Johnson-Forest Tendency internal bulletin, 1947, July 17-31; August 7, [18], 21; September 4, 11, 18, 25, 29

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Summary

Creators:
Johnson-Forest Tendency (1940-1950)
Abstract:
The collection comprises issues of the internal bulletin of the Johnson-Forest Tendency, a Marxist-Humanist tendency within the Workers Party and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) led by C.L.R. James, Raya Dunayevskaya, and Grace Lee Boggs.
Extent:
.42 Linear Feet and 1 box
Language:
Collection material is in English.
Preferred citation:

For information about citing archival material, see the Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.

Background

Scope and content:

Vol. 1, No. 1, 3-4, 6-12.

Biographical / historical:

The Johnson-Forest Tendency was a Marxist-Humanist tendency, first of the Workers Party and then of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) founded by C.L.R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya. In the late 1930s, a minority faction of the SWP began to reject Trotsky's definition of the Soviet Union as a "degenerated workers' state" which warranted "unconditional defense" from Soviet-sympathizing organizations. In 1940, James and Dunayevskaya left the SWP with other members of the minority faction led by Max Shachtman to form the Workers Party. The majority in the Workers Party, led by Shachtman, believed that the class structure of the Soviet Union could be characterized by "bureaucratic collectivism," whereas a minority led by James and Dunayevskaya, along with Grace Lee Boggs, believed the Soviet Union was capitalist. This dissenting view led the minority to rejoin the SWP in 1947, where the tendency maintained its minority identity by advocating for an emphasis on Marxism within the Trotskyist SWP. The tendency remained in the SWP until 1950 when it left to establish its own organization called Correspondence. The Johnson-Forest Tendency was named after C.L.R. James's pseudonym, J.R. Johnson, and Raya Dunayevskaya's pseudonym, Freddie Forest.

Bibliography:

Goldner, L. (2004). Introduction to the Johnson-Forest Tendency and the Background to "Facing Reality." Break Their Haughty Power. https://web.archive.org/web/20041201071446/http://home.earthlink.net/~lrgoldner/johnson.html

The "Johnson-Forest Tendency." Marxist Humanism and the "New Left", Marxist Internet Archive. https://web.archive.org/web/20040823044508/http://marx.org/subject/humanism/index.htm

Custodial history:

The Johnson-Forest tendency internal bulletin was donated to the Holt Labor Library in San Francisco, California between 1992 and 2019, and were acquired by the Gerth Archives and Special Collections at California State University, Dominguez Hills, in 2019.

Processing information:

The collection was processed by Allison Ransom in September 2020.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in one series.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred citation:

For information about citing archival material, see the Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.

Location of this collection:
University Library, 5th Flr (5039)
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, CA 90747, US
Contact:
(310) 243-3895
archives@csudh.edu
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