The Freedom Socialist Party (FSP) is a trotskyist and socialist feminist political party in the United States. FSP formed in 1966, when its members split from the Socialist Workers Party. FSP views the struggles of women, people of color and sexual minorities as intrinsic to the struggle of the working class. Notable FSP members include Megan Cornish, Heidi Durham, Richard S. Fraser, and Clara Fraser.

Membership

FSP has branches in the United States, as well as Australia, England, Germany and New Zealand. FSP is affiliated with Radical Women, a socialist feminist organization.

History

Background

The immediate forerunner of FSP was the Kirk-Kaye tendency within the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), led by Richard S. Fraser (Kirk) and Clara Fraser (Kaye) who were then married. The Kirk-Kaye tendency primarily disagreed with SWP leadership on three points: The Kirk-Kaye tendency supported revolutionary integrationism, in contrast to the SWP's support for Black nationalism and the Nation of Islam. The Kirk-Kaye tendency argued that socialist feminism must be a top priority for socialist organizations. And the Kirk-Kaye tendency claimed that the SWP was undemocratic.

Founding

FSP formed in 1966, when its members split from the Socialist Workers Party. The party's Seattle branch, with support from individuals in other cities, split off from the SWP over what it described as the SWP's entrenched opportunism and undemocratic methods. FSP advocated for class solidarity of Black and white workers, called for a greatly expanded understanding of and attention to women's emancipation, and urged the anti-war movement to support the socialist, anti-colonial aims of the Vietnamese Revolution. FSP became a pole of attraction for Seattle leftists opposed to the SWP's internal politics and established a home at Freeway Hall. The party formed Radical Women with the dual goal of building a revolutionary socialist feminist organization and teaching women the organizational and leadership skills that were often denied to them in male-dominated organizations.

Subsequent history

In 1978, FSP joined the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party (CRSP), an attempted united front of Trotskyist parties. In 1980, CRSP collapsed. In 1989, FSP founded the United Front Against Fascism (UFAF), an anti-fascist organization that included a broad coalition of the Left, the LGBT community, labor unionists, feminists, people of color, Jews, and civil libertarians. UFAF took the lead in mobilizing against neo-Nazis in the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2003, Lyndon LaRouche filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that FSP's Red Letter Press and its managing editor, Helen Gilbert, had violated campaign finance laws. Gilbert had issued a pamphlet critical of LaRouche's ideology and political history. The FEC found LaRouche's complaint to be without merit and dismissed it.

Ideology

FSP is a Trotskyist revolutionary socialist organization. FSP leaders Clara Fraser and Gloria Martin hoped to build a Leninist party that is "socialist-feminist" in ideology and practice.

Election results

FSP has fielded electoral candidates in the United States for local, state, and federal offices. FSP candidates usually run as official FSP candidates. No FSP candidate has yet won an election.

Presidential elections

In 2016, FSP critically endorsed Jeff Mackler of Socialist Action for president. In 2020, FSP again critically endorsed Jeff Mackler of Socialist Action for president. In 2024, FSP declined to make a presidential endorsement and instead suggested voters spoil their ballots by writing-in "free Palestine."

Congressional elections

State legislature elections

Local elections

In 1991, the Seattle FSP ran two members for Seattle City Council, who campaigned on guaranteed income for families living in poverty, community control of the police, and domestic partnership rights for same-sex couples.

Archives

Articles and interviews

Books