Mick Armstrong
Encyclopedia
Mick Armstrong is a socialist activist and author based in Melbourne
, Australia
. He is one of the founding members of the Trotskyist organisation Socialist Alternative
(SA) and was also one of the Austudy Five
.
student, he joined the International Socialists initiated by Tom O'Lincoln
from the U.S. and others. The group followed the International Socialist Tendency
(IST), founded by Tony Cliff
of the British Socialist Workers Party
and was the precursor to International Socialist Organisation
(ISO), where Armstrong played a leading role. In 1995, he and several other leading members, including Sandra Bloodworth
and Jill Sparrow
, were expelled from the organisation by the ISO National Executive over debates about the group's way forward. Armstrong and the other expelled members immediately went on to form SA, still identifying with the IST while not being formally affiliated.
and the history of the Australian student movement from a Marxist perspective. One of his books: From Little Things Big Things Grow: Strategies for building revolutionary socialist organisations, has proven to be controversial amongst Australia's far left
for its assertion that socialist organisations can not hope to be more than propaganda groups in periods of low-class struggle
and SA's orientation to students to begin to lay the foundations for building a vanguard party
as a result of this analysis. Armstrong insists however, that for committed socialists "there is no alternative but to organise the forces that do currently exist" and SA's perspective "is an entirely necessary stage Marxists have to go through to achieve our ultimate objective of building a mass working-class party."
movement and is a member of SA's National Executive. He also contributes to the e-journal Marxist Interventions.
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. He is one of the founding members of the Trotskyist organisation Socialist Alternative
Socialist Alternative (Australia)
Socialist Alternative is a Trotskyist political organisation in Australia formed by an expulsion from the former International Socialist Organisation in 1995. It is one of the largest groups of the Australian far Left, claiming to have the largest active membership. With branches across...
(SA) and was also one of the Austudy Five
Austudy Five
The Austudy Five was the epithet given to a group of five activists arrested in 1992 at a National Union of Students national demonstration in Melbourne, Australia. NUS had called the demonstration around the Keating Government's proposed abolition of Austudy as a student grant to be replaced by a...
.
Early years and co-founding of Socialist Alternative
Armstrong became politically active in the late 60s around the student and anti-Vietnam War movements. In 1974, as a La Trobe UniversityLa Trobe University
La Trobe University is a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1964 by an Act of Parliament to become the third oldest university in the state of Victoria. The main campus of La Trobe is located in the Melbourne suburb of Bundoora; two other major campuses are...
student, he joined the International Socialists initiated by Tom O'Lincoln
Tom O'Lincoln
Tom O'Lincoln is an American born Marxist historian, author and one of the founders of the International Socialist Tendency in Australia. He attended UC Berkeley in 1966 and joined the International Socialists who had participated in the Free Speech Movement two years earlier...
from the U.S. and others. The group followed the International Socialist Tendency
International Socialist Tendency
The International Socialist Tendency is an international grouping of unorthodox Trotskyist organisations based around the ideas of Tony Cliff, founder of the Socialist Workers Party in Britain...
(IST), founded by Tony Cliff
Tony Cliff
Tony Cliff , was a Trotskyist who was a founding member of the Socialist Review Group which went on to become the Socialist Workers Party...
of the British Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
and was the precursor to International Socialist Organisation
International Socialist Organisation (Australia)
The International Socialist Organisation was an Australian Trotskyist political organisation, founded in 1971, originally as the Marxist Workers' Group until it dissolved to form Solidarity in 2008 with two other socialist organisations...
(ISO), where Armstrong played a leading role. In 1995, he and several other leading members, including Sandra Bloodworth
Sandra Bloodworth
Sandra Bloodworth is a labour historian and socialist activist, based in Melbourne, Australia. She has been involved in radical politics since the 1970s, where she has played roles in the women's, Aboriginal, anti-uranium mining and trade union movements...
and Jill Sparrow
Jill Sparrow
Jill Sparrow , has been active as a socialist in Melbourne since 1991. She helped organise protests against the Gulf War and was involved in free education campaigns throughout the early 1990s, as well as participating in nearly every left-wing political cause over the past decade .-Biography:Having...
, were expelled from the organisation by the ISO National Executive over debates about the group's way forward. Armstrong and the other expelled members immediately went on to form SA, still identifying with the IST while not being formally affiliated.
Publications
Armstrong has authored several books critiquing the Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
and the history of the Australian student movement from a Marxist perspective. One of his books: From Little Things Big Things Grow: Strategies for building revolutionary socialist organisations, has proven to be controversial amongst Australia's far left
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
for its assertion that socialist organisations can not hope to be more than propaganda groups in periods of low-class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
and SA's orientation to students to begin to lay the foundations for building a vanguard party
Vanguard party
A vanguard party is a political party at the forefront of a mass action, movement, or revolution. The idea of a vanguard party has its origins in the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels...
as a result of this analysis. Armstrong insists however, that for committed socialists "there is no alternative but to organise the forces that do currently exist" and SA's perspective "is an entirely necessary stage Marxists have to go through to achieve our ultimate objective of building a mass working-class party."
Later years
Armstrong remains active in the anti-warAnti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
movement and is a member of SA's National Executive. He also contributes to the e-journal Marxist Interventions.
Selected books
- From Little Things Big Things Grow: Strategies for building revolutionary socialist organisations, Socialist Alternative, Melbourne, 2007.
- The Labor Party: A Marxist Analysis, (with Tom BrambleTom BrambleTom Bramble is a long-term socialist activist and author based in Queensland, Australia. He is a senior lecturer in Industrial Relations at the University of Queensland. He holds a Ph.D. from La Trobe University in the same field and won the University medal in Economics from the University of...
) Socialist Alternative, Melbourne, 2007. - 1,2,3, What are we fighting for? The Australian student movement from its origins to the 1970s, Socialist Alternative, Melbourne, 2001.
- The origins of the Australian Labor Party, Socialist Alternative, Sydney, 1998.
Selected articles
- What will the rise of Obama mean for US politics?, Socialist Alternative, Edition 130, July 2008.
- Is there anything radical about anarchism?, Socialist Democracy, 14 July 2007.
External links
- Socialist Alternative website
- Armstrong on Polish Marxism (audio file)
- Korea: the class struggle today (audio file)