An Introduction to a Series of Articles
It is the duty of Marxist revolutionaries to act as the memory of the working class. A serious Marxist force must ensure that it retains an accurate collective memory of its own positions, activities and role.
On July 20th the Socialist Party of Ireland (SP) withdrew from the organisation which linked it with other groups across the globe, the International Socialist Alternative (ISA), after a decision taken at a one-day conference. This decision resulted from a bitter dispute within the ISA and has led to further splits as it has unfolded across 2024.
In a Facebook post (July 21st, 2024), a member of the SP, Dominic Haugh, sought to explain its trajectory. The SP was a section of the Committee for a Workers International (CWI, established in 1974) until 2019, and of the ISA from 2020. It is now affiliated to “The Project for a Revolutionary Marxist International”.
In his attack on previous co-thinkers, Dominic states “The SP in Ireland recognizes that capitalist oppression can come in many forms, including racism, repression of LGBTQ + people, repression of women, etc”.
He continues “despite claims to the contrary, the CWI leadership never prioritized the issues of women’s oppression or oppression of LGBTQ plus people, and in reality, only given intermittent priority to fighting racism. The adoption of a socialist feminist approach by the Irish section of the CWI……..was transformative in recognizing that movements against oppression were coming to the fore, and Marxists need to adapt to developments”.
A Facebook post does not normally require a developed response, but in this case, it does. It is necessary for the current leadership of the SP to diminish or deny the past in order to exaggerate the merits of its own role today. In this narrative a far-sighted group of comrades seized upon new ideas, in opposition to the old and conservative leaderships (national and international) of the past. Dominic Haugh amplifies and broadcasts this narrative, though he did not create it alone. It reflects more developed material published by the SP.