Theory and Strategy // New Socialist

Providing a horizon beyond the day-to-day struggles in parliament or the party in order to grasp longer-term, strategic possibilities.

Reformist tactics within a revolutionary strategy
E. P. Thompson

The question whether objective truth can be attributed to human thinking is not a question of theory but is a practical question
Karl Marx

The project and nascent movement associated with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has often been absorbed in the day-to-day business of politics, besieged both inside and outside the party. This is understandable, but it has also proved limiting. In our “Theory and Strategy” section New Socialist aims to provide a horizon beyond the day-to-day struggles in parliament or the party in order to grasp longer-term, strategic possibilities.

Aims

To provide a horizon which goes beyond the day to day business of parliament, opinion polling and elections but remains linked to the Corbyn project and to possible policies.

To provide theoretical perspectives which both draw upon the struggles and experiences of the “movement”, such as it is, especially the struggles of people from marginalised groups, and offer strategic direction to our struggles.

To interact with and support the rest of New Socialist, providing a theoretical and strategic foundation for the tactical side of the project and being nourished itself by being linked to the making of policy whether by left MPs or through the mechanisms of the party.

To challenge the intellectual basis of the positions being articulated by the Labour Right and Soft Left, especially those that make use of our language and concepts.

But also, to be open to what other tendencies both within Labour and outside Labour on the left can offer both in terms of useful criticism and their own theoretical and strategic perspectives.

On Theory

New Socialist understands theory as a step back from the day to day in order to grasp the relations between things as part of a whole, within a longer-term horizon, both in terms of the past and future. We do not, however, understand theory as unworldly; for us, any useful theory will be grounded in a practical view of the world that is dedicated towards changing it. Theory helps show reality as dynamic and contradictory and aids our capacity to understand and work on those contradictions towards collective ends. We aim to clarify how far (and what) theory can help guide positions we take now as well as exploring what is the proper task and form of left intellectualism in our current situation. These considerations will always be rooted in addressing how theory relates to practice, not only in the possibility that theory may guide practice but also, and more importantly, how theory emerges from and clarifies practical struggles.

New Socialist seeks essays of any length in order to grasp our present situation in its contradictions and fluidity to locate and develop strategic openings for the left. As well as essays we are interested in other forms of writing as part of our efforts to nurture and cultivate a new intellectualism of our movement, these may include discussions between various participants or shorter contributions detailing experiences, particularly the experiences of the marginalised, to form part of a general analysis including and organising various perspectives and experiences. These accounts of experiences would be particularly welcome for our series.

Series

We aim to run a number of series featuring connected essays and responses as well collecting experiences relevant to the subjects under consideration. We will begin with two series, “Starting as we mean to go on?”, jointly with the “Beyond Westminster” section of New Socialist, and “The Politics of Contemporary Motherhood”. “Starting as We mean to go on?” will collect and explore experiences of the everyday practices and culture of the movement, addressing how far these reflect and reinforce dominant social practices and values and how far they do and could transcend them, prefiguring new forms of social organisation. “The Politics of Contemporary Motherhood” will draw on a wide and diverse range of experiences in order to grasp the unique and contradictory position of mothers and motherhood in contemporary capitalist society and the political, organisational and strategic consequences of this.

Theory and Strategy

Aims

On Theory

Series

Send pitches to [email protected] Editors: Tom Gann (@Tom_Gann on Twitter).

New Socialist is, and will always be, not for profit. Help us sustain and develop this project by subscribing on Patreon or Donorbox.

New Socialist is, and will always be, not for profit. Help us sustain and develop this project by subscribing on Patreon.

articles

The health of prisoners was already in crisis before the Coronavirus outbreak, what should a radical response be to this life or death issue?

by David Scott, Joe Sim / March 26, 2020 / Theory and Strategy

Whatever the result of the Democratic Primaries, the Socialist Republicanism of Eugene V. Debs offers a way forward in conceptualising socialism as a politics of freedom.

by Tom O'Shea / March 15, 2020 / Theory and Strategy, Economic Democracy

Powerlessness is the root of so many of the problems faced by ordinary people. Community organising can challenge this.

by Tom Williams / March 13, 2020 / Theory and Strategy

Calls to give up distinctively socialist policies for short-term tactical gain are mistaken. The left can learn as much from 2017 as 1983.

by Rory Macqueen / March 4, 2020 / Theory and Strategy

Khan's proposal is an empty gesture that relies on British exceptionalism. This is why the Remain movement failed.

by Sabrina Huck / March 3, 2020 / Theory and Strategy

What would it take to reject capitalist temporality? In Jenny Odell's popular book, Nicole Froio finds a new way to think about productivity, connection, and relationship.

by Nicole Froio / March 2, 2020 / Theory and Strategy, Book Reviews

The Jewish Labour Movement leadership hustings demonstrated the limits of current attitudes towards antisemitism. The left must develop its own analysis of this oppression.

by Joanna Phillips / March 1, 2020 / Theory and Strategy

The support of most Labour leadership candidates for trans rights is welcome. But arguments over 'sex' and 'gender' miss the sheer complexity and bureaucracy of current laws on gender recognition.

by Jules Joanne Gleeson / Feb. 27, 2020 / Theory and Strategy

Keir Starmer looks set to win & Rebecca Long-Bailey’s campaign has stuttered, but the left must not pass up a historic opportunity to transform the party, & resist the inevitable attempts to do so from the right.

by Tom Williams / Feb. 26, 2020 / Theory and Strategy

Keir Starmer's leadership bid gestures towards generosity whilst manipulating our emotions & appealing to our unconscious biases. We should refuse this dishonesty.

by josie sparrow / Feb. 24, 2020 / Theory and Strategy

Blending essay and fiction, Holly Jean Buck argues that ecosocialists must engage with new technologies

by Justin Reynolds / Feb. 20, 2020 / Theory and Strategy, Political Ecologies

The Conservative government may wish to centralise power in Westminster – but there are trends in British society that no tech whizz can fix.

by Adam Blanden / Feb. 12, 2020 / Theory and Strategy

Ashley Bohrer's latest book brings Marxism and intersectionality into dialogue, offering a groundbreaking reading of the two traditions, but a limited view of collective struggle.

by Jules Joanne Gleeson / Jan. 23, 2020 / Theory and Strategy

After the election the real struggle begins, it's time to fight fire with fire. Time for Class War Corbynism.

by Archie Woodrow / Dec. 11, 2019 / Theory and Strategy

Our hope, our love, and our togetherness are powerfully transformative. We must never forget this.

by josie sparrow / Dec. 11, 2019 / Theory and Strategy

How should the Tory moratorium on fracking be understood in the context of their efforts to reshape society and the state to render them even more subject to the logic of the market.

by Gareth Fearn / Dec. 5, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, General Election 2019

The reactionary disavower wants to stake a claim to a mode of rationality which is as equally grounded in feeling and fantasy as the furthest-out-there utopian and moralistic socialists.

by Andrew Key / Dec. 1, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, General Election 2019

Why thousands who had never taken part in political activism before are campaigning for Labour.

by Tom Williams / Nov. 30, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, General Election 2019

Labour's manifesto offers a great deal but when it comes to trans rights there is a worrying ambiguity around the Equality Act and trans healthcare is completely ignored.

by Elaine O'Neill / Nov. 25, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, General Election 2019

There are potential contradictions between decarbonisation in the Global North and the needs of communities in the Global South. How should we handle them?

by Daniel Willis / Nov. 18, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, International & Foreign Policy, Political Ecologies

Debates between partisans of “reform” or “revolution” presume that the Bolsheviks really “smashed” the Tsarist state. What if this isn’t true?

by Ed Rooksby / Nov. 3, 2019 / Theory and Strategy

How collectivism, mutual aid and political education formed a fundamental part of working-class community and culture.

by Rhian E. Jones / Oct. 11, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, Culture, The World Transformed 2019

John McDonnell's UBS report offers a potential framework for a revolution in the ways we conceive of and meet our needs.

by Tom Gann, josie sparrow / Sept. 23, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, Economic Democracy

In advance of the TWT policy lab, what might a socialist media look like and how would it relate to other commitments to a democratised everyday life.

by Leo Watkins, Tom Mills, Dan Hind / Sept. 18, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, Culture, The World Transformed 2019

Leaked documents reveal the Tories' plans to offer teachers a massive pay rise and more power—but at what cost?

by M Jane / Aug. 28, 2019 / Theory and Strategy

The self-image of the celebrity centrist relies on the stereotype of an uneducated, bigoted, 'White Working Class'. It's time for them to take responsibility for their own beliefs.

by Phil McDuff / Aug. 12, 2019 / Theory and Strategy

The achievements of mining communities and unions are celebrated in spite of the conditions in which they arose, not because of them, and this heritage also fuels today's struggles.

by Tom Blackburn, Rhian E. Jones / July 17, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, Beyond Westminster, Culture

The decision not to readmit Williamson offers a sliver of hope that the left of the Party, and its apparatus, may yet be able to tackle antisemitism.

by The Editors / June 30, 2019 / Westminster, Theory and Strategy

Technocratic policy fixes and sci-fi fantasies won’t save us—ecological collapse calls us to rethink our attitudes to extraction, exploitation, and interconnection.

by josie sparrow / June 16, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, Political Ecologies

Radical music, like radical politics, can energise and mobilise us towards collective liberation—but physical and conceptual borders are threatening this potential.

by Fielding Hope / June 4, 2019 / Culture, Theory and Strategy

Owen Hatherley discusses "The Adventures of Owen Hatherley in the Post-Soviet Space" and Tribune magazine.

by Tom Gann, Owen Hatherley / May 31, 2019 / Culture, Theory and Strategy

For political education to work, it must connect theory to what is local, material, and concrete. Southampton Transformed is one of a number of regional events aiming to do this.

by Tom Williams / May 31, 2019 / Theory and Strategy

Ralph Miliband and the new left's analysis of the failures of the 1945 Attlee Government, allows us to predict the obstacles that would face a socialist government and offers ideas how these might be overcome.

by Dan Evans / March 24, 2019 / Theory and Strategy

Works by Doris Lessing and Vivian Gornick on the fall-out around 1956 uncover the passion that's missing from conventional political histories. What can we learn from them?

by Larne Abse Gogarty, Hannah Proctor / March 13, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, Culture

Recent attempts to rehabilitate vitalism, despite claims to be radically ecological, are an example of how fascism re-appropriates the past in an attempt to colonise the future.

by josie sparrow / March 10, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, Political Ecologies

To claim that working-class women don't do politics is to overlook past and present experience of how, and what happens when, they do.

by Rhian E. Jones / March 8, 2019 / Theory and Strategy, Westminster

Send pitches to [email protected]
Editors: Tom Gann (@Tom_Gann on Twitter).

New Socialist is, and will always be, not for profit.
Help us sustain and develop this project by subscribing on Patreon or Donorbox.

New Socialist is, and will always be, not for profit.
Help us sustain and develop this project by subscribing on Patreon.