AUT: Solidarity UK

["Bob Miller" <bob.miller@xxxxxxxxx>]

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Given the amount of interest in this, I thought I'd try and put down =
some recollections of my time in Solidarity and what I remember about =
the organisation.  I actually joined in the late 70s and was a member =
for about four years, during the time that we were producing the =
magazine Solidarity for Social Revolution. =20
Soldarity was formed by ex-members of the Healyite Socialist Labour =
League.  People leaving the SLL could expect a dose of 'proletarian =
justice'.  Rumour had it that Solidarity members kept a load of =
incriminating SLL central committee papers which they threatened to =
publish if needed.  Strangely enough nobody in Soly got a pasting from =
the SLL heavies.
Solidarity was heavily influenced by Socialisme ou Barbarie amongst =
other things.  Actually, looking back, the influences were probably more =
eclectic.  Solidarity published many pamphlets, they fell into a number =
of categories which probably reflect the different influences on and =
within the group.=20
One effort was to republish the works of Castoriadis into English (under =
the name Paul Cardan).  Some of these were fascinating, most were =
concerned with his attacks on what he saw as Marxism.  In reality, he =
also came from a trotskyist background, and much of his critique is a =
critique of his own past.  I don't profess to being much of an expert on =
Marx, but Cardan's critiques seemed to bear little relationship to the =
Marx I read.  It was from this trend that Solidarity's ideas of society =
being divided into order givers and order takers came, rather than a =
working and a capitalist class.  This was not a view held by everyone =
and anyway many simply seemed to see the ideas of order givers and order =
takers as being another way of talking about the working and a =
capitalist class.  Others took it far more seriously and I think that =
these ideas still linger on in the anarchist movement in the politics of =
Class War  and Andy Anderson et al.
A second strand was rediscovering important moments of revolutionary =
working class history.  This saw many excellent pamphlets, including =
Brinton's Bolsheviks and Workers Control.  Without Solidarity's efforts =
we would all be much less knowledgable in Britain.
A third effort was in publishing industrial accounts which gave voice to =
what workers were doing during important periods of struggle, =
particularly in the late sixties.  In the late seventies we tried to =
continue this in the magazine with a couple of special motor =
supplements.  We were able to do this because some of the original =
members had an industrial background. It also led to an appallingly crap =
piece of garbage on the Lump, by Dave Lamb.
Solidarity also published Brinton's excellent Irrational in Politics and =
some other works.
I first came across Solidarity in the early 70s, probably 72.  I was in =
the SPGB at the time and was impressed by the way Solidarity seemed to =
be able to combine the need for mass revolutionary consciousness and =
relating that to actual industrial and social struggles.  At that time =
Solidarity had autonomous groups in anumber of British cities and was =
bringing out more than one paper.  It was a time of mass industrial =
struggle and each issue carried fascinating commentaries and analysis of =
what was going on, combined with what workers were saying.  I first went =
to one of their meetings in 1973, I think.  It was in London and they =
were in the process of having a split.  The group that were to form =
World Revolution (subsequently part of the ICC) started off as members =
of Solidarity.  The arguments  centred around the Castoriadis views, and =
as so often happens ideas became polarised.   As it turned out =
Solidarity were probably better off without them.
As the seventies went on a group of us in the SPGB became more =
influenced by Solidarity and eventually were kicked out and formed what =
became Social Revolution.  We were never very big, we had 12 - 15 =
members, but we began to meet Solidarity more and eventually Brinton =
suggested that we merge the two organisations.  Before we did that  we =
had lengthy discussions which led to a rewrite of As We See It and As We =
Don't See It (the basic statements).  Anyone interested in the =
differences can find both tetxs on my web site: =
www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8195. =20
At that time membership fluctuated around the 80 to 100 mark.  There =
were groups in London, Aberdeen, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, =
Oxford and probably some other places too.  We held conferences every =
quarter and brought out the magazine Solidarity for Social Revolution at =
the same interval.  Whilst we were never a membership organisation as =
such, people still had to be known by others and be accepted into =
membership which depended on agreement with As We See It.  Conferences =
were places for lively discussion as well as business.
Sadly the political tensions within the organisation came to a fore as =
the 70s drew to an end.  One was over the issue of money in a socialist =
society.  Cardan's book Workers Councils and the Economics of a =
Self-Managed Society had talked about equal wages administered by =
workers councils.  Some people believed that this was a good idea.  =
Others of us were more communist.  You can imagine the arguments.  =
Another issue was the relationship to trades unions.  This intensified =
with the uprising in Poland and the birth of Solidarnosc.  The debates =
were around what our relationship should be to that organisation.  To be =
fair, a group of us were becoming heavily influenced at the time by the =
Left Communists, so it is hardly surprising that the atmosphere got =
strained.  Somewhere along the line Maurice Brinton dropped out.  Except =
that he kept the stock of literature and dealt with a lot of =
correspondence.  By that stage things were getting pretty sour. =
Arguments then shifted to other areas.  In all probability things had =
got blown up out of proportion and I don't see the point in going over =
them. The Manchester group were co-operating with the local ICC to =
produce Wildcat as a free sheet.  The ICC members left the ICC before =
Manchester Solidarity split form Solidarity. =20
A load of us left in the early 80s and from that split Wildcat =
eventually emerged.  Other ex-Solidarity types started Counter =
Information. That of course is another tale.
In my opinion, Solidarity was one of the most important organisations in =
post war Britain.  Apart from the syndicalists, every group in Britian =
today owes something to their ideas.

Bob


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<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#b8b8b8>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Given the amount of interest in this, I =
thought I'd=20
try and put down some recollections of my time in Solidarity and what I =
remember=20
about the organisation.&nbsp; I actually joined in the late 70s and was =
a member=20
for about four years, during the time that we were producing the =
magazine=20
Solidarity for Social Revolution.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Soldarity was formed by ex-members of =
the Healyite=20
Socialist Labour League.&nbsp; People leaving the SLL could expect a =
dose of=20
'proletarian justice'.&nbsp; Rumour had it that Solidarity members kept =
a load=20
of incriminating SLL central committee papers which they threatened to =
publish=20
if needed.&nbsp; Strangely enough nobody in Soly got a pasting from the =
SLL=20
heavies.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Solidarity was heavily influenced by =
Socialisme ou=20
Barbarie amongst other things.&nbsp; Actually, looking back, the =
influences were=20
probably more eclectic.&nbsp; Solidarity published many pamphlets, they =
fell=20
into a number of categories which probably reflect the different =
influences on=20
and within the group.&nbsp;</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>One&nbsp;effort was to republish the =
works of=20
Castoriadis into English (under the name Paul Cardan).&nbsp; Some of =
these were=20
fascinating, most were concerned with his attacks on what he saw as=20
Marxism.&nbsp; In reality, he also came from a trotskyist background, =
and much=20
of his critique is a critique of his own past.&nbsp; I don't profess to =
being=20
much of an expert on Marx, but Cardan's critiques seemed to bear little=20
relationship to the Marx I read.&nbsp; It was from this trend that =
Solidarity's=20
ideas of society being divided into order givers and order takers came, =
rather=20
than a working and a capitalist class.&nbsp; This was not a view held by =

everyone and anyway many simply seemed to see the ideas of order givers =
and=20
order takers as being another way of talking about the working and a =
capitalist=20
class.&nbsp; Others took it far more seriously and I think that these =
ideas=20
still linger on in the anarchist movement in the politics of Class =
War&nbsp; and=20
Andy Anderson et al.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>A second strand was rediscovering =
important moments=20
of revolutionary working class history.&nbsp; This saw many excellent =
pamphlets,=20
including Brinton's Bolsheviks and Workers Control.&nbsp; Without =
Solidarity's=20
efforts we would all be much less knowledgable in Britain.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>A third effort was in publishing =
industrial=20
accounts which gave voice to what workers were doing during important =
periods of=20
struggle, particularly in the late sixties.&nbsp; In the late seventies =
we tried=20
to continue this in the magazine with a couple of special motor=20
supplements.&nbsp; We were able to do this because some of the original =
members=20
had an industrial background.&nbsp;It also led to an appallingly crap =
piece of=20
garbage on the Lump, by Dave Lamb.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Solidarity also published Brinton's =
excellent=20
Irrational in Politics and some other works.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I first came across Solidarity in the =
early 70s,=20
probably 72.&nbsp; I was in the SPGB at the time and was impressed by =
the way=20
Solidarity seemed to be able to combine the need for mass revolutionary=20
consciousness and relating that to actual industrial and social =
struggles.&nbsp;=20
At that time Solidarity had autonomous groups in anumber of British =
cities and=20
was bringing out more than one paper.&nbsp; It was a time of mass =
industrial=20
struggle and each issue carried fascinating commentaries and analysis of =
what=20
was going on, combined with what workers were saying.&nbsp; I first went =
to one=20
of their meetings in 1973, I think.&nbsp; It was in London and they were =
in the=20
process of having a split.&nbsp; The group that were to form World =
Revolution=20
(subsequently part of the ICC) started off as members of =
Solidarity.&nbsp; The=20
arguments&nbsp; centred around the Castoriadis views, and as so often =
happens=20
ideas became polarised.&nbsp;&nbsp; As it turned out Solidarity were =
probably=20
better off without them.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>As the seventies went on a group of us =
in the SPGB=20
became more influenced by Solidarity and eventually were kicked out and =
formed=20
what became Social Revolution.&nbsp; We were never very big, we had 12 - =
15=20
members, but we began to meet Solidarity more and eventually Brinton =
suggested=20
that we merge the two organisations.&nbsp; Before we did that&nbsp; we =
had=20
lengthy discussions which led to a rewrite of As We See It and As We =
Don't See=20
It (the basic statements).&nbsp; Anyone interested in the differences =
can find=20
both tetxs on my web site: <A=20
href=3D"http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8195";>www.geocities.com=
/Athens/Acropolis/8195</A>.&nbsp;=20
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>At that time membership fluctuated =
around the 80 to=20
100 mark.&nbsp; There were groups in London, Aberdeen, Manchester, =
Glasgow,=20
Leeds, Liverpool, Oxford&nbsp;and probably some other places too.&nbsp; =
We held=20
conferences every quarter and brought out the magazine Solidarity for =
Social=20
Revolution at the same interval.&nbsp; Whilst we were never a membership =

organisation as such, people still&nbsp;had to be known by others and be =

accepted into membership which depended on agreement with As We See =
It.&nbsp;=20
Conferences were places for lively discussion as well as =
business.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Sadly the political tensions within the =

organisation came to a fore as the 70s drew to an end.&nbsp; One was =
over the=20
issue of money in a socialist society.&nbsp; Cardan's book Workers =
Councils and=20
the Economics of a Self-Managed Society had talked about equal wages=20
administered by workers councils.&nbsp; Some people believed that this =
was a=20
good idea.&nbsp; Others of us were more communist.&nbsp; You can imagine =
the=20
arguments.&nbsp; Another issue was the relationship to trades =
unions.&nbsp; This=20
intensified with the uprising in Poland and the birth of =
Solidarnosc.&nbsp; The=20
debates were around what our relationship should be to that =
organisation.&nbsp;=20
To be fair, a group of us were becoming heavily influenced at the time =
by the=20
Left Communists, so it is hardly surprising that the atmosphere got=20
strained.&nbsp; Somewhere along the line Maurice Brinton dropped =
out.&nbsp;=20
Except that he kept the stock of literature and dealt with a lot of=20
correspondence.&nbsp; By that stage things were getting pretty=20
sour.&nbsp;Arguments then shifted to other areas.&nbsp; In all =
probability=20
things had got blown up out of proportion and I don't see the point in =
going=20
over them.&nbsp;The Manchester group were co-operating with the local =
ICC to=20
produce Wildcat as a free sheet.&nbsp; The ICC members left the ICC =
before=20
Manchester Solidarity split form Solidarity.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>A load of us left in the early 80s and =
from that=20
split Wildcat eventually emerged.&nbsp; Other ex-Solidarity types =
started=20
Counter Information. That of course is another tale.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>In my opinion, Solidarity was one of =
the most=20
important organisations in post war Britain.&nbsp; Apart from the =
syndicalists,=20
every group in Britian today owes something to their ideas.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Bob</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML>

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