Letters

Abstract

The tension between the success of separatist or vertical or~ani.zin~ on the one hand, and the broad perspective inclusive of all oppressed or exploited groups which is necessary to the building of socialism in America on the other hand is raised by Immanuel Wallerstein's brief article in Vol. III, no. 2 of I. S. Wallerstein argues the importance of the most oppressed groups in the society organizing themselves separately as a first step in pressing for radical social change. He notes however that such separately organized groups must &dquo;bear in mind&dquo; the need for alliances with &dquo;middle-range&dquo; or relatively Legoppressed social groupings, especially the traditional working class. I would suggest that the problem of making such alliances is a great deal more serious and difficult than Waller stein indicates in his article. It is undeniably true that separatist or vertical organizing, which largely cuts across classes, has proved a most effective tool in the 60's for moving women, blacks, and students into struggle. However each of these movements has 1l1',1.:,:..ra. ted the extreme difficulty of &dquo;keeping in mind&dquo; the need for alliances outside its own sg><<.=,: interests group, and has fallen far short of the aim of moving explicitly towards the goa: :_,i' democratic socialism for American society.Allow rne to examine briefly the case of the Women's Liberation Movement, which Wallerstein mentions in passing, as illustrative of this problem. The Women's Movement is an example of an insurgency whose growth has been dependent upon the development of a consciousness of one's own oppression as a woman, regardless of social class or status. This consciousness has brought with it a separatism which, as Wallerstein asserts, has indeed increased the solidarity and strength of this previously unrecognized and fragmented segment of the population. Perhaps the most important source of the fuel which has fired the Women's Movement has been a very personal gut anger or outrage resulting from the experience of relating to most men, as lovers, husbands, employers, politicians or teachers.Every new affront--and for women there are many each day--has reinforced the anger, consciousness, and separatism. As a result, other oppressed groups in the society, in this case for example working class men, are viewed as primary agents, if not themselves sources of women's oppression. This situation produces a conflict between those feelings of anger and special oppression, an the ideological need or even tactical importance which Wallerstein stresses of forming alliances with other groups towards the goal of broad social change.I am arguing that it is not enough merely to expect oppressed groups to remember or even to give lip-service to alliances with other exploited groups who themselves may be seen as oppressors. It is the very nature of special and separate feelings of oppression as the primary motivators of struggle which makes it difficult if not impossible for those groups to &dquo;bear in mind&dquo; or acce...