Submitted by AWL on 12 July, 2006 - 7:35
In July 2006, the "League for the Fifth International", an international left grouping centred round the Workers Power group in Britain, expelled about a third of its members.
Those expelled include almost half of Workers Power Britain, and the majority of the group's experienced writers, organisers and trade union activists.
For the majority's account, see www.workerspower.com; for the expelled group's, www.permanentrevolution.net.
And click here for background on the history and politics of the Workers Power group. An AWL pamphlet, Workers Power: a tale of kitsch Trotskyism. Documents 1973-93, is not available online but is available for £3 post free from the AWL office.
WP and Democratic Centralism
Paul,
You got no inkling that a split was on the cards because WP has a conception of democratic centralism in which disagreements within the group are not made public - at least short of some kind of formal declaration of factions. Any minority has not merely to carry out the majority line in practice but to pretend they agree with it.
One result of this is to encourage splits. The AWL takes a different view - as our constitution and many contributions to this website make clear.
Bruce