30.11.1995

International polemical journal Call for sponsors

Issued at the Convention by Armani Arani for the Organisation of Revolutionary Workers of Iran (Rahe Kargar) and John Bridge for the Communist Party of Great Britain (PCC), at the Convention

WITH ALL the problems the world communist movement has faced during the decade since the fall of the USSR, the way forward for communists can be neither bickering nor the abandonment of communist theory and practice. But nor can we go forward along the same path which has led us to such defeats.

Before our movement can once again give effective leadership to the mass of working people, the sorting out of ideas and the learning of hard lessons is a vital necessity. This requires dialogue throughout the world communist and workers’ movement. At present each party has its own internal discussions, but these discussions are, generally speaking, not readily available to other parties in other countries.

That is why the Organisation of Revolutionary Workers of Iran (Rahe Kargar) and the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain are proposing to launch the International Polemic Journal as a vehicle for international discussion between communist organisations and individual communists around the world.

The journal must carry open discussion of different opinions. Polemic must not be restricted. There must be no limitations placed on the matters to be debated. There can be no sacred cows, no forbidden areas - no topics which cannot be discussed, no names which must not be criticised (This is the lesson of the failure of the International Information Bulletin which was launched in May 1991 with our participation, but which failed because of the unworkable formula that articles could only be published after the consent of all the sponsoring organisations).

We call on organisations and individuals to join as sponsors of the International Polemic Journal.

The editorial board will consist of one representative of each sponsoring organisation. For practical reasons and to avoid excessive costs, editorial board meetings will be occasional, perhaps every year or every two years. All representatives need not attend every meeting, as communications will be maintained by such means as faxes, modems, e-mails and internet.

The International Polemic Journal can lead towards rapprochement between the different trends in the world communist movement, and towards the theoretical clarity which will be necessary if communist practice and organisation are to be reforged and extended throughout the world.

We invite all participants in the Anti-Imperialist Convention to take the opportunity to discuss this proposal with us personally.

We do not consider these proposals final, but as a stepping stone to build towards the publication of the International Polemic Journal.