Publications Index | Encyclopedia of Trotskyism | Marxists’ Internet Archive
DRAFT INTRODUCTION ONLY: Publication of the Alliance for Workers Liberty in the United Kingdom. The group has been identified with the theorist Sean Matgamna throughout its history. It emphasises working-class political independence, radical democracy and anti-Stalinism. The AWL publishes the newspaper Solidarity as well as the magazine Workers’s Liberty. The AWL traces its origins to the document What we are and what we must become, written by the tendency’s founder Sean Matgamna in 1966 in which he argued that the Revolutionary Socialist League, by then effectively the Militant tendency, was too inward looking and needed to become more activist in its orientation. The RSL refused to circulate the document and, with a handful of supporters, he left to form the Workers’ Fight group. Espousing left unity, they accepted an offer in 1968 to form a faction within the International Socialists lead by Tony Cliff as the Trotskyist Tendency before being expelled from the IS 3 years later.
Outside the IS, increased in size, the group resumed publication of Workers' Fight, now as a printed paper, not as was previously the case as a duplicated journal, began publication of a theoretical journal entitled Permanent Revolution and made efforts to publish a small number of workplace-oriented publications in specific industries.
At the end of 1975, it fused with the smaller Workers Power group, formerly the Left Faction within the IS, to form the International-Communist League. A small group of members in Bolton and Wigan opposed to the merger formed the Marxist Worker group, which later fused with the International Marxist Group. Workers' Fight was renamed Workers' Action and went over to a weekly publication schedule and the group's quarterly magazine was now entitled International-Communist. It joined with other groups that considered themselves to the left of the USFI in the Necessary International Initiative. In 1976, two-thirds of the ex-Workers Power group's members left in a dispute over Labour Party work and resumed a separate existence. The I-CL increased its activity within the Labour Party, and in 1978 helped set up the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory. This campaign proved relatively popular and initially involved a range of figures on the left of the Labour Party who wrote for and supported its paper, Socialist Organiser. After a dispute over whether local government rates should be increased to offset cuts made by the Thatcher government, most of the Labour left figures - including Ken Livingstone - withdrew from Socialist Organiser until the I-CL was the only force involved in what was now its central publication. Both Workers' Action and International-Communist were by 1979 discontinued, reflecting the group's entrism into the Labour Party.
In 1981 the I-CL fused with Alan Thornett's Workers Socialist League which had now also entered the Labour Party. The new organisation, also called the Workers' Socialist League, mostly worked through the Socialist Organiser Alliance. It also produced a theoretical journal, Workers' Socialist Review. In 1984, the groups split apart. The key issue was the Falklands War: most of the former I-CL argued for the defeat of both sides; most of the former WSL supported a victory for Argentina. The tensions had also been strained over questions of internal democracy and differences over the national question.
The Socialist Organiser Alliance grew from the broad left Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory. By 1983 the paper had become identified with Matgamna's supporters, leading to a split with Labour left politicians such as Ken Livingstone over the GLC's policy of increasing rates to offset cuts in central government grants to local councils.
The group organised its student work through the National Organisation of Labour Students (NOLS), forming Socialist Students in NOLS (SSiN) to campaign within the National Union of Students.
Throughout the 1980s, the group had reassessed its politics and reappraised the Third Camp tradition of heterodox and dissident Trotskyists including Max Shachtman and Hal Draper. The group adopted a two-state position on Israel-Palestine, and in 1988, moved away from its original position that the Stalinist states were "deformed or degenerated workers states". By the 1990s the majority of organisation had adopted a bureaucratic collectivist analysis, with a minority holding a state capitalist position.
Socialist Organiser was banned by the Labour Party in 1990. In response to the ban, the Socialist Organiser Alliance dissolved. In 1992, the editorial board of Socialist Organiser launched an organisation known as the Alliance for Workers' Liberty. Since 1999 the AWL has stood candidates in local and general elections, either through left unity initiatives such as the Socialist Alliance, Socialist Alliance Democracy Platform and Socialist Green Unity Coalition or independently. It has also maintained a focus on pushing affiliated trade unions to assert themselves against the Labour leadership and was involved in the establishment of the Labour Representation Committee in 2004 to which it is affiliated.
—from wikipedia entry on the AWL
These digital issues of Workers Liberty and Solidarity are reproduced here with the kind permission of the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty, the journals’ publishers,. There are some issues that are missing and none of the ones prior to No. 118 have yet been digitized (nor the predecessor publications of the AWL) since they were created in the first place in a digital format. These will have to be scanned by the AWL.
Vol. 3, No. 0, September 22, 2005
Vol. 3, No. 3, March 3, 2006
Vol. 3, No. 5, June 5, 2006
Vol. 3, No. 10, March 10, 2007
Vol. 3, No. 11, April 11, 2007
Vol. 3, No. 11 (differently organized pages), April 11, 2007
Vol. 3, No. 12, , 2007
Vol. 3, No. 15, June 12, 2007
Vol. 3, No. 16, September 2007
Vol. 3, No. 17, January 2008
Vol. 3, No. 18, April 2008
Vol. 3, No. 19, May 2008
Vol. 3, No. 21, July 2008
Vol. 3, No. 22, September 2008
Vol. 3, No. 23, July 2009
Vol. 3, No. 24, October 2009
Vol. 3, No. 25, November 2009
Vol. 3, No. 26, December 2009
Vol. 3, No. 27, January 2009
Vol. 3, No. 28, March 2010
Vol. 3, No. 29, June 2010
Vol. 3, No. 30, July 2010
Vol. 3, No. 31, July, (misprint on month, should be August) 2010
Vol. 3, No. 32, January 2011
Vol. 3, No. 33, May 2011
Vol. 3, text from issue No. 34,
Vol. 3, No. 35, November 2011
Vol. 3, No. 36, No. date
Vol. 3, No. 37, May 2012
Vol. 3, No. 38, March 2013
Vol. 3, No. 39, April 2013
Vol. 3, No. 40, June 2013
Vol. 3, No. 41, August 2013
Vol. 3, No. 42, January 2014
Vol. 3, No. 45, October, 2014
Vol. 3, No. 46, November 2014
Vol. 3, No. 47, December 2014
Vol. 3, No. 48, December/January 2014
Vol. 3, No. 49, October 2015
Vol. 3, No. 50, November 2015
Vol. 3, No. 51, December 2015
Vol. 3, No. 53, March 2016
Vol. 3, No. 54, June 2016
Vol. 3, No. 55, October 2016
Vol. 3, No. 118, September 27, 2007
Vol. 3, No. 119, October 13, 2007
Vol. 3, No. 120, October 25, 2007
Vol. 3, No. 121, November 8, 2007
Vol. 3, No. 122, November 22, 2007
Vol. 3, No. 123, December 3, 2007
Vol. 3, No. 124, January 10, 2008
Vol. 3, No. 125, January 24, 2008
Vol. 3, No. 126, February 7, 2008
Vol. 3, No. 127, February 21, 2008
Vol. 3, No. 128, March 6, 2008
Vol. 3, No. 129, March 20, 2008
Vol. 3, No. 157, 20 August 2009
Vol. 3, No. 158, 10 September 2009
Vol. 3, No. 159, 24 September 2009
Vol. 3, No. 160, 8 October 2009
Vol. 3, No. 161, 22 October 2009
Vol. 3, No. 162, 5 November 2008
Vol. 3, No. 163, 16 November 2009
Vol. 3, No. 164, 10 December 2009
Vol. 3, No. 165, 14 January 2010
Vol. 3, No. 166, 4 February 2010
Vol. 3, No. 169, 18 March 2010
Vol. 3, No. 170, 1 April 2010
Vol. 3, No. 171, 15 April 2010
Vol. 3, No. 172, 29 April 2010
Vol. 3, No. 173, 13 May 2010
Vol. 3, No. 174, 27 May 2010
Vol. 3, No. 175, 10 June 2010
Vol. 3, No. 176, 24 June 2010
Vol. 3, No. 181, 23 September 2010
Vol. 3, No. 182, 7 October 2010
Vol. 3, No. 183, 21 October 2010
Vol. 3, No. 184, 4 November 2010
Vol. 3, No. 175 [mistakingly labled No. 177], 18 November 2010
Vol. 3, No. 186, 2 December 2010
Vol. 3, No. 187, 16 December 2010
Vol. 3, No. 188, 12 January 2011
Vol. 3, No. 189, 19 January 2011
Vol. 3, No. 190, 26 January 2011
Vol. 3, No. 191, 2 February 2011
Vol. 3, No. 192, 9 February 2011
Vol. 3, No. 193, 16 February 2011
Vol. 3, No. 194, 23 February 2011
Vol. 3, No. 195, 2 March 2011
Vol. 3, No. 196, 9 March 2011
Vol. 3, No. 197, 16 March 2011
Vol. 3, No. 198, 23 March 2011
Vol. 3, No. 199, 30 March 2011
Vol. 3, No. 200, 6 April 2011
Vol. 3, No. 201, 20 April 2011
Vol. 3, No. 202, 4 May 2011
Vol. 3, No. 203, 11 May 2011
No. 210, 29 June 2011
No. 211, 8 July 2011
No. 212, 20 July 2011
No. 213, 3 August 2011
No. 214, 24 August 2011
No. 215, 7 September 2011
No. 216, 14 September 2011
No. 217, 21 September 2011
No. 218, 28 September 2011
No. 219, 5 October 2011
No. 220, 12 October 2011
No. 221, 19 October 2011
No. 222, 26 October 2011
No. 223, 2 November 2011
No. 224, 9 November 2011
No. 225, 17 November 2011
No. 226, 23 November 2011
No. 227, 1 December 2011
No. 228, 14 December 2011
No. 229, 11 January 2012
No. 230, 18 January 2012
No. 231, 25 January 2012
No. 232, 1 February 2012
No. 233, 8 February 2012
No. 234, 15 February 2012
No. 235, 22 February 2012
No. 236, 29 February 2012
No. 237, 7 March 2012
No. 238, 14 March 2012
No. 239, 21 March 2012
No. 240, 28 March 2012
No. 241, 11 April 2012
No. 242, 18 April 2012
No. 243, 25 April 2012
No. 244, 2 May 2012
No. 245, 9 May
No. 246, 16 May 2012
No. 247, 23 May 2012
No. 248, 6 June 2012
No. 249, 13 June 2012
No. 250, 20 June 2012
No. 251, 29 June 2012
No. 252, 11 July 2012
No. 253, 1 August 2012
No. 254, 22 August 2012
No. 255, 5 September 2012
No. 256, 12 September 2012
No. 257, 19 September 2012
No. 258, 26 September 2012
No. 259, 3 October 2012
No. 260, 10 October 2012
No. 261, 17 October 2012
No. 262, 26 October 2012
No. 263, 7 November 2012
No. 264, 14 November 2012
No. 265, 21 November 2012
No. 266, 28 November 2013
No. 267, 5 December 2012
No. 268, 12 December 2012
No. 269, 9 January 2013
No. 270, 16 January 2013
No. 271, 23 January 2013
No. 272, 30 January 2013
No. 273, 6 February 2013
No. 274, 13 February 2013
No. 275, 20 February 2013
No. 276, 27 February
No. 260, 6 March 2013
No. 278, 13 March 2013
No. 279, 20 March 2013
No. 280, 27 March 2013
No. 281, 10 April 2013
No. 282, 17 April 2013
No. 283, 24 April 2013
No. 284, 1 May 2013
No. 285, 8 May 2013
No. 286, 15 May 2013
No. 287, 29 May 2013
No. 288, 5 June 2013
No. 290, 21 June 2013
No. 291, 3 July 2013
No. 292, 17 July 2013
No. 293, 7 August 2013
No. 294, 28 August 2013
No. 295, 11 September 2013
No. 296, 18 September 2013
No. 297, 25 September 2013
No. 298, 2 October 2013
No. 299, 9 October 2013
No. 300, 16 October 2013
No. 301, 25 October 2013
No. 302, 6 November 2013
No. 303, 13 November 2013
No. 304, 20 November 2013
No. 305, 27 November 2013
No. 306, 4 December 2013
No. 307, 11 December 2013
No. 308, 8 January 2014
No. 309, 15 January 2014
No. 310, 22 January 2014
No. 311, 29 January 2014
No. 312, 5 February 2014
No. 313, 12 February 2014
No. 314, 26 February
No. 315, 5 March 2014
No. 316, 12 March 2014
No. 317, 17 March 2014
No. 318, 26 March 2014
No. 319, 2 April 2014
No. 320, 9 April 2014
No. 321, 23 April 2014
No. 322, 30 April 2014
No. 323, 7 May 2014
No. 324, 14 May 2014
No. 325, 21 May 2014
No. 326, 4 June 2014
No. 327, 11 June 2014
No. 328, 18 June 2014
No. 329, 25 June 2014
No. 330, 4 July 2014
No. 331, 16 July 2014
No. 332, 28 July 2014
No. 333, 13 August 2014
No. 334, 1 September 2014
No. 335, 10 September 2014
No. 336, 17 September 2014
No. 337, 24 September 2014
No. 338, 1 October 2014
No. 339, 8 October 2014
No. 340, 15 October 2014
No. 341, 25 October 2014
No. 342, 5 November 2014
No. 343, 12 November 2014
No. 344, 19 November 2014
No. 345, 26 November
No. 347, 10 December 2014
Last updated on 16 August 2016