Socialism Today 114 Dec 2007-Jan 2008

I don't look at the Socialist Party's magazine Socialism Today very often, but the latest issue has at least two big articles that are worthy of attention.

First is 'The crisis in Respect', in which Hannah Sell has the task of delivering an obituary for Respect, criticising both sides, explaining how it was flawed right from the start and that the SP has been right all the time, as opposed to the opportunists of the SWP. And although the failure of Respect might be temporarily confusing this crisis and split isn't actually a 'substantial obstacle on the road to mass independent political representation for workers in England and Wales'.

The other big piece is Peter Taafe on 'Problem of building new workers' parties', which is mostly interesting for its positive emphasis on the experience of Brazil and developments in P-Sol. Of course from the perspective of the SP what broad workers parties really need are viable 'Marxist-Trotskyist' spines, in this case identified as the Socialismo Revolucionario (SR) current, which I'm guessing is affiliated to the CWI. This is seen as much stronger and better than left currents in the Italian PRC or German Left Party. Of course the thread of correctness runs back from the CWI to Trotsky to Marx and Engels.

There's more, including a contribution to a debate on China, a Vincent Kolo on China's capitalist counter-revolution and a review of Robert Fisk's Great War for Civilisation in Indicting imperialism.