Freedom Road Socialist Organization
From Infoshop OpenWiki
Freedom Road Socialist Organization is an organization formed by the unification of three smaller groups in 1985 — the Proletarian Unity League, Revolutionary Workers Headquarters, and the Organization for Revolutionary Unity. Though coming from the Maoist tradition, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) began to look more critically at the role of Mao in his later years and the government he left behind. Like Solidarity, Freedom Road also began calling for Left Refoundation beyond their traditional segment on the far left — desiring to create a "revolutionary socialist" organization. In 1988, the Amilcar Cabral - Paul Robeson Collective fused with Freedom Road, and in 1994, they merged with a larger organization — the Socialist Organizing Network. Beyond revolutionary socialism, the FRSO also supported the right of oppressed ethnicities (especially Blacks and Hispanics) to self-determination. Freedom Road became very active, and consequently gained the support of such people as noted Black unionist Bill Fletcher, Jr., of the AFL-CIO. But by fighting sectarianism and "dilluting" their Stalinist ideology, critics began to arise. This authoritarian faction (composed of the Chicago and Minnesota branches) still called the Soviet Bloc "socialist" when the rest of the organization refused to. In 1999, the pro-Soviet and Stalinist faction broke off to form Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Fight Back) — and affiliated with the hardline Belgian Party of Labour (PTB). The mainline Freedom Road has continued to grow despite Fight Back's opposition, and has discussed refoundation with revolutionary socialist groups as diverse as Solidarity and League of Revolutionaries for a New America (LRNA). FRSO publishes a journal, Freedom Road Magazine.
[edit] Links
- Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Fight Back) [[1]]
- Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Freedom Road Magazine) [[2]]
This page is part of the Field Guide to the Left.
