Johnson-Forrest Tendency

The Johnson-Forrest Tendency got its name from its two main leaders: C. L. R. James, who used the pen name J.R. Johnson, and Raya Dunayevskaya alias Freddie Forrest. They met in the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party (USA).

Related Topics:
C. L. R. James - Raya Dunayevskaya - Trotskyist - Socialist Workers Party (USA)

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The Johnson-Forrest Tendency first appeared as an organised grouping in the Workers Party which had been founded by Max Shachtman and other former members of the SWP in 1940. The new group rapidly cohered around politics which were very similar to those of the SWP with certain limited differences of which the most important was the position of the WP on the question as to the class nature of Russia, Shachtman and the majority of the WP holding that it should be designated a bureaucratic collectivist society. The Johnson-Forrest Tendency by way of contrast held that it was state capitalist. They also differed from the WP on the approach to dealing with racism, "the Negro question" in the vocabulary of the time, with which James and Dunayevskaya were involved theoretically and practically .

Related Topics:
Workers Party - Max Shachtman - 1940 - Russia - Bureaucratic collectivist - State capitalist

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Reaching the conclusion that there was no socialist society existing any where in the world, they called for a return to Marxist philosophy. Their return to Hegel's philosophy as being the foundation of Marx's philosophy was largely due to Dunayevskaya, who was deeply immersed in both Marx's and (being a Russian speaker), Lenin's writings in Russian.

Related Topics:
Socialist - Marxist philosophy - Hegel - Marx - Lenin - Russian

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