COMMENT ON WAGAR 

David Schwartzman 
Department of Biology 
Howard University 
Wash i ngton, DC 20059 USA 
dws@scs .ho ward . edu 

Copyr ig ht 1 996 by David Schwartzman. 

v . 6/10/96 

Wagar's paper is most we l come for reviving atten ti on t o th e vital 
ro l e that a transnationa l po li t ical par t y migh t p l ay i n g lo ba l 
po li t i cs . I fu ll y ag ree wi th Warren that g l oba l ization f r om abo v e 
i s the mater ia l real i ty that wi ll , soo ner or late r , engende r the 
se lf-o rganizati o n o f a coun ter vaili ng "glo ba li za t ion fro m be l o w," 
i nc l ud i ng the emergence of world pa rt i es . His v i s i o n i s bo th 
utop i an and " as rad i cal as real i ty i tself ." Whi le progressive 
transnationa l organizations lik e Greenp e ace are we ll kn o wn , it i s 
not widely recogn iz ed that there i s a world party presently 
organ iz ed , the T ransnat io na l Rad i ca l Party (TRP), an o utgr o wth, or 
more lik e an appendage , of the I ta li an Radica l Par ty (see f ull 
pag e ads i n the N. Y. T i mes , 9/ 2 8/9 4 , 1 0/ 2 8/9 4 ; fo r U. S . ci tizens 
to joi n the membersh i p fee was $255!) . In ex i stence since 1993 
(?) , wi th a cla i med in te rna t i onal membersh i p of 50,000, i nc l ud i ng 

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parl i a men tar i ans fro m every con t i nent, i ts f ocu s has been 
primarily on gain i ng a morat o r i um on the death penalty worldwide , 
an in ternat ional tr i b unal t o t ry wa r cr i mes i n former Yugoslavia 
(n ow formed ) a nd t h e l ega li za t i on of drugs . TRP no w has 

con s ult at ive stat u s as a Category I NGO in the UN, qualifying i t, 
unlike Greenpeace and many o t her progress i ve NGOs, with being ab l e 
to i ntroduce draft reso lu t io ns wh i ch may even reach the Genera l 
Assembly (only 42 NGOs have t h i s status, e . g . , the Internati o n al 
Red Cross ). Up to now , the TRP ha s no t addressed the c hallenge o f 
constraining t h e global power of t he tr an s na t i onal co rporat ion s 
and banks , an abs en c e which may re f l e e t i ts li b e r tar i an i deology 
and tilt to supporting U. S . fore ign po li cy pos i tions . With all of 
i ts limi tat i ons and l a ck of rea l ch a llenge to global c apital, the 
TRP d oes part i all y f i ll a pol i t i cal va c uum, a v acuum likely to be 
f ille d with oth er wo rld par ti es in this dec a de, i nc ludi ng I 
predict at l east o n e spo n sored by tra n s na t i onal ca p i tal i tself . 
Th e TRP h as made e x tensive u se of the Internet in their global 
out reach (to get their c o mmuniqu es , send an E - mai l t o 
li stserv@agora . stm . it, note SUBSCRIB E TRA NSNAT Firstname Lastname ; 
" o wne r " is radical . party@agora . stm . i t ) . Arguably, utiliz a tion of 
the Internet is a necessary (but o f cou rse no t suffi ci ent ) 
condition for t h e e merge nc e a nd orga niz atio n of a Wagar i an 
e c oso ci al i st world part y (henceforth "WP"). 

What i s a plaus i ble scenar i o for t h e emergence of a WP? I n 



contrast to Wallerste in' s arguments regard i ng the possibi l ity of 
the " deghett oizatio n " of anti -systemic movem ents , Wagar emphas iz es 
their nat ional exc lu s iv eness, downp l ay i ng the new materi a l basis 
for th e ir possible synerg i st ic conv er gence. For example , a 
rebirth of the U. S . trade union movement (now a realistic 
possibility wi th new l eadersh ip of the AFL - CIO ), is arguably a 
necessary condition for sh if t ing politics t o the left in the U . S . , 
and by it s multiplier effec t s , in much of t he res t of the p l ane t . 

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This deve lo pment i n tu rn depends in c r eas i ng l y on its convergen ce 
with the anti-systemic movements of p e opl e of colo r a nd women , 
since these sectors constitute the core of the mos t orga n iz ab l e 
sectors. Similarly, with NAFTA, U.S. trade union s ar e forc ed to 
confront the necess it y o f bu il d i ng transnat io na l lab or s o l idari ty . 
Of course other " convergences " are required for a WP, particular l y 
that of the "red" and "green" move men t s - the emergence of 
" ecosoc iali sm " - that can bring into being both a new v i s i on of 
s oci a lis m and a mov ement to ach i eve i t . Viable socia l is t 
in ternat ion a lis m shou l d now be centered on the str uggle for a 
susta i nab l e g l oba l economy , e nta ili ng e qu i ty i n Nort h/S o u th 
e conom i c and e co l og i ca l r e l at i ons . Vi ab l e gre e n p o l i t ic s must 
increasingly adopt a perspective for d emocratizat i o n of the 
economy, for soc i a l governance of produc t i on and consumpt i on . 
Again, t h e re a re mul t if old grounds t o a rgu e t h at the objec t i v e 
b as i s for t his convergence is growing ou t of t h e phen o men o n of 
gl oba lizat i on . To be s ure there i s no t h i ng i nev i table ab ou t these 
prosp ects , g i ve n th e counterva ili ng forc es , abo ve all r ac is m, 
se xi s m, and nationalism, fragmenting t h e nationa l and 
in te rn at i onal workfor c e and d i v i d i ng nat i on a l mov ements . But 
confronting this cha ll e ng e i s both the bu r den and the i mmense 
opportunity for an emergent transnat ional poli t ica l mo vement a long 
the line s of the WP . 

Some see the re a l hope i n c apt uri ng t he i magination of th e 
yout h: " The a ltern at ive to nationali s m i s not an abst rac t and 
bureaucratic in te rn at ion a l i sm; i t i s s upr anat i on al i s m. Despi te t he 
dreary dete rioration of ed ucat i ona l systems, the att rac t io n of 
supranationalism exists among th e young, whos e i dea l is m is not 
e x t in ct " (Jo hn Luk acs , N. Y. T ime s , 1 / 8 /93 , p . A25 ). Wa ga r argue s 
that this supranationalis t movement i n th e form of the WP should 
be guided by the secular ideolog y root ed i n the Enl i ghten ment . I 
wo uld a gr ee so l o ng as t h e WP r ea ch es out to h umanis t c u rre nts i n 

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t he wor l d re li g i ous mov emen ts . The WP shoul d make fu ll u se of 
c o n te mporary world s ci e nc e (n o longer "We s ter n ") to figh t against 
a ll retrogress i ve i deo l og ie s t h at d i v i de hum an i ty i nt o " r aces " a nd 
castes , t h at subordinate and oppress women a n d se xu a l mi n orities . 



Instead o f " mul t i rac i a l," the movement aga i nst racism should be 
" t ransracial ," embody i ng a cr i t i que of t he concep t of r ace as a 
b i o l og i ca l category (the rac i sts i nvented th i s classification of 
H. sap i ens) ; the unavo i dab l e use of the word race ca rries its 
racist biological baggage (see essays in Harding , 1993) . 

The WP shou l d str i ve to represent human i ty ' s common in terests 
i n n a t i ona l and l oca l strugg l es , wh il e recogn i z i ng the vital r ole 
o f the ant i- s y stem i c movements , and a b ove a ll l abor , move ments 
wh i ch are bound to have nat i ona li st i c d i stort i ons . The 
c o ntrad i ct o ry character of i nd i v i dua l mul t i p l e i dentities of 
part i c i pants i n each ant i - s y stem i c movement i s reflected i n the 
limits of its agendas and achievements i n local/na ti ona l 
strugg l es , but i t i s a l so an open i ng for the presence of 
transnat i onal consciousness . In other words , globa li za t ion f r o m 
below i s bo u nd to have a complex and uneven develop ment . To 
pretend th a t a WP cou l d emerge i n a mode of pure conversion 
wi th o ut be i ng deep l y rooted i n nat i ona l ant i - s y stemic move ments i s 
idealist in a most anti -u t opian sense . The WP ' s fi rst 
const i tuency i s natura l: the mi nor i ty non - geograp h ical coimnuni ty 
i n every nat i on state that i s act i ve i n ant i - s y stemic movements, 
particularly among the youth , i . e ., those who are co nsciousl y 
" p l anetary c i t i zens ." The pess i mi st i c assessments of the 
feas i b ili ty of organ i z i ng a WP may we ll be correc t (e . g . , 
Wallerstein ' s remarks at the A SA pane l), but we wi ll neve r know 
un l ess a ser i ous attempt i s mad e i n that d i re ct i on . Le t us begin! 

Some i deas on mov i ng ahead wi th the very i nitia l steps t o 
form i ng the WP: a study of the Transnat i ona l Radical Pa rty would 
be most useful a s well a s circulating draft pr inci ples , 

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manifes t os , calls , o rganizati ona l ideas, and near - te r m sc en a r i os . 
Any such e ffor t s hould naturally assum e a transnational c h arac te r 
f ro m the beginning . I c l ose wi th an upda ted quotation : " The World 
Party doe s not form a separat e party oppo sed to o ther progressive 
parties . It ha s no in t erests separate and apart from th ose of 
humanity as a whole . It does not set up sectarian principles of 
its own , by which t o shape and mol d t he movement for a sus t ainable 
global economy i n a healthy planetary environment . The Wor ld 
Party is distinguished f ro m t h e other progressive part ie s by t his 
only : 1) In t he national s tr uggles of progressives in diffe rent 
countries , it points ou t and brings t o the front the co mmon 
in t eres ts o f a ll of hum anity , independently of a l l nationality . 2) 
In the vari ous s t ages of developm e nt which the struggl e for glo ba l 
sus t ainability has t o pass thr ough, it a l ways and every whe r e 
represe n ts the intere sts of t h e movemen t a s a whole ." (after The 
Conununi st Man ifesto , with apologies to K. Marx and W. Warre n 
Waga r ) 

Refe r ences 

Harding, Sandra (editor). 1993 . Th e "Raci al " Economy of Scie n ce. 
Indi a n a Universi t y Press . 



Schwartz1nan, D. 1992. A World Party. Vehicle of Global Green 
Left. Ecosocialist Review, Spring, 4 -5. 

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