credence.
Abstract
The political positions adopted by Red Action (RA) precipitated as much concern and consternation on the left as it did in those quarters where hostility was entirely predictable. RA had to move beyond a defensive position and onto the offensive. The initial aim was to develop a mobile combat unit to defend the public meetings, gigs and paper sales of any left-wing organisation under threat of attack. The enduring importance of RA might lie elsewhere, as a consequence of its underlying emphasis on proletarian palingenesis; it was an organisation that simply refused to abandon its attachment to the working class. The RA's critique of the revolutionary left are its rejection of the Leninist party model and its vehement rejection of liberal multi-culturalism along with its critique of global communist alternatives. Given RA's critique of the revolutionary left, it is easy to see how accusations of apostasy could gain credence.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Acknowledgements xi
- List of abbreviations xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Movements
- 1 Engaging with Trotsky 25
- 2 The New Left 45
- 3 Narratives of radical lives 62
- 4 Marching separately, seldom together 80
- 5 Opposition in slow motion 98
- 6 Dissent from dissent 115
- 7 British anarchism in the era of Thatcherism 133
-
Part II Issues
- 8 Jam tomorrow? 155
- 9 Something new under the sun 173
- 10 ‘Vicarious pleasure’? 190
- 11 Anti-racism and the socialist left, 1968–79 209
- 12 Red Action – left-wing political pariah 229
- 13 Anti-fascism in Britain, 1997–2012 247
- Index 264
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Acknowledgements xi
- List of abbreviations xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Movements
- 1 Engaging with Trotsky 25
- 2 The New Left 45
- 3 Narratives of radical lives 62
- 4 Marching separately, seldom together 80
- 5 Opposition in slow motion 98
- 6 Dissent from dissent 115
- 7 British anarchism in the era of Thatcherism 133
-
Part II Issues
- 8 Jam tomorrow? 155
- 9 Something new under the sun 173
- 10 ‘Vicarious pleasure’? 190
- 11 Anti-racism and the socialist left, 1968–79 209
- 12 Red Action – left-wing political pariah 229
- 13 Anti-fascism in Britain, 1997–2012 247
- Index 264
