We are living in period of historic political and economic crisis of capitalism, of a struggle for the re-division of the world and environmental devastation, which threatens the existence of humanity. But how to change that?
who we
are
Overcoming capitalist misery can only be done by a global working class revolution, that overthrows the capitalist class and its state. Such a revolution needs to expropriate the ruling classes, reorganise production and reproduction and the relations between humanity and nature according to social needs. It must replace the bourgeois state machinery by workers and peasants councils and the capitalist market by a democratically planned economy. Whilst such a revolution will start in different countries, it can only be fully completed on a global level, laying the foundations for a classless society, free of exploitation and oppression.In order to achieve this task, the working class needs a revolutionary party and international. This does not exist, but we want to change that.
The League is based on the recognition that there has been no revolutionary International since the political degeneration of the Fourth International in 1951 and its organisational disintegration after 1953. The fundamental task of the League, therefore, is to promote the foundation of a Fifth International on the basis of an updated revolutionary programme that incorporates the lessons of the class struggle over the period since the formulation of the 1938 „Transitional Programme“ upon which the Fourth International was based.
Membership of the League is open to those who agree with its programmatic documents and accept its democratic centralist discipline under its leadership, which is elected at international congresses. Wherever possible, members of the League are organised in national sections based on action programmes that are derived from the League’s international programme.
Capitalism has created a global economic system, imperialism. In order to successfully fight against it, we also have to organise internationally. For us, internationalism is not the sum of all national experiences added together, but we assume that there is a common interest of an international working class. This becomes very visible when we look at climate change, but also at other questions. That is why we organise internationally and have an international democratic centralism.
For us, revolutionary Marxism means showing a way from the here and now to socialism. It also implies that we stand for smashing the bourgeois state. Parliaments should not be more than a stage for the positions of us socialists – they are no means to smash bourgeois states or to slowly transfer them. At the same time, its our task to fight for real improvements: we advocate reforms that bring concrete improvements for the working class and oppressed. This is not a contradiction, because we want to build on these struggles – be they for higher wages or, for example, open borders and citizenship rights for all – to raise the level of the prevailing consciousness. The demands for workers‘ control is often a key question in this.
In order to change society in the long term, mass organisations of workers and oppressed people are needed. We are well aware that we are not a mass organisation and we don’t want to hide that. That is why we ask ourselves: How do we get there? Apart from recruiting members, we think it is important to work together with other organisations in a practical way and at the same time to discuss ideas. Because just by winning over individuals, you don’t become a mass organisation that makes the revolution. Especially in the current situation, where there are many left small groups. That is why we think it is important to intervene in the economic class struggle (for example in strikes), but also to fight for ideas and thus be part of the ideological class struggle. That’s why we don’t only go to demonstrations or stand in front of companies, but also put a focus in our work on theory production and longer progandist articles. We actively engage with left ward moving force of the working class, the oppressed and of the far left, seeking to win them to a larger revolutionary organisation based on revolutionary principles and programmatic agreement.
A new revolutionary International can only arising by uniting the vanguard sections of the working class, of the revolutionary youth and the best fighters of social movements on the basis of a revolutionary program. Such an international cannot be proclaimed by small groups nor will it be the result of „organic“ growth of one of the existing tendencies claiming to be revolutionary. It can only the the result of coordinated international struggles and a program for global revolution. In other words: We’re not the Fifth International itself – we fight for one.
Arbeiterbeiter*innen-
standpunkt
Gruppe Arbeiter:innenmacht
Workers Power
Arbetarmakt
