The Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL) was a

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

group in the United States established in 1973 and disbanded in 1989.

History

The RSL originated in the Revolutionary Tendency within the

International Socialists (U.S.) The International Socialists was a Third Camp Trotskyist group active in the United States between 1968 and 1985. History The roots of the IS went back to the fall of 1964 when the Berkeley, California, Berkeley locals of the Socialist Party-So ...

(IS) led by Sy Landy and Ron Tabor. They had three principal differences with the IS: they believed that the IS had abandoned strict adherence to

Trotskyism Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

; they felt that the emphasis on the day-to-day work within the trade unions diminished propagating the revolutionary objectives outlined in the Fourth International's transitional program; and they felt that the USSR and the other Communist states were

state capitalist State capitalism is an economic system in which the state undertakes business and commercial economic activity and where the means of production are nationalized as state-owned enterprises (including the processes of capital accumulation, ce ...

, rather than

bureaucratic collectivist Bureaucratic collectivism is a theory of class society. It is used by some Trotskyists to describe the nature of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and other similar states in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and elsewhere (such as N ...

.Alexander, Robert ''International Trotskyism: a documented analysis of the world movement'' Durham, Duke University Press 1991 pp. 903–904 While the RT at first seemed to have the upper hand, with Landy elected national secretary in 1972, by the next year Landy and his faction had been expelled. At the time of the split, the RSL took 100 of the IS's 300 members. The expelled group, now styling itself the Revolutionary Socialist League, adopted generally

orthodox Trotskyist Orthodox Trotskyism is a branch of Trotskyism which aims to adhere more closely to the philosophy, methods and positions of Leon Trotsky and the early Fourth International, Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx than other avowed Trotskyists. Overview The ...

positions based on the transitional program including

permanent revolution Permanent revolution is the strategy of a revolutionary class pursuing its own interests independently and without compromise or alliance with opposing sections of society. As a term within Marxist theory, it was first coined by Karl Marx and ...

, opposition to popular fronts and the need for a

Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) was a political international established in France in 1938 by Leon Trotsky and his supporters, having been expelled from the Soviet Union and the Communist International (also known as Comintern or the Third Inte ...

. This last position cost them unity with the Class Struggle League, who advocated a

Fifth International The phrase Fifth International refers to the efforts made by groups of socialists and communists to create a new workers' international. Previous internationals There have been several previous international workers' organisations, and the ...

. Landy wrote "To preserve the program is to preserve the number and out right to it". Despite this the RSL never joined any existing Trotskyist international or attempted to organize a new one. Its sole international organizational tie was with the Revolutionary Marxist League of Jamaica. The RSL was active within a few unions, particularly

United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...

(UAW) and USW and among Hispanic workers in the Los Angeles ILGWU. Within the UAW they organized a "Revolutionary Action Caucus". Outside of organized labor they participated in anti-apartheid and

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and delibera ...

movements and developed a

prisoner support Prisoner support encompasses a variety of activities aimed a providing assistance to prisoners, particularly political prisoners. Many programs devoted to this purpose have quite limited resources; for instance, Nottingham Black Prisoner Support, w ...

network.Alexander, Robert ''International Trotskyism: a documented analysis of the world movement'' Durham, Duke University Press 1991 p. 905 The RSL was one of the left groups most active in the pre-AIDS gay movement. Rick Miles considered this area "particularly important" because he believed that much of the left suffered from the same

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

as the rest of society, and because the "gay question" had a direct bearing on their concept of socialism as a "free society" run directly by workers and oppressed people, rather than an authoritarian society run by a state capitalist class. It also emphasized the oppressive nature of the Stalinist countries where homosexuals were repressed. The RSL recruited a minority tendency of the Red Flag Union, a gay socialist collective, to its state capitalist characterization, and they merged into the League in 1977. (A majority of the RFU joined the

Spartacist League The Spartacus League () was a Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. It was founded in August 1914 as the International Group by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and other members of the Social De ...

.) In New York, the RSL was active in the

Gay Activists Alliance The Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) was founded in New York City on December 21, 1969, almost six months after the Stonewall riots, by dissident members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF). In contrast to the Liberation Front, the Activists Alliance ...

, its members and sympathizers participating in a polarizing split that proved the end of that organization. RSL members also participated in gay coalitions such as Lavender Left and Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee. The RSL had its share of organizational difficulties. In early 1974, it suffered its first split. The origins of this split went back to a group called the Communist faction within the Socialist Workers Party that left to SWP to enter IS, and subsequently the RSL. Within the RSL it formed the "Soviet Defensist Minority" before leaving to form the

Trotskyist Organization of the United States The Trotskyist Organization of the United States was a small Trotskyist group active in the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s. The group was founded by two dissident factions which had emerged at the Socialist Workers Party's 1971 convention. The ...

. Another tendency had left in 1975 to form the Revolutionary Marxist Caucus, which later fused with the Socialist Workers Party.Alexander, Robert ''International Trotskyism: a documented analysis of the world movement'' Durham, Duke University Press 1991 p. 907-909 Finally a group led by Sy Landy left in 1976 to form the

League for the Revolutionary Party The Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL) was a Trotskyist group in the United States established in 1973 and disbanded in 1989. History The RSL originated in the Revolutionary Tendency within the International Socialists (U.S.) (IS) led by Sy ...

, in part because they disagreed with the RSL's call for the formation of a Labor Party in the US. They also alleged that the leadership of the RSL was acting in a bureaucratic fashion. Over time, the RSL moved closer to

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

. In 1985 they released a statement ''What we stand for'' that proclaimed their adherence to the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky but emphasized the theoretical contributions of Marx and Engels, Trotsky's fight against Stalinism and Lenin's "conception of the party, stress on the importance of national liberation struggles and the

anti-statism Anti-statism is an approach to social, economic or political philosophy that opposes the influence of the state over society. It emerged in reaction to the formation of modern sovereign states, which anti-statists considered to work against the ...

shown in the ''

State and Revolution ''The State and Revolution: The Marxist Doctrine of the State and the Tasks of the Proletariat in the Revolution'' () is a book written by Vladimir Lenin and published in 1917 which describes his views on the role of the state in society, the ne ...

''". It also identified "with the best of anarchism, particularly its libertarian spirit". Their move away from Leninism is documented in a book by RSL leader Ron Tabor titled ''A Look at Leninism'' (), which collected together a series of articles questioning the fundamentals of Leninism that had appeared as a serial series in ''The Torch'' newspaper. The RSL disbanded in 1989, with about twenty of its remaining members helping in the formation of Love and Rage Network, a revolutionary anarchist newspaper and organization. The RSL met to disband the day before the founding conference of Love and Rage. When Love and Rage disbanded in 1998, the remaining former RSL members, including Ron Tabor, began publishing ''The Utopian''."Nine Years of the Love and Rage Revolutionary Anarchist Federation"
by Wayne Price, '' Northeastern Anarchist'' #3, Fall 2001. Some time later they entered the platformist anarchist federation North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists.

League for the Revolutionary Party

The League for the Revolutionary Party is a Trotskyist organisation in the United States. The group was founded by a faction of the now defunct Revolutionary Socialist League in 1976. The RSL had in turn split from the International Socialists in 1973. The LRP took from the RSL a strong stress on the need for a

Leninist Leninism (, ) is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the Dictatorship of the proletariat#Vladimir Lenin, dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary Vangu ...

party and coupled this with an emphasis on the

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

tactic. They also developed their own version of what is called "

theory" to explain the class nature of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and similar states. In later years they abandoned use of the term "state capitalist" in favor of the term "statified capitalism, arguing the difference between

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

and traditional capitalist countries is in the form that the ruling class holds its property, and that the

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian or a . Marxist ph ...

is still exploited and

surplus value In Marxian economics, surplus value is the difference between the amount raised through a sale of a product and the amount it cost to manufacture it: i.e. the amount raised through sale of the product minus the cost of the materials, plant and ...

created in the same way. The LRP views the state in Stalinist countries as a weaker form of the capitalist state, less capable of exploiting the workers but still ruling in the interest of the bureaucracy. This form of state is seen as a compromise by the ruling class, sacrificing a portion of profits to pacify the workers and prevent proletarian revolutions. As such, the LRP viewed the collapse of the Soviet Union as a defeat for the workers not because the workers lost control of the state, as many Trotskyists believe, but because of the increased rate of exploitation and destruction of social welfare programs that accompanied the collapse. The group is based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

with a branch in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. It also organizes a group of international co-thinkers called the Communist Organisation for a Fourth International. They publish a journal called ''Proletarian Revolution'', formerly ''Socialist Voice'', to which the late Sy Landy and Walter Daum have been notable contributors.

Publications

*''The Torch''/''La Antorcha'' Vol. 1], no. 1 (September 1973)-; Ceased in 1989? Published in

Highland Park, Michigan Highland Park is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An enclave of Detroit, Highland Park is located roughly north of Downtown Detroit, and is surrounded by Detroit on most sides. As of the 2020 United ...

from 1973–1977; thereafter in New York *''Revolutionary Party Tendency reply to "Political" Committee charges'' [New York? : The League?, 1973 *''The fight of the revolutionary tendency within the centrist I.S.-USA: documents of struggle : notes on women's liberation'' [United States? : Revolutionary Socialist League, A Revolutionary Socialist League educational publication #5 1973 *''Documents of Struggle: Manifesto of the RSL and Statement of the Revolutionary Tendency of the IS.'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1973 *''Political Resolution of the Founding Convention: World Crisis and the Fight for Revolutionary Leadership'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1973 *''The Big Swindle: The Story behind Productivity Drives and How to Fight against the Bosses' Offensive'' Highland Park, Mich: Revolutionary Socialist League, 1973 *''Permanent Revolution: Black Liberation and the American Revolution'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1973 *''The road to revolution in Britain'' [United States] : Revolutionary Socialist League Pub. Co., 1974 (Torch pamphlet #4) *''Chile, never again: The Story behind Productivity Drives and How to Fight against the Bosses' Offensive'' Highland Park, Mich: Revolutionary Socialist League Pub. Co., 1974 (Torch pamphlet) *''China's Foreign Policy: A Reactionary Line.'' New York: Revolutionary Socialist League Publishing Co., 1976 (Torch pamphlet #3) *''Maoism and the Soviet Union: how the RU (RCP) supports state capitalism'' Chicago : Haymarket, 1976 (Torch pamphlet #4) *''The rise of state capitalism: how the Russian revolution was smashed'' by Ron Tabor New York: Revolutionary Socialist League Publishing Co., 1976 *''The Russian Revolution'' (with the Revolutionary Marxist League of Jamaica) New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1978 (Revolutionary Socialist Educational Series, #1) *''Imperialism, National Liberation & Socialist Revolution'' (with the Revolutionary Marxist League of Jamaica) New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1979 (Revolutionary Socialist Educational Series, #2) *''Torch supplement on gay liberation, June 1979:Gay liberation through socialist revolution!'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1979 *''Energy, Environment and the Economic Crisis: The Contributions and Contradictions of Barry Commoner'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1980 *''Toward a Fighting Student Movement: RSL Position Paper for Kent State Student Conference'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1980 *''Which Way Forward for the Anti-Klan Movement: A Position Paper by the Revolutionary Socialist League'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1980 *''Proposals to the National Anti-Klan Network for a "Spring Offensive."'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1981 *''Toward a fighting anti-draft movement'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1981 *''Polish Workers Fight for Freedom; Socialism vs. State Capitalism'' Detroit: Revolutionary Socialist League, 1981 *''Socialism and the fight for lesbian and gay liberation'' by Paul Carson New York: Revolutionary Socialist League, 1982 *''Black people in the U.S.: the fight for freedom'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1984 *''The struggle for workers' power in Poland: Solidarity's unfinished revolution'' New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1984 *''Socialism or state capitalism?: the crisis of Trotskyist theory'' by Ron Tabor and Rod Miller New York : Revolutionary Socialist League, 1984

References

External links

Revolutionary Socialist League "What We Stand For" - Program in BriefThe Utopian -- magazine started by former RSL members
{{Authority control Political parties established in 1973 Political parties disestablished in 1989 Far-left politics in the United States Defunct Trotskyist organizations in the United States Defunct anarchist organizations in North America Anarchism in the United States