The outlook of articles published to Red Ant is inspired by the politics of the Democratic Socialist Party (1972-2005) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (2007-2013).

The DSP-RSP current originally emerged out of the youth radicalisation in Australia in the late 1960s. By the 1990s it was the largest revolutionary socialist current in Australia.

The collective thinking and action by many hundreds of people across this whole period represents a rich and unique tradition with valuable lessons for today. These lessons cannot simply be learned by individuals divorced from a collective framework of revolutionary action today. However individual reading, study and thinking will play a critical role in re-establishing that sort of collective framework.

What to read

Program of the Democratic Socialist Party
The most important document of the DSP-RSP tradition is the Program of the Democratic Socialist Party which was first adopted in 1990. The program was subsequently adopted by the Revolutionary Socialist Party. The program is a 200 page book comprising five sections:
1. The Capitalist World System
2. The Origins and Development of Capital and Labour in Australia
3. Socialist Strategy and Tactics
4. Socialist Solutions to the Crisis of Capitalism
5. The Socialist Transformation of Society
Full text is here

John Percy’s History of the Democratic Socialist Party in Three Volumes is an invaluable resource. John Percy was a founder and leader of both the DSP and the RSP. The three books document the DSP period but not its subsequent dissolution and replacement with the RSP. To buy copies email red.ant.contact@gmail.com.

Vol 1. Resistance: 1965 – 1972.
Vol 2. Against the Stream: The Socialist Workers Party 1972 – 1992.
Vol.3. Keeping the Red Flag Flying: The Democratic Socialist Party in Australian Politics: Documents, 1992-2002.

Direct Action was the newspaper of the RSP. All editions are available at directaction.org.au

From 1991 until around 2005–2007 Green Left Weekly remained the paper of the Democratic Socialist Party. Much of the Green Left content remains archived online.

Red Ant also publishes works applying the Marxism of the DSP-RSP tradition to key contemporary issues. Key articles published so far include:
Can Australian Capitalism be Forced to Quit Coal? By Sam King and Max Lane
Why World Polarisation between Rich and Poor Societies Keeps Deepening By Sam King

Other Documents related to the DSP-RSP Tradition and anti-imperialist Marxism