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League for the Fifth International

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League for the Fifth International
AbbreviationL5I
Merged intoInternational Socialist League
FormationMovement for a Revolutionary Communist International (1984)
DissolvedDecember 2025
TypeTrotskyist political international
HeadquartersLondon
Members5 affiliated groups (2017)
c.110 members (2006)[1]
Main organ
Fifth International
Websitefifthinternational.org Edit this at Wikidata

The League for the Fifth International (L5I) was an international grouping of revolutionary Trotskyist organisations around a common programme and perspectives.

The L5I merged into the International Socialist League in December 2025.

History

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The group was founded in 1984 as the Movement for a Revolutionary Communist International by Workers Power, a faction that was expelled from the International Socialists in 1974/1975.[2] Its first members groups were Workers Power in Britain, the Irish Workers Group, and Gruppe Arbeitermacht (GAM) in Germany. The international is dominated by the British section, Workers Power.[1]

The positions taken by these groups was referred to by John Kelly as Radical Trotskyism, which he states is: "a [Trotskyist] family that shared the commitment of the WRP and others to Orthodoxy but rejected their claims to that title by tracing the roots of ideological degeneration back to 1940." Workers Power and the Irish Workers Group stated that a new international needed to be built on its own programme, instead of creating one from the existing political internationals.[3]

On 19 December 2025, L5I announced it had participated in the Third World Congress of the International Socialist League (LIS) and that they had agreed to join the LIS on the basis of a newly agreed common programme.[4] The former members of the L5I now appear on the list of LIS affiliates, and there have been no articles posted since the announcment.[5]

Publications

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The League publishes a quarterly English-language journal entitled Fifth International. The majority of writers for this appear to be from the British group, although other sections publish journals in their own languages. Revolutionärer Marxismus is the German-language journal. The League previously published the journal Permanent Revolution, a more theoretical journal which looked at tactics that communist organisations use, theories of imperialism, and similar questions. This was followed by Trotskyist International which, although still theoretical, also looked more at current affairs.[citation needed]

Member organisations

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The L5I listed the following organisations as sections:[6]

Country Name Misc. Ref
 Austria Arbeiter*innenstandpunkt [7]
 Great Britain Workers Power Formerly Red Flag. Entered the Labour Party in 2015. [8][9][10]
 Germany Gruppe ArbeiterInnenmacht Formerly Gruppe Arbeitermacht. [11]
 Pakistan Revolutionary Socialist Movement [12]
 Sweden Arbetarmakt [13]
  Switzerland Marxistische Aktion Schweiz Formerly Gruppe Was Tun [14]

As of 2017, the L5I had five affiliated organisations (Austria, Brazil, Germany, Sweden, UK), but claimed to have four additional affiliates.[15]

Groups that share a common history with L5I

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Country Name Misc. Ref
 Austria Der Neue Kurs Split from Arbeiter*innenstandpunkt in 2006 [16]
 Brazil Liga Socialista Appears to be defunct[citation needed] [17]
 Great Britain Permanent Revolution Tendency Split from Workers' Power in 2006, dissolved in 2013 [18]
 Czech Republic Socialistická organizace pracujících Appears to be defunct[citation needed] [citation needed]
 New Zealand Communist Workers' Group Split from L5I in 1995 [19]
 Sri Lanka Socialist Party of Sri Lanka Split from L5I in 2020 [20]
 Russia Movement Towards Socialism [21]
 United States Workers Power USA Appears to be defunct [22]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 Kelly, John (2018-03-14). Contemporary Trotskyism: Parties, Sects and Social Movements in Britain. London: Routledge. p. 223. ISBN 9781315671048.
  2. ↑ Kelly, John (2018-03-14). Contemporary Trotskyism: Parties, Sects and Social Movements in Britain. London: Routledge. pp. 51–52. ISBN 9781315671048.
  3. ↑ Kelly, John (2018-03-14). Contemporary Trotskyism: Parties, Sects and Social Movements in Britain. London: Routledge. p. 52. ISBN 9781315671048.
  4. ↑ "A new stage in revolutionary regroupment – League for the Fifth International". fifthinternational.org. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  5. ↑ "Find us here". International Socialist League. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "About Us – League for the Fifth International" (in German). Retrieved 2025-09-18.
  7. ↑ "Wer wir sind" (in German). Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  8. ↑ Stockton, Dave (15 September 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn's programme – a revolutionary socialist assessment". Workers' Power. Retrieved 11 Nov 2021.
  9. ↑ "Who we are". Workers Power. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  10. ↑ "Why we are relaunching Workers Power". Workers' Power. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 11 Nov 2021.
  11. ↑ "Liga für die Fünfte Internationale" (in German). Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  12. ↑ "League for the Fifth International – About – Sections". Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  13. ↑ "Arbetarmakt – Svensk sektion av Förbundet för Femte Internationalen – English". Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  14. ↑ "Wer wir sind – Marxistische Aktion Schweiz" (in German). Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  15. ↑ Kelly, John (2018-03-14). Contemporary Trotskyism: Parties, Sects and Social Movements in Britain. London: Routledge. p. 219. ISBN 9781315671048.
  16. ↑ "Permanent Revolution – New Course – Number 1 – Journal of the former Ast Opposition". www.permanentrevolution.net. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  17. ↑ "Liga Socialista website". Liga Socialista. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 11 Nov 2021.
  18. ↑ "Permanent Revolution – Permanent Revolution – dissolution statement". www.permanentrevolution.net. Archived from the original on April 18, 2014. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  19. ↑ "CWGNZ". 2009-10-28. Archived from the original on 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  20. ↑ "Interview with representatives of the Socialist Party of Sri Lanka (SPSL)". Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Движение к социализму" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  22. ↑ "Workers Power US website". Retrieved 11 Nov 2021.
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