XVIII Congress of the Socialist International, Stockholm

The XVIII Congress of the Socialist International was a historical landmark. Hosted by the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) – itself celebrating a century of political activity – it came 200 years after the French revolution and almost 100 years after the founding of the Second International in Paris in July 1889.

In addition to the main Congress resolution on the current world situation, the meeting also adopted a new Declaration of Principles of the Socialist International, which provides the SI with a guiding platform for action in the decades to come. After several years of rigorous discussion and preparation – launched at the Madrid Congress in 1980 and further developed at Lima, Peru, in 1986 – the new charter supersedes the 1951 Frankfurt Declaration (which reestablished the SI in the wake of the Second World War). Presenting the new declaration to Congress, Heinz Fischer of the Austrian Socialist Party (SPÖ) and a member of the committee which drafted the document, said that democratic socialists had an ideal opportunity to get their message across. Communism was in crisis and conservatives faced growing difficulties throughout the world. Democratic socialism was clearly the force of the future.

Anita Gradin, the President of the Socialist International Women (SIW), declared that there should be no contradiction between the protection of individual civil and political rights and the social rights of individuals. The causes of violence, poverty and inequality, however, were structural and it would require political action to bring about a solution. She also drew attention to the subordinate position of women, both North and South, saying that wherever human rights were violated, it was often women who were most exposed. A comprehensive programme of action was needed to defend human rights in all countries, and to protect those who were working in this field.

What was needed was a pattern of economic growth that was sustainable in both social and ecological terms. The life style of the industrialised countries placed the earth’s life-support system at risk. The environment was a question of the quality of everyday life, she said, and environmental considerations would have to form an integral part of policies on food, housing, energy, transport, industry and urban development.

Source: Socialist International