Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1992, Page 8
that could endure.1 Thus, within what remained of the radical Left, the debate centered on
what form of organization to build: a mass party or a vanguard party. Those that chose the
latter as their model became part of what was known as the New Communist Movement, or
the party-building movement. Implicit in this choice was an acceptance of the need for a
Marxist-Leninist, disciplined party that would be the vanguard in leading the U.S. working
class to revolution.
This deliberate search for a viable organizational form channeled the energies of the still
idealistic and led to some decisive actions for many leftists. During this period, some version
of Marxist-Leninist-Mao-Tse-Tung Thought often was the philosophy adopted by a variety of
liberating movements --among African Americans, women, Asians, Hispanics, workers, gays.
The emergence of “pre-party formations,” as these groups came to be called, was a common
phenomenon, with everyone trying to recruit everyone else into one group or another, each
being convinced of having found the “correct line.” Some of these groups were more
traditional in their political interpretations, following the party lines of China, the Soviet Union,
or even Albania others were hoping to come up with some new brand of Marxism more
applicable to the times and to this country.
The Founding
It was in this environment --serious and searching --that 13 women met together in San
Francisco in the summer of 1974 to found a new organization, simply calling it a pre-party
formation.2 Twelve of these women were in several different Bay Area study groups they
either knew each other or knew of one another through common social or political circles. The
thirteenth woman was Doreen Baxter, a Marxist university professor, who was planning to
return to the U.S. after a prolonged and confrontational contract-renewal fight at a Canadian
university. Baxter came to this group through a connection with one of the women, Miriam, a
former student of hers.
The 13 founders of the WDU were white and primarily of middle-class background (although
party lore always described them as being of the working class). Eight of them had some
college education six of the eight had degrees (4 B.A.’s, 1 M.S.W., and Baxter with the
Ph.D.). Their ages ranged from 19 to 41, but most of them were in their mid-20s. Baxter was
39 years old, which meant that the others (with one exception) were anywhere from 7 to 20
years younger than Baxter. Other than Baxter, they held working-class or alternative jobs.
Three worked together in a women’s carpentry collective, two were hospital workers, two
were clerical workers, one was a library clerk, one was a press operator in a women’s
publishing collective, one was a phone company technician, and two had unknown incomes.
These women had been active for a number of years either in their communities, in the
antiwar movement, in the women’s movement, in the prison movement, or at their
workplaces. Their self-identities were as radical lesbians (with the exception of Baxter and one
other who stated at the time that they were not lesbians) and/or as anti-imperialists. For
most of them, at this point, the emphasis was not particularly on being Marxist. The adoption
of Marxism as a political ideology was not yet formulated in their minds. Although as a group
they may not have agreed to a single identifying label, they did consider themselves to be
serious political women intent on working for social change in America --or in their words, “to
bring about revolution.”
The WDU’s founders (and many members who joined between 1975 and 1977) were deeply
influenced by the prevalent party-building atmosphere. They were eager to make a dedicated
commitment to some form of revolutionary struggle. Their identification with radical politics,
coupled with the fact that 11 of them were lesbians, gave these women an additional focus --
to find a group that would be feminist as well as Marxist in outlook and that would allow them
their sexuality. It was common knowledge within the left that a number of groups in the New
Communist Movement would not accept lesbians or gays as true Marxist-Leninists. In their
that could endure.1 Thus, within what remained of the radical Left, the debate centered on
what form of organization to build: a mass party or a vanguard party. Those that chose the
latter as their model became part of what was known as the New Communist Movement, or
the party-building movement. Implicit in this choice was an acceptance of the need for a
Marxist-Leninist, disciplined party that would be the vanguard in leading the U.S. working
class to revolution.
This deliberate search for a viable organizational form channeled the energies of the still
idealistic and led to some decisive actions for many leftists. During this period, some version
of Marxist-Leninist-Mao-Tse-Tung Thought often was the philosophy adopted by a variety of
liberating movements --among African Americans, women, Asians, Hispanics, workers, gays.
The emergence of “pre-party formations,” as these groups came to be called, was a common
phenomenon, with everyone trying to recruit everyone else into one group or another, each
being convinced of having found the “correct line.” Some of these groups were more
traditional in their political interpretations, following the party lines of China, the Soviet Union,
or even Albania others were hoping to come up with some new brand of Marxism more
applicable to the times and to this country.
The Founding
It was in this environment --serious and searching --that 13 women met together in San
Francisco in the summer of 1974 to found a new organization, simply calling it a pre-party
formation.2 Twelve of these women were in several different Bay Area study groups they
either knew each other or knew of one another through common social or political circles. The
thirteenth woman was Doreen Baxter, a Marxist university professor, who was planning to
return to the U.S. after a prolonged and confrontational contract-renewal fight at a Canadian
university. Baxter came to this group through a connection with one of the women, Miriam, a
former student of hers.
The 13 founders of the WDU were white and primarily of middle-class background (although
party lore always described them as being of the working class). Eight of them had some
college education six of the eight had degrees (4 B.A.’s, 1 M.S.W., and Baxter with the
Ph.D.). Their ages ranged from 19 to 41, but most of them were in their mid-20s. Baxter was
39 years old, which meant that the others (with one exception) were anywhere from 7 to 20
years younger than Baxter. Other than Baxter, they held working-class or alternative jobs.
Three worked together in a women’s carpentry collective, two were hospital workers, two
were clerical workers, one was a library clerk, one was a press operator in a women’s
publishing collective, one was a phone company technician, and two had unknown incomes.
These women had been active for a number of years either in their communities, in the
antiwar movement, in the women’s movement, in the prison movement, or at their
workplaces. Their self-identities were as radical lesbians (with the exception of Baxter and one
other who stated at the time that they were not lesbians) and/or as anti-imperialists. For
most of them, at this point, the emphasis was not particularly on being Marxist. The adoption
of Marxism as a political ideology was not yet formulated in their minds. Although as a group
they may not have agreed to a single identifying label, they did consider themselves to be
serious political women intent on working for social change in America --or in their words, “to
bring about revolution.”
The WDU’s founders (and many members who joined between 1975 and 1977) were deeply
influenced by the prevalent party-building atmosphere. They were eager to make a dedicated
commitment to some form of revolutionary struggle. Their identification with radical politics,
coupled with the fact that 11 of them were lesbians, gave these women an additional focus --
to find a group that would be feminist as well as Marxist in outlook and that would allow them
their sexuality. It was common knowledge within the left that a number of groups in the New
Communist Movement would not accept lesbians or gays as true Marxist-Leninists. In their
