Workers Fight and the Democratic Centralist Faction

dcfThe Democratic Centralist Faction (DCF) emerged within Workers Fight in the mid-1970s.

The genesis of the DCF can be found in Workers Fight bulletins of the period- the contributions of John Strauther and Roy Ratcliffe in particular and the discussion around the reorganisation of the Manchester branch and the proposed fusion of Bolton branch with it (Bulletins 22 and 24). (This was later to lead to the Bolton branch (a DCF stronghold) breaking from Workers Fight to form the Marxist Worker Group.)

The DCF then declared itself in January 1975 and published its wide-ranging Platform.

A response came from Workers Fight in the form of a Special Bulletin- Marxism Or Quackery.

This (?MWG) document is a later with hindsight response to some of the charges in Marxism Or Quackery.

One key battlegound in the faction fight was WFs line and intervention in the Womens Liberation Movement which led to leading WF cadre in the WLM Eileen Murphy’s suspension for indiscipline for refusing to sell an issue of WF with an offending article…

Further suspensions and expulsions followed- here are DCF statements on the suspensions and then expulsions of RR and JS:

Doc 1

Doc 2

Doc 3

As mentioned above, subsequently Bolton based DCF supporters were to form the Marxist Worker Group, of which more soon.

DEMOCRATIC CENTRALIST FACTION ARCHIVE

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