Socialist Studies (1989)
The group was founded in 1991 by sixteen expelled members of the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) who claim that their expulsions were the result of an anti-socialist conspiracy.
The format has remained the same for the past fifteen years, namely three to twelve A4 sheets of single-column word-processed text, photocopied and folded to produce an A5 booklet.
The history of the group now known as Socialist Studies dates to 1991, when the Camden and North West London branches were expelled from the SPGB in a party-wide referendum.
Some of these ex members, comprising sixteen individuals, refused to recognise the expulsions and attempted to continue operating as the SPGB, which they claimed to have "reconstituted".
[6][7][8] The group's activity consists primarily of publishing Socialist Studies and various pamphlets and holding occasional propaganda meetings.
Socialist Studies adopted the object and principles of the SPGB and thus claims to hold that party's general ideology and stance on most social, economic and political issues.
The principal ideological disagreement Socialist Studies has with the SPGB is its attitude towards attempts by workers living under political dictatorships to establish elementary democratic and trade union rights, especially in Eastern Europe in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Whilst we avoid any association with parties or political groups seeking to administer capitalism, we emphasise that freedom of movement and expression, the freedom to organise in trade unions, to organise politically, and to participate in elections, are of great importance to all workers and are vital to the success of the socialist movement.
The SPGB does not consider Socialist Studies's position to be incompatible with socialism, but rather simply a different (albeit illogical) interpretation of its principles: Indifference to moves by workers to try to establish a minimum of political democracy has, once again, been a minority position within the SPGB though not a matter for expulsion.
If [a companion party] were to adopt this position, we could live with it and would not consider it a matter for its exclusion from the World Socialist Movement (though we would reserve the right to criticise it as illogical).
[19] In light of this, they accuse the SPGB of being capitalist collaborators for having registered with the Electoral Commission, which is a legal requirement to contest elections in the United Kingdom.
Socialist Studies interprets the 1988 resolution as having completely changed the party's name and proscribing the use of the full form.
The group variously claims that the SPGB is anarchist,[1][12] reformist,[12] capitalist,[12][19] fascist,[31] Stalinist,[32] Trotskyist,[32] undemocratic[12] and democracy fetishist.
[19][26] Socialist Studies has repeatedly called on the SPGB to respond to some of these accusations and to engage in debates on their ideological differences.
