Freedom Socialist Party Explained

Freedom Socialist Party
Colorcode:Red
Split:Socialist Workers Party
Position:Far-left
International:Committee for Revolutionary International Regroupment (CRIR)
Newspaper:The Freedom Socialist
Headquarters:Seattle, Washington
Seats1 Title:Members in elected offices
Seats1:0
Country:United States

The Freedom Socialist Party (FSP) is a trotskyist and socialist feminist political party in the United States. FSP formed in 1966, when its members split from the Socialist Workers Party.

FSP views the struggles of women, people of color and sexual minorities as intrinsic to the struggle of the working class.

Notable FSP members include Megan Cornish, Heidi Durham, Richard S. Fraser, and Clara Fraser.

Membership

FSP has branches in the United States, as well as Australia, England, Germany and New Zealand.[1] FSP is affiliated with Radical Women, a socialist feminist organization.

History

Background

The immediate forerunner of FSP was the Kirk-Kaye tendency within the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), led by Richard S. Fraser (Kirk) and Clara Fraser (Kaye) who were then married.[2]

The Kirk-Kaye tendency primarily disagreed with SWP leadership on three points: The Kirk-Kaye tendency supported revolutionary integrationism, in contrast to the SWP's support for Black nationalism and the Nation of Islam.The Kirk-Kaye tendency argued that socialist feminism must be a top priority for socialist organizations. And the Kirk-Kaye tendency claimed that the SWP was undemocratic.

Founding

FSP formed in 1966, when its members split from the Socialist Workers Party. The party's Seattle branch, with support from individuals in other cities, split off from the SWP over what it described as the SWP's entrenched opportunism and undemocratic methods.[3]

FSP advocated for class solidarity of Black and white workers, called for a greatly expanded understanding of and attention to women's emancipation, and urged the anti-war movement to support the socialist, anti-colonial aims of the Vietnamese Revolution.

FSP became a pole of attraction for Seattle leftists opposed to the SWP's internal politics and established a home at Freeway Hall.[4] [5] [6] The party formed Radical Women with the dual goal of building a revolutionary socialist feminist organization and teaching women the organizational and leadership skills that were often denied to them in male-dominated organizations.[7]

Subsequent history

In 1978, FSP joined the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party (CRSP), an attempted united front of Trotskyist parties. In 1980, CRSP collapsed.

In 1989, FSP founded the United Front Against Fascism (UFAF), an anti-fascist organization that included a broad coalition of the Left, the LGBT community, labor unionists, feminists, people of color, Jews, and civil libertarians. UFAF took the lead in mobilizing against neo-Nazis in the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s and 1990s.[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

In 2003, Lyndon LaRouche filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that FSP's Red Letter Press and its managing editor, Helen Gilbert, had violated campaign finance laws. Gilbert had issued a pamphlet critical of LaRouche's ideology and political history.[14] The FEC found LaRouche's complaint to be without merit and dismissed it.[15]

Ideology

FSP is a Trotskyist revolutionary socialist organization.[16] [17] FSP leaders Clara Fraser and Gloria Martin hoped to build a Leninist party that is "socialist-feminist" in ideology and practice.[18] [19]

Election results

FSP has fielded electoral candidates in the United States for local, state, and federal offices. FSP candidates usually run as official FSP candidates.

No FSP candidate has yet won an election.

Presidential elections

In 2016, FSP critically endorsed Jeff Mackler of Socialist Action for president.[25]

In 2020, FSP again critically endorsed Jeff Mackler of Socialist Action for president.[26]

In 2024, FSP declined to make a presidential endorsement and instead suggested voters spoil their ballots by writing-in "free Palestine."[27]

State legislature elections

YearCandidateOfficeAreaDistrictVotes%ResultNotesRef
2004Jordana SardoState RepresentativeOregon452,297 Lostran as Freedom Socialist Party candidate[30] [31] [32]
1998Marian SundeState SenateCalifornia227,665 Lostran as Peace and Freedom Party candidate[33] [34]
1998Adrienne WellerState RepresentativeOregon18496 Lostran as independent candidate[35]
1998Guerry HoddersenState RepresentativeWashington371,439 Lostran as Freedom Socialist Party candidate[36]
1998Stephen DurhamState AssemblymemberNew York71366 Lostran as Freedom Socialist Party candidate[37]

Local elections

YearCandidateOfficeAreaDistrictVotes%ResultNotesRef
2005Linda AverillCity CouncilSeattle416,584 Lostall-party blanket primary, did not advance to general[38] [39] [40]
1991Heidi DurhamCity CouncilSeattle Lostall-party blanket primary, did not advance to general[41]
1991Yolanda AlanizCity CouncilSeattle127,991 Lostgeneral election[42]

In 1991, the Seattle FSP ran two members for Seattle City Council, who campaigned on guaranteed income for families living in poverty, community control of the police, and domestic partnership rights for same-sex couples.[43]

See also

Further reading

Archives

Articles and interviews

Books

Notes and References

  1. News: Where We Are . 4 November 2019 . Freedom Socialist Party.
  2. Book: Sheppard, Barry. The Party: The Socialist Workers Party, 1960-1988, Volume 1. 2005. Resistance Books. 104.
  3. Book: Alexander, Robert J. . Robert J. Alexander . 1991 . International Trotskyism, 1929–1985: A Documented Analysis of the Movement . . 978-0-8223-0975-8 . 761-951.
  4. Book: Crowley, Walt. Rites of Passage: A Memoir of the Sixties in Seattle. 2010. University of Washington Press. 21–22.
  5. Book: Winslow, Barbara. The Feminist Memoir Project: Voices from Women's Liberation. 2007. 227, 230–231, 235–236. Primary and Secondary Contradictions in Seattle: 1967-1969. Rachel Blau DuPlessis. Rachel Blau DuPlessis. Ann Barr Snitow. Ann Barr Snitow.
  6. Book: McKay, Ian. Rebels, Reds, Radicals: Rethinking Canada's Left History. 2005. Between the Lines. 242.
  7. Book: James, Edward T., Janet Wilson James, Paul S. Boyer. Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 5. Harvard University Press. 414.
  8. News: Kubelbeck. Amy. Groups Of Gays Protest Picnic. 2013-03-17. The Seattle Times. Aug 4, 1990.
  9. News: Lacitis. Erik. An Ax To Grind -- When It Comes To Skinheads And Nazis, Loggers, Gays Unite. 2013-03-17. The Seattle Times. 1991-07-16.
  10. News: Angelos. Constantine. Rice, Citizens Groups Join To Declare Seattle Won't Tolerate Hate Crimes. 2013-03-17. The Seattle Times. 1990-05-19.
  11. News: Gough. William. A Gathering Of Neo-Nazis -- Encampment Draws Protest. 2013-03-17. The Seattle Times. Dec 8, 1991.
  12. News: Reang. Putsata. Supremacist Guilty In Klan Scuffle -- Federal Way Man Broke Free- Lancer's Camera. 2013-03-17. The Seattle Times. Oct 2, 1996.
  13. Book: Wilcox, Laird. The Cultic Milieu. 2002. Rowman Altamira. 334–335. Jeffrey S. Kaplan, Heléne Lööw. Who Watches the Watchmen?.
  14. Helen Gilbert, "Lyndon Larouche: Fascism Restyled for the New Millennium", Redletterpress.org
  15. Web site: COMPLIANCE CASE MADE PUBLIC. Federal Election Commission. November 4, 2004. August 24, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090831114409/http://fec.gov/press/press2004/20041104mur.html. August 31, 2009.
  16. Web site: Red groups in the United States. web.cortland.edu. Cortland.
  17. Baxandall. Rosalyn. Rosalyn Baxandall. 2001. Re-Visioning the Women's Liberation Movement's Narrative: Early Second Wave African American Feminists. Feminist Studies. 27. 1. 225–245. 10.2307/3178460. 3178460 . 0046-3663. 2027/spo.0499697.0027.116. free.
  18. Book: Love, Barbara J. . Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975 . registration . 2006 . University of Illinois Press. 158. 9780252031892 .
  19. Book: Ware, Susan. Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 5: Completing the Twentieth Century. 2005. Harvard University Press. 414–415. Stacy Braukman. Martin, Gloria.
  20. Web site: Federal Elections 2012 . . July 2013 . live . December 2, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191202185341/https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2012.pdf.
  21. http://votesocialism.com Durham/Lopez campaign website
  22. Ballot Access News, January 29, 2012, "Freedom Socialist Party Nominates its First National Ticket".
  23. The Green Papers "Votes for Stephen Gaylord Durham".
  24. Ballot Access News "New York State Posts Final 2012 Election Returns Tally; Presidential Vote Increases by 400,332 Votes".
  25. News: This Year of the Detestable Election, exercise your democratic rights with a protest vote!. October 2016. Socialism.com. 30 July 2018.
  26. News: FSP endorses Socialist Action candidate Jeff Mackler for president. October 2020. Socialism.com. 3 October 2020.
  27. News: 2024 Alternative Candidates in Review . Socialism.com . September 24, 2024.
  28. Web site: Union stalwart and socialist feminist Steve Hoffman runs for U.S. Senate. Freedom Socialist Party. 13 January 2019.
  29. Web site: United States Senate primary election in Washington, 2018. Office of the Washington Secretary of State. June 6, 2019.
  30. Web site: OR State House 45 Race - Nov 02, 2004 . Our Campaigns . 2016-01-29.
  31. Web site: FSP candidate Jordana Sardo challenges the corporate-welfare tax system in Oregon . Eduardo . Martínez Zapata . October 2004 . Freedom Socialist Party . November 27, 2020 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201127030135/https://socialism.com/fs-article/fsp-candidate-jordana-sardo-challenges-the-corporate-welfare-tax-system-in-oregon/.
  32. Web site: 2004 General . Oregon Secretary of State .
  33. Web site: Linda . Averill . Freedom Socialist Party . October 1998 . Enthusiastic support puts radicals on the ballot in four states . live . November 27, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201127024104/https://socialism.com/fs-article/enthusiastic-support-puts-radicals-on-the-ballot-in-four-states/.
  34. Web site: General Election - Statement of Vote, November 3, 1998 . December 12, 1998 . . live . February 11, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170211122607/https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov//sov/1998-general/sov1998-general.pdf.
  35. Web site: 1998 General Election Official Results ED/19/58867 . . live . October 21, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191021203817/http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Record/6920722.
  36. Web site: Elections Search Results November 1998 General . . live . March 3, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230126/https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/results_report.aspx?e=10&c=&c2=&t=&t2=&p=&p2=&y=.
  37. Web site: 1998 Election Results . December 15, 1998 . live . February 18, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200218183946/https://www.elections.ny.gov/NYSBOE/elections/1998/NYASSBYWEB-98.pdf.
  38. News: FSP candidate Averill offers “ideas that make sense” . R.V. . Murphy . October 2005 . Freedom Socialist .
  39. News: Jim . Brunner . Mayoral hopeful seeks to conceal donors . July 14, 2005 . Freedom Socialist Party . .
  40. Web site: Past elections . King County, California .
  41. Web site: Farewell to Heidi Durham: Revolutionary feminist and fighter for the oppressed . Andrea . Bauer . December 2015 . Freedom Socialist Party . live . June 11, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230611212750/https://socialism.com/fs-article/farewell-to-heidi-durham-revolutionary-feminist-and-fighter-for-the-oppressed/.
  42. Web site: General and Special Elections - CityArchives . seattle.gov . 1963-10-25 . 2022-08-21.
  43. Web site: Clara Fraser papers - Archives West . 2022-07-05 . archiveswest.orbiscascade.org.

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