Socialist Society
Encyclopedia
The Socialist Society was founded in 1981 by a group of British socialists, including Raymond Williams
and Ralph Miliband
, who founded it as an organisation devoted to socialist education and research, linking the left of the British Labour Party with socialists outside it. The Society grew out of the New Left Review
(NLR) and many of its active members were involved in the NLR: Robin Blackburn
, Tariq Ali
, Michèle Barrett, Michael Rustin and Hilary Wainwright
.http://www.lipman-miliband.org.uk/RalphMilibandfullbiog.pdf Other active and prominent members of the Society included Richard Kuper, John Palmer
, John Williams and Barney Dickson. The Society published a magazine (Interlink, later relaunched under the name of Catalyst) and a series of pamphlets.
One of the Society's key goals was overcoming the division on the British Left between socialists inside and outside the Labour Party. To this end, the Society was jointly responsible, with the Conference of Socialist Economists
, Tony Benn
and the Campaign Group of Labour MPs, for the initiation of a series of conferences between 1987 and 1992 which were held in Chesterfield, Sheffield or Manchester and the subsequent founding of the Socialist Movement
. The Society was opposed to Euroscepticism
, committed to electoral reform
and open to green ideas
, all of which were fairly controversial on the left
at the time. Several prominent figures involved in the society, including Miliband and Wainwright, were signatories to Charter88
. Another organisational achievement of note was the founding of the Red-Green Network.
The Society's last AGM was in 1993.
Raymond Williams
Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts...
and Ralph Miliband
Ralph Miliband
Ralph Miliband , born Adolphe Miliband, was a Belgian-born British sociologist known as a prominent Marxist thinker...
, who founded it as an organisation devoted to socialist education and research, linking the left of the British Labour Party with socialists outside it. The Society grew out of the New Left Review
New Left Review
New Left Review is a 160-page journal, published every two months from London, devoted to world politics, economy and culture. Often compared to the French-language Les Temps modernes, it is associated with Verso Books , and regularly features the essays of authorities on contemporary social...
(NLR) and many of its active members were involved in the NLR: Robin Blackburn
Robin Blackburn
Robin Blackburn is a British socialist historian, a former editor of New Left Review , an author of essays on Marx, capitalism and socialism, and of books on the history of slavery and on social policy...
, Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali , , is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator...
, Michèle Barrett, Michael Rustin and Hilary Wainwright
Hilary Wainwright
Hilary Wainwright is a British socialist and feminist, best known for being editor of Red Pepper magazine.-Personal life:Hilary Wainwright's father was the Liberal MP Richard Wainwright, and her brother, Martin, is the Northern Editor of The Guardian, to which she occasionally contributes.She...
.http://www.lipman-miliband.org.uk/RalphMilibandfullbiog.pdf Other active and prominent members of the Society included Richard Kuper, John Palmer
John Palmer
-People:*John Palmer , U.S. Congressman from New York*John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne , British peer and businessman*John Palmer , English actor*John Palmer , British architect...
, John Williams and Barney Dickson. The Society published a magazine (Interlink, later relaunched under the name of Catalyst) and a series of pamphlets.
One of the Society's key goals was overcoming the division on the British Left between socialists inside and outside the Labour Party. To this end, the Society was jointly responsible, with the Conference of Socialist Economists
Conference of Socialist Economists
The Conference of Socialist Economists describes itself as an international, democratic membership organisation committed to developing a materialist critique of capitalism, unconstrained by conventional academic divisions between subjects....
, Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
and the Campaign Group of Labour MPs, for the initiation of a series of conferences between 1987 and 1992 which were held in Chesterfield, Sheffield or Manchester and the subsequent founding of the 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...
. The Society was opposed to Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
, committed to electoral reform
Electoral reform
Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:...
and open to green ideas
Green politics
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
, all of which were fairly controversial on the left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
at the time. Several prominent figures involved in the society, including Miliband and Wainwright, were signatories to Charter88
Charter88
Charter88 was a British pressure group that advocated constitutional and electoral reform and owes its origins to the lack of a written constitution. It began as a special edition of the New Statesman magazine in 1988 and it took its name from Charter 77 - the Czechoslovak dissident movement...
. Another organisational achievement of note was the founding of the Red-Green Network.
The Society's last AGM was in 1993.