The urgency of addressing misconduct in left organizing
This year, following a vote by our membership to put more focus on the internal development of our organization and its comrades, we as members of Cincinnati Socialists have decided to produce a document outlining our founding statements, philosophy, and general history with misconduct among left organizers. It was such misconduct that led to our split with the International Socialist Alternative (ISA) and our foundation as Cincinnati Socialists in June of 2021. Our goal is to inform other left organizers and organizations of the importance of organizational laws and procedures designed to handle, swiftly and effectively, the unfortunate eventuality of misconduct among people under the capitalist mode of production. This is especially important to address within organizations that are attempting to represent and organize the exploited and vulnerable portions of our society.
This statement is inspired by CCAP’s (Cincinnati Community Aid and Praxis) own piece "Addressing Misconduct in the Movement,” which was informed by their internal bylaws and spurred on by the “Pariah Affair” that Unity Struggle Unity (USU) press handled on the spot back in July of 2024. For those who are not aware of the “Pariah Affair,” a member of the Editorial Board of USU (age 35) “had been engaged in what he described as a ‘romantic relationship’ with Affected Person (AP), a recent member of the press (age 19).” This relationship presented a clear political problem and power imbalance in the organization, but also exposed a clear lack of political discipline on the part of the offending Editorial Board member. For many newcomers to organizing, especially in leftist spaces, it may come as a shock that we are still prone to dealing with instances of sexual misconduct, verbal and physical assault, misogyny, sectarianism, and embezzlement. The reality is that while we labor under the current mode of social hierarchy perpetuated by the capitalist mode of production, these issues will continue to creep up. It is our duty as organizers of the exploited populations of our society to do everything in our power to safeguard against these abusers.
The role of constitutions, bylaws or “bourgeois law,” as Marx and Lenin put it, can not be overstated. Lenin’s quote in chapter 5 of The State and Revolution puts the role of bourgeois laws and the state into perfect clarity.
"Hence, the equal right," says Marx, in this case still certainly conforms to "bourgeois law," which, like all law, implies inequality. All law is an application of an equal measure to different people who in fact are not alike, are not equal to one another. That is why the "equal right" is a violation of equality and an injustice.
While we must safeguard against abusers of the party, organization, and member’s trust, it is paramount that we maintain both our social character towards justice as well as consideration for the material realities of these abuses and the ability of an organization to take on the rehabilitation of the offender. This will affect comrades differently and will most certainly be unfair to either one party or another, or both. The priority here lies not in individual justice, but rather collective justice for the organization as a whole. Bourgeois law is completely incapable of providing either individual or collective justice under our current economic mode as is seen in the modern courts of the capitalist state. Within an organization with a collective nature and clear commitments to ethics rooted in the spirit of historical dialectical materialism, these laws become a cornerstone to effective, long-term organizing.
Cincinnati Socialists has compiled multiple foundational documents, such as our Code Of Conduct and our Points of Unity, which serve to outline to our membership and our coalition members the standards to which we hold our membership. These documents didn’t appear out of thin air; they were created due to unexpected situations with comrades that arose during organizing work. Our organization adapted to these unforeseen challenges and developed procedures on the spot, similar to how USU had to handle the recent “Pariah Affair.” Thanks to the theoretical rigor of our more senior comrades and the democratic nature of our processes, we held both our leadership and membership accountable for their actions, intended or unintended, and fostered a culture of commitment, integrity, constructivism, collectivism, open criticism, internationalism, organization, love, and friendship.
From abuses of branch leadership under the banner of Socialist Alternative to abuses of the trust of our AFAB comrades by a senior member, our organization has seen its fair share of betrayal. We’ve dealt with issues from embezzlement of org funds to uncomradely and aggressive behavior to misogyny to promoting infighting. Through all of these trials, rather than collapse like so many organizations before us, we have thrived and continued to stand up for the poor and working classes of Cincinnati. Our commitment to the masses has never wavered and we continue to hold ourselves to a standard that fosters trust with our community thanks to the creation of these rules, regulations, and standards. Since the adoption of these measures, the accountability and commitment of our membership has gotten stronger with each passing year. Very few of our members leave due to conflict with our leadership or the organization as a whole. We maintain cooperative relationships with the comrades who have left the org, which aids us in our goal for national, and then international, revolution.
In our experience, success hasn’t come from the written procedures themselves, but rather from our commitment to the exploited members of our international community and to the ideal of proletarian democracy. Since the adoption of these documents, we have not filed a single grievance against a member of our organization. These commitments are the cornerstone of our theory and praxis. Without them we would not survive in the current social landscape. These laws and procedures allow the more vulnerable members of the organization and the community to feel safe and secure when engaging with our members. From tabling to marshaling events, we hold ourselves and our fellow comrades to a standard that can only be described as admirable.
Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, in Huey on Anarchists and Individualists as Related to Revolutionary Struggle and the Black Liberation Movement, describes the limitations of the bourgeois state, its laws, and how the focus must be towards collective liberation and justice rather than individualism.
In this country […] we can side with the student radicals. We would try to encourage them and persuade them to organize and weld a sharp cutting tool.
In order to do this they would have to be disciplined and they would have at least some philosophical replacement of the system. This is not to say that this itself will free the individual. The individual will not be free until the state does not exist at all, and I think—I don’t want to be redundant—this cannot be replaced by the anarchists right away.
As far as the blacks are concerned, we are not hung up on attempting to actualize or express our individual souls because we’re oppressed not as individuals but as a whole group of people. Our evolution, or our liberation, is based first on freeing our group. Freeing our group to a certain degree. After we gain our liberation, our people will not be free. I can imagine in the future that the blacks will rebel against the organized leadership that the blacks themselves have structured. They will see there will be limitations, limiting their individual selves, and limiting their freedom of expression. But this is only after they become free as a group.
We strongly recommend all socialist organizers read through CCAP’s piece on Red Clarion, "Addressing Misconduct in the Movement,” for practical examples of laws and procedures suitable for new and old organizations alike. We also urge organizers and organizations to foster both vigilance and accountability in themselves and each other in order to create a culture of truth and commitment to organizing. Solidarity forever, for the union and the united front makes us strong!