Democratic Socialist Party holds final congress

January 14, 2004
Issue 

BY PETER BOYLE

At its 21st Congress, held December 27-30, the Democratic Socialist Party changed its name to the "Democratic Socialist Perspective" and reorganised itself as a political tendency in the Socialist Alliance. Only Socialist Alliance members can now join the DSP.

A resolution adopted by the congress (available in full from <http://www.dsp.org.au>), explained that this was a response to significant progress by the Socialist Alliance towards becoming a broad, multi-tendency socialist party. Markers of this progress included:

  • The decision by the second national conference of the Socialist Alliance to work towards transforming the alliance into a single, multi-tendency socialist party. The conference also voted to "accept and welcome a strong revolutionary socialist stream as an integral part of our vision of a broad socialist party".

  • Better organisation of Socialist Alliance members and supporters in the trade unions, around federal and state election campaigns, and the anti-war movement. In all these areas, united campaigning has proved more effective than the individual efforts of any single socialist group.

  • The greater left unity that the formation of the Socialist Alliance represents. This has already given socialists a broader hearing in the working class. In several cities, Socialist Alliance members are respected leaders of the militant trade union minority, supported by thousands of militant workers. The Socialist Alliance's influence has also grown in the anti-war movement and among left academics.

  • The Socialist Alliance's recent decision to participate in the Green Left Weekly project on a trial basis.

The resolution urged all affiliate groups to pool their resources and experience and build the Socialist Alliance as a new multi-tendency party for socialism in Australia. The DSP resolved to lead this integration by example.

The DSP will continue as an affiliate of the Socialist Alliance. It will seek to integrate into the alliance, while organising as a revolutionary socialist political tendency in it.

The DSP believes the building of the Socialist Alliance as a united, multi-tendency socialist party is an important stage in the struggle for a mass revolutionary party in this country. However, the DSP recognises that any further development of the Socialist Alliance's program will take place through democratic decisions made by the alliance in the course of united engagement in mass struggles.

Polarisation of politics

The congress also discussed national and international political developments.

Doug Lorimer presented an international situation report that argued that the US war in Iraq "is at the centre of the international political situation" today.

According to Lorimer, "Conquering Iraq, installing a politically stable pro-US regime in Baghdad and stealing Iraq's oil wealth is pivotal to the US capitalist rulers' openly declared goal of reorganising the oil-rich Persian Gulf region in accordance with what Paul Wolfowitz calls 'American principles and interests.'"

"This in turn is pivotal to the US rulers' goal of securing their global political and economic domination for the rest of the 21st century, making it an 'American century'.", Lorimer concluded.

The US military is overstretched, disaffection is widespread among US troops in Iraq and despite the arrest of Saddam Hussein, the armed resistance shows no sign of abating, reported Lorimer. The US was in for a protracted war in Iraq.

Referring to widespread disappointment that the huge protests in February failed to stop the invasion of Iraq, Lorimer said that many activists made a "false assumption that it was simply the mass protests against the war within the aggressor countries that forced the US rulers to withdraw their soldiers from Vietnam". He argued instead that "it was the eventual refusal of these soldiers to fight which ultimately ended the US occupation of Vietnam. The mass anti-war protests back home, which demonstrated the deep unpopularity of the war, gave them the confidence to do this."

Australia: 'less stable'

In a report on the Australian political situation and the Socialist Alliance, Lisa Macdonald reported that "Politics-as-usual in Australia, and indeed the world, is less stable, more polarised, more open to questioning of the status quo and, for socialists, for organising against it."

She pointed out that the Australian ruling class had been supportive of the US-led imperialist drive to dominate every inch of the world's economy "every step of the way".

She pointed out that Canberra's November 7 spending spree on military hardware would enable the Australian military to launch unilateral aggression in the Asia Pacific region to protect its interests, as well as to support future US invasions across the globe.

"Domestically", Macdonald added, "the Australian ruling class is vigorously pursuing its neoliberal program of privatisation, deregulation, labour force restructuring and industrial 'reform'. Last year, profit share of national income was close to an all-time high, while wage share was close to a record low.

"An average growth rate of just under 4%, the consequent inflow of billions of overseas dollars and the strengthening Australian dollar, are certainly making life easy for Mr Smug. But what Treasurer Peter Costello does not dwell on in his media gloating sessions is that much of the basis of the healthy state of the Australian economy has been Australian capitalists' success in increasing labour productivity, largely by increasing the rate of exploitation. In other words, the economy-wide speed-up has been produced largely by forcing or convincing workers to submit to wage restraint, labour force 'flexibility' (that is, casualisation, part-time jobs, 12-hour shifts, etc) and production speed-ups."

However, Australian capitalism's military and economic drive to increase exploitation comes at a political price.

"The continuing ruling-class wars — at home and abroad — and the declining quality of life of a significant section of the working class in Australia is generating a growing anger and disillusionment, and the beginnings of active resistance", Macdonald concluded.

One of the most extensive discussions was around work in the trade unions, reflecting a very busy year. DSP and other Socialist Alliance members have been working closely with militant trade unionists and building Socialist Alliance trade union caucuses, reported Sue Bolton.

She called for solidarity with militants in the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, whom she said faced more attacks from the state and conservative union bureaucracies.

A resolution on principles for revolutionary work in the trade unions was tabled for further discussion by DSP members over the course of 2004.

Build March 20!

In a campaigns report, Pip Hinman, argued that building March 20, the next global day of protests against the invasion of Iraq should be the top campaign priority for the left.

"The huge demonstrations in Washington in October and London in November showed that the anti-war movement was reviving. They showed that the Vietnam Syndrome is alive and well — at least in those countries whose soldiers are being killed every day. While it is not the same here, as Australia's 850 troops have been placed out of harm's way, the [October] anti-Bush protests show that there is still opposition to the war and the occupation and that people are still prepared to come out — albeit in smaller numbers."

The report also projected more attention to the campaign in solidarity with asylum seekers and solidarity with the revolutionary movements in Latin America.

In a report on youth work, Stuart Munckton said Resistance members "threw ourselves into the anti-war movement in the early part of this year, most decisively initiating the student strikes on March 5, March 26 and in Sydney on April 2. We initiated Books Not Bombs groups as a way of drawing into activity and working alongside the broadest layer of youth who wanted to be active against the war — the groups drew in predominantly secondary students."

Munckton reported on a debate in Resistance about whether it should remain a revolutionary socialist youth organisation or become an organisation of the broader left.

A resolution that committed DSP members in Resistance to defending the former position was adopted overwhelmingly by delegates.

Internationalism

In a report on international work, DSP National Secretary John Percy said:

"In the light of imperialism's war on Iraq, the massive anti-war movement that mobilised tens of millions of protesters around the world, and the new challenges to imperialism, in Latin America in Bolivia and Venezuela for example, our international work becomes even more important."

"We need to follow closely the progress made with the regroupment efforts of the international left, and offer support and encouragement where we can to this renewal of the international socialist movement."

The DSP Congress reaffirmed three principles guiding its international work, which it would seek to convince others in the Socialist Alliance of. These were:

  • Being implacably opposed to the ruling class of your country, and fighting to overthrow it, and building a strong united socialist party in your own country as the means to reach that goal;

  • International working-class solidarity;

  • Benefiting from the diverse experiences and class struggles in other countries; organising exchanges and helping where possible, without creating an external centre to direct others' work or distorting newer parties and groups.

DSP members will be building the third Sydney Asia-Pacific Solidarity Conference in Easter 2005.

The congress was attended by 220 delegates and observers. There were three international guests: Barry Sheppard and Caroline Lund from the USA and Richard Fidler from Canada.

There were also a number of educational panels and workshops, discussing topics such as: the US campaign against the Vietnam War; the US trade union movement; globalisation; the science of human history; Scottish nationalism; visions of a communist future; Bolivia; postmodernism; independent class-struggle unionism; women, religion and revolution in the Arab world; the national question in Quebec; civil liberties after September 11; the role of the UN since 1991; the labour aristocracy; the ALP; left nationalism & anti-"cultural imperialism"; Marxism and human nature; Marx on 19th century France; and Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution.

[Peter Boyle is a member of the Democratic Socialist Perspective and the Socialist Alliance.]

From Green Left Weekly, January 14, 2004.
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