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Freedom Road Socialist Organization | |
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| Abbreviation | FRSO |
| Founded | 1985; 40 years ago (1985) |
| Merger of | Revolutionary Workers Headquarters (1985),Proletarian Unity League (1985),Organization for Revolutionary Unity (1986),Amilcar Cabral/Paul Robeson Collective (1988),Socialist Organizing Network (1996) |
| Headquarters | Minneapolis |
| Newspaper | Fight Back! News |
| Membership | ~1000 general members (2021)[1] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Colors | Red |
| Website | |
frso | |
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TheFreedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) is acommunistpolitical party in the United States. FRSO formed in 1985 as a merger of severalMaoist-orientedNew Communist movement organizations.
FRSO describes itself as arevolutionary socialist andMarxist-Leninist party, because capitalism "cannot be reformed out of existence", so socialists must "take the sledgehammer of revolution to the chains of oppression". FRSO describes itself as a Marxist–Leninist organization, working to "build a new, revolutionary, communist party" in the United States.[2]
FRSO has two levels of membership. "General" members pay dues annually and must attend one online seminar per year. "Cadre" members must adhere toLeninist organizational norms,[3] includingdemocratic centralism.[4]
In December 2020, FRSO claimed "over 500" general members.[5] In March 2021, FRSO claimed almost 1000 members and "hundreds" of cadre.[1]
In 2002, FRSO created theAnti-War Committee (AWC), which it leads.[6] In 2008, the AWC protested the2008 Republican National Convention.[7]
In 2006, FRSO helped create thenew Students for a Democratic Society (SDS or "new SDS"), which has significant FRSO leadership[8][9] and FRSO collaboration.[10][11]
FRSO's main publication is the website and monthly paperFight Back! News (FB!N) and its Spanish sectionLucha y Resiste.[12]
In 1985, theProletarian Unity League and theRevolutionary Workers Headquarters merged to create FRSO.[13][14][15] In 1986, FRSO fused with theOrganization for Revolutionary Unity.[13] In 1988, FRSO absorbed theAmílcar Cabral-Paul Robeson Collective.[13][4]
In 1993, FRSO merged with the Socialist Organizing Network (SON)[13][14][16] and adopted the placeholder name "Freedom Road Socialist Organization / Socialist Organizing Network" (FRSO/SON). The SON was formed by former members of theLeague of Revolutionary Struggle (LRS), which had dissolved in the late 1980s.[4] The 1994 FRSO Congress, which formalized the merger, was called the "First Congress of FRSO/SON". However, no new name emerged, and FRSO/SON reverted back to FRSO afterwards.[citation needed]
FRSO's component groups believed thatultraleftism was the USNew Communist movement's main error. Merging under the FRSO banner, these groups hoped to consolidate the movement's remnants in a single organization and move beyond thesectarianism that marked the previous decades.[15]
In response toTiananmen Square and thedissolution of the Soviet Union, FRSO began to develop two distinct positions on socialist countries. The "Left Refoundation" group, aligned withdemocratic socialism, argued that these events resulted from a deepcrisis of Marxism. The "Fight Back!" group, aligned withMarxism-Leninism, argued that these events resulted fromrevisionism rather than failures within Marxism.[13][4] These divisions grew during the 1990s. In 1998, the Left Refoundation group wrote an internal document, "Theses on Left Refoundation", and requested an organization-wide discussion.[17] The FRSO National Executive Committee (NEC) unanimously rejected this discussion.[18] In 1999, the Left Refoundation group received a second hearing, at which the NEC and FRSO as a whole split in two.[19][20]
Both factions claimed the name "Freedom Road Socialist Organization". In 2006, the Left Refoundation group renamed itself to "FRSO/OSCL", combining the English and Spanish acronym. In 2019, the Left Refoundation group renamed itself toLiberation Road.[21]
On September 24, 2010, over 70 FBI agents raided the homes of 6 antiwar activists, 5 of which FRSO members, and the Anti-War Committee (AWC) headquarters. The FBI claimed to be searching for evidence of "material support of terrorism".[22][23] FRSO formed the "Committee to Stop FBI Repression" and claimed that FBI agents left behind documents indicating that the raids were aimed at people suspected of FRSO membership, due to the AWC's political support for theRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) andPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).[24] FRSO further claimed that the FBI had placed informants inside its organization.[25]
On February 26, 2014, a federal judge unsealed the extensive documents the FBI collected during its nearly three-year surveillance of FRSO.[26][27] The FBI never charged any person involved.[28]
FRSO is aMarxist–Leninist[29][26] anddemocratic centralist organization.[29]
In labor, FRSO advocates a strategy of the building of a "militant minority" within the unions and opposing "collaborating union officials".[30]
In elections, FRSO generally encourages members totactically vote against the "most reactionary" candidate, usually Republicans.[31] However, in the 2024 election, FRSO stated "we don’t advocate voting for Harris as a way to oppose Trump", as a result of Harris' support for Israel bombing Palestine.[32]
FRSO recognizesChina,Cuba,Laos,North Korea, andVietnam associalist countries.[29] FRSO "positively evaluates"Albania, theSoviet Union, and theWarsaw Pact countries, but argues they "gave up on Marxism".[29] FRSO also supports theUnited Socialist Party of Venezuela andNicolas Maduro as "leading the masses of people in building a new society".[33] FRSO participates in the annualInternational Communist Seminar.[34] FRSO isAnti-Zionist.[35]
The table below includes only the "Fight Back!" majority faction, which retains the FRSO name.
| Name | Date | Statement | Main Political Report | Program | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9th Congress | Spring 2022 | Seize the Time | Three parts:1,2,3 | Program | |
| 8th Congress | May 2018 | Statement | 2018 MPR | Program | |
| 7th Congress | 2014 | Statement | Three parts:1,2,3 | ||
| 6th Congress | 2010 | Congress of Victory | 2010 MPR | before FBI raids | |
| 5th Congress | May 2007 | Period of Struggle | 2007 MPR | Program | no program before 2007 |
| 4th Congress | June 2004 | Building on Success | 2004 MPR | ||
| 3rd Congress | May 2001 | 2001 Unity Statement | 2001 MPR | after split, Fight Back! group explicitly gave FRSO "Marxist-Leninist" label | |
| 2nd Congress | November 1997 | FRSO Strategy | before 1999 split | ||
| 1st Congress | 1994 | 1993 Unity Statement | merged FRSO andSON | ||
| n/a | 1986 | ORU Merges | merged FRSO andORU | ||
| Unity Conference | October 1985 | 1985 Unity Statement | mergedRWH andPUL |
We have hundreds of cadre who are working day and night to build the people's struggle and we will soon have more than 1000 members.
Freedom Road Socialist Organization membership is now over 500 and growing at a good clip.
Socialism is not a distant dream—it already exists in the People's Republic of China, Cuba, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Vietnam, and Laos. We are glad the socialist countries exist, and we stand with them.
Our approach regarding the elections will take different forms in different places. Often, this will mean that those who are working in swing states must work to defeat Republican candidates. In places where the Republicans are very unlikely to win, organizers should vote against right-wing or centrist Democrats in favor of candidates with more progressive stances.
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