Socialist Democracy (Ireland)
Encyclopedia
Socialist Democracy is the successor to People's Democracy
, a left wing current which emerged in Belfast
in 1968 during the civil rights
movement in Northern Ireland
. During the 1970s it evolved towards Trotskyist positions and, by merging with the Dublin-based Movement for a Socialist Republic, became a sympathising section of the Fourth International. During the late 70's and early 80's Peoples Democracy shrank in size with many members joining Sinn Fein when it began to take more explicit left wing positions.
In the early 1990s the remaining members of People's Democracy initiated the Irish Committee for a Marxist Programme as an attempt to regroup socialists and left wing republicans. This project ended in 1996 when PD dissolved and reconstituted itself as Socialist Democracy, adopting the programme put forward by the ICMP.
Socialist Democracy has a small membership mainly based in Belfast
. In 2004 it fused with the International Socialists, a group of former members of the Socialist Workers Party
in that city.
It has not often contested elections recently, but one of its members is standing in the NI Assembly election of May 2011. It remains affiliated to the Fourth International. It is the sympathising Irish section of the International, within which it has been critical of tactics take by its sister organisations in Brazil and France. Like the majority in the Fourth International, it was critical of the evolution of the Socialist Democracy current of the Workers Party in Brazil. It was also critical of the Revolutionary Communist League
's call for a vote against Le Pen
in the 2002 French presidential election, rather than for a boycott
.
People's Democracy
People's Democracy was a political organisation that, while supporting the campaign for civil rights for Northern Ireland's Catholic minority, stated that such rights could only be achieved through the establishment of a socialist republic for all of Ireland...
, a left wing current which emerged in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
in 1968 during the civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
movement in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. During the 1970s it evolved towards Trotskyist positions and, by merging with the Dublin-based Movement for a Socialist Republic, became a sympathising section of the Fourth International. During the late 70's and early 80's Peoples Democracy shrank in size with many members joining Sinn Fein when it began to take more explicit left wing positions.
In the early 1990s the remaining members of People's Democracy initiated the Irish Committee for a Marxist Programme as an attempt to regroup socialists and left wing republicans. This project ended in 1996 when PD dissolved and reconstituted itself as Socialist Democracy, adopting the programme put forward by the ICMP.
Socialist Democracy has a small membership mainly based in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. In 2004 it fused with the International Socialists, a group of former members of the Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (Ireland)
The Socialist Workers Party is an Irish Trotskyist political party.-Foundation and growth:The SWP was originally founded in 1971 as the Socialist Workers Movement by supporters of the International Socialists of Britain living in Northern Ireland, who had previously been members of People's...
in that city.
It has not often contested elections recently, but one of its members is standing in the NI Assembly election of May 2011. It remains affiliated to the Fourth International. It is the sympathising Irish section of the International, within which it has been critical of tactics take by its sister organisations in Brazil and France. Like the majority in the Fourth International, it was critical of the evolution of the Socialist Democracy current of the Workers Party in Brazil. It was also critical of the Revolutionary Communist League
Revolutionary Communist League (France)
See Revolutionary Communist League for the other Ligue communiste révolutionnaire.The Revolutionary Communist League was a French democratic revolutionary socialist political party. It was the French section of the Fourth International...
's call for a vote against Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
in the 2002 French presidential election, rather than for a boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
.
Pamphlets
Socialist Democracy also publishes a series of pamphlets on left-wing subjects, including:- Ireland: The Promise of Socialism by Joe Craig, John McAnulty and Paul Flannigan (1996).
- The Real Irish Peace Process by Joe Craig, John McAnulty and Paul Flannigan (1998).
- Prisoners of Social Partnership by Joe Craig (2002)
- Marxism and the National Question by Pietro Tresso (Blasco) –(Introduction and Notes by D. R. O'Connor Lysaght (2006)).
- The Soul of Man Under SocialismThe Soul of Man under Socialism"The Soul of Man under Socialism" is an 1891 essay by Oscar Wilde in which he expounds an anarchist worldview. The creation of "The Soul of Man" followed Wilde's conversion to anarchist philosophy, following his reading of the works of Peter Kropotkin....
by Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
(Introduction and Notes by Lysaght (SD 2005)). - The Great Irish Revolution: Myths and Realities by D.R. O’Connor Lysaght (A Marxist critique of R. F. FosterR. F. Foster (historian)Robert Fitzroy Foster FBA FRHistS FRSL - generally known as Roy Foster - is the Carroll Professor of Irish History at Hertford College, Oxford in the UK.-Background and education:...
and other Irish historians in the revisionist movement (2006)). - Irelands Credit Crunch by Kevin Keating, Jonathan Morrison, Joe Corrigan. Publisher: IMG Publications