Socialist Studies is the name of a quarterly socialist periodical and of the group which publishes it. 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. Though small, the group has remained an active and vocal critic of the SPGB since its inception.
The publication
Socialist Studies was first published in 1989 by the Camden and North West London branches of the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB), though since issue No. 3 (1991) it has been published by an independent organisation. The early issues consisted primarily of material reprinted from the works of Karl Marx and the Socialist Standard, though the paper now consists of original material. 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 publication is text-only, with no graphics or photographs, none of the articles have a byline and until the No. 35 (Spring 2000) none of the issues were dated.
The group
thumb|Harry Baldwin
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". Among them were Edgar Hardcastle and Cyril May, who became their central organiser. As the original SPGB had never been dissolved and indeed continued to operate following the expulsions, it successfully mounted various legal challenges against Socialist Studies's use of the SPGB name. Because of this and to differentiate itself from the original SPGB, the group has variously referred to itself in its publicity material as the Reconstituted Socialist Party of Great Britain, the New Socialist Party of Great Britain and Socialist Studies. Third parties refer to them as the Socialist Studies group.
The group's activity consists primarily of publishing Socialist Studies and various pamphlets and holding occasional propaganda meetings. Socialist Studies was not a registered political party until December 2006, when they registered with the Electoral Commission as Socialist Studies Party (1904). As of 2015, they have never contested a local, national, or European Union election.
Differences with the Socialist Party of Great Britain
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. However, there are several ideological and practical differences between Socialist Studies and the SPGB, most of which arise from the former's narrower interpretation of the object and principles and its views on how strictly these interpretations must be adhered to. For the matters discussed in this section, Socialist Studies generally adopts the position that anyone who does not hold their interpretation cannot be regarded as a true socialist. On the other hand, the SPGB holds that at least some of the following issues are ones upon which genuine socialists may disagree with each other; disagreement with the majority position does not automatically disqualify one from being a socialist or from membership in the party. Socialist Studies's less accommodating stance has been labelled "doctrinaire", a characterisation which they categorically reject.
Political franchise
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. The stance of the SPGB since 1939 is summarised by the following 1990 party conference resolution:<blockquote>This Conference re-affirms the stand taken in the September [actually October] 1939 Socialist Standard and repeated in the September 1989 Socialist Standard, that the Socialist Party of Great Britain wholeheartedly supports the efforts of workers everywhere to secure democratic rights against the powers of suppression. 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.</blockquote>
On the other hand, Socialist Studies regards the struggle by workers living under a dictatorship to establish some measure of political democracy as a reformist struggle which socialists should oppose. They believe that the difference between democratic capitalist governments and dictatorial capitalist governments is of no significance to workers, that political democracy is not essential for the propagation of socialist ideas and that workers in dictatorships should not directly confront the forces of suppression. Instead, Socialist Studies believes that they must be "hostile to such movements for democracy and to call on workers to form instead a socialist political party based on [their] principles".
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: <blockquote>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). The group interprets this as specifically excluding "legal or moral action" and as "overrid[ing] any other consideration". 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. and the group itself eventually registered with the Electoral Commission. and have repeatedly indicated that they are prepared to sue, if necessary. In 1988, the party passed a resolution at its annual conference indicating when to use the full-form and short-form names: the full-form name was to be retained as the official name for use on legal documents and publication credits and the short form was to be used for most other purposes, including election ballots and propaganda. This is analogous to how the Conservative and Unionist Party publicises itself as the Conservative Party. The resolution was made partly to codify an existing practice and partly to avoid what some members considered the nationalistic connotation of Great Britain.
Socialist Studies interprets the 1988 resolution as having completely changed the party's name and proscribing the use of the full form. They see this resolution as conflicting with the party's Declaration of Principles, one clause of which mentions the party's full name explicitly. It is largely on this basis that they justified their continued operation as the Socialist Party of Great Britain, claiming that they were expelled from the Socialist Party, not the Socialist Party of Great Britain.
The SPGB considers Socialist Studies's position on how socialist Members of Parliament should vote to be "a legitimate position for a socialist to hold, even though it is not the one that, as a matter of historical fact, has been adopted by the SPGB" and "do[es] not regard it as a matter for serious dispute". Referring to the SPGB's 1984 conference resolution (since rescinded) that "Socialism will entail the immediate abolition of and not the gradual decline of the State", Socialist Studies writes: <blockquote>If you are in favour of the immediate abolition of the State when Socialism is established then you are in favour of its immediate abolition here and now, which is of course the anarchist position. [...] Unless Socialists use the power of the machinery of government to dispossess the capitalist class they will be unable to establish Socialism. We find it inconceivable that intelligent Socialists of a future generation would even consider such an act of monumental stupidity.</blockquote>
thumb|250px|A page from The Clapham-based Socialist Party – Just Another Capitalist Party, one of dozens of Socialist Studies publications attacking the [[Socialist Party of Great Britain]]
Relations with the Socialist Party of Great Britain
Much of the material published by Socialist Studies is highly critical and often outright contemptuous of the SPGB, which it refers to as the "Clapham-based Socialist Party" or the "Socialist Party of Clapham". The group variously claims that the SPGB is anarchist, Stalinist, Trotskyist,