Here is a collection of internal documents from Socialist Alternative. This is a topical guide, so some documents appear in more than one section. For context, please read this article.
The “Smoking Guns”
- Letter from Council member Kshama Sawant acknowledging her “accountability” to Socialist Alternative
- Resolution approved by the Socialist Alternative National Committee (NC) and the CWI Executive Committee (IEC) stating that staffing decisions in Sawant’s office are to be made by the Socialist Alternative Executive Committee (EC), and confirming that Sawant has been appropriately accountable to the organization.
- Letter from the EC to the NC confirming that the EC is responsible for making decisions about Council staff and that it decided to fire Whitney Kahn from Sawant’s City Council office.
- Letter noting that the EC voted to fire Whitney Kahn from Sawant’s City Council office.
- Letter confirming again that the EC voted to fire Whitney Kahn.
- Letter from the EC explaining their decision to have Sawant vote “yes” on the confirmation of Carmen Best as Chief of Police.
- Back-and-forth communications debating the EC decision to vote “yes” on confirmation of Carmen Best
Essays on the U.S. Political Situation, Trump, Sanders, Black Lives Matter, the DSA, and the Democratic Party
- CWI International Secretariat memo on Sanders, February 2016
- ISO article on Sanders and the Democratic Party, April 2016. Longer reworked version, April 2016
- CWI essay on Trump and Sanders, April 2016
- Discussion document on the U.S. political situation, July 2017
- EC Majority reply to discussion document
- “Some Points” on the Sanders tactic, November 2017
- Response to the EC Majority Reply, February 2018
Essays and letters on how to structure leadership, decision-making, communications and accountability for Socialist Alternative’s various Seattle-based groups, including Sawant and her Council office
- Some Issues Related to the Seattle Organization (undated)
- Sawant letter to CWI’s IEC: “Concerns Regarding Worsening Situation in the Seattle Leadership” October 2017
- Response to Sawant’s “Worsening Situation” letter November 2017
- “Successes and Challenges in Building Seattle SA” November 2017
- “Proposal for long-term consolidation and sinking roots in Seattle,” December 2017
- Letter December 2017
- “A Materialist Analysis…” January 2018
- SEC Response on the Seattle Structures Debate, January 2018
- Proposal for SEC Reports to City Committee (undated)
- Response to the EC Majority Reply, February 2018
- “This Conflict is about Methods of Leadership,” May 2018
“Minority Group” essays and “Majority” responses
- “One Year of an Undemocratic EC Lockout” May 2018
- Bulletin #1 of the “Minority Group” June 2018
- “Minority Introduction to Internal Debate” August 2018
- “A New Knot” September 2018
- “An Unfortunate Split from Socialist Alternative” September 2018
- Alternative compilation of documents (169 pages)
Discussion of the importance of Sawant’s City Council seat to Socialist Alternative, and the high priority of getting her re-elected in 2019
- “Minority Introduction to Internal Debate” August 2018
- Bulletin #1 of the “Minority Group” June 2018
- Response to the EC Majority Reply, February 2018 (paragraphs 31, 35, 46, 57 and 66)
- Sawant letter to CWI’s IEC: “Concerns Regarding Worsening Situation in the Seattle Leadership” October 2017
- “Applying the Transitional Method” (undated)
- SEC Response on the Seattle Structures Debate, January 2018
- Discussion document on the U.S. political situation, July 2017 (paragraph 139)
- “Successes and Challenges in Building Seattle SA” November 2017