Socialist Action is a Trotskyist political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It publishes the monthly Socialist Action newspaper, has a youth affiliate called Youth for Socialist Action (YSA), and is associated with the Fourth International.

Origins

Socialist Action was founded in 1983 by a group of veteran socialist activists who state that they were expelled from the Socialist Workers Party for defending the ideas of Permanent Revolution

Permanent Revolution

Permanent revolution is a term within Marxist theory, established in usage by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels by at least 1850 but which has since become most closely associated with Leon Trotsky. The use of the term by different theorists is not identical...

, class independence, and continued support for the reunified Fourth International

Reunified Fourth International

The Fourth International is a Trotskyist international. In 1963, the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International, the International Secretariat and the International Committee, reunited, electing a United Secretariat of the Fourth International...

.

Electoral campaigns

Socialist Action has run candidates for elected office on a number of occasions. It views electoral campaigns as a way to promote socialist politics, as well as to advocate on behalf of issues that the organization is promoting. As a result of legal challenges, Socialist Action does not have to disclose who the financial supporters of its election campaigns are because of demonstrable government harassment of past socialist candidates.

Socialist Action is the only Trotskyist group in the U.S. that has gotten a member elected to public office. SA member Adam Ritscher was elected to the Douglas County Board of Supervisors in Northern Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 in April 2006. Other examples of Socialist Action election campaigns are Jeff Mackler's 2006 write-in campaign for U.S. Senate in Northern California

Northern California

Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...

 and Sylvia Weinstein's 1988 campaign for San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

 Board of Education, in which she won 21,000 votes. In 2010, Socialist Action ran Christopher Hutchinson for the Connecticut's 1st congressional district

Connecticut's 1st congressional district

Connecticut's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the north-central part of the state, the district is anchored by the state capital of Hartford....

. Hutchinson gained 955 votes or 0,42%.

Political work

Socialist Action has gone through a variety of splits and fusions over the course of its history. Currently it is actively involved in a wide range of social justice movements in the United States. SA members are in leadership positions in a range of groups that make up these movements, such as the National Assembly to End the U.S. Wars & Occupations, the United National Antiwar Conference, the Climate Crisis Coalition, the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Lynne Stewart Defense Committee, Grassroots Immigrant Justice Network, and a number of trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 locals.

Socialist Action has its national office in San Francisco. It also publishes various books and pamphlets through its publishing arm, Socialist Action Books.

External links

• Socialist Action
• Socialist Action newspaper
• Youth for Socialist Action Youth section for SA