Trotskyism Emerges from Obscurity: New Chapters in Its Historiography

Abstract

BENSAÏD, DANIEL. Les trotskysmes. Deuxième éd. [Que sais-je?, 3629.] Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 2002. 128 pp. € 6.50.CHARPIER, FRÉDÉRIC. Histoire de l'extrême gauche trotskiste. De 1929 à nos jours. Editions 1, Paris 2002. 402 pp. € 22.00.MARIE, JEAN-JACQUES. Le trotskysme et les trotskystes. D'hier à aujourd'hui, l'ideologie et les objectifs des trotskystes à travers le monde. [Collection L'Histoire au present.] Armand Colin, Paris 2002. 224 pp. € 21.00.NICK, CHRISTOPHE. Les Trotskistes. Fayard, [Paris] 2003. 618 pp. € 23.00.The Trotskyist Fourth International went through many quarrels and splits after its foundation in 1938 – understandably, given the political and social isolation in which the movement generally functioned. Its enemies to its left and right crowded the Trotskyists into an uncomfortably narrow space. Trotskyists' intense internal discussions functioned as a sort of immune response, which could only be effective if theoretical and programmatic issues were clearly formulated. The more practical success eluded them, the more programmatic clarity served as compensation and monopolized their attention. In the name of various “isms” their passions sometimes took acute forms, while, under the surface, “ordinary” human shortcomings threw oil on the fire.