Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1992, Page 15
the harshest critic or the most ardent supporter. She was the enforcer of the strictest of
norms. She made sure that every whim uttered by Doreen Baxter was carried out. It could be
said that without Sandra, Doreen Baxter could not have pulled it off. Sandra was inherently
crucial to making the machine work. In early Central Committee meetings, Baxter would talk
very seriously about her remolding theories, about the structured sessions in which the
individual was forced to submit to both leadership and peer pressure, to break, to confess, to
conform. Sandra, taking in Baxter’s every word with a seething enthusiasm, was there to
make it work. Baxter often spoke about the party as her “human experiment” and Sandra
was her most loyal surgical assistant.
Ideological Underpinnings
The basic guiding principles of the WDU were established in the first year. They were:
--absolute respect for leadership
--the concept of “proletarian class standpoint” as the measuring stick of all practice
and development
--the cadre ideal, embodied in strict discipline and a 24-hour-a-day commitment
--the use of criticism/self-criticism as the mechanism for change
--the necessity of building and defending the party.
Sometimes, these founding principles were presented in documents written by Baxter. More
often, they were hammered at in study and/or criticism sessions led by Baxter. In December
1974, she presented her “Principles of Dialectical Leadership,” an 18-page paper that outlined
the norms of conduct for leadership. In essence these came to be the norms of conduct for
the membership as a whole since all members were considered to be leadership of the
working class. A close look at this early document clearly highlights Baxter’s thinking and
methodology. It reveals the basis of the WDU’s governing ideology --and language --for
years to come.
The language employed by Baxter, although awkward and perhaps somewhat foreign to the
average person, is in fact quite typical of language and terminology commonly used in
communist organizations and movements. Doreen Baxter’s strength was her ability to write
with force and specificity, to exert a kind of power and certainty, and to verbalize and
articulate the diverse or unformed thoughts of others into a seemingly cohesive statement.
Another aspect of her skill as a charismatic leader was her capacity to use political
terminology to attack and ridicule that which (or whomever) she didn’t like, giving the
impression that she was making a political criticism rather than acting on personal vendetta
or the need to control.
Baxter possessed a keen ability to sway those vulnerable to this type of language. She was
able to conjure up enormous feelings of guilt in order to call forth a response of willing self-
sacrifice. She did not hesitate to use harsh and rigid language, in particular to point out or
point at the “enemy,” who was anyone who did not see things the same way (or perhaps was
simply getting in the way). She glorified self-denial as the only road to purification --that is,
the ideal must always come before the individual, the latter taking on greater and greater
negative connotations. She translated the abstract ideal into the living organization. She
manipulated language in order to call on the good and the noble in each person, while she
held forth the promise of fulfillment, to be achieved through dedication, hard work, discipline,
and sacrifice.
A careful reading of the following examples of Baxter’s guidance to her flock will reveal the
double-bind, black-is-white thinking that led the WDU and that members came to thrive on:
Be harsh to find goodness. Suffer to find happiness. Work hard and be disciplined to find
the harshest critic or the most ardent supporter. She was the enforcer of the strictest of
norms. She made sure that every whim uttered by Doreen Baxter was carried out. It could be
said that without Sandra, Doreen Baxter could not have pulled it off. Sandra was inherently
crucial to making the machine work. In early Central Committee meetings, Baxter would talk
very seriously about her remolding theories, about the structured sessions in which the
individual was forced to submit to both leadership and peer pressure, to break, to confess, to
conform. Sandra, taking in Baxter’s every word with a seething enthusiasm, was there to
make it work. Baxter often spoke about the party as her “human experiment” and Sandra
was her most loyal surgical assistant.
Ideological Underpinnings
The basic guiding principles of the WDU were established in the first year. They were:
--absolute respect for leadership
--the concept of “proletarian class standpoint” as the measuring stick of all practice
and development
--the cadre ideal, embodied in strict discipline and a 24-hour-a-day commitment
--the use of criticism/self-criticism as the mechanism for change
--the necessity of building and defending the party.
Sometimes, these founding principles were presented in documents written by Baxter. More
often, they were hammered at in study and/or criticism sessions led by Baxter. In December
1974, she presented her “Principles of Dialectical Leadership,” an 18-page paper that outlined
the norms of conduct for leadership. In essence these came to be the norms of conduct for
the membership as a whole since all members were considered to be leadership of the
working class. A close look at this early document clearly highlights Baxter’s thinking and
methodology. It reveals the basis of the WDU’s governing ideology --and language --for
years to come.
The language employed by Baxter, although awkward and perhaps somewhat foreign to the
average person, is in fact quite typical of language and terminology commonly used in
communist organizations and movements. Doreen Baxter’s strength was her ability to write
with force and specificity, to exert a kind of power and certainty, and to verbalize and
articulate the diverse or unformed thoughts of others into a seemingly cohesive statement.
Another aspect of her skill as a charismatic leader was her capacity to use political
terminology to attack and ridicule that which (or whomever) she didn’t like, giving the
impression that she was making a political criticism rather than acting on personal vendetta
or the need to control.
Baxter possessed a keen ability to sway those vulnerable to this type of language. She was
able to conjure up enormous feelings of guilt in order to call forth a response of willing self-
sacrifice. She did not hesitate to use harsh and rigid language, in particular to point out or
point at the “enemy,” who was anyone who did not see things the same way (or perhaps was
simply getting in the way). She glorified self-denial as the only road to purification --that is,
the ideal must always come before the individual, the latter taking on greater and greater
negative connotations. She translated the abstract ideal into the living organization. She
manipulated language in order to call on the good and the noble in each person, while she
held forth the promise of fulfillment, to be achieved through dedication, hard work, discipline,
and sacrifice.
A careful reading of the following examples of Baxter’s guidance to her flock will reveal the
double-bind, black-is-white thinking that led the WDU and that members came to thrive on:
Be harsh to find goodness. Suffer to find happiness. Work hard and be disciplined to find
