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Workers World Party (WWP) is a communist or socialist party in the United States founded in 1959 by Sam Marcy. They claim to embrace the political philosophy of Marxism-Leninism but others characterize the group as being Stalinist. The WWP formed as a split from the Socialist Workers Party in 1958 over a series of long-standing differences (among them, the support of Sam Marcy for Henry Wallace's Progressive Party in 1948, the positive view they held of the Chinese Revolution led by Mao Zedong, and their support for the Soviet intervention in Hungary in 1956).

Initially the WWP was confined to the Buffalo area, where it had constituted the Buffalo and two other smaller branches of the SWP, but expanded in the 1960s. It had a well known youth movement called Youth Against War and Fascism which attracted much support with its campaigning against the Vietnam War.

Although in origin a Trotskyist group, the WWP describes itself as Marxist-Leninist, a phrase rarely used by Trotskyists. WWP continues to sell some of the writings of Trotsky as well as those of Stalin and Mao. This combination of influences is otherwise almost unknown within the far left milieu. Many Trotskyist organizations seek out international affiliations, but WWP has organized solely in the United States.

At a theoretical level however, almost nothing remains of their origins within the Trotskyist movement and they repudiate almost all of his ideas. The WWP agrees with Trotsky's description of pre-1991 Russia as being a "degenerated workers' state" and extend that description to countries such as Cuba, North Korea and China. But it should be noted that this term is rarely used and the term socialist is far more often chosen to describe such states. In practice, they politically support these states far more energetically than many of the remaining orthodox Communist parties. Similarly, they support countries which they see as victims of "American imperialism" such as Iraq or Libya. They defend these countries as they did the Soviet Union . However, they do not describe such states as being socialist.

In the presidential elections of 1996 and 2000, their candidate was activist Monica Moorehead; in 2004 John Parker was chosen. Workers World opposed both Gulf Wars, and was influential in the anti-war group ANSWER. It also supported China's actions in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 . It has sometimes been an important ally of third world solidarity movements in the United States.

The WWP has attracted the attention of the conservative media. The magazine National Review has characterised WWP as defending political leaders such as Slobodan Milošević and Saddam Hussein. Workers World believes that Serbia and Iraq enjoy a right to national self-determination that overrides U.S. interests.

In 2004, the party underwent a split, and a new group, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, was formed by several members of the WWP.

WWP founded a new youth organization in 2004, Fight Imperialism Stand Together, shortly after the split.

Presidential candidates

• 1980 - Deirdre Griswold
• 1984 - Larry Holmes
• 1988 - Larry Holmes
• 1992 - Gloria La Riva
• 1996 - Monica Moorehead
• 2000 - Monica Moorehead
• 2004 - John Parker

External link

• Workers World Party home page
• Fight Imperialism Stand Together - WWP youth group
• Left Books - WWP bookstore and publishing house

• Communist parties
• United States political parties