Almost nowhere are the labour movement and the left prepared to respond to the world economic crisis even as the latter deepens. Today's economic crisis and labour's response cannot be a replay of the 1930s and yet one can learn from that historical experience. The left around the world presently finds itself in a difficult position without, in most places, a strong socialist organisation or a powerful labour movement. The key to the development of the labour and social movements and of a socialist movement in the United States and in Europe will be, as it was in the early 1930s, the development of militant minorities, ginger groups in the workplace and unions, in communities, and in the various fronts that challenge the status quo.
