This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Trotskyism article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
Archives: 1Auto-archiving period: 90 days ![]() |
![]() | The subject of this article is controversial and content may be in dispute. When updating the article, be bold, but not reckless. Feel free to try to improve the article, but don't take it personally if your changes are reversed; instead, come here to the talk page to discuss them. Content must be written from a neutral point of view. Include citations when adding content and consider tagging or removing unsourced information. |
![]() | This page is not a forum for general discussion about Trotskyism. Any such comments may be removed or refactored. Please limit discussion to improvement of this article. You may wish to ask factual questions about Trotskyism at the Reference desk. |
![]() | Please stay calm and civil while commenting or presenting evidence, and do not make personal attacks. Be patient when approaching solutions to any issues. If consensus is not reached, other solutions exist to draw attention and ensure that more editors mediate or comment on the dispute. |
![]() | This ![]() It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() | Daily pageviews of this article
A graph should have been displayed here but graphs are temporarily disabled. Until they are enabled again, visit the interactive graph at pageviews.wmcloud.org |
Beyond My Ken has twice replaced the word "Trotskyist" with "Trotskyite", and has asked for evidence for my assertion that this is a term of disparagement. In the first place, in the very paragraph in which he made this change we can read - attributed to Collins Dictionary - that "A Trotskyist may be called a "Trotskyite" or "Trot", especially by a critic of Trotskyism". Beyond this, there are many sources for this assertion. Notably, a letter in The Nation (August 31 - 7 September 2015) describes the term as "derogatory" and a "slur", and goes on to state that "The difference between “Trotskyite” and “Trotskyist” is a bit like the difference between the “N-word” and “black” or “African-American.” As I recall, the pejorative “Trotskyite” was coined by Stalinists, casting Left Opposition followers of Trotsky as anti-Soviet fifth columnists and/or fascist agents. The slur “Trotskyite” is thus a sort of etymological character assassination of the man and his supporters. The word “Trotskyist,” on the other hand, is a neutral term that merely refers to an adherent of Leon Trotsky. It does not deride or endorse those it refers to and/or Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution, etc."
Wiktionary defines Trotskyist as "A supporter of Trotskyism" and Trotskyite as "(derogatory) An advocate of the communist doctrines of Leon Trotsky". A review of Mary McCarthy's The Group comments that "Oddly, McCarthy, whose sympathies also ran in that direction, insists on using the derogatory term “Trotskyite” rather than “Trotskyist” throughout the chapter". review of Rossana Rossanda's notes that "the derogatory Stalinist epithet ‘Trotskyite’ is used throughout the text ... and not just where it might be appropriate - in other words, where a Soviet or other orthodox communist is accusing some heretic, whether rightly or wrongly, of Trotskyism." Sociologist Jeff Weintraub writes "Historically, comrades, the correct term is "Trotskyist." "Trotskyite" was a derogatory slur, with conspiratorial overtones, used only by Stalinists and their fellow-traveling dupes--more or less the way Republicans in the US like to talk about the "Democrat Party" instead of the "Democratic Party"."
It is also worth noting that a Google search for "Trotskyite" produces 190,000 results, while one for "Trotskyist" produces 13,400,000. In these circumstances, there needs to be a compellingly good reason to replace the commonly used neutral term with the much less common form widely regarded as derogatory. Since none has been provided, I will restore the original term. RolandR (talk) 22:39, 19 June 2023 (UTC)