Meeting the Challenge of Crisis and Opportunity Left Refoundation and Party Building

About this paper: The Party-Building Commission The slogan of Left Refoundation arises out of our of Freedom Road Socialist Organization takes assessment of the ideological and structural crisis pleasure in circulating the following paper. Like among Leftists here in the U.S. and other parts of other socialist organizations, since its inception, the world. Four major occurrences define this crisis: Freedom Road has looked for opportunities to com- (1) The crisis of socialism, which predates the bine our own organizing with opportunities for collapse of the Soviet Union strengthening the unity and coherence of socialist efforts overall. We endorse the themes presented (2) The dismantling of the welfare state, here as an important part of our efforts in this gen- (3) The crisis of national liberation movements, eral direction. Members of our organization from and several cities worked on this paper over the last year and a half. We also appreciate the invaluable (4) The rise of neoliberalism. comments of friends and co-workers from other or- All four are connected. The rise of neoliberalism and ganizations who have seen this in draft and helped the crisis of socialism are intertwined with the de- shape it. We don't see this as the final word on the struction of the welfare state and the crisis of na- way forward for the socialist left. Nor do we even tional liberation movements. This crisis is an ideo- see it as the first word, since others have also grap- logical and structural vacuum in which words such pled with similar issues throughout this past decade. as revolution become clichés and young revolution- But we do sincerely hope it sparks interest, debate, aries seek meaning in a variety of ideological frame and action toward bringing new national political works. organization to US socialist efforts. –January 2000 On the other hand, this vacuum provides Marxists a Introduction: The Crisis Facing the Left rare opportunity for reflection and reevaluation. This period affords Marxists an opportunity to The world we live and struggle in confronts us with shape revolutionary thought by creating a strategic an immense set of paradoxes. Conditions exist vision for revolution and socialism. For success, this which should result in very favorable ground for so- vision needs to include a long-range plan for the cre- cialist activity. Yet a real socialist movement does ating of a new type of political party with the ca- not exist. pacity to stitch together revolutionary social move- There is anger stirring among the masses, particu- ments behind a strategic unity that weakens and ul- larly as their living standards implode. Yet at the timately defeats and overthrows capitalism, ideo- same time, there is widespread despair. The media logically and structurally. spreads the notion that history has indeed ended, The building of a party is our task because no such and capitalism is the only alternative. party presently exists, but also because we are in a The time has come for Left activists to confront the historical situation in which we cannot rely on the challenge of creating a revolutionary socialist party. spontaneous regeneration of Marxism and revolu- Neo-liberal capitalism’s unrelenting expansionism tionary socialist theory in order to build a new threatens humanity as a whole and the physical en- revolutionary movement. The crisis of socialism has vironment itself. The earlier vibrancy of the national inhibited that process. It has dampened, though cer- liberation struggles and the influence of vital Left tainly not stopped altogether, the emergence of Left movements in many countries has faded in the face culture and cultural opposition. It has fragmented of an invigorated post-Cold War global capitalism. the opposition to imperialism and clouded the goal the post-World War II era, on into the anti-colonial of achieving a socialist society. struggles of the 1950s through the 1970s. These countries handled a whole range of problems-- Socialism in the Era of Neo-Liberalism political democracy; the liberation and equality of The enduring commitment to revolutionary social- oppressed nationalities; the emancipation and ism worldwide, despite its deepening crisis, impels equality of women; the environment, the land ques- us all to work toward a new assessment of the pre- tion and agrarian reform--in such a manner that new sent situation. Based on such an assessment, revolu- ruling groups emerged. Overall, the role and leader- tionary socialists will need to propose a new way ship of the working class was not strengthened to forward. We believe that conditions exist for both continue the struggle against capital after the over- the refoundation of an anti-capitalist left in the next throw of capitalism. five to fifteen years, and for the creation of a new Separate but equally serious problems arose in the socialist party. We offer the following ideas con- socialist movements attempting to achieve state cerning our situation and the tasks of the Socialist power mainly, though not exclusively, in the ad- Left. vanced capitalist countries. The groups divorced Almost since the end of the Vietnam War, U.S. capi- themselves from the people and were unable, and tal has put the network of social programs known as often unwilling, to carry through the struggle for so- the welfare state under attack. While a new and vi- cialism and emancipation. cious right attacked these programs head-on, rea- In both cases, crisis steadily emerged despite often- lignment among liberals occurred as well. Clinton significant achievements in the realm of living stan- and Gore came out of this new, neo-liberal wing of dards and quality of life. the Democratic Party, full of free-market rationali- zation for trampling on rights and benefits long in The crisis of the national liberation movements is place. integrally connected to the rise of neo-liberalism, the collapse of many socialist countries, and the related Worldwide, the rise of neo-liberalism led to a back- crisis of socialism. Post World War II national lib- tracking by political parties that had supported the eration movements emerged in the context of the welfare state. In some countries, the backtracking decline of the old colonial powers, the struggle be- includes even some political parties formerly associ- tween the U.S. and USSR, and the struggle between ated with the Left. For many progressives and socialism and imperialism. An opening existed to Leftists, this turnabout has thrown into question the fight for independence and national liberation. With nature and demands of the reform struggle under the growing crisis of socialism, and particularly after capitalism. Many of us have lost confidence in ad- the collapse of the Soviet bloc, most Third World dressing economic development, public safety, pub- nations could no longer politically or economically lic education, and other issues. For the mass of maneuver between the two superpowers. A slow working people in the U.S., neo-liberalism has but steady capitulation to neo-liberalism developed meant a new façade for capitalism without a new as a main trend. leadership to confront it. Even progressive forces in the Third World found it We ignore reality if we narrow the crisis of socialism hard to resist the neo-liberal tide. In many cases, to the period following the collapse of the Soviet Left movements were unable to lead an effective bloc. Instead, the crisis of socialism emerged over challenge to the threats, blackmail, and demands of time in the course of political struggles. These strug- imperialism for so-called structural adjustment to gles arose in the whole range of countries that threw Third World economies. These attacks and demands off the rule of capital and began the transition to so- often violated the national sovereignty of the op- cialism, from the 1917 Russian Revolution, through pressed nations. And behind the bankers and diplo- 2 mats, stand planes, warships and troops. The riod of right-wing dominance, we should count United States has repeatedly demonstrated this fact "keeper of the faith" as a worthwhile accomplish- in Grenada, Panama, Libya, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and ment. But over time, it means we settled in for a elsewhere to enforce Margaret Thatcher's slogan for whole lot less than we need. We lowered our sights the New World Order: "There is no alternative!" to fighting the good fight instead of winning libera- Contributing also to the crisis of the national libera- tion of the masses of the people. tion movements has been the emergence of ethnic To fight our common enemy, we all take risks daily. conflicts, which have deflected the focus of the To become more than the sum of our parts, we must struggle away from imperialism and its local part- take some very different kinds of risks. We can no ners. longer dance around those risks, hiding in the safety The crisis of the national liberation movements ap- of our own organizational confines. The time has plies equally to national movements within the U.S. come to put party building decisively back on the The decline of the left in the oppressed nationality table for discussion and action. A new priority on movements has been matched by a rise to ideological party building does not mean that we think some and political leadership in its place of forces repre- new nationwide revolutionary organization made up senting the professional and business classes. Like of working class fighters of all nationalities waits their counterparts in the Third World, many of just around the corner. The refoundationist perspec- these groups and individuals have accepted the tive contrasts with the party-building efforts of the framework of neo-liberalism. Their narrow, elitist, 1970s, particularly efforts of elements of the self- and accommodationist strategies contributed to the proclaimed new communist movement—the Com- demoralization and de-mobilization of these move- munist Labor Party (CLP), the Revolutionary ments. Communist Party (RCP), the Communist Party Marxist-Leninist (CPML) and the Communist The Challenge to the Working Class Workers Party (CWP). Certain conditions in the Left Refoundation is a process for recreating, rees- U.S. and the world require revolutionaries to begin tablishing, and reasserting an ideological and institu- again the long arduous task of building a broad tional base in the U.S. for overthrowing capitalism movement of the Left that has the objective of cre- and beginning to create a socialist society. One ini- ating a new socialist party. tial objective of Left Refoundation is to create pub- Corporate hegemony in the media and in education lic discourse on the subject of revolution and social- has created a dominant set of beliefs that stresses ism. Another objective is to evaluate socialist theory "no hope" and that the market economy is the only and practice in a way that encourages collaboration way forward. The absence of a strong Left in the and development of strategy on the Left. Building U.S. contributes to this smothering ideological cli- the ideological and institutional base for a new type mate. of socialist party will require public debate, collabo- On the other hand, for all the damage it has done, rative analysis and broad scale struggles that have the right wing no longer inspires the same mass re- revolutionary potential. In the past, party building spect it has these past twenty years. We all see preoccupied major sectors of the Socialist Left. In glimmers of hope in the labor movement, as well as recent years, most independent socialists and so- the African-American, Chicano, Asian movements, cialist organizations have paid little attention to this immigrant movements and Student movements. Left element of our overall strategy for revolution. forces have begun to look for ways to gain back the Socialists have instead built our organizations as initiative. bulwarks of resistance, as trainers of the next gen- Capitalism has always been global. What is different eration, and as keepers of the faith. In this past pe- now is the hyper-mobility of capital, trans-national 3 production, and the greater penetration of global from developing nations still seek haven in the U.S. markets, accelerating since the collapse of the Soviet due to its relative position of privilege. bloc. Global conditions offer new opportunities for Capitalist economic trends include corporate re- international working class solidarity, while de- structuring, flexible production, privatization of manding collaborative strategies for success. public agencies, globalizing of the labor market, stra- Also different today is the incredible increase in tegic use of technology and the shift to a service both economic and environmental injustice. 225 in- economy. This facet of the neo-liberal era has dividuals have accumulated wealth greater than 47% changed the nature of work, expanded the definition (2.5 billion) of the people on this planet. The eco- of worker, and intensified racial polarization in the nomic immiseration of the overwhelming majority of U.S. working class. Some at the high end of the the world's people both contributes to and is made service industry remain privileged and benefit di- worse by spreading environmental cancers, global rectly from U.S. imperialism. But as a whole, the warming, the destruction of ecosystems and re- U.S. working class suffered economic decline during sources, and the spectre of total corporate control of this period. Both white workers and disproportion- the world's food supply. ately, working class people of color and non- Since the 1970s, U.S. capitalism has steadily found European immigrants have been thrown out of good new strengths to master global stagnation, but not paying manufacturing or public sector jobs (primary eliminate it. Back in the 1970s, after its defeat in economic sector) and confined to low paying service Vietnam and the gains of the freedom struggles, and/or manufacturing jobs (secondary economic sec- capitalist expansion and profits stagnated. In re- tor). Still others are forced into permanent tempo- sponse, capitalist attacks on the welfare state com- rary employment or the informal economic sector bined with the dramatic extension of global markets (hidden economy). And still others, primarily white brought a new period of capitalist growth. This im- women and women of color, are forced into the vir- perialist trend in the class struggle found ideological tual slave labor of so-called Welfare Reform forced and cultural justification as neo-liberalism, a consen- work. sus among ruling circles that the state would no In short, highly valued unionized skilled and semi- longer act as provider of the social safety net or as skilled working class occupations have dwindled in regulator of the corporate sector. Instead, the state number without disappearing, and some new pro- would reduce its role to opening international mar- fessional positions have emerged. Privilege in the kets and ensuring corporate profits. distribution of work, benefits, housing and services The other trend of the weakening of U.S. economic within the U.S. working class remains an unmistak- hegemony continues, and in the longer run, remains able and unavoidable factor. Privilege remains dis- the more powerful historical factor. But in the here tinctly racialized to the advantage of white people and now, we cannot underestimate the resiliency of over people of color and non-white immigrants. In U.S. imperialism. In addition, globalization reflects turn, the ideology of white supremacy continues to growing economic and military integration of West- have a material basis. A separate pattern of male ern European and Japanese economic powers. Its privilege at work, in the community and at home military advantage makes the U.S. the international also hinders working class unity. At the same time, corporate cop and the most dangerous imperialist a new consequence of globalization and neoliberal- power. Furthermore, imperialist agencies like the ism is rising interracial tension among minority International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank groups within the U.S. and between native U.S. mi- and the World Trade Organization can force neo- norities and new immigrants. liberal policies onto weaker nation-states and devas- Resisting the Offensive of Capital tate emerging working class movements. Immigrants 4 The average U.S. worker has a living standard ap- part of a single larger, coherent anti-capitalist Left. proximating that of 1979, gaining ground again only And we have therefore not offered leadership within after a twenty-five year decline. Workers today our movements from that perspective. typically work longer hours on the job or cannot Resistance grew from the 1980s to the 1990s, but find steady work at all, need to hold down more we continue to lack a more cohesive, all-round po- than one job, or have to take temporary jobs. Credit litical project for social transformation with which card debt has risen dramatically. Millions of people forces from various progressive social movements lack health insurance. Overall, economic insecurity can identify. In the absence of such a project, fight- has grown. ers in the various movements have fallen back upon Unionization stands at less than 14%. More so than the frameworks and contexts of their respective at any time since the 1930s, capital can start off a movements. union contract negotiation cycle assuming no need A new generation of activists has played an impor- for any significant concessions to labor. The hope tant part in this new wave of struggle. The fight for that one could predict a steady rise in one's living affirmative action, against police brutality, for wel- standard (or for that of one's children) is over for fare rights, the civil rights of gay and lesbian people most workers. Business adoption of new technol- and other issues provide a catalyst for new activism. ogy has rendered entire fields of work obsolete. For Support for the Zapatistas, the Anti-Sweatshop many other workers, capital's greater flexibility to campaigns, support for the struggle in the Pilipines pick up its operations and move--and to continually and other campaigns also reflect a new internation- hold the threat to move--has workers living in fear alism. Young activists also have made their mark on of their jobs and livelihoods. struggles against injustice to workers--garment The decline in the overall standard of living of the workers, immigrant worker rights, and for the right working class disproportionately hits oppressed of workers to unite into unions. But among today’s nationality working class men, women and youth. activist youth as well, the various causes have not Nonetheless, we also see reinvigorated scapegoating found common ground in any comprehensive strat- of immigrants and other people of color--for exam- egy that significantly challenges capitalism. ple, California's Propositions 187, 209, 227 and new Many of the best young activists, including many of Juvenile Justice Initiative. The combination of these working class origin, are being recruited into the two factors intensifies racial cleavages within the partly rejuvenated union movement. The difference U.S. working class. At the same time, the grinding with past generations is that they are entering as down of the working class as a whole also raises the staff, usually organizers, instead of starting as potential for greater revolutionary unity. workers on the floor or in the fields. The other dif- The neo-liberal offensive targeted the economic ference is that the Left is not concentrated in the stagnation and profits squeeze felt by the imperial- workplace as it once was. ist centers in the early 1970s. Union-busting, slash- Some who consciously see themselves as revolu- ing the welfare safety net, weakening health, safety tionaries have formed organizations such as Standing and environmental regulations, providing tax breaks Together Organizing a Revolutionary Movement and government assistance to big business has been (STORM), Asian Revolutionary Circle, Young the order of the ‘80s and ‘90s. In the movements of Comrades, Accion Borricua, Black Panther Party people of color and the women's, labor, environ- Collective, Zulu Nation, Asians and Pacific Island- mental, gay and lesbian movements, resistance has ers For Community Empowerment, Pilipino Work- been the watchword. While important efforts at ers Collective, ACTION, Olean and SOUL. As in collaboration occurred, the Left wings of these past generations, these emerging revolutionaries are movements have not generally seen themselves as searching for revolutionary answers. They are 5 seeking out answers from different theories and ide- strategic stance of the CPUSA, putting it in line ologies and perhaps, like past generations, they will with traditional, pro-Soviet communist parties in develop their own visions for revolution. The inter- other parts of the world. This, coupled with an un- national crisis of socialism, our inadequate summary critical identification with the USSR and its policies, of our (New Left) history and the lack of a clear contributed to a marginalization of their organization revolutionary analysis, vision or alternative has im- and role among emerging forces in older and newer paired our ability to adequately bridge the ideologi- progressive social movements. cal, cultural and experiential gap the exists between In the advanced capitalist countries overall, Marxist- the ‘60s and ‘70s revolutionaries and the emerging Leninist notions of the struggle for power swung revolutionaries of the ‘90s. back and forth between two extremes. At times, Learn From Earlier Efforts to Construct Marxist-Leninist parties emphasized direct confron- a Revolutionary Socialist Party tation with the state and sectarianism towards al- most all other left forces. Parties saw themselves as No one should deny the exemplary role played by the only important actor--the self-appointed van- the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) at key points guard--with all other forces serving as fronts that in its history. Especially during the 1930s and they sought to control or manipulate. In other times 1940s, the Communist Party, working along with and places, Marxist-Leninists took a leap of faith to other Left organizations, helped organize the new seek a historic compromise (in the Italian expres- Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) labor sion) with capitalism. Parties dissolved (at least federation, mount the struggle against lynching and ideologically and sometimes practically) into Jim Crow, and build new organizations to fight for shapeless mass forms, becoming something of an self-determination for the African-American nation. ideological apparition. The CPUSA's anti-fascist stance during most of that period made a huge difference. Nowhere in the West did these parties succeed in building a strategic alliance of forces that could fully During that time, the CPUSA held to what it called challenge capitalism and win state power. Even the popular front-- that a very broad political bloc those communist movements that successfully led was necessary to defeat the challenge of fascism and the anti-fascist struggle during World War II had war. The party's approach also emphasized rooting trouble once in power. We certainly still have much itself in local workplace and community struggles, to learn from these experiences. Some, such as the as they successfully accomplished in many move- Italian party and its successor Party of Communist ments and locales. In the African-American move- Refoundation, played an important role both in the ment, by way of example, the CPUSA set out to student and labor revolts of the sixties as well as in construct their organization as a vehicle for Black reaching the present new activist generation. Yet the liberation and socialism. limitations of most of these parties provide an addi- Nevertheless, the CPUSA fell victim to tendencies tional reflection of the crisis of socialism. that dragged down virtually all the Western commu- nist parties. During and after World War II, the CPUSA backed off its commitment to self- Engaged by the Vietnam war, the 60s freedom strug- determination and the struggles of oppressed na- gles, the women's movement and other new move- tionalities. The Party refused to oppose the intern- ments, a generation turned itself for a time to fun- ment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, damental social change. Despite the problems of the did not support the wartime African American traditional socialist left, many activists stuck with March on Washington, and eased up in its emphasis national organizations linked to that past--notably, on organizing the South. Reformism became the the Communist Party, the Democratic Socialists of America, the Socialist party, the Socialist Workers 6 Party. Activists of color joined these organizations determine the culture, politics and structure of the to a lesser degree, but overall this remains true. new party. Those organizations played an important role in fur- The new party-builders of that earlier era included thering some crucial mass and reform struggles, but some of the finest left activists from the 1960s anti- did not provide the breakthrough in thinking and war, oppressed nationality, and other social move- organizing to move socialism forward. ments. Its activists exerted significant influence and A probably larger wave of activists moved out be- leadership over countless mass-based struggles from yond the established socialist left to attempt to the late 1960s to 1980s. Yet the movement proved build new revolutionary parties. These all either to be less than the sum of its parts. It did not coa- failed to take root or collapsed after some initial lesce in such a manner that it could actually advance success. At least among that sector known as the the struggle for a new Marxism and become a major anti-revisionist or new communist movement, these political force in society. Those few anti-revisionist efforts were plagued with left sectarianism and parties that did develop a significant mass base white chauvinism. Moreover, though they con- could not maintain and expand that influence past demned the Communist Party as hopelessly lost or the 1980s. revisionist, they offered only incomplete or contra- Unfortunately, Left approaches that denied the need dictory analyses of the shortcomings of the CPUSA for a specific revolutionary party did not fare par- and Soviet-style communism generally. ticularly well either. Highly decentralized or com- Many adopted an uncritical stance toward the munity-based attempts at building working class Communist Party of China, and sometimes me- leadership (along the lines of Italy's Lotta Con- chanically applied the experience of that Party to tinua), tended to collapse earlier than the Marxist- party building efforts here. One result was a prolif- Leninists, particularly as the mass upsurges of the eration of "pre-party" organizations that all tried to 1960 and early '70s died down. A similar fate befell act like mini-parties, often seeing themselves as the groups like Katipunan ng ma Demokratikong Pili- center of the Left universe. They created unrealistic pino (KDP) in the U.S., which advocated building expectations for themselves. Seeking some kind of an anti-imperialist (as opposed to socialist) party. franchise from China, some of these pre-party orga- KDP ultimately abandoned its effort and joined the nizations moved rapidly to consolidate as many group Line of March, which itself collapsed in the loosely allied local study groups and collectives into late '80s. Many local activists also found an ideo- jury-rigged national organizations. logical home in the Democratic Socialists of Amer- These organizations in their different ways had mas- ica, which has remained relatively large throughout ter plans for party formation, but not true strategies the 1990s, but largely unable to marshal effective, for party building. Party formation assumes that the coordinated political strength. guiding organization or organizations have reached Revolutionary organizations such as the Black Pan- the maturity to present the key questions and the ther Party expanded rapidly and influenced thou- best possible answers. When this happens prema- sands of activists, within and outside of the Black turely, movements, organizations and individuals Liberation Movement. The BPP played a critical participating find their own contributions greatly role in educating the masses about the real nature of hampered. Party Building as we speak of it here the capitalist state, the liberation character of the contains fewer answers and far more questions. De- African-American struggle, and the central role of bate and practical engagement together among a wide the African American people’s movement in the variety of anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist forces overall struggle for social change. Due to massive takes place within a generally Marxist framework to state infiltration and repression and complex internal contradictions, the Panthers also did not survive 7 into the 1980s as a major political organization. But Some folks, lacking a clear strategy for rebuilding the the Panthers and other radical oppressed nationality Left and creating a new Party, focused more and initiatives of the late sixties inspired a second wave more on just developing their own organizing and of oppressed nationality Marxist organizations, internal structures in the hopes that a revolutionary which in turn fed into the wider new communist socialist party would eventually emerge out of de- movement described above. veloping objective and subjective conditions. During the 1980s, a separate strategy was followed We offer this somewhat sweeping assessment not by some on the Left who either denied outright the expecting to surprise very many people and cer- need for a party or who put it so far into the future tainly not hoping to depress anyone at this late as to deny it in practice. Single-issue movements date. We don’t mean to gloss over the many posi- and organizations, solidarity movements like the tive advances that committed activists made in de- Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Sal- veloping new organizing tactics and strategies and vador (CISPES), left environmentalists, and the contributions to political theory during this period. gay/lesbian rights movements seemed to offer an Many people and groups have important stories to alternative way of rebuilding the Left, through write and tell. In part, we think so few of us have building up the mass movements. Without in any done so because of the lack of a supportive, for- way dismissing the accomplishments, vigilance and ward-looking political context. And we think an im- valiance of these forces, their efforts failed to de- portant common strand, even given all the external velop a coherent Left or to construct a party (for corporate, world wide imperialist, and right wing those who argued they were about doing so). pressures has been the inattention or wrong-minded Other important trends, such as revolutionary na- attention to party-building. We earnestly hope that tionalism, traditional democratic socialism, and radi- the process we here call Left Refoundation will en- cal and socialist feminism, also rallied large numbers courage that summarizing of experience in ways that of committed activists and contributed to the waves will serve a new process of socialist party building. of resistance from the 1970s into the 1990s. But By party building, we mean creating a party that they too failed to become centers of new, nation- learns from but that will be very different from the wide unifying left mobilization. older models. Our task is not simply to take part in In the wake of the collapse of most alternatives to a new wave of socialist organizing. Nor is it solely the pro-Soviet approach to Marxism, the U.S. ac- to build resistance among the masses, though both tivist base drifted toward liberalism and left reform- tasks are essential. But in order to strengthen resis- ism, toward an embrace of social democracy or non- tance at the base, as well as offer a viable challenge Left progressive politics, mostly tied to the Democ- to capitalism, we need to lay the foundations for a ratic Party. In most cases this tendency, sometimes socialist party. We need to help create a political among fine activists who continued highly effective force firmly grounded within the working class and grass roots organizing, led to their complete aban- oppressed nationality movements, and representing donment of an anti-capitalist alternative. Strategi- at least a trend within the radical tradition of other cally, the mass of the Left accommodated itself to progressive social movements. We need a party un- the continued existence of capitalism and to a large apologetically anti-capitalist, confidently socialist; degree became nothing more than an opposition democratic in both its view of the future society as force within a capitalist context. This stance pro- well as in the manner in which it operates; and rep- vided little or no chance of gaining real power. No- resenting a convergence of the people's movements tably, in the wake of the Black-led electoral upsurge in composition and orientation. of the early to mid-1980s, many took the road of Given this country's history, revolutionary strategy maneuvering within the Democratic Party. will only make sense if it centers on the freedom and 8 national liberation struggles here in the United societies for the benefit of the people. In many States. A vital socialist movement will in turn de- countries, for a time living conditions improved, the pend on an uncompromising struggle against white economy grew, arts and culture flourished, rights supremacy, racism, and national oppression. Re- gained protection. foundation depends on the new party reflecting the But it is also the case that Marxism, as practiced in revolutionary character of the national liberation the USSR, and influencing other parties elsewhere, movements in the U.S., especially the working class increasingly came to cast a shadow on the cause of from those movements. We need this in party mem- socialism. Contradicting Marx, the Soviet Commu- bership and leadership, organizational culture, and nist leadership denied class struggle under socialism practice. in all but its most extreme and military forms. It Party building, therefore, will be a broader task than took a narrow view of economic development that organizing existing Marxists and others on the Left. led to the poisoning of the environment. It pro- Party building has to include the task of encouraging moted a Russia-centered view of the state, which, in and supporting broad-based theoretical exploration practice, denied the right of national self- and development, left-wing culture, opposition to determination to other peoples in the territory of imperialist corruption, and the building of bridges the USSR. between generations of activists. Activist work The Soviet interpretation of Marxism failed to iden- mainly helping to develop the mass movements can tify steps that would increase the power of the also help bring about a new party. The Party we worker in the workplace and in society. It ignored, want to help create must be rooted in the day-to- and in many ways encouraged, the growth of a class day struggle of the masses. or strata that advanced the interests of capital, while Learn From Socialism's Past in Order to paying lip service to socialism. Move Forward It adopted an economist view of the struggle for Neo-liberalism has not resolved the basic contradic- women's emancipation. Women's liberation was cen- tions of capitalism. From our many, different van- tered almost totally on the role in the workplace, tage points in workplaces and communities and failed to address issues of male supremacy in throughout the country, we all can see that the sys- the home, the Party, and the state. It failed to pro- tem remains in crisis. But 20th Century efforts to vide political democracy in order to both engage in construct a socialist alternative--what Egyptian widespread debate as well as to overthrow the Marxist Samir Amin describes as Socialism I--have myriad of layers of oppression inherited from capi- not proven viable. From a global perspective, this talist society. seems true even where political parties that pro- We don’t offer this as an all-inclusive list, but rather claim social emancipation remain in power. As oth- a delineation of some of the key contributing factors ers have observed with respect to the advanced to the crisis of socialism and to the apprehension capitalist countries, the masses may hate capitalism, many working people have about the models from but they fear socialism. the first, but not the last, socialist wave. While ac- In order to advance a revolutionary cause, we will knowledging many of the positive achievements of have to face the reality of this fear of socialism. Yes, that era, those attempting to rebuild the Left and the agents of capitalism have always smeared any advance Marxism must be unafraid to confront this efforts at independence and socialism. And yes, history. revolutionary victories in Russia, China and else- where threw out the capitalists and other reaction- Building the Party of the Dispossessed aries and began the process of constructing socialist We don’t know exactly what the new party we seek will look like. Many groups and individuals, re- 9 flecting the full diversity of anti-capitalist struggle in means the party needs to undertake coordinated re- the United States, will have to contribute to this. gional and national campaigns, produce high quality Reflecting this intended diversity, lets for the mo- publications, regularly summarize its practice and ment call this new formation we seek the Party of draw lessons from it, develop theory, systemati- the Dispossessed. cally train its members, and have full time leadership And while we’re just barely at the beginning of this and organizers. process, we can suggest a few things based on all Given the processes some of us lived through in the our experiences in the past period. The type of 1970s, we do not advance a new variation on the party suggested here needs to be mass and working self-appointed vanguard party. Both the Commu- class, and it will surely co-exist with other mass nist Party USA and the 1970s oppositional Marx- parties. This party of the dispossessed will need to ist-Leninist organizations postured as self- be a party that seeks to advance the struggle for po- appointed vanguards. This stance stood at odds litical power, both within the context of capitalism with the limited base and political influence of these as well as in a post-capitalist environment. organizations. We suggest instead a party that we To carry forward the long-term struggle, we can’t hope will become part of the vanguard in the fight make due with a social-democratic party. This new for socialism. We hope for this and will have to party needs to imbue our organizing with the recog- work for it. This role will emerge through practice in nition that capitalism will not disappear as a result the class struggle rather than through public rela- of periodic reforms. We need to proclaim the goal tions announcements. In the very essence of this not to reform capitalism, but to eliminate it. Con- newer type of party there must be the notion of trary to social democrats, who, upon achieving building power for the dispossessed, and uniting in power, again and again assumed that the ruling elite struggle with other forces in the progressive social would play fair, a party of the dispossessed will movements. assume exactly the opposite. The capitalists have Especially in the world we now live and organize in, never willingly given up power. That means that the the new party will need to be truly internationalist, working class must take state power and struggle to in three respects. First, it needs to commit to ac- keep it. Only in a workers' democracy will the con- tively combating racism, national oppression and ditions be created for the social revolution that will white supremacy. Racism and national oppression be necessary in order to fully eliminate capitalism have flourished again in the era of neo-liberalism and and the power of capital, and emancipate the op- once again increased the historical tensions along pressed. racial and national lines within the U.S. working The existence of our newer type of party of the class. A new party also will need to unite with cur- dispossessed is not antagonistic to other mass for- rents of revolutionary nationalism and struggle to mations, including the Labor Party, the New Party, welcome revolutionary nationalists into its ranks. or mass organizations such as ACORN. The social- Internationalism also means a commitment to sup- ist party we aim to construct will have a relation- port and embrace other revolutionary and democ- ship of unity and struggle with progressive forma- ratic struggles against imperialism. These include tions and not attempt to replace them or relegate those struggles conducted among the nations of the them to fertile fields for recruitment. We seek a South as well as those advanced by oppressed na- party that articulates a vision of socialism that is tions and nationalities within countries of the North. revolutionary and democratic. It cannot afford to be (The terms South and North offer another way of a loose network of associated individuals but needs expressing the contradiction between the formerly to organize as a disciplined political force, capable colonized, under-developed countries dispropor- of advancing a vision and moving a program. This tionately in the Southern Hemisphere and the indus- 10 trialized countries of the West and East.) Our inter- Worker's Party of Korea [North], at one extreme, to nationalism actively advances the struggle for na- the South African Communist Party and the Italian tional self-determination as part of the struggle for Party of Communist Refoundation, on to the Work- socialism. Upholding the national rights of op- ers (Communist) Party of Norway. pressed people within U.S. borders, the new party Advocates of traditional democratic centralist, cadre will organize for a self-determination that is part of organizational frameworks will need to define to the process of opposing imperialism and also of re- what extent such a party addresses or ignores the constructing relations between nations and people crisis of socialism. For their part, those advancing on the basis of equality and mutual respect. some other notion of a party of the dispossessed Neo-liberal policies have resulted in great damage to have the obligation to define its class character and the environments, economies, and social structures its role in the struggle for socialism. Given the pre- of the nations and peoples of the South. Neo- sent state of the Left in this neo-liberal era, we can liberalism has, as well, rendered whole populations safely observe that the greatest danger for such a marginal to the future envisioned by the large corpo- party of the dispossessed is falling into one or an- rations that dominate the planet. A true newer type other variety of social democracy. party--the party of the dispossessed will surely The specific nature of the party will need to be align itself with these peoples and advance and sup- worked through in the course of an extended discus- port their struggles here in the U.S. sion, debate, analysis, and summing up of practice. Our internationalism, however, does not stop there. We need to rely on those currents within Marxism It must also include a rejection of Eurocentrism in that show willingness to learn from each other and much of what parades itself as being Marxist the- from earlier socialist experience in order to assert a ory. The crisis of socialism is certainly a global cri- Marxism that is truly revolutionary, democratic and sis, but it is especially a crisis of theoretical fashions internationalist. A party of this type and emerging and organizational standards emanating from in this way will necessarily be multi-tendencied, the Eurocentric experience. Our internationalism en- parameters of which must be defined over time. We courages us to reflect on social practice alongside need a broad front to address the crisis of socialism, comrades in the countries of the South. We can learn and we need unity to tackle the collective lack of from their experience in revolutionary and democ- clarity among revolutionary Marxists. ratic struggles. Internationalism requires willingness This organizational task is simply beyond the re- to learn from the contributions of Third World sources of any one organization or grouping of indi- revolutionaries to Marxism, as well as an interest viduals. We therefore must share a willingness to and willingness to undertake examinations of other engage in broad debate even among forces that were, revolutionary currents, and the theories so elabo- in the past, at odds with one another. Such a debate rated. will need to take place both within the context of a Create An Alternative to Neo-Liberalism party, as well as within the broader Left. Socialists, and New Deal Nostalgia agreeing to certain basic principles and strategy, need to create terms of engagement that can exist In the current situation, we gain little by drawing a within a party formation. This approach recognizes definitive line between those who believe that this contributions to revolutionary theory from tenden- party of the dispossessed will be a Marxist-Leninist cies in addition to Marxism-Leninism, such as those party, or a party of some other type, such as the coming from theorists of the women's, oppressed Brazilian Worker's Party. The definition of a Marx- nationality, lesbian and gay, and environmental ist-Leninist party has evolved in countless different movements. directions, including parties ranging from the

11 Political conditions today also argue for a multi- project ideally needs institutional sponsors who are tendencied party. We need a mass political alterna- willing to help build it (and its various components). tive to both neo-liberalism and New Deal nostalgia. Such co-sponsors might be other organizations or The crisis facing working people, and the collapse of institutions, or a set of respected individuals. In any various reformist alternatives, demand a coherent case, ideally, there is organizational support. Left opposition/alternative. Such an alternative must Commit to a structured, multi-year engagement be capable of engaging in broad struggles and not among participants in this project. This engage- simply serving as a propaganda sect. Engagement at ment needs to include political discussion, study, the level of mass politics necessitates an organiza- debate, summation and the identification of points tion/party that is multi-tendencied, while neverthe- of theoretical and practical unity. An example of less being socialist. It assumes that many issues of this would be to have a specific several-month pro- debate will need to be postponed while at the same ject of addressing the lessons to be drawn from the time ensuring that we have sufficient unity to engage collapse of the Soviet bloc and the crisis of social- in the various aspects of the class struggle. ism. What does such a collapse mean for a vision of The strategy of Left Refoundation envisions an ap- socialism? How do we get to socialism? How does proach to party building that contrasts, in its fun- class struggle play itself out during socialism? What damentals, with approaches taken in earlier periods. is the relationship between political liberties, de- Superficially, there may appear to be certain simi- mocracy and workers' power? (These questions are larities. But at the level of theory, Left Refounda- not exclusive).) tion proceeds from the notion of prac- Another example might be a specific examination of tice—reflection/ summation--new practice. Reflec- the national liberation movements in the U.S. (at the tion and summation drive the process when they general level), followed or accompanied by a specific result in the theorizing of experiences, individual and examination of particular freedom struggles. What, collective. This is not novel, at least as a stated po- for example, does the crisis of the national liberation sition. However, Left Refoundation wishes to struggles internationally affect domestic national translate this approach into a strategy for party movements? How should one view nationalism in building that begins with acknowledging the experi- the era of neo-liberalism and structural adjustment? ence, politics and theories that already exist among Where should the work of the party of the dispos- anti-capitalist activists of various stripes. No one sessed be concentrated? How does the party achieve group possesses the Holy Grail. Therefore the ap- the class, racial and gender composition necessary to proach we propose includes the following elements: truly represent the dispossessed? Identify cores of anti-capitalist activists: We Launch coordinated national organizing pro- need the support of dedicated but often isolated jects: Intersecting the process of study, reflection groupings of left-oriented activists organizing in all and debate would be engagement in collective, prac- the contemporary social movements, but particu- tical projects. Such projects should be consistent larly those grounded and based within the working with the principles of unity that bring these various class sector of those movements, especially the op- forces and individuals together. They should also pressed nationality movements. Such activists may not be grandiose, e.g., running our own 3rd party or may not be part of formal organizations. This candidate for the U.S. presidency, but should be main aspect of the project does not consist of unit- rooted in the actual work of the people involved. ing existing organizations, although it does not pre- Joint action aims to have a practical impact on day- clude that from happening. to-day struggles as well as serve as a means to learn Seek sponsors of the Refoundation project. This from and implement the outcome of theoretical dis- step is of critical importance. The Refoundation 12 cussions. This work should also be summarized and would people need to agree? To some extent this factored into the discussions that are taking place. must be an open question and one subject to intense Work to build the Black Radical Congress, the New negotiations. Nevertheless, the following are some Raza Left, and the Asian Left Forum illustrate some basic outlines: of the objectives of the refoundation approach, in- Recognize the need to fight for socialism. While cluding the centrality of the national movements to perhaps continuing to disagree on particulars, we the Left refoundation analysis. Also the approach need to agree that we seek a social system in which taken and advocated in the construction of these ini- the working class is the leading class, the struggle tiatives flows from a view that the rebuilding of the against capital continues, political democracy is en- Left generally, and the Lefts in the national move- hanced, and political debate is allowed within the ments in particular, are not the province of one bounds of a constitution. At the very least, there ideological or political tendency alone. should be a consensual definition of socialism As our forces gain strength, areas of joint action premised on the notion of class power as opposed may expand to include issues such as municipal and to utopian views or those views that downplay county political power; the transformation of na- class and class struggle. tional trade unions into strengthened centers of re- Recognize the strategic significance of the sistance; community-centered public education, to struggle against racism and white supremacy name a few. These will have to be carefully chosen. and for national self-determination. Signatories This multi-year project needs to be pulled together to the refoundation project should not be held to a at some future date. Those who entered into the specific definition of particular oppressed nationali- project would, of course, need to understand and ties. But all should commit to principled debate on agree that this project was not to be an abstract Left these questions, and recognize that the struggle unity effort, but is aimed at constructing an organi- against white supremacy is central to building a zation/party. At the end of the period of engage- broad, popular bloc that can achieve power. ment, the entire process would need to be summa- rized. Such a summation would aim to determine Recognize that the struggle against male su- whether the basis exists to make the transition to premacy and for the emancipation of women is such a party. We will need to know when unity has not an add-on struggle, but is part of the strate- been reached on a real strategy; whether we have a gic formulation for the construction of social- critical mass of people; whether we have unified on ism. This is not a struggle restricted to formal, de- an appropriate organizational form; when we have mocratic rights--though such a struggle is pro- achieved bottom lines of political and operational foundly important--but is a struggle against the pa- unity. triarchal roles and power which have consistently undermined progressive struggles and projects, in- The approach advanced here borrows from and cluding the struggles for national liberation and so- seeks to utilize popular education as, indeed, it is cialism. The struggle for gender equity must also be intended to be used: as a "pedagogy of the op- a struggle that recognizes the profound democratic pressed," not a series of disconnected educational issue contained in the lesbian and gay movements. techniques. A Freirian approach to this project aims We must build a movement that challenges hetero- to create a democratic dialog among forces interested sexism as well as other forms of traditional male su- in the construction of a party of the dispossessed. premacy, both within the movement itself, and in Begin With Broad Socialist Unity the larger society. What sorts of forces should be approached for this refoundationist project? Specifically, around what 13 Recognize the immediate and long-term impor- pire and adhere to the concept advanced by Samora tance of democracy. The refoundation project must Machel: "Internationalism is strategy, not charity." assume a level of unity among its constituents that the socialism for which we fight will be revolution- Recognize our need to base Refoundation ary and democratic. In addition, the struggle for con- within the working class and sees the working sistent democracy within the context of capitalism class as its home. Without denying other sectors of also must reflect the democratic vision we hold for social movements, the refoundation project must the future. This does not mean that we should ne- strive to be a working class project, that is, a project glect the nature of the capitalist state: at the point at of and for the working class! which a socialist, anti-capitalist, or anti-imperialist movement takes off, it will face vicious repression. Unidos y Organizados, Venceremos/United and Or- Operating in an environment of repression will, by ganized, We Will Win! necessity, change the forms of organization neces- sary in order to prosecute any struggle. Freedom Road Socialist Organization Recognize the priority of connecting the strug- PO Box 1386 - Stuyvesant Station gle for the environment and the struggle New York NY 10009 against capitalism. The refoundation project itself [email protected] embraces the struggle to save the environment and is www.freedomroad.org willing to criticize the approach to economic con- struction that took place in the states of Socialism I, where the environment was ignored, and often de- stroyed.

Recognize that our project must be internation- alist. We recognize that the United States is an em-

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