On the Split in HWRS
Documents from April through September 2012
In late May and early June 2012, a series of disputes arose between, on the one hand, the majority of the comrades associated with HWRS, and, on the other hand, the two HWRS comrades (CR and DC) who had been functioning as the organization’s Executive Committee (EC). At the time, HWRS was engaged in a period of pre-Congress discussions leading up to a Congress planned for August 2012.
After the disputes surfaced, the EC comrades refused to engage in a substantive political discussion with the majority. Instead, they resorted to bureaucratic and draconian organizational measures foreign to the traditions and principles of HWRS. For example, they purported to prohibit HWRS members, on pain of expulsion from conducting any political discussion with comrade DW. They termed DW an “outsider” to HWRS, even though he is one of HWRS’s founding members and leading theorists. At the time, DW was on a leave of absence due to a physical disability, but had been participating in the organization’s internal life to the extent he was able, and contributing documents to the pre-Congress discussion, without any objection from the EC.
By mid-June, the disputes between the EC and the rest of the HWRS comrades had culminated in a split in the organization. Unfortunately, due to the EC’s bureaucratic behavior, the split occurred without any discussion of the political differences.