Socialist Alternatives was the British section of the International Revolutionary Marxist Tendency (IRMT), a formerly Trotskyist Pabloite group based in Paris. Being a small group in the UK, it was best known for the Marxist magazine of the same name founded in Oxford by Ben Schoendorff and partially edited by Keir Starmer from 1986 to 1987,"Keir Starmer: Radical who attacked Kinnock in Marxist journal," The Times, 18/1/20. which was used by his supporters in the leadership election to show more left wing credentials. The magazine is believed to have been produced by the Pabloist International Revolutionary Marxist Tendency (IRMT),An archive of Socialist Alternatives is here . and advertised its events and publications, although one of the authors identified it as being an outgrowth of the Socialist Society connected with Ralph Miliband and Hilary Wainwright, who both wrote for the magazine. Paul Mason has called it a "Trotskyite front magazine", although this is disputed and its ex-editor Benjamin Schoendorff called it "post-Trotskyist". The French Trotskyist journalist Maurice Najman was also cited as a key supporter.
Its politics were defined by one of its later authors Andrew Coates as being "aligned to the European ‘alternative’ movements of the time which stood for ecology, feminism and self-management. These were forerunners of later radical green-left groups, Los Indignados, Podemos, the left of Labour and similar currents within social democratic parties." It was described by the left wing magazine Chartist as "the human face of the hard left". Peter Hitchens described Socialist Alternative'''s "preoccupation with sexual politics and green issues" as presaging the politics of all today's major British politicians.
The magazine included articles by Michalis Raptis,Socialist Alternatives v1 no1 July August 1986, pages 26 to 30Socialist Alternatives v1 no2 October November 1986, pages 31 to 33Socialist Alternatives v2 no1 April May 1987, pages 25 to 27 the leader of the International Revolutionary Marxist Tendency and the left wing Labour MP Eric Heffer, Peter Tatchell, as well as an interview with Tony Benn.Socialist Alternatives v2 no1 April May 1987, pages 21 to 23Interview with Keir Starmer talking about the Benn interview on Nick Robinson's Talking politics, linked here There were also advertisements for Michael Raptis's "Self Management Lectures"Socialist Alternatives v1 no1 July August 1986, page 30 and IRMT publications.Socialist Alternatives v1 no1 July August 1986, back page Keir Starmer wrote articles on the Wapping strike,Socialist Alternatives v1 no1 July August 1986, pages 19 & 20Socialist Alternatives v2 no1 April May 1987, pages 7 and 8 the 1986 TUC conference,Socialist Alternatives v1 no2 October November 1986, page 3, written with Alex Harvey criticising Labour leader Neil Kinnock's moves towards the market economy,Socialist Alternatives v1 no1 July August 1986, page 31 a book review of Eric Heffer's Labour's Future'',Socialist Alternatives v1 no2 October November 1986, page 41 Trade Unions and pluralism,Socialist Alternatives v1 no3 December 1986 January 1987, pages 25 to 27 an interview with Benn, and left-wing approaches to local government.Socialist Alternatives v2 no2 August September 1987, pages 15 and 16 The magazine was still publishing in 1989,Europe, Internationalism, Socialist Alternatives (Pabloism), and… Keir Starmer, posted on the blog of Andrew Coates an author featured in that edition and also in 1994.
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