International solidarity needed to defend abortion rights in Poland

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In response, a group of parliament former Solidarity union leader who members have been organizing to is now a social democratic member present a motion in the Sejm of parliament and who heads a demanding a referendum on the newly-established Civic Committee issue. The question given to the vot- for a Referendum—is to exert presers would be: "Do you agree to the sure on the Sejm and demonstrate criminalization of abortion?" The the strength of public feelings on the that 74 percent of Poles would The extent of the mass mobilizaanamar "Ax, 4A thia martian Axl finn arnand the rafarendam icene WARSAW, Nov. 26—A drastic In this situation, a broad campaign anti-abortion bill, drafted by has started in recent days to gather Catholic fundamentalists, has passed signatures on a public petition for a Seim and may be presented to mem- At present, such a petition would ing to supporters outside the country bers of parliament for approval at have no effect in law, although a bill to take solidarity action to indicate to on human rights to come before the the Polish government the scale of The bill provides for prison sen- Sejm shortly includes a clause pro- international outrage at the barbaric tences of up to two years for both viding for the calling of a legislation they are trying to introdoctors performing abortions and referendum where one is demanded duce. the women concerned, even in cases by 500,000 people. of rape. The wording of the bill also The purpose of collecting signa- campaign has been to threaten the tures, said Zbigniew Bujak-the breakup of the ruling governmental SOCIALISTACTION DECEMBER 1992 13 the committee stage in Poland's referendum.

any time.

covers the use of IUDs.

...Poland (continued from preceding page) Stalinists" are characteristically unwavering in their support for the capitalist market). Attempting to build an alliance against capitalist restoration together with these forces is thus totally absurd.

Second, that the main obstacle to the development of the left in Eastern Europe has not been the practice of some "reallyexisting socialism" in the abstract, one which did not succeed due to "objective" constraints, but the widespread identification of the anti-worker Stalinist regime, one of terror and oppression with genuine socialism.

This idea was consciously fostered by the Stalinists when they were in power. Today it is being fostered by the pro-capitalists now in power-and by those same Stalinists—in arguing that capitalism is unavoidable since "socialism failed."

Increasing the influence of socialist ideas within the working class involves the most consistent of battles to expose the historic lie that Stalinism and socialism are somehow related (aside from beginning with the letter "s"). The idea that this battle can be waged shoulder-toshoulder with the historic liars themselves is preposterous.

In térms of practice, any orientation to the "post-Stalinists" is a real recipe for disaster. In Poland today, this means abandoning an attempt to intervene in the real struggles of the working class, which were boycotted or sabotaged by the SdRP.

It means cutting yourself off from the best worker militants, and also the best militants in the women's and youth movements. In particular, the youth, who are now becoming very involved in a wide range of democratic struggles, generally tend to be influenced by semi-anarchist ideas more than anything else. Their rejection of Stalinism and the "post-Stalinists" is complete (and fully justified).

Concepts of "group ownership"

The second key question where clarity is essential among socialist forces concerns the whole issue of capitalist restoration and how it is to be fought. Here again, moved by similar ideas to those described above-in this case, a fatalistic conviction most recent opinion polls indicate matter.

auswas uN L uns yucsuuu, ymy 20 percent would answer "yes."

At time of this writing, it seems unlikely that this motion will obtain the necessary majority. In addition, President Lech Walesa, who is Precidant Tarh Waleca who ic empowered to call referenda himself, has declared he will refuse to do so on this issue. that no real struggle against restoration is possible because of the weakness of socialist forces-there are many on the left who have given up the defense of nationalized industry.

Instead, they prefer to argue for various alternative forms of ownership, promoted as a "third way." These are usually forms of "group ownership," e.g. workers' cooperatives, workers' share plans, etc.

In particular, the term "self-management" is often used in this context, which is a complete misunderstanding. Self-management is just what it says, a form of management, not of ownership. In fact, the Polish Trotskyists argue for "self-managed enterprises" in the form put forward during the Polish revolution of 1980-81; i.e., nationalized enterprises under direct democratic workers' control.

The dangers of compromising on the principle of resistance to the privatization of nationalized industry are very serious. Above all, promoting "cooperatives" and other ideas of this type actually means misleading the workers.

Far from cushioning them from the effects of capitalist restoration, these forms of ownership-in the context of the capitalist market, the only economic regulator possible in these circumstances—would quickly result in the workers bearing the full burden of restoration, with the dubious consolation that they themselves would be the ones to cut their own wages and make each other unemployed.

(This is precisely why certain ardent proponents of the free market also support such schemes. They believe they could accelerate the privatization process, quickly leading to the development of new capital concentration and the emergence of a native capitalist class.)

There is a more general theoretical error which underpins the wrong approach described above, namely, the concept that the workers will not struggle to defend nationalized property because they do not identify themselves with a socialist project.

This turns reality on its head. The direct motivation for workers to fight all forms of privatization, including "group" privatization, is not theoretical or ideological, but the defense of their own basic interests. Rather than socialist ideas leading them to defend nationalized property, it is within just a few days of the initiative being launched has caught all Poland by surprise. petitioners are appearing everywhere_mactly vonno wnmen TYAININ People can he seen collecting signatures at places of work, in apartment blocks, outside supermarkets, etc.

Nevertheless, given the determination of the anti-abortion forces, a tough battle lies ahead. This is why Polish women's groups are appealAn additional consequence of the much more likely that their necessary defense of nationalized property will make them more open to socialist ideas.

The truth of this is being confirmed in practice. "Group ownership" concepts are rapidly losing all resonance inside the working class itself. At the beginning of the capitalist restoration program, these concepts seemed attractive to many workers, who associated them with an end to Stalinist state-run inefficiency and greater economic power for the workforce. Now. however, the prevailing trend is for workers to struggle against all forms of privatization; this was seen in the summer strikes.

The slogan increasingly heard in workers' demonstrations and even taken up by sections of the trade-union bureaucracy is. "Defend state industry!" Thus, those who follow in the footsteps of the "post-Stalinists," social democrats, and others in proposing the "moderate" demand of "cooperatives" , etc., are heading in the opposite direction from the workers.

Need for a vanguard party The last question of strategic importance relates to the question of organization. What organizational form should socialists be proposing to maximize the influence of their ideas inside the movements of the workers and the oppressed?

The Polish Trotskyists, for their part, are convinced that what is necessary is a revolutionary vanguard party— this is the lesson of history. Some other forces disagree. Leaving aside the anarchists, who disagree on principle, some currents argue that the discrediting of Stalinism has also discredited the idea of political parties.

They say that the left has to wait for a more opportune moment to begin the process of building a party. Such an approach seems to be common among sectors of the left in other East European countries as well.

This concept could play a fatal role in restricting the capacity of socialists to organize themselves and gain a hearing for their ideas. True, the Stalinists discredited the idea of a Stalinist, bureaucratic-dictatorial party. Well and good!

The idea of a democratic party founded on the Leninist-Trotskyist norms of democratic centralism has never had a chance of being discredited.

PETER TURNLEY coalition. Faced with the mass response to the proposed bill, two of the coalition parties have come out in favor of a referendum, thereby infuriating the fundamentalist Christian National Union, a participant in the coalition government that has been the main force behind the anti-abortion bill from the outset.

It seems extremely likely that the battle for a referendum will shake up Polish politics considerably.-J.S.

In fact, as the limitations of the existing bureaucratized trade unions and the spontaneous, loosely organized social movements become more and more apparent, we believe that the tendency of serious militants will be to demand the creation of a party that can lead the fight against capitalist restoration and attempts to restrict democratic freedoms.

The Polish Trotskyists are committed to just such a project, the construction of such a party. But this will certainly be no easy task.

As the above comments show, the larger "left" formations in Poland are tied to an extremely right-wing version of social democracy, situated firmly in the framework of capitalist restoration. The genuine socialist forces existing in Poland at present are weak, and the seriousness of the debates outlined above indicate that there is still widespread confusion on many basic questions.

Nevertheless, the real hope for the future does not lie in those who have acquired the habit of claiming left-wing credentials while spouting the perverse, warped versions of "socialist" theory espoused by the Stalinists and social democrats.

The militants who can be won to the idea of revolutionary socialist politics in Poland today are first and foremost those who have learned about Stalinism and capitalism the hard way—not from Stalinist textbooks, but through struggle for working-class interests and democratic rights.

These people are to be found in the unions, in the women's movement, and in the youth movement. The Polish Trotskyists have already had significant success in working with these forces, in particular with the youth.

It has proven possible to engage in common action and discussion with young people involved in campaigns against clericalization, racism, and women's oppression, and who also consistently reject both Stalinism and capitalism.

The mass campaign now beginning in defense of abortion rights, which promises to be the largest social movement since the early 1980s, will offer a new opportunity to begin laying the basis for the development of revolutionary Marxist forces in the most reliable way possiblethrough direct mass struggle.