Maximum solidarity

We need solidarity to win the good life for all

The working class is not a single, uniform group—it is made up of people from many different backgrounds, identities, and experiences. The fight for racial justice, gender equality, disability rights, queer and trans liberation, migrant justice, and more, are all part of the broader struggle for working-class power, collective liberation and a good life in these transitional times.

The far right, including the Reform Party, blames minority groups of the working class for the material struggles that others face, targetting them for discriminatory violence. For example, they ask the divide-and-conquer question: "why do they get hotels when we are struggling with our rent?!" instead of asking the class power question: "why do local and national governments facilitate the construction of privately owned luxury apartments over mass, publicly owned social housing? Why does the government facilitate landlords to rip off tenants with un-capped rents, low taxes on rental income and no wealth taxes on property holdings? Why does the government segregate asylum seekers into hotels and military bases, and leave other people homeless on the streets?" Depending on how wide your solidarity is, the questions you ask will suggest very different political answers.

So if Your Party is going to succeed in building a good life for all, we need to organise our branches in ways that integrate the different struggles of the broad working class — so that we can collectively organise together. How can we meet and work together as inclusively as possible? How can our organising and campaigning reflect the shared struggles we face as a class?

Practical ideas for building solidarity in Your Party

1. Provide interpreters and translation for meetings, so migrant communities can be fully involved. The London Renters Union uses this approach to build a deep base of support in each of its branches.
2. Collectively create and practice community guidelines for meetings and group chats which protect members, particularly trans people, from "philosophical discussions" about their existence or basic rights.
3. Provide childcare for members who need it, so they can fully participate in meetings and activities.
4. Select venues that are accessible for members with disabilities, select times to meet that are accessible for members with caring responsibilities, and make decisions which share the cost and workload of organising fairly.
5. Actively encourage participation from new people in every neighbourhood and workplace, so that we do not get into the habit of only organising with the same people over and over again.

Reading

• The actuality of the revolution: exploitation and oppressions
• Stretching Marxism