Jack Barnes
Encyclopedia
Jack Whittier Barnes is an American Communist and the National Secretary
of the Socialist Workers Party. Barnes was elected the party's national secretary in 1972, replacing the retiring Farrell Dobbs
. He had joined the SWP in the early 1960s as a student at Carleton College
in Minnesota
and quickly became a leading member of the party's youth wing. Barnes was one of a group of members, many of whom also attended Carleton College or other universities, who joined the SWP shortly after the Cuban Revolution
.
Barnes was a key advocate of the party's 'Turn to Industry' in the 1970s, its exit from the Fourth International
in the 1980s and its orientation towards the Cuban Communist Party in the 1990s.
Work within these industries became a condition of membership in the SWP, as the party attempts to penetrate into the portions of the working class that it feels will be most combative and open to communist ideas in the future: those unionized in basic industries. Party members organized within these unions form fractions within the party. The SWP asserts that this course follows the continuity of the communist movement from Marx and Engels to Lenin's time, which stress a party based in the working class.
also underpinned the party's decisions in the 1980s to abandon its support for Leon Trotsky
's theory of Permanent Revolution
, and its withdrawal from the world Trotskyist movement, the reunified Fourth International
. As national secretary, Barnes played a key role in the expulsion of more than a third of the party's members in 1983 and 1984, those who supported the USFI. In 1990, Barnes wrote on behalf of the SWP to withdraw it from close relations with the Fourth International and to recognize the reality that it was now part of a 'Pathfinder tendency
' consisting of the SWP and several Communist League
s of co-thinkers in other countries.
General secretary
-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...
of the Socialist Workers Party. Barnes was elected the party's national secretary in 1972, replacing the retiring Farrell Dobbs
Farrell Dobbs
Farrell Dobbs was an American Trotskyist and trade unionist.He was born in Queen City, Missouri where his father was a worker in a coal mine. They moved to Minneapolis, and he graduated from North High School in 1925. In 1926, he left for North Dakota to find work, but returned the following fall...
. He had joined the SWP in the early 1960s as a student at Carleton College
Carleton College
Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and quickly became a leading member of the party's youth wing. Barnes was one of a group of members, many of whom also attended Carleton College or other universities, who joined the SWP shortly after the Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
.
Barnes was a key advocate of the party's 'Turn to Industry' in the 1970s, its exit from the Fourth International
Fourth International
The Fourth International is the communist international organisation consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky , with the declared dedicated goal of helping the working class bring about socialism...
in the 1980s and its orientation towards the Cuban Communist Party in the 1990s.
Turn to Industry
Barnes was one of the central organizers for the idea that the party should 'Turn to Industry'. In 1978 the party's National Committee approved a report by Barnes which argued that "we must subordinate everything else to immediately organizing to get a large majority of the membership of the SWP into industry and the industrial trade unions". Socialist Workers Party SWP members took up union jobs in basic industries such as meatpacking, steel, mining and textile industries.Work within these industries became a condition of membership in the SWP, as the party attempts to penetrate into the portions of the working class that it feels will be most combative and open to communist ideas in the future: those unionized in basic industries. Party members organized within these unions form fractions within the party. The SWP asserts that this course follows the continuity of the communist movement from Marx and Engels to Lenin's time, which stress a party based in the working class.
Break with FI and Permanent Revolution
Barnes' article Their Trotsky and OursTheir Trotsky and Ours
Their Trotsky and Ours is a political book by the American Communist Jack Barnes, leader of the Socialist Workers Party. It is based on Barnes' speech and explains the SWP's view on Trotskyism. Barnes repudiated the traditional Trotskyist understanding of Permanent Revolution in favor of a view...
also underpinned the party's decisions in the 1980s to abandon its support for Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
's theory of Permanent Revolution
Permanent Revolution
Permanent revolution is a term within Marxist theory, established in usage by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels by at least 1850 but which has since become most closely associated with Leon Trotsky. The use of the term by different theorists is not identical...
, and its withdrawal from the world Trotskyist movement, the reunified Fourth International
Reunified Fourth International
The Fourth International is a Trotskyist international. In 1963, the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International, the International Secretariat and the International Committee, reunited, electing a United Secretariat of the Fourth International...
. As national secretary, Barnes played a key role in the expulsion of more than a third of the party's members in 1983 and 1984, those who supported the USFI. In 1990, Barnes wrote on behalf of the SWP to withdraw it from close relations with the Fourth International and to recognize the reality that it was now part of a 'Pathfinder tendency
Pathfinder tendency
The Pathfinder tendency is the unofficial name of a group of historically Trotskyist organizations that are politically and organizationally allied with the Socialist Workers Party of the United States and its perspective of solidarity with the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban Communist Party.The...
' consisting of the SWP and several Communist League
Communist League (disambiguation)
The Communist League is the name of several different organisations:*The original Communist League, led by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels*The Communist League of Austria*The Communist League in Australia*The Communist League of Canada...
s of co-thinkers in other countries.
Orientation to the Cuban CP
Barnes has encouraged the SWP's growing interest in the Cuban Communist Party. In the 1960s he was a leader of the Fair Play for Cuba movement. This interest continues, and he wrote a 2001 book titled Cuba and the Coming American Revolution. The SWP views the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban Communist Party more sympathetically than do some other currents from the Trotskyist tradition, stressing the alleged vanguard role of Cuba's foreign policy and the alleged ability of socialists to learn from Cuba about building a socialist societyWorks
Jack Barnes is also the author of political books and articles, including:- Capitalism's World Disorder
- Cuba and the Coming American Revolution
- Their Trotsky and OursTheir Trotsky and OursTheir Trotsky and Ours is a political book by the American Communist Jack Barnes, leader of the Socialist Workers Party. It is based on Barnes' speech and explains the SWP's view on Trotskyism. Barnes repudiated the traditional Trotskyist understanding of Permanent Revolution in favor of a view...
- U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War
- Capitalism's Long Hot Winter Has Begun
- The Lesser Evil? - Debates on the Democratic Party and Independent Working-Class Politics.
External links
- Their Transformation and Ours from Capitalism’s Long Hot Winter Has Begun 2005.
- Barnes and Waters sell condo