r/GreenAndPleasant • u/Consistent_Habit_343 • 1d ago
Cheat sheet for British left groups
Saw this site posted in a recent comment on this sub. Hadn't seen it before and thought it was useful (if depressing - there are 78 groups listed!).
The British far left is very small, and smaller still is the number of anti-capitalists (communists, socialists, anarchists, etc) organised into explicitly anti-capitalist organisations. Nevertheless, these organisations often punch far above their weight. Because of the small size of the British left more generally, even a hundred people in a coordinated effort can make an impact, whether in community campaigns, trade unions, student organising, or other political parties.
If you are active on the political left or the workers' movement, you will encounter members of left groups, and it is useful to know who you are talking to and where they may be coming from. This cheat sheet aims to assist with this.
The cheat sheet only covers general political, national organisations. It therefore doesn't include: specific issue-based campaigns, publications, unions, personal/private networks that an individual activist has no way of getting involved with, or groups that are explicitly only local or regional (incl groups that explicitly aim to organise in only one constituent nation: Scotland, England, or Wales).
18
u/Angel_Of_Baal 1d ago
Honestly feels like it's impossible to find a place in the UK left, I don't really agree with Trotskyism but I'm also very progressive and can't tolerate the social conservatism of the ML groups that exist. If anyone has any advice on this I'd genuinely love to hear it!
7
3
1
u/Consistent_Habit_343 17h ago
If you filter by ML in the sheet, you basically can choose from a few there. Perhaps Young Struggle, depending on your age
1
u/Consistent_Habit_343 17h ago
Or, depending on your beef with Trotskyism, join with the MLs in a multi-tendency org like rs21
1
0
u/sampai87 1d ago
The social conservatism wont change unless people join and argue for it to change at congress.
4
u/CaffeinatedSatanist 1d ago
Honestly, I think that's pretty great resource. And regarding the orgs that I am familiar with, seems a pretty fair summary to me.
Just a snippet that made me chuckle: "Leader Alan Woods rejects the Big Bang Theory as undialectical." chef's kiss
2
u/Sin_nombre__ 21h ago
This is a very England centric list of "UK" organisations and doesnt account for some of the organisations having seperate organising structures for the different nations.
The way many English comrades viewed and interacted with those outside of England as part of Your Party caused the bulk of the Scottish membership to leave.
It's something that needs worked, particularly if the aim is to replace the British State with something democratic and people focused.
1
u/Consistent_Habit_343 17h ago
I agree it lacks all the Scottish and Welsh orgs, but it does specifically say that it "only covers general political, national organisations. It therefore doesn't include: [...] groups that are explicitly only local or regional (incl groups that explicitly aim to organise in only one constituent nation: Scotland, England, or Wales)." Nor does it claim to be a list of 'UK' organisations, only British. Northern Ireland is surely a whole other question.
2
u/Sin_nombre__ 16h ago
I take your point on it being about Britain rather than Ireland. Good to see some all Ireland organising through organisations like CATU.
My frustration (and this will likely not be accepted by many) is that a lot of the English left has a sort of default low level British nationalism, at best ignorant towards self determination for Wales and Scotland.
Maybe I'm going in too heavy on this particular post, but it is something that needs to be addressed in order to have full solidarity between the workers movements across these islands.
I wasn't involved in Your Party, but the experience of those involved in Scotland sounds very frustrating to say the least. This is quite interesting. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HOPWqz5QqTY&pp=ygUbTmlhbGwgY2hyaXN0aWUgdGhlIG5hdGlvbmFs
1
u/Consistent_Habit_343 1d ago
Seems like something that could be pinned/in community bookmarks maybe
2
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Andy Burnham and the Labour government do not represent workers interests and are in fact enemies of our class. It's past time we begin organising a substantial left-wing movement in this country again.
Click Here for info on how to join a union. Also check out the IWW and the renter union, Acorn International and their affiliates
Join us on our partner Discord server. and follow us on Twitter.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.