In Defence of Trotskyism No.2
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No. 75, January, 1986
_____ 2 N075 January 1986 20p Monthly paper of the Spartacist League British troops out now! o o 's relan eal! ~ Not Orange against Green " but class against class! ;, ~o sooner had a beaming Margaret Thatcher and Garrett FitzGerald emerged from signing their vaunted 'Anglo-Irish accord' than American president Ronald Reagan signalled his congratulations. Reagan instantly called the British and Irjsh ambassadors into the White I~ouse to wax rhetorical about tbis ! promise of pe2ce and a new dawn for the troubled communi ties of Northern Ireland' ((;/iarcJj an. 26 ~T,'!\.. "Cl:1b<-·r ~q85). Within weeks of the 'new dawIl', Orange l'e actionaries were leading 100.000 outraged Loyalist marchers through the streets of Belfast, prominent Sinn Fein activists were beine hunted down and arrested in a major I crackdown ~nd several hundred more British troops from the crack Spearhead Battalion were being shipped in to carry out the imperial l~ ists' bloody 'promise of peace'. One minute into the New Year ehe IRA signalled its opinion on the Hillsborough agreement by ~ blowing away two RUC cops. In the meantime Republican prisoners launched an abortive hunger strike in protest at yet another of the Labour Herald Margaret Thatcher and Irish prime minister Garrett FitzGerald's celebrated Hillsborough accord means more British government's massive frame-up 'super imperialist terror and communalist fratricide for Northern Ireland. frass' trials. The British imperialists and their Green NATO's anti-Soviet arsenal. But short of a struggle for an Irish -
1Contents FSC Contents.Qxd
22REVIEWS (Composite)_REVIEWS (Composite).qxd 2/11/2019 11:39 AM Page 123 123 Reviews Latin America Grace Livingstone, Britain and the Dictatorships of Argentina and Chile 19731982, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, 292 pages, ISBN 9783319782911, £16 During the twentieth century, Latin America was the scene of numerous military coups which established oppressive dictatorships notorious for their abuse of democratic and human rights. This book is a detailed study of the policies adopted by Britain towards two of them – in Chile and Argentina. On 11 September 1973, Augusto Pinochet, the head of Chilean armed forces, launched a coup against the democratically elected socialist president, Salvador Allende. He bombed the presidential palace, fired on and arrested thousands of Allende supporters and other leftwingers, and shut down all democratic institutions. In Argentina on 26 March 1976, the widowed third wife of former dictator Juan Peron, Isabella Peron, who had been elected president, was overthrown by the army, which closed down the Congress, banned political parties, dissolved the Supreme Court, and arrested thousands of political activists including former ministers. In the cases of both Chile and Argentina, the British Foreign Office and leading ambassadorial staff – despite theoretical commitments to democracy – recommended recognition of the military juntas established and downplayed reports of human rights infringements. Grace Livingstone attributes this to the class basis of the personnel involved. She states that, in 1950, 83% of Foreign Office recruits attended private schools and the figure was still 68% ten years later. In 1980, 80% of ambassadors and top Foreign Office officials had attended feepaying schools. -
Victor Serge's Midnight in the Century
Cultural Logic: Marxist Theory & Practice Volume 24 (2020), pp. 50-63 Revolutionary Resistance: Victor Serge’s Midnight in the Century Ronald Paul University of Gothenburg In his contribution to the debate in the 1920s about the possibility of proletarian literature developing in the Soviet Union, Victor Serge shared similar critical doubts as those expressed by Leon Trotsky in his book, Literature and Revolution (1924). Reflecting the optimism of the new Soviet state, Trotsky imagined a process of revolutionary social and economic development that would relatively quickly transform itself from a proletarian dictatorship to that of a new socialist society in which art and literature would no longer be class-bound: [A]s the conditions for cultural creation will become more favorable, the proletariat will be more and more dissolved into a Socialist community and will free itself from its class characteristics and thus cease to be a proletariat […] This seems to lead to the conclusion that there is no proletarian culture and there never will be any and in fact there is no reason to regret this. The proletariat acquires power for the purpose of doing away forever with class culture and to make way for human culture. We frequently seem to forget this. (Trotsky 1960, pp.185-6) 1 Serge considered these conclusions “definitive”, although he did have “one important reservation” (Serge 2004, p.46). He himself thought that the existence of a proletarian state might be more prolonged than could be predicted (much more than a few decades). In this extended historical perspective, new kinds of revolutionary literature would have more time to develop. -
The Bolshevil{S and the Chinese Revolution 1919-1927 Chinese Worlds
The Bolshevil{s and the Chinese Revolution 1919-1927 Chinese Worlds Chinese Worlds publishes high-quality scholarship, research monographs, and source collections on Chinese history and society from 1900 into the next century. "Worlds" signals the ethnic, cultural, and political multiformity and regional diversity of China, the cycles of unity and division through which China's modern history has passed, and recent research trends toward regional studies and local issues. It also signals that Chineseness is not contained within territorial borders overseas Chinese communities in all countries and regions are also "Chinese worlds". The editors see them as part of a political, economic, social, and cultural continuum that spans the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, South East Asia, and the world. The focus of Chinese Worlds is on modern politics and society and history. It includes both history in its broader sweep and specialist monographs on Chinese politics, anthropology, political economy, sociology, education, and the social science aspects of culture and religions. The Literary Field of New Fourth Artny Twentieth-Century China Communist Resistance along the Edited by Michel Hockx Yangtze and the Huai, 1938-1941 Gregor Benton Chinese Business in Malaysia Accumulation, Ascendance, A Road is Made Accommodation Communism in Shanghai 1920-1927 Edmund Terence Gomez Steve Smith Internal and International Migration The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Chinese Perspectives Revolution 1919-1927 Edited by Frank N Pieke and Hein Mallee -
Fourth International 666
Vol. 7, No. 26 0 1969 Intercontinental Press July 14, 1969 $1 DOCUMENTS World Congress of the FOURTH INTERNATIONAL 666 fied to the active way in which the Trotskyists in most countries are participating in vanguard struggles. Special Issue A noticeable feature of the congress was the youthful- ness of many of the delegations. They represented the most politically conscious sector of the new generation One of the features of Intercontinental A.ess which of rebel youth that is stirring the world today. The many of our well-wishers have told us is especially question of how the Fourth International can take still appreciated is the number of documents which we reg- better advantage of the great new openings interna- ularly make available in translation from various lan- tionally to recruit fresh contingents from this source guages and from various sectors of the political spec- was one of the major items on the agenda. It was trum. In this issue the entire contents comes under the likewise interlaced with other points in the deliberations heading of rrdocuments” and these documents are all of the delegates. from a single gathering, the world congress of the Fourth The discussion was an intense one throughout the International held last April. congress, constituting the most graphic evidence of how In our opinion, this was a political event of some the democratic side of the principle of democratic cen- importance to the revolutionary-minded left. As the tralism is observed in the Fourth International in con- Third World Congress since the Reunification, it reg- trast to the stultifying, antidemocratic practices charac- istered the solidity achieved by the world Trotskyist teristic of the Stalinist and Social Democratic organiza- movement after a major split that lasted for almost tions with their iron-fisted and ivory-headed bureau- ten years until the breach was closed in 1963 on a cracies. -
Salgado Munoz, Manuel (2019) Origins of Permanent Revolution Theory: the Formation of Marxism As a Tradition (1865-1895) and 'The First Trotsky'
Salgado Munoz, Manuel (2019) Origins of permanent revolution theory: the formation of Marxism as a tradition (1865-1895) and 'the first Trotsky'. Introductory dimensions. MRes thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/74328/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Origins of permanent revolution theory: the formation of Marxism as a tradition (1865-1895) and 'the first Trotsky'. Introductory dimensions Full name of Author: Manuel Salgado Munoz Any qualifications: Sociologist Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Research School of Social & Political Sciences, Sociology Supervisor: Neil Davidson University of Glasgow March-April 2019 Abstract Investigating the period of emergence of Marxism as a tradition between 1865 and 1895, this work examines some key questions elucidating Trotsky's theoretical developments during the first decade of the XXth century. Emphasizing the role of such authors like Plekhanov, Johann Baptists von Schweitzer, Lenin and Zetkin in the developing of a 'Classical Marxism' that served as the foundation of the first formulation of Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution, it treats three introductory dimensions of this larger problematic: primitive communism and its feminist implications, the debate on the relations between the productive forces and the relations of production, and the first apprehensions of Marx's economic mature works. -
Joseph Hansen Papers
http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf78700585 No online items Register of the Joseph Hansen papers Finding aid prepared by Joseph Hansen Hoover Institution Archives 434 Galvez Mall Stanford University Stanford, CA, 94305-6003 (650) 723-3563 [email protected] © 1998, 2006, 2012 Register of the Joseph Hansen 92035 1 papers Title: Joseph Hansen papers Date (inclusive): 1887-1980 Collection Number: 92035 Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Archives Language of Material: English Physical Description: 109 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box, 3 envelopes, 1 audio cassette(46.2 linear feet) Abstract: Speeches and writings, correspondence, notes, minutes, reports, internal bulletins, resolutions, theses, printed matter, sound recording, and photographs relating to Leon Trotsky, activities of the Socialist Workers Party in the United States, and activities of the Fourth International in Latin America, Western Europe and elsewhere. Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives Creator: Hansen, Joseph, Access The collection is open for research; materials must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Publication Rights For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Joseph Hansen papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Archives. Acquisition Information Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1992. Accruals Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at http://searchworks.stanford.edu . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number of boxes listed in this finding aid. -
How Useful Is the Theory of Permanent Revolution Today?
How useful is the Theory of Permanent Revolution Today? Theory of Permanent Revolution When Trotsky summarized his theory of Permanent Revolution in a book of the same title in 1929, he emphasized there are three aspects to this theory: "To dispel the chaos that has been created around the theory of the permanent revolution, it is necessary to distinguish three lines of thought that are united in this theory"1. The first aspect - according to Trotsky himself, "the central idea of the theory" - deals with "the problem of transition from the democratic revolution to the socialist"2. "there is established between the democratic revolution and the socialist reconstruction of society a permanent state of revolutionary development" and that "the democratic tasks of the backward bourgeois nations lead directly, in our epoch, to the dictatorship of proletariat and that the dictatorship of proletariat puts socialist tasks on the order of the day"3. In its general form this theory has been most helpful in explaining how in our epoch revolutionary movements in backward countries, even when seemingly beginning around democratic tasks, can grow over into socialist revolutions. It is this central aspect of the theory of permanent revolution that is our concern here. More precisely, the aim here is to investigate how useful is this theory today for formulating a revolutionary strategy for the periphery of the world capitalist system? Let us emphasize, the other two "lines of thought" within this theory, dealing with the revolutionary process of transition to socialism itself and the need for its extension internationally, are neither particularly specific to Trotsky nor in contention here.4 Furthermore, the superiority of this theory, when first expounded in 1904-06, in relation to both Menshevik and Bolshevik views of the impending Russian revolution has the proof of the October Revolution itself and is not being questioned here. -
Trotsky‟S Struggle Against Stalinism
International Relations and Diplomacy, September 2020, Vol. 8, No. 09, 398-408 doi: 10.17265/2328-2134/2020.09.003 D DAVID PUBLISHING Hero as Pariah: Trotsky‟s Struggle Against Stalinism Dibyajit Mukherjee Prabhat Kumar College, West Bengal, India Leon Trotsky‟s contribution to the Marxist position in philosophy and his role in the Russian Revolution of October 1917 had been politically maneuvered, tampered with, fabricated and covered by a muck heap of Stalinist slander. By Stalinism, I am referring to the narrative which was born from the bureaucratic degeneration of the Soviet Union, after the failure of working class to consolidate and capture state power in Hungary, Germany, Italy and other western countries which was materially in an advanced position than early 20th Century Russia. It was also the political ideology which was born as a result of civil far, famine, pandemic and the invasion of the newly formed Russian worker‟s state by more than fifteen foreign countries with colonial objectives. Trotsky‟s role in creating the Red Army, which was a different to that of a standing army and supporters of Trotsky in the Left Opposition were not only vilified and charged with false accusations but violently purged. In this paper I have highlighted how Stalinism marked a revolution against the revolution of 1917 and how Trotsky continuously struggled against the bureaucratic despotism over the working class in post 1917 Russia. Keywords: bureaucracy, Stalinism, privileged caste, permanent revolution, Trotsky Introduction In his reminiscences of Lenin, Maxim Gorky has related a conversation he had with him. When in the course of it, he mentioned the hostility shown by certain Bolshevists to Trotsky, Lenin banged his fist upon the table and said: Show me another man who could have practically created a model army in a year and won the respect of the military specialists as well. -
A New Stage in the Degeneration of the International Committee
The Downward Spiral of the International Committee of the Fourth International Conclusion A new stage in the degeneration of the International Committee Whether you date the polemics between Frank Brenner and I with the International Committee to the summer of 2002, when Brenner first had an exchange of letters with Nick Beams, or to the summer of 2003, when David North took offense at some remarks I made in a private exchange with Vladimir Volkov, one must conclude that these polemics have gone on long enough. If you take only the major works Frank Brenner and I have written in this period, their total output would comes to well over 1000 pages were they printed in book format.1 In the course of the past seven years we have responded to a wide range of issues covering theoretical and practical questions of burning importance to the building of a revolutionary movement. We have covered many areas in the fields of philosophy, history, science, culture, psychology and last but not least politics. No one can say that we have failed to provide a comprehensive response on all the key theoretical and practical issues in contention between ourselves and David North. It is safe to say that there has been nothing remotely resembling such an all-sided critique of the theory and practice of the International Committee since the split with Healy in 1985. I can also add that the depth with which we have treated the theoretical issues far surpasses anything produced in the previous history of the International Committee, including the documents coming out of the split with Healy. -
Martial Law and the Communist Parties of the Philippines, 1959–1974
Crisis of Revolutionary Leadership: Martial Law and the Communist Parties of the Philippines, 1959–1974 By Joseph Paul Scalice A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in South and Southeast Asian Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Associate Professor Jerey Hadler, Chair Professor Peter Zinoman Professor Andrew Barshay Summer 2017 Crisis of Revolutionary Leadership: Martial Law and the Communist Parties of the Philippines, 1957-1974 Copyright 2017 by Joseph Paul Scalice 1 Abstract Crisis of Revolutionary Leadership: Martial Law and the Communist Parties of the Philippines, 1959–1974 by Joseph Paul Scalice Doctor of Philosophy in South and Southeast Asian Studies University of California, Berkeley Associate Professor Jerey Hadler, Chair In 1967 the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (pkp) split in two. Within two years a second party – the Communist Party of the Philippines (cpp) – had been founded. In this work I argue that it was the political program of Stalinism, embodied in both parties through three basic principles – socialism in one country, the two-stage theory of revolution, and the bloc of four classes – that determined the fate of political struggles in the Philippines in the late 1960s and early 1970s and facilitated Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law in September 1972. I argue that the split in the Communist Party of the Philippines was the direct expression of the Sino-Soviet split in global Stalinism. The impact of this geopolitical split arrived late in the Philippines because it was initially refracted through Jakarta. -
Alasdair Macintyre and Trotskyism
BlackledgeKnight-09_Layout 1 12/29/10 8:07 AM Page 152 9 Alasdair MacIntyre and Trotskyism Alasdair MacIntyre began his literary career in 1953 with Marxism: An Interpretation. According to his own account, in that book he attempted to be faithful to both his Christian and his Marxist beliefs (MacIntyre 1995d). Over the course of the 1960s he abandoned both (MacIntyre 2008k, 180). In 1971 he introduced a collection of his essays by rejecting these and, indeed, all other attempts to illuminate the human condition (MacIntyre 1971b, viii). Since then, MacIntyre has of course re-embraced Christianity, although that of the Catholic Church rather than the An - glicanism to which he originally adhered. It seems unlikely, at this stage, that he will undertake a similar reconciliation with Marxism. Nevertheless, as MacIntyre has frequently reminded his readers, most recently in the prologue to the third edition of After Virtue (2007), his rejection of Marxism as a whole does not entail a rejection of every insight that it has to o ffer. MacIntyre’s current audience tends to be un - interested in his Marxism and consequently remains in ignorance not only of his early Marxist work but also of the context in which it was written. MacIntyre not only wrote from a Marxist perspective but also belonged to a number of Marxist organisations, which, to di ffering de - grees, made political demands on their members from which intellec tu - 152 BlackledgeKnight-09_Layout 1 12/29/10 8:07 AM Page 153 Alasdair MacIntyre and Trotskyism 153 als were not excluded. Even the most insightful of MacIntyre’s admirers tend to treat the subject of these political a ffiliations as an occasion for mild amusement (Knight 1998, 2).