tion of left wing rhetoric and right wing practice - - of leading struggles such as Liverpool and lining up with the extreme right wing of the party on issues such as Ireland and black sections.
But behind Militants rhetoric lies a fundamental unity of its politics, one which Lenin termed 'imperialist economism'. ROSS looks at the fundamental character of the Militant current. THE MILITANT newspaper is well known on the left for its extreme sertarianism, its support for struggles such as the miners and Liverpool, and its extreme opposition to the women's #peraton movement, black secuions in the Labour Party, or the dialogue of the left of the Labour Party with Sinn Fein.
ror those JUIC familiar Militant's politics it is also marked by its sectarian positions towards CND, opposition to demanding British withdrawal disgraceful capitulation to British imperialism over the (Falklands) war — Militant refusing to ODDose even the sending or the British fleet to the South Atlantic.
All these positions panied by continual rhetoric presenting socialism as the 'nationalisation of the top 250 monopolies' appears turns, tremely sectarian and extremely pool, and support the miners, white - simultaneously to lead Liveropenly lining up with the right wing of the party on Ireland, war, black sections, NATO and the demand of women for control of their own organisations in movement.
JOHN gay liberation, with its Malvinas accomistant, ex.
right Malvinas the labour the bourgeois Lenin stressed RODRNUS THE CGHT CC DAL ISN ton and Terry Fields MP speaking in Liverpool Italy 'imperialist Wing Attack Hite tional politics.
perialism society.
Peter Taafe, Steve Sullivan, Tony Mulhearn, Derek HatImperialist economism, in Lenin's continually engages in rhetoric of the type socialism alone "way" out'.' It uses this language, for example, to refuse to support non-imperialist states in their conflicts with imperialism.
Taking a later case when fascist attacked Ethopia in the 1930s the leadership of the then Indepen economism', because it was ruled by the slave own.
Emperor Haile • Selassie. justified its refusal to take sides against imperialism on the grounds that 'the Italo-Ethiopian war is conflict between (wo dictators" '13 Anyone familiar with Militant's refusal to support Argentina during the attack on it by the British imperialist state during the Malvinas war will recognise that mode of argument!
The second consequence of adap. tation to imperialism is a refusal to take up the demands of the most op pressed sections of society. As Trotsky put it, 'Opportunist organisations by their very nature concentrate their attention on the top layers of the working class'. 14 The hostility of Militant towards black self-organisation, women's liberation movement, gay liberation is all of a piece with its adaptation to imperialism on interna.
Finally sectarianism is not the fundamental feature of Militant. Militant is sectarian because it is opportunist, because it reflects the pressure of imwithin the workers move. ment. Militant hates and loathes all that is most politically progressive in new developments within the workers movement precisely because Militant represents an adaptation to the rotten, imperialist past of British Militant's sectarianism is a secon-
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Poster: MILITANT Malatant