Beyond the Fragments to Whatp

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Anti-Corrie demonstrators defend right to abortion It appeared at a time when separated in political struggle.

Tory government, is far from of organisation and the process fragmented in its defence of of consciousness raising and it man's rightte This is one of those books which is described as "important".

It is not a single entity but consists of three separate accounts written by three women of their political exper¡ences and the lessons they have learned from them.

the right, led by the present

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REED capitalism in crisis while the forces ranged against it are deeply divided on objectives and tactics.

It is some sort of unity of these means and ends that the authors of this book are seeking.

Along with this search goes the conviction that the means and the ends cannot . be The importance of methods Wendy French revie ›y Harper and Row. revolutionary activity is discussed by all three authors although each has a different perspective based on her individual experience whether as a socialist or, in community and women's struggles.

However, all three accept that a revolutionary transformation of capitalist society is Fast Can', necessary; cail themselves socialists and have been involved with the women's movement.

It is from this common base that each explores the relationship of feminism to socialism. As Sheila Rowbotham writes:

"I want to begin to explore the challenge I think the women's movement is making to the prevailing assumptions of how revolutionary socialists should organise. These involve how theory is conceived, how the political organisation sees its relationship to other movements, how consciousness is assumed to change, how the scope of politics is defined, how individua socialists see themselves and their relationships to other people, now and in the past"

It is difficult not to be glib here and respond by pointing out that it is easier to ask questions than to answer them.

However the probiems raised here are real and should be addressed by all socialists.

in particular the experiences of the women's movement should be analysed in the light of these questions.

These issues involved are described succinctly by Lynne Segal as:

1) Autonomy:-which is not the same as individualism, but means taking control over your own life.

2) Personal relations: _ should reflect or 'prefigure' the social relations we want to create after the revolution.

3) Organise around your own oppression:-oppression is seen as the power of one person to dominate and control the life of another and could be as much a part of personal social relations as of economic social relations.

4) The rejection of vanguards and any hierarchy of struggle, emphasising the view that the stabilisation of capitalist relations takes place not just through economic measures but through the hegemony of state ideology and ideas expressed at every level.

Organised around these questions the women's movement affected the lives of many women in a profound way.

Uncomradely

'Sisterhood' was experienced as a supportive nurturing force which contrasts powerfully with the completely unsupportive, uncomradely behaviour experienced by many men and women in some socialist groups.

There is as a result a slight tendency to eulogise the women's movement, although she says or claims she believes, the impression remains as a result her extremely loose use of Terms.

At times she uses the term "Leninism'. Trotskyism' and "Stalinism' interchangably. (In fact there aren't many 'isms' she doesn't use!)

Lynne Segal states that issues of organisation are the problem and describes local women's and community struggles in Islington in the late 1960s.

It is in this section that the problems of bringing the 'fragments' together can be seen most clearly.

As with any call for 'unity' or a 'united front' the principled political basis for such a stand must be spelled out unmistakeably. The authors fail to do this.

What basis?

It is not at all clear from the contents of this book what the basis for common unified practice and struggle should be.

Indeed they almost make a virtue of clinging to widely different political positions.

It is stated that:

.. women's oppression (like black oppression) is not simply just another aspect of class exploitation. All men do benefit from it, by having power over at least some women, however exploited they themselves might be"

At the same time Leninism and Trotskyism are described as simply ways of organising a class, the working class, to destroy capitalistic social relations and the bourgeois state.

In taking their distance from this fight, the authors are rejecting the necessary road to the emancipation of women.

While the women's movement has shown itself capable of organising successfully to attack the ideology of the bourgeois state and to win certain struggles against that state, it is not organised to smash that state.

Nor has it shown any desire to 'take power' In the light of these crucial differences it might be that feminism-far from having found the answers-itself requires, different forms of organisation.

However • this-and the degree and type of difference between feminist and socialist organisation merits further discussion and analysis.

Responsibility

Trotskyists cannot afford to be smug and must examine their political and personal practice closely.

Men in the party have a responsibility to be rigorous in their practice of feminist principles in their relations with other comrades.

Analysis and identification of appropriate political struggles should not automatically label as "diversionary' or 'reformist' struggles without an immediately obvious proletarian economic base.

Some account should be taken of Marx's teaching on human creativity and cooperative social values as well as the value of labour power.

The women who wrote this book may have failed to show what lies beyond the fragments but they describe the experiences and feelings of many socialists and form part of a debate which must be continued within the Trotskyist movement.

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