those who believe in the classless society is an important stage leading towards social change. But political power in the socialist sense does not mean socialist leaders pulling the levers that control a capitalist socio-economic structure; it means changing the socio-economic structure so that a new form of power diffused throughout the working people becomes socially, politically and economically effective.
There are, of course, many forms of consultation, "participation' and workers' representation within unchanged capitalist structures that amount to no more than pretences of workers control and delude aspirations for real control over conditions of work. But even from such negative experience workers have learnt something.
Some say "smash capitalism'. But untortunately the metaphor is not apt. Capitalism is not a structure of wood or steel; it is a structure of socio-economic relations that has to be replaced by a new socialist, workers' control suucture or relatons. And consciousness of these new relations in the workers who will make them historically actual can only level on out or nractice inter acting evnarianna in practice.
KEY TO UNITY
The key to such unity is recognition of the necessity for sharp differences; indeed the recognition that the strength of a people-power movement comes from a wealth of understanding and experience that finds reflection in differences, thereby increasing the awareness of the movement and the "social imagination with which it selects possible courses of action. But the necessary condition for gaining strength from firmly fought-for differences is clear recog nition by all that to fight for a principle is not the same as to fight for an organisation. If argument, theory, discussion, information etc. purporting to clarify socialist principle is prostituted to gain organisational advantage, 'the people perish A key objective of the Sheffield Conference will be to try to establish practical linkages between activists at the point of production and in the community, so as to enable workers themselves to discover courced of notin har Comrade Bodington's remarks are of considerable interest, and his view of workers' control is unduubtedly one wnich has a great deal of influence in certain quarters of the workers' movement. We will be taking up next issue of Red Weekly. of his article was written before the Healey measures, appear divorced from the realities of the present situ ation — one in which a Labour Government has been preparing a ruthless attack on the rights and living standards of the working class. Is the IWC Conference going to discuss these burning issues? If so how do the organisers propose to try and deal with these problems? present a member of a Government forcing through some of the most anti-working class economic measures. He has not resigned from this Government, and has organised no fight against its proposals. Under these circumstances, and unless he resigns, are the IC really going to allow a member of such a Government to talk on general questions of workers control to obscure the need to take a clear position on the central questions of the day. aims that take up the main problems facing the working class. Otherwise 'unity' just becomes an excuse for shying away from.the real fight. to adopt such a course. The IMG will therefore be arguing at the IW Conference for a discussion of the present crisis and the way in which the left can best begin to organise the fight back. our own conception of workers control and its relevance to the problems facing the labour movement in the However we cannot help but remark that the ideas put forward by comrade Bodington, even though most The closing remarks to the conference are to be delivered by former Industry Minister Benn. Benn is at give the concluding remarks to their conference? If they do, it will be a clear indication that they are allowing Much of what comrade Bodington says about unity is sound-but it must be unity around clear and specific We believe that in the midst of the present crisis no section of the left in the labour movement can afford