Spartacist League of the U.S.

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American Trotskyist political organization.

From the description of Spartacist League of the U.S. records, 1964-2004. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 123379853

Biography Note

The Spartacist League of the U.S. is a self-proclaimed revolutionary communist organization in the Marxist-Leninist-Trotskyist tradition. Its antecedents date to the early 1960s and stem from the Revolutionary Tendency within the Socialist Workers Party, American sympathizing section of the Fourth International (International Committee) at that time. The Revolutionary Tendency espoused a number of criticisms of the majority leadership of the Socialist Workers Party, notably its decision to participate in the reunified Fourth International (United Secretariat) and its uncritically favorable assessment of the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba. These differences eventuated in expulsion of leaders of the Revolutionary Tendency at the end of 1963 and their formation of a group around the publication Spartacist early in 1964. Following failure to achieve agreement with remaining elements of the Fourth International (International Committee), the group formally founded the Spartacist League of the U.S. in 1966.

International activities of the Spartacist League resulted in formation of an international Spartacist tendency following a European conference in 1974. This international tendency, including sections in Australia and New Zealand, Canada, and several European countries, transformed itself into the International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) in 1989.

Domestically, a youth affiliate of the Spartacist League appeared initially as the Revolutionary Marxist Caucus within Students for a Democratic Society in 1969. This was succeeded in turn by Revolutionary Communist Youth (1971-1974), the Spartacus Youth League (1974-1986), and, after a hiatus, reconstituted Spartacus Youth Clubs.

Two other domestic affiliates are the Partisan Defense Committee, established to provide aid to leftist and labor prisoners, and the Prometheus Research Library, a facility for documentation of the history of the Trotskyist movement.

In addition to its theoretical journal Spartacist, the principal publications of the Spartacist League press have been its newspaper Workers Vanguard, its youth newspaper Young Spartacus, and its Women's Commission journal Women and Revolution .

From the guide to the Spartacist League of the U.S. Records, 1964-2004, (Hoover Institution Archives)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Gilbert, Russ,. Russ Gilbert "New Left" pamphlet collection, 1943-1980. University of Illinois at Chicago Library, UIC
creatorOf Spartacist League of the U.S. Spartacist League of the U.S. records, 1964-2004. Stanford University, Hoover Institution Library
creatorOf Spartacist League of the U.S. Spartacist League : file of clippings and miscellanea. Michigan State University Libraries, Main Library
referencedIn Left Labor Caucuses Collection, 1966-1995 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Geoffrey White Papers, 1939-1965 Hoover Institution Archives
creatorOf Spartacist League of the U.S. Records, 1964-1974. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
creatorOf Spartacist League of the U.S. Records, 1964-2004 Hoover Institution Archives
referencedIn White, Geoffrey, 1927-. Geoffrey White papers, 1931-1986. Stanford University, Hoover Institution Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Fourth International. corporateBody
associatedWith Gilbert, Russ, person
associatedWith Michigan State University. Libraries. American Radicalism Collection. corporateBody
associatedWith Prometheus Research Library. corporateBody
associatedWith Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade (U.S.) corporateBody
associatedWith Socialist Workers Party. corporateBody
associatedWith White, Geoffrey person
associatedWith White, Geoffrey, 1927- person
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York (State)--New York
United States
United States
Subject
Communism
Communism
Fourth International
Radicalism
Socialism
Socialism
Occupation
Activity

Corporate Body

Active 1964

Active 1974

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