Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1992, Page 5
By looking at “how deception, emotional manipulation, and coercive persuasion [were]
applied [in order] to undermine autonomy, critical thinking, free choice, family relationships,
and the overall well-being of people” (pp. 45-46), it becomes apparent in an examination of
the WDU that as a group it falls well on one end of the scale.
In the final analysis, I wish to place the WDU firmly on the extreme end of the “restrictive
group” continuum. From as early as the founding year, evidence shows that the WDU was a
cult exhibiting highly restrictive tendencies, with destructive effects on the members, and
generally negative, and sometimes harmful, consequences for those within its reach.
The resources used for this examination are WDU training manuals and study notes,
published party literature, news articles, unpublished papers and letters written by former
members, conversations and interviews with former members and founders, and my own 10-
year experience as a full-time WDU member, primarily in leadership positions. For the
purposes of this paper, I use pseudonyms for the name of the group as well as for the leader
and all former members when describing events and citing information or direct quotations.
Also, I use the terms “organization,” “group,” and “party” interchangeably throughout.
This paper outlines the founding of the WDU in the context of its moment in American history,
highlighting Doreen Baxter’s role as the charismatic leader. The WDU’s first year (mid-1974 to
mid-1975) surfaces as extremely pivotal to all that followed. In that year, all the norms,
structures, and behavioral patterns were put into place by Baxter, who became and remained
the group’s supreme leader, the General Secretary. The type of person who joined the WDU,
in particular during the early years, and the intensity of the recruitment and training
processes are reviewed. The physical and psycho-logical violence used to manipulate and
intimidate members is explored here, as well as the role of the second-in- command and the
necessity for other levels of leadership to maintain the status quo. The paper ends with a brief
description of and some theories on the group’s demise in late 1985.
In his study of totalistic environments, Robert Jay Lifton (1987) defined the characteristics he
sees as common to a cultic situation. They are
1) a charismatic leader who ...increasingly becomes the object of worship
2) a series of processes that can be associated with “coercive persuasion” or “thought
reform” and
3) the tendency toward manipulation from above ...with exploitation --economic,
sexual, or other --of often genuine seekers who bring idealism from below. (p. 211)
All of these existed in the WDU --with Baxter as the leader and with the group’s acceptance
of and intensive use of psychological pressuring techniques meant to mold the individual into
the “cadre ideal” fighting for a better world. Baxter’s success in building the organization, in
capturing idealistic followers, and in attaining some of the group’s goals was due to a variety
of factors, not the least of which was the link to feminism.
“Our Secret Weapon”
Unlike many other radical groups of the early 1970s, the WDU, because of Doreen Baxter’s
leadership, had solid grounding in feminism and Marxism. Baxter professed to author a new
kind of Marxism --feminist, working class, and nondogmatic --with a particular emphasis on
the revolutionary role of women in advanced capitalist society. As leader of the WDU, she
became the ultimate arbiter of what qualified as feminist or sexist, proletarian or bourgeois,
moral or immoral.
Baxter’s feminist theories, coupled with the fact that the group was founded and led by
women, were a motivating force in the group’s formation and growth. For many of the
recruits throughout the years, the WDU’s brand of revolutionary feminism was indeed a key
By looking at “how deception, emotional manipulation, and coercive persuasion [were]
applied [in order] to undermine autonomy, critical thinking, free choice, family relationships,
and the overall well-being of people” (pp. 45-46), it becomes apparent in an examination of
the WDU that as a group it falls well on one end of the scale.
In the final analysis, I wish to place the WDU firmly on the extreme end of the “restrictive
group” continuum. From as early as the founding year, evidence shows that the WDU was a
cult exhibiting highly restrictive tendencies, with destructive effects on the members, and
generally negative, and sometimes harmful, consequences for those within its reach.
The resources used for this examination are WDU training manuals and study notes,
published party literature, news articles, unpublished papers and letters written by former
members, conversations and interviews with former members and founders, and my own 10-
year experience as a full-time WDU member, primarily in leadership positions. For the
purposes of this paper, I use pseudonyms for the name of the group as well as for the leader
and all former members when describing events and citing information or direct quotations.
Also, I use the terms “organization,” “group,” and “party” interchangeably throughout.
This paper outlines the founding of the WDU in the context of its moment in American history,
highlighting Doreen Baxter’s role as the charismatic leader. The WDU’s first year (mid-1974 to
mid-1975) surfaces as extremely pivotal to all that followed. In that year, all the norms,
structures, and behavioral patterns were put into place by Baxter, who became and remained
the group’s supreme leader, the General Secretary. The type of person who joined the WDU,
in particular during the early years, and the intensity of the recruitment and training
processes are reviewed. The physical and psycho-logical violence used to manipulate and
intimidate members is explored here, as well as the role of the second-in- command and the
necessity for other levels of leadership to maintain the status quo. The paper ends with a brief
description of and some theories on the group’s demise in late 1985.
In his study of totalistic environments, Robert Jay Lifton (1987) defined the characteristics he
sees as common to a cultic situation. They are
1) a charismatic leader who ...increasingly becomes the object of worship
2) a series of processes that can be associated with “coercive persuasion” or “thought
reform” and
3) the tendency toward manipulation from above ...with exploitation --economic,
sexual, or other --of often genuine seekers who bring idealism from below. (p. 211)
All of these existed in the WDU --with Baxter as the leader and with the group’s acceptance
of and intensive use of psychological pressuring techniques meant to mold the individual into
the “cadre ideal” fighting for a better world. Baxter’s success in building the organization, in
capturing idealistic followers, and in attaining some of the group’s goals was due to a variety
of factors, not the least of which was the link to feminism.
“Our Secret Weapon”
Unlike many other radical groups of the early 1970s, the WDU, because of Doreen Baxter’s
leadership, had solid grounding in feminism and Marxism. Baxter professed to author a new
kind of Marxism --feminist, working class, and nondogmatic --with a particular emphasis on
the revolutionary role of women in advanced capitalist society. As leader of the WDU, she
became the ultimate arbiter of what qualified as feminist or sexist, proletarian or bourgeois,
moral or immoral.
Baxter’s feminist theories, coupled with the fact that the group was founded and led by
women, were a motivating force in the group’s formation and growth. For many of the
recruits throughout the years, the WDU’s brand of revolutionary feminism was indeed a key
