Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1, 1998, page 34
totalism is present within everyone, in that extreme conformity exists at one end of a
continuum, while at the other end lies extreme dissent. However, totalistic convictions are
most likely to occur with those ideologies which are most sweeping in their
content and most ambitious --or messianic --in their claims, whether religious,
political, or scientific. And where totalism exists, a religion, a political movement,
or even a scientific organization becomes little more than an exclusive cult. (p.
477)
As this discussion makes plain, extremist Trotskyist organizations adhere to what could only
be described as such an ambitious and messianic ideology, thereby holding an enormously
exalted view of their role in society. The case history of the CWI suggests that conformity,
the banning of dissent, intense activism, and ultimate collapse are inevitable features of
such a political landscape. This analysis is reinforced if we consider the extent to which the
practice of the CWI accords with the eight main conditions which Lifton identified as
indicating the presence of ideological totalism. These are:
1. Milieu Control
As Lifton (1961) postulated it, this is primarily the use of techniques to dominate the
person‟s contact with the outside world but also their communication with themselves.
People are “deprived of the combination of external information and inner reflection which
anyone requires to test the realities of his environment and to maintain a measure of
identity separate from it” (p. 479).
In the DWP, discussed earlier in this paper, blatant measures were employed to achieve
such effects --for example, members were “encouraged” to share living accommodations.
However, within the CWI, this seems to have been managed in a more subtle way. First, the
norms of democratic centralism (which, it will be recalled, require members to only put
forward the party‟s position in public) disrupt members‟ capacity to critically appraise party
ideology. It is difficult to say one thing in public and hold to a set of private beliefs at
variance with what is publicly expressed. Second, intense activism means that the party
environment comes to dominate every aspect of the member‟s life. In this way, members
are bombarded with party propaganda, in endless meetings, through reading party
literature and by virtue of the fact that there is no time to read anything but party
publications. Most points of contact with the external world are eliminated or drastically
curtailed. As the material pertaining to the CWI‟s collapse suggests, this form of milieu
control can be more subtle than in its most blatant cultic manifestations, but is still capable
of exercising a profound influence on those affected.
2. Mystical Manipulation
Lifton (1961) argues that “included in this mystique is a sense of higher purpose, of having
directly perceived some imminent law of social development, of being themselves the
vanguard of this development” (p. 480). This becomes a means of achieving higher and
higher levels of commitment. Frantic work rates are intrinsic to vanguard notions of party
building, and to the philosophy of Trotskyism, which claims in its starkest form a special
ability to illuminate all intellectual discourse. Thus, Woods and Grant (1995), two leading
British Trotskyists, have recently published a book on science, which attempts to apply a
Marxist understanding to the origins of the universe, chaos theory, time travel, geology, and
evolutionary theory. The discussion above shows the extent to which the claim of privileged
insight is central to the appeal of Trotskyist organizations and is ritually invoked to
encourage supporters into binges of party building.
totalism is present within everyone, in that extreme conformity exists at one end of a
continuum, while at the other end lies extreme dissent. However, totalistic convictions are
most likely to occur with those ideologies which are most sweeping in their
content and most ambitious --or messianic --in their claims, whether religious,
political, or scientific. And where totalism exists, a religion, a political movement,
or even a scientific organization becomes little more than an exclusive cult. (p.
477)
As this discussion makes plain, extremist Trotskyist organizations adhere to what could only
be described as such an ambitious and messianic ideology, thereby holding an enormously
exalted view of their role in society. The case history of the CWI suggests that conformity,
the banning of dissent, intense activism, and ultimate collapse are inevitable features of
such a political landscape. This analysis is reinforced if we consider the extent to which the
practice of the CWI accords with the eight main conditions which Lifton identified as
indicating the presence of ideological totalism. These are:
1. Milieu Control
As Lifton (1961) postulated it, this is primarily the use of techniques to dominate the
person‟s contact with the outside world but also their communication with themselves.
People are “deprived of the combination of external information and inner reflection which
anyone requires to test the realities of his environment and to maintain a measure of
identity separate from it” (p. 479).
In the DWP, discussed earlier in this paper, blatant measures were employed to achieve
such effects --for example, members were “encouraged” to share living accommodations.
However, within the CWI, this seems to have been managed in a more subtle way. First, the
norms of democratic centralism (which, it will be recalled, require members to only put
forward the party‟s position in public) disrupt members‟ capacity to critically appraise party
ideology. It is difficult to say one thing in public and hold to a set of private beliefs at
variance with what is publicly expressed. Second, intense activism means that the party
environment comes to dominate every aspect of the member‟s life. In this way, members
are bombarded with party propaganda, in endless meetings, through reading party
literature and by virtue of the fact that there is no time to read anything but party
publications. Most points of contact with the external world are eliminated or drastically
curtailed. As the material pertaining to the CWI‟s collapse suggests, this form of milieu
control can be more subtle than in its most blatant cultic manifestations, but is still capable
of exercising a profound influence on those affected.
2. Mystical Manipulation
Lifton (1961) argues that “included in this mystique is a sense of higher purpose, of having
directly perceived some imminent law of social development, of being themselves the
vanguard of this development” (p. 480). This becomes a means of achieving higher and
higher levels of commitment. Frantic work rates are intrinsic to vanguard notions of party
building, and to the philosophy of Trotskyism, which claims in its starkest form a special
ability to illuminate all intellectual discourse. Thus, Woods and Grant (1995), two leading
British Trotskyists, have recently published a book on science, which attempts to apply a
Marxist understanding to the origins of the universe, chaos theory, time travel, geology, and
evolutionary theory. The discussion above shows the extent to which the claim of privileged
insight is central to the appeal of Trotskyist organizations and is ritually invoked to
encourage supporters into binges of party building.
