Back in 2013, some dissidents within the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) founded the Renewal Faction, aimed at democratising the organisation. This post reveals what happened when they had the temerity to face up to the leadership. I do not wish to rehash all the details on here. People are free to read the whole post for themselves. Suffice to say, the leadership reacted not with good-faith engagement but slander, abuse and ultimately, expulsion of the dissidents in 2014. The following passage confirms Tourish’s assertion that there is no ‘right’ way to disagree in these sects:
‘Sid P, for example, wrote a couple of “critical” documents during the Pre-Convention discussion, for which he was praised at Convention for demonstrating the “right way to disagree.” But if you read his contributions carefully, you will see, of course, that he never actually disagrees with anything. He points out that the ISO is operationally weak and stagnant–which is indisputable–but quite self-consciously declines to offer any political explanation. Hence the “right way to disagree” with the leadership in the ISO is…not to disagree with the leadership of the ISO. Members who develop criticisms either spare themselves a lot of trouble and leave–an admirably sensible course of action–or become so inured to the “private use of reason” that they’re rendered worthless as critics; their usefulness, in fact, is solely to the leadership faction, since they lenify the abuse meted out to any real opposition. (“I’m no loyalist, I have many disagreements myself–but these people went too far!”)’
This is a practically identical internal regime to that faced by myself in the IMT and people in other Trotskyist sects. Raising dissent is made so difficult that dissidents give up and leave. If they force the issue, they are expelled. And I had IMT members do precisely what Sid P did when they said that they too had criticisms of the organisation, but that I had somehow gone too far. I did after all breach discipline by daring to share criticisms of the organisation with hundreds of people on Louis Proyect’s Marxmail (which I had no idea IMT members were a part of). A truly unforgivable sin.
The faction members actually created a list of the objections with which they were met when they tried to raise criticisms which are practically identical to the objections I faced. Dissidents in Trot sects are invariably told that they are wasting the time of the organisation, that they are attacking or undermining the organisation, that they are are in league with the enemy, that they are on their way out anyway (a veiled threat that they will be expelled or forced to leave unless they fall in line), that they are not raising their objections the right way, and so on and so forth. One of the most comical is that they should have raised their criticisms earlier – precisely what my branch secretary told me. That is funny when you think about how peer pressure in the organisation deliberately suppresses criticism and discourages dissidents from coming forward with their opinions. Most people prefer to leave than remain in such a toxic environment.
Trotskyism is truly cultish.