Socialist Party of Great Britain
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The Socialist Party of Great Britain, also known as the SPGB, is a small Marxist party, which is emphatically not Leninist. It should not be confused with the Socialist Party of England and Wales, the relatively new name of the Trotskyist former Militant Tendency. In propaganda and publicity material the SPGB often styles itself simply The Socialist Party whilst SPEW uses Socialist Party (without the definite article).
The SPGB believes that the only way socialism (its term for a society without property, money, classes, or the state - what is more commonly called communism by most Marxists) will come about is for a majority of people, on a worldwide basis, to come to believe in the superiority of this social system. Hence, they favour winning power through elections, although in the current situation their main function is as a propaganda group to try to raise consciousness. In contrast to Leninists, they believe that it is possible to make the transition from capitalism to the complete abolition of the state immediately that the majority decide to do it.
Although the SPGB claim to follow Marx's precepts, they reject the label Marxist, since they claim to follow Marx's precepts simply because they are correct, not because Marx was a special individual. However, almost all Marxists who do accept the term to describe themselves have similar views about Marx.
The party is one of the oldest political parties in the UK, founded in 1904 as a split from the Social Democratic Federation. It was condemned by Lenin for refusing to join the Third International. It consistently argues against vanguardism, and denies the possibility of reforming capitalism in the interests of the working class. It refuses to engage in direct action or to co-operate with political parties that do not share its object and declaration of principles. The SPGB and its companion parties in other states constitute the World Socialist Movement.
The party rejects the idea that "socialism has existed before and has failed", holding tenaciously to the view that those countries which claimed to have established socialism had in fact merely established "state capitalism". They believe that socialism cannot exist in one country, but only on a global scale and that socialism will only come about when a majority of people want it and are prepared to organise politically to establish it.
One of the reasons the party split from the SDF was over the issue of leadership. Since its establishment in 1904, the Socialist Party has existed without any leader. The Party has a ten person executive committee which is elected annually by a ballot of the whole membership and which is charged with the day-to-day administration of the organisation. Its decision-making powers are tightly restricted. All substantial decisions are taken at the Annual Conference held each year at Easter.
In 1991, the Camden and North West London branches were expelled from the SPGB after a party-wide referendum found them to be engaged in consistent undemocratic behaviour. The two branches never accepted the expulsion and continue to operate under the SPGB name.
The SPGB has published a monthly paper, the Socialist Standard, without interruption since 1904.
External links
- The Socialist Party of Great Britain (http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/)
- World Socialist Movement (http://www.worldsocialism.org)
- http://www.papillon-films.com — a brief introduction to the ideas of the Socialist Party in video format