The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is a Trotskyist political party in the United States, one of several Socialist Equality parties around the world affiliated with the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). The ICFI publishes daily news articles, perspectives and commentaries on the World Socialist Web Site and maintains Mehring Books as publishing house.
The SEP was formed in 1995 by the Workers League, the US supporters of the ICFI. The Workers League had been founded in 1966 by the American Committee for the Fourth International (ACFI), headed by Tim Wohlforth, which emerged out of a split with the Socialist Workers Party, in opposition to the latter's support for Castroism.
According to the party's website, the SEP "seeks not to reform capitalism, but to create a socialist, democratic and egalitarian society through the establishment of a workers' government and the revolutionary transformation of the world economy. We seek to unify workers in the United States and internationally in the common struggle for socialism—that is, for equality and the rational and democratic utilization of the wealth of the planet."
In 2008, the SEP held its official founding congress, where it adopted a statement of principles and official organizational history. It has participated in elections in the United States, including running Jerry White for President and Niles Niemuth for Vice President in 2016, and Niemuth in Michigan's 12th congressional district in 2018.
History
Revolutionary Tendency
In the early 1960s, most American Trotskyists were organized in the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) as part of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). Tim Wohlforth was a youth leader in that party and was opposed to the course of the organization, which was heading toward reunification with the International Secretariat of the Fourth International (ISFI). With others, including James Robertson, he formed the Revolutionary Tendency (RT) within the SWP. It developed links with the Socialist Labour League in Britain, led by Gerry Healy.
They saw the course of the SWP towards a regrouping with the ISFI, which had long been called Pabloite by members of the ICFI as breaking with basic Trotskyist principles. The party leadership at the same time blocked discussion over other issues, such as the SWP's support for Fidel Castro as an "unconscious" Trotskyist.
The ICFI leadership, supported by the RT, argued that if a revolution can be carried out by an unconscious Trotskyist, there was no point of building the Fourth International as the conscious leadership of the working class. The ICFI traced the SWP's support for Cuba to their "regroupment" policy, in which according to the ICFI they attempted to gain the support of the middle class radical supporters of Cuba. The ICFI claimed this was done without a genuine discussion of the principles of the Fourth International.
Reorganized Minority Tendency
The two main leaders of the RT had different evaluations of the SWP. Robertson's position led the SWP to expel him and his supporters first, but he and his supporters did not join the ICFI. Robertson's group went on to form the Spartacist League. The remainder of the tendency, now led by Wohlforth alone, renamed their group the Reorganized Minority Tendency.
Wohlforth and a small handful of his supporters were themselves expelled early in September 1964, proclaiming themselves the American Committee for the Fourth International (ACFI) and launching the biweekly Bulletin of International Socialism. They maintained connections with Gerry Healy and the rest of the ICFI, which they considered the legitimate Trotskyist movement, becoming that group's American section.
Wohlforth and his co-thinkers claimed the split was due to their insistence on a discussion of the decision by the Sri Lankan Lanka Sama Samaja Party to participate in the national government. They characterized this decision as "opportunism" that originated in the "centrist" position of the LSSP during the split between the ISFI and ICFI of 1953.
Workers League
The ACFI grew throughout the 1960s along with most leftist groupings. The ACFI was renamed the Workers League (WL) in 1966 and developed into a nationwide organization with hundreds of members. Its youth work, which led to the development of the Young Socialists, was particularly successful in this period.