learn history or else you're doomed to repeat it, here's one lineage of the family tree I read about on wiki:
- American Workers Party merge with Trotskyist CLA (Opposition), forming WPUS
- WPUS dissolves to do entryism, joining SPA social democrats to change it (Oehler/Lens form RWL)
- Trots split from SPA to form SWA
- Trots split, those who didn't support Russia invading Finland form third camp Workers Party (Shachtman's 40% minority of SPA and Young Peoples Socialist League)
- WP realized they're too small to be a party, renamed to Independent Socialist League
6a. Some SWP join WP due to "ultraleftism" (?)
6b. Some WP join SWP due to lack of Leninism, but their "ultraleftism" (?) messes with the vibes of the orthodox SWP Trots
"Criss cross!" - Strangers On A Train (1951). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqqspC4Sf50
- Trots split, forming the Correspondence Publishing Committee.
- Trots split after CLR James was deported, forming News and Letters Committees
- CPC splits, James loyalists renamed Facing Reality
- Trots split, the Boggs couple reform CPC as Maoist third worldist
based Boggs:
Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs, who were married from 1953 until his death in 1993, built what Ibram X. Kendi called "a durable partnership that was at once marital, intellectual, and political. It was a genuine partnership of equals, remarkable not only for its unique pairing or for its longevity, but also for its capacity to continually generate theoretical reflection and modes of activist engagement."
One of the wildest things to come out of all the splits is that the WWP split from SWP because the WWP were supportive of the USSR intervention in Hungary and the Cultural Revolution. They were Trots who were supportive of the USSR, wild shit. I read something from one of the many splinter groups that decided to rename themselves Liberation Road from Freedom Road after a split and wanted to disassociate themselves from the other group called... Freedom Road.
Canada also has two Communist Parties, the CPC and CPC-ML. They haven't been able to field candidates for every riding for many, many decades. We also have the Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada and the Revolutionary Party of Canada - Organizing Committee, they split but have the same name because one group held on to the website, lol.
All these groups have way under 1000 members, most are lucky to have 100 active members that aren't just leadership and admin, and most only have a couple chapters that are more than a reading group for theory and a social club where you sing communist songs.
There's also a bunch of Trot orgs in Canada too. I don't know the specifics as well as the communist parties, but Socialist Action (who actually posts on c/canada lol) and Fightback (IMT associated) are the big ones IIRC
I like them too and I pay dues but it often feels like they live and orbit in Ontario + Quebec, rarely feels like they do much where I live in Western Canada. The most I've gotten out of it is to attend such and such protest or strike/lock out, attend an international women's day zoom meeting, attend communism 101 zoom lectures. Fight Back is more present and have public lectures but I've heard of problems from them out east too - that and their presence is usually just hawking the newspaper or attempting entryism to the NDP, lol. RCP/PCR might as well just be in Montreal.
No group ever seems to do much praxis, just go to a protest with your communist tendency flag and then go home or go to a meeting and talk about which book you read last week (which is often too much for membership to do...) Talk about mutual aid with other members, can't do it, leadership is distant or doesn't care, talk about anything other than attending protests twice a year, no interest, talk about union organizing, everybody's a grad student or works for the federal government so they're already in a union, talk about getting into union leadership, no interest. It's frustrating out here and this is apparently the most advanced section of the working class that's supposed to be the vanguard of the revolution. Can't even call them Menshiviks, it's a bunch of clueless Narodniks
RCP/PCR might as well just be in Montreal
It is just Montreal now, after the RCP split the RSM dissolved and just the transphobes on the Montreal side were left clinging to the name. There's apparently a small splinter from the RSM trying to entryism the CPC but they've been kinda quiet
