creation unified democratic revolutionary socialist application united begin 1o pe seen as alternative by thousands workers engaged in struggles.
Such an organisation should be based on the understanding that:
The struggle seeks in unite the fight of workers ayaltist the with that of other oppressed layers of society - women, black people, leration. This sociatism can heir struggling be achieved by creating new organs of power and defeating with all necessary means the power of the capitalist state.
than what exists in Britain today, full rights for political parties and currents that do not take up arms against the socialist state. The Stalinist models of socialisit it Eastern Europe have discredited socialism in the eyes of millions of workers throughout We are opposed to them ar orier rul "upport in all those fighting for socialist democracy.
The interests of workers and capitaiists are irreconcilable on a world scale. C'apitalism created market. has created polities. Thus we fight for working an scale. This unity will in the long run be decisive in defeating both the imperialist regimes in the West and the brutal dictatorships they sustaina merican and Asia.
In Britain it implies demanding lIC immediate withdrawal British troops from Ireland and letting the Irish people determine their own future.
The Communist parties in Europe are in crisis. Neither the 'Eurocommunist' the pro-Moscow wings have any meaningful strategy for overthrow of the capitalist state. New revolutionary socialist parties are necessary today more favourabie than over the preceding three decades. But such parties can only be built rejecting sectarianism and seeing internal democracy not as a luxury but as a vital necessity. This means the right to organise factions and tendencies.
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ame.... ocialist Challenge 24 April 1980 an of socialism women's bosses ting men's ideas and power.
their movement had ignored women.
(childcare, and Africa always rejected any nor plannea than ever more labour mevement have to views. This is what the Pare 2 Last week Jan Parker argued in this column that while pressurising and working with the labour movement has proved a correct tactic in the abortion movement, autonomy within the campaign is central to confronTo back up her argument she pointed out how it was women that forced the issue on the trade unions and that historically the trade union No-one can disagree with the view that despite massive steps forward on the issues that have concerned women since the beginning of this century maternity leave, equal pay, abortion), the trade union movement still holds the traditional views of a woman's role as wife and mother first and trade union activist second. The question that Jan raised is how do issue. Jan hints at this when she says: •We are fighting for choice and the fight for abortion rights is essentially Reyolutionaries do not view the for instance, Alan Fisher who told the National Abortion Campaign trade union conference in November 1978 that 'as long as women have responsibility for childcare then they should decide whether and when not to have because women should have the right linked to a challenge to this traditional view of women and must be placed in the context of creating a women's needs and freedoms first and makes society as a whole responsible for childcare and domestic work.
When Jan says that it is only the economic argument in the abortion campaign (rich women can always afford abortions, poor women cannot that makes abortion a class issue she is wrong. The fight for sexual freedom for women is part of the class struggle itself. The working class has every interest in promoting the cause of the oppressed in order to strengthen its fight to overthrow the rule of capital.
workers — particularly male workers view things like Because of the nuclear family, they, domestic servants and sexual playmates rather than trade the last year among women will reaffirm such atrealise that women's concerns are central, women organise to confront these women's liberation movement has done over Grossenheim. Published in 'Around Workers Europe' by Alexander Kollontai (1912).
Campaign to protest at John Corrie's restrictive bill.
the last decade and what the Campaign Against Corrie has built on over We know that we cannot wait for men to take up our needs as women so we organise now as women to push them into taking action. The TUC demonstration last October proved this can be done.
But we must be clear about what we mean by autonomy and what we use it for. Many women support the 'If it weren't for women our wages would never have fallen so low. Men would have been able to stand up for themselves; but these females, these hussies are ready to abandon their home and family and to sell themselves to the capitalists, to the devil, or anybody A German social-democratic worker speaking in the village of Police arresting a woman outside the House of Commons on 8 February this year — the day of the all Womens' Assembly called by the National Abortion demands and ideas of the women's movement while not fully agreeing women-only demonstrations Over the last decade many women trade unionists have begun to fight for women to represent them as shop stewards, pay, taken petitions around their factories to get signatures against anti-abortion Bills.
Are these women not in a broad autonomy?
itself.
that to deal with autonomy government, same as separatism.
should Wall L womens liberation. • Point the television women.
must - with Jan, women are upfront.
those traditional welcome unwaged/low waged. events, discos, Northampton gone on strike for equal from Sisterwrite, sense part of the women's movement? In Russia when working women first started to organise in womens cluds they allowed men to come to meetings but only women were allowed to run the meetings. Is this not fighting for Autonomy, self-organisation is a means to an end. It is not the end in When the modern women's movement first developed in the early Seventies it tried to involve men in fighting for the demands. It found • men patronised and tried to dominate, so they had to be excluded from conferences. Shouldn't women in trade unions and the Labour Party be allowed to go through the same experience and decide themselves how men? Isn't this what really selfwomen deciding how they think their struggle can best be conducted? Autonomy is not the This does not mean that NAC abstain on the autonomy debate. NAC is a mixed campaign that concentrates its energies on the issue of abortion but it is very much of the broad At times it will decide that a parțicular point needs to be made about what women think and feel on ar issue. This was why the International Marxist Group supported the women-only assembly on 8 February to make it clear that a male-dominated parliament was deciding to severely restrict disagreed with the women who did not want the press there because we thought that even though cameras were held by men the publicity they were giving us was important to get across to other At other times it will be necessary to involve men and indeed when it comes to powerful trade unions we involve miners, and carworkers in the abortion campaign. But at every point in the abortion struggle, and here I totally agree we must make sure that Only if women are seen to lead will views of women which still predominate in the trade union movement be confronted. Isn't this fighting for autonomy too?
contributions Socialist Challenge readers on the way forward for the abortion campaign. The NAC conference will take place on 17/18 May at the Belle Vue Centre •* Leeds. Registration is available from Leeds NAC, Flat 1, Belle Vue House Belle Vue Road, Leeds 3, £4 waged £2 WOMEN IN ACTION READERS MEETING Following on the success of the first issue, a readers' meeting is being held in London on Saturday April at City University, Square, London EC1, from noon to 5pm. (Nearest tubes Angel and Barbican) Copies of Women in Action available 190 Upper Street London N1. Price 30p.
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Abortion: opinion column you like for some extra bit of frippery.'