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The International Workers Party (IWP) was a radical political organization founded by controversial psychotherapist Fred Newman.
There are conflicting stories about when the group was officially founded as well as when it was disbanded. There are two reasons for this. First, because Fred Newman and his affiliates have created a number of similar organizations- often concurrently- that are clearly related but seem to be redundant. Since many "Newmanites" belong to more than one of said organizations, it is difficult to understand who is doing what for whom or whether it even matters. Second, because these organizations (especially the IWP) often operate in deliberately secretive ways, the known information comes from cryptic "official statements" or reports from disgruntled former members.
Origins
The origins of the IWP are in splits within other radical groups in the 1970s. Newman's therapy clients were members of a collective called Centers for Change (CFC). In 1974, Newman brought this group into Lyndon LaRouche's National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC), which at the time was a coalition of various labor groups who were either dissatisfied with or expelled from larger leftist organisations such as the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). LaRouche was already seen on the Left as a dangerous figure due to his having called for physical attacks on Communist Party and SWP members, known as "Operation Mop Up." Even before bringing CFC members to the NCLC, Newman had written positive articles on LaRouche's theories and techniques. It is also evident that Newman, like LaRouche, was interested in using psychoanalysis to political ends.
The Newmanites eventually left the NCLC over a dispute of how to handle the "National Unemployed and Welfare Rights Organization" (NUWRO), however LaRouche himself wrote that there was no room in the NCLC for the CFC's unusual sexual practices. Newman issued a letter of resignation claiming that the LaRouche's group was "cannibalizing" the movement and for this reason he would create the International Workers Party as a true vanguard party. Naturally many of the former CFC group joined him in the IWP. There was also a different (non-Newmanite) group known as the "Class Unity Faction" that joined the IWP in hopes of converting the CFC members to their own brand of revolutionary communism. This group had been kicked out of the Workers World Party for opposing its "reformism". The Newmanite group and the Class Unity Faction would compete for control of the IWP in the coming years. The latter "wing" of the party was at one point known as the "Comcad" (short for Communist Cadre). Members of this group were often slandered and by some accounts even "snitched on" to the FBI.
Ideas and Practices
The IWP considered itself a revolutionary organization which fused Leninist vanguardism with Newman's own "social therapy" theories. Newman believes that everyday psychological ills are brought about by the same system that keeps the bourgeoisie social order in place. In overthrowing the ruling class, you not only liberated the oppressed peoples but also could enter a healthier mental state.
From 1974 to 1979, the IWP was made up of fragmented "cell" groups that carried out orders. Each cell had a leader, who would meet with Newman and one another in a group called "The Secretariat." The cells operated so independently of one another that for security purposes even Newman himself was unsure who in the IWP owned semi-automatic firearms.
Throughout its lifetime, the IWP attempted to emulate other models of democratic centralist parties in that it had a "Central Committee," a governing body to make the decision-making process represent different positions held within its constituency. Once the Central Committee arrived at an agenda, all party members were required to follow through with it. Some former members say that eventually the Central Committee was just a way for Newman to control the social status of IWP members and had little to no power over the group's actions if a proposal contrasted with his plans.
after 1979
Newman would go on to create the New Alliance Party (NAP), which at its 1979 inception still considered itself "pro-socialist" but had a much more mainstream public face. The IWP continued to operate "underground" while the NAP gained attention from individuals less interested in revolutionary rhetoric and more interested in multiculturalism and empowerment. At this time the IWP recruited from the NAP as a higher branch that may have controlled the group behind the scenes. It was through the IWP that selected NAP members were required to attend Newman's social therapy sessions. An even smaller group within the IWP termed "the Steering Committee" consisted of members at the highest ranks of Newman's various organizations and included the NAP's two-time presidential candidate Lenora Fulani.
By the mid 1990s, both Newman and Fulani distanced themselves with their work in the IWP and it is believed to be completely disbanded.
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