International Socialist Group
Encyclopedia
The International Socialist Group (ISG) was a Trotskyist organisation in Britain. It was the British section of the Fourth International (FI) until July 2009 when it dissolved into Socialist Resistance
.
and the Socialist Group
.
Former members of the Socialist League
established the International Group in 1985. Sharp differences had developed within the Socialist League majority during the 1984-85 miners' strike
. Initially, the FI recognised the International Group as individual members of the FI and the Socialist League as its section. The International Group and subsequently the ISG attracted several waves of ex-SL members into its organisation, beginning with a group of long time International Marxist Group
leaders in 1985. It continued to win over established and emerging Socialist League minority tendencies and disaffected branches for several years.
The Socialist Group represented the continuity of the old Workers Socialist League which was expelled from Gerry Healy's Socialist Labour League in 1974 and merged with the International-Communist League as the new WSL in 1981 before being expelled in 1984.
The two groups merged in order to re-establish a British Section of the Fourth International after a breakdown of the Socialist League. The fusion conference, on May 9 and 10 1987, heard greetings from leaders of the Socialist Left in the German Green Party, the Fourth International and three US groups (the Fourth Internationalist Tendency
, Socialist Action and Solidarity). It ended with a minutes silence to salute three Trotskyist leaders and eight Provisional IRA volunteers who had died in the preceding year.
ISG members were individual members of the FI at its inception. In 1991, the ISG was recognised as a sympathising section of the Fourth International. Initially, the organisations were active in the Labour left, supporting the fortnightly Labour Briefing, and in the broad left, supporting the Chesterfield Socialist Movement
. Some small groups of activists came into the ISG: in 1989, the Socialist Labour Group
(SLG); in 1990, a group of Socialist League members, 'Tendency Y'; and in 1992, several young members of the Alliance for Workers' Liberty
. The 1995 World Congress promoted the ISG to being its British Section.
The merged organisation drew together over 300 activists initially, and led important rearguard battles against Labour council cuts in a number of areas, notably Haringey in North London.
However, the defeat and crisis of the Labour left in the decade after the miners' strike steadily eroded the ISG. A few of former SLG members left in 1991 to form the British Committee of the European Workers' Alliance. Several members of the International Trotskyist Opposition left the organisation after the 1995 World Congress, with a few joining the Workers' International League
.
. Both committees elected by delegates voting between lists of candidates, known as 'slates', nominated by either an independent nominations commission of by delegates. Between CC meetings the organisation was run by a Political Committee and a number of commissions, which was elected by the CC. A number of the ISG's central committee members served on the international committee of the Fourth International including Alan Thornett
, a former WSL leader, and Greg Tucker, a leader of the Socialist Alliance.
, the Socialist Alliance
, the International Socialist Movement
, the World Social Forum
, the Respect coalition
, Hands Off Venezuela
, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
and the Campaign against Climate Change
.
Alongside its own journal the ISG sponsored Socialist Resistance
, a magazine produced jointly with the smaller Socialist Solidarity Network
and some individuals. By 2009, the group's membership had fallen somewhere around 70, the number signed up to its members-only email discussion group.
Reflecting the support of the Fourth International for the European Anticapitalist Left
, the ISG joined Respect coalition
in England and Wales. Alan Thornett sits on Respect's National Council, and is an organiser of the Respect Renewal
movement. The ISG also strongly supports the Scottish Socialist Party
, and opposed the split from that party which created the Solidarity movement
in Scotland. The Group called for a first preference vote for the Green Party
candidate, the ecosocialist Siân Berry
, in the 2008 London mayoral election.
Socialist Resistance
Socialist Resistance is a Trotskyist and ecosocialist organisation in Britain which publishes a Marxist periodical of the same name. In July 2009 the International Socialist Group merged into it, making SR the British Section of the Fourth International.-Origins:It was launched on 8 September...
.
Origin
The ISG was the result of the May 9th 1987 fusion of two organisations, the International GroupInternational Group
The International Group was the name taken by two groups of British supporters of the Fourth International.In both cases, the Group was formed as a public faction by members loyal to the International who felt that the then-current leadership of the British section of the Fourth International had...
and the Socialist Group
Socialist Group
The Socialist Group is a primarily social-democratic political grouping in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The group comprises of 180 members from 45 states of the Council of Europe. The Group is chaired by Andreas Gross of Switzerland....
.
Former members of the Socialist League
Socialist Action (UK)
Socialist Action is a small Trotskyist group in the United Kingdom. From the mid-1980s Socialist Action became an entryist organisation, attempting to take over other organisations, with members using code names and not revealing their affiliation....
established the International Group in 1985. Sharp differences had developed within the Socialist League majority during the 1984-85 miners' strike
UK miners' strike (1984–1985)
The UK miners' strike was a major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement...
. Initially, the FI recognised the International Group as individual members of the FI and the Socialist League as its section. The International Group and subsequently the ISG attracted several waves of ex-SL members into its organisation, beginning with a group of long time International Marxist Group
International Marxist Group
The International Marxist Group was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It and its youth organisation had had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s...
leaders in 1985. It continued to win over established and emerging Socialist League minority tendencies and disaffected branches for several years.
The Socialist Group represented the continuity of the old Workers Socialist League which was expelled from Gerry Healy's Socialist Labour League in 1974 and merged with the International-Communist League as the new WSL in 1981 before being expelled in 1984.
The two groups merged in order to re-establish a British Section of the Fourth International after a breakdown of the Socialist League. The fusion conference, on May 9 and 10 1987, heard greetings from leaders of the Socialist Left in the German Green Party, the Fourth International and three US groups (the Fourth Internationalist Tendency
Fourth Internationalist Tendency
The Fourth Internationalist Tendency was a public faction of the Socialist Workers Party , formed after the 1983 expulsion from that organization of a group of supporters of the Fourth International. While the SWP was not formally affiliated with the International for legal reasons, it had until...
, Socialist Action and Solidarity). It ended with a minutes silence to salute three Trotskyist leaders and eight Provisional IRA volunteers who had died in the preceding year.
ISG members were individual members of the FI at its inception. In 1991, the ISG was recognised as a sympathising section of the Fourth International. Initially, the organisations were active in the Labour left, supporting the fortnightly Labour Briefing, and in the broad left, supporting the Chesterfield Socialist Movement
Socialist Movement
The Socialist Movement was an independent left-wing grouping in the United Kingdom that grew out the Socialist Conferences.The Socialist Conferences were held in Chesterfield, Sheffield and Manchester in the years following the defeat of Britain’s miners’ strike of 1984–1985...
. Some small groups of activists came into the ISG: in 1989, the Socialist Labour Group
Socialist Labour Group
The Socialist Labour Group was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1979 and 1989.-Overview:The SLG originated politically in the 1971 split in the International Committee of the Fourth International , between Gerry Healy's British Socialist Labour League and Pierre Lambert's French...
(SLG); in 1990, a group of Socialist League members, 'Tendency Y'; and in 1992, several young members of the Alliance for Workers' Liberty
Alliance for Workers' Liberty
The Alliance for Workers' Liberty , also known as Workers' Liberty, is a Trotskyist group in Britain. The group has a complex history but has always been identified with the theorist Sean Matgamna...
. The 1995 World Congress promoted the ISG to being its British Section.
The merged organisation drew together over 300 activists initially, and led important rearguard battles against Labour council cuts in a number of areas, notably Haringey in North London.
However, the defeat and crisis of the Labour left in the decade after the miners' strike steadily eroded the ISG. A few of former SLG members left in 1991 to form the British Committee of the European Workers' Alliance. Several members of the International Trotskyist Opposition left the organisation after the 1995 World Congress, with a few joining the Workers' International League
Workers' International League (1985)
The Workers' International League was a British Trotskyist organisation that split in early 1987 from the Workers' Revolutionary Party which had been led by Sheila Torrance....
.
Organisation
The Group was controlled by a national delegate-based conference, which elected both a central committee and a control commissionControl commission
A control commission is an independent regulatory body. Control commissions are most often found in regulated industries and political organisations...
. Both committees elected by delegates voting between lists of candidates, known as 'slates', nominated by either an independent nominations commission of by delegates. Between CC meetings the organisation was run by a Political Committee and a number of commissions, which was elected by the CC. A number of the ISG's central committee members served on the international committee of the Fourth International including Alan Thornett
Alan Thornett
Alan Thornett is a British Trotskyist leader, and one of the officers of the left-wing Respect party.Alan Thornett began his career as a car worker in Cowley, Oxford in 1959. He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain there in 1960 before being recruited with other shop stewards to Gerry...
, a former WSL leader, and Greg Tucker, a leader of the Socialist Alliance.
Activity
The organisation regarded itself as having learned important lessons from the women's movement, gay liberation struggles and environmental movements and is oriented towards broad campaigns and recomposition of the left. It supported developments like Workers Aid for Bosnia, the Scottish Socialist PartyScottish Socialist Party
The Scottish Socialist Party is a left-wing Scottish political party. Positioning itself significantly to the left of Scotland's centre-left parties, the SSP campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence....
, the Socialist Alliance
Socialist Alliance (England)
The Socialist Alliance was a left-wing electoral alliance in England between 1992 and 2005.In late 2005, a small group reformed with the name "Socialist Alliance", with a mutual affiliation with the larger Alliance for Green Socialism.-Origins:...
, the International Socialist Movement
International Socialist Movement
The International Socialist Movement was a Trotskyist current inside the Scottish Socialist Party from 2001 until March 2006. It came into existence as a change of name by Scottish Militant Labour, the Scottish section of the Committee for a Workers' International...
, the World Social Forum
World Social Forum
The World Social Forum is an annual meeting of civil society organizations, first held in Brazil, which offers a self-conscious effort to develop an alternative future through the championing of counter-hegemonic globalization...
, the Respect coalition
RESPECT The Unity Coalition
Respect is a socialist political party in England and Wales founded in 2004. Its name is a contrived acronym standing for Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environmentalism, Community and Trade Unionism.-Policies:...
, Hands Off Venezuela
Hands Off Venezuela
Hands Off Venezuela is a political lobby group based in the United Kingdom and with branches in many other countries. The campaign was established in December 2002, following the Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002, with the aim of increasing public and political awareness in the UK and elsewhere of...
, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is a campaign in the United Kingdom promoting solidarity with the Palestinian people. It was founded in 1982 during the build-up to Israel's invasion of Lebanon.The campaign states:...
and the Campaign against Climate Change
Campaign against Climate Change
The Campaign against Climate Change is a UK-based pressure group that aims to raise public awareness of anthropogenic climate change through mobilizing mass demonstrations...
.
Alongside its own journal the ISG sponsored Socialist Resistance
Socialist Resistance
Socialist Resistance is a Trotskyist and ecosocialist organisation in Britain which publishes a Marxist periodical of the same name. In July 2009 the International Socialist Group merged into it, making SR the British Section of the Fourth International.-Origins:It was launched on 8 September...
, a magazine produced jointly with the smaller Socialist Solidarity Network
Socialist Solidarity Network
The Socialist Solidarity Network is a grouping of socialists in the United Kingdom most of whom are former members of the Socialist Party of England and Wales...
and some individuals. By 2009, the group's membership had fallen somewhere around 70, the number signed up to its members-only email discussion group.
Reflecting the support of the Fourth International for the European Anticapitalist Left
European Anticapitalist Left
The European Anticapitalist Left is an informal network for European anticapitalist left wing parties. EACL met for the first time in Lisbon in March 2000 with the representation of the Scottish Socialist Party, the Portuguese Left Bloc, the Danish Red-Green Alliance, the French LCR, and the...
, the ISG joined Respect coalition
RESPECT The Unity Coalition
Respect is a socialist political party in England and Wales founded in 2004. Its name is a contrived acronym standing for Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environmentalism, Community and Trade Unionism.-Policies:...
in England and Wales. Alan Thornett sits on Respect's National Council, and is an organiser of the Respect Renewal
Respect Renewal
Respect Renewal was a faction that existed during the 2007-8 split within Respect – The Unity Coalition a UK political party.Respect Renewal was led by Linda Smith, the National Chair, Leader and Nominating Officer of Respect, and was formed in November 2007...
movement. The ISG also strongly supports the Scottish Socialist Party
Scottish Socialist Party
The Scottish Socialist Party is a left-wing Scottish political party. Positioning itself significantly to the left of Scotland's centre-left parties, the SSP campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence....
, and opposed the split from that party which created the Solidarity movement
Solidarity (Scotland)
Solidarity is a political party in Scotland, launched on September 3, 2006 as a breakaway from the Scottish Socialist Party in the aftermath of Tommy Sheridan's libel action...
in Scotland. The Group called for a first preference vote for the Green Party
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...
candidate, the ecosocialist Siân Berry
Siân Berry
Siân Berry is an English politician and member of the Green Party of England and Wales. From 2006 to 2007, she was one of the Green Party's Principal Speakers...
, in the 2008 London mayoral election.