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Amadeo Bordiga and the Myth of Antonio Gramsci
AMADEO BORDIGA AND THE MYTH OF ANTONIO GRAMSCI John Chiaradia PREFACE A fruitful contribution to the renaissance of Marxism requires a purely historical treatment of the twenties as a period of the revolutionary working class movement which is now entirely closed. This is the only way to make its experiences and lessons properly relevant to the essentially new phase of the present. Gyorgy Lukács, 1967 Marxism has been the greatest fantasy of our century. Leszek Kolakowski When I began this commentary, both the USSR and the PCI (the Italian Communist Party) had disappeared. Basing myself on earlier archival work and supplementary readings, I set out to show that the change signified by the rise of Antonio Gramsci to leadership (1924-1926) had, contrary to nearly all extant commentary on that event, a profoundly negative impact on Italian Communism. As a result and in time, the very essence of the party was drained, and it was derailed from its original intent, namely, that of class revolution. As a consequence of these changes, the party would play an altogether different role from the one it had been intended for. By way of evidence, my intention was to establish two points and draw the connecting straight line. They were: one, developments in the Soviet party; two, the tandem echo in the Italian party led by Gramsci, with the connecting line being the ideology and practices associated at the time with Stalin, which I label Center communism. Hence, from the time of Gramsci’s return from the USSR in 1924, there had been a parental relationship between the two parties. -
Luigi Longo, Un Segretario Comunista Troppo Dimenticato
Luigi Longo, un segretario comunista troppo dimenticato Cade in queste settimane il quarantesimo anniversario della morte di Luigi Longo (1900-1980). Dopo essere stato in carcere in Italia e Francia, fu partecipe della guerra civile spagnola nelle Brigate internazionali (1936-1939), poi comandante partigiano delle brigate comuniste con il nome di battaglia “Gallo”, poi ancora segretario del Pci nel periodo 1964-1972 dopo la morte di Palmiro Togliatti e prima dell’elezione di Enrico Berlinguer. In Dialogo sull’antifascismo, il Pci e l’Italia repubblicana (Editori Riuniti university press, 2013) tra Aldo Natoli e Vittorio Foa, il primo riconosce il ruolo che ebbe Longo nel corso dell’invasione della Cecoslovacchia da parte delle truppe del Patto di Varsavia: La posizione di critica netta che Longo fece giustamente, una delle sue iniziative migliori in fondo, e quindi come tale passò nella politica ufficiale del partito, non era per niente condivisa dalla base. Natoli spiega a Foa che Longo ebbe un ruolo decisivo nel prendere le distanze da Mosca nella crisi di Praga del 1968 e nel pubblicare il Memoriale di Yalta, l’ultimo scritto di Palmiro Togliatti alla vigilia della sua morte nell’agosto 1964, dove erano contenuti critici giudizi su Mosca e Pechino, auspicando la ricostruzione dell’unità del movimento comunista internazionale su altre basi. Si deve citare a favore della segreteria di Longo anche l’incontro con gli studenti del ’68 nel maggio di quell’anno nella sede del partito a Botteghe oscure: un gesto positivo di dialogo con il movimento nascente. Fu una scelta su cui insistette proprio Longo, che in un’intervista a Rinascita ne spiegò le motivazioni contro le titubanze di altri dirigenti del partito. -
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What Is Left of the (Italian) Left? Roberto Pedretti (Milan) oday the left finds itself in the landscape, similar to a tidal wave that has Tdangerous but extraordinary submerged almost all the political forces condition of being called to reinvent and of the 20th century, in particular the left, rethink its role, to open, and experiment both in its multifarious forms, from the with, new spaces of possibilities. As Slavoj most reformist to the most radical one.5 Zizek writes in the long introduction The outcome of the last general elections to a selection of Lenin‘s writings, this in Italy (4 March 2018) produced a means working through past historical political landscape that confirms a events – in particular failures – to re/ process that – apart from a few exceptions produce the coordinates of the left’s – seems to be global and systemic. project of emancipation.1 This should recover from the past and adapt to he crisis of the Italian and European 6 the present the historical purpose of Tleft is partly the outcome of the the left with the aim of breaking with intellectual and political difficulty of forms of subaltern thinking that have confronting the historical changes and hindered the redefinition of the political social transformations of the last decades. space in the context of the global It has produced a subordinate position economic and social transformations. towards the hegemony of the neoliberal consensus, which has prevented the left n his last book “La lunga eclissi. from evaluating the social and cultural IPassato e presente del dramma della effects this consensus has on its traditional sinistra”,2 Achille Occhetto - the last constituency and the emerging new PCI3 secretary and first secretary of social subjects. -
Italian Lessons
Italian Lessons AMID TWINKLING FINGERS and Guy Fawkes masks, few were pining for central committees. Occupy’s emergence was welcomed. The movement galvanized radicals, bringing the language of class and economic justice into view. Yet an unwarranted arrogance underlined the protests. Occupy, in part a media event that mobilized relatively few, was quick to assert its novelty and earth-shattering significance. "Our model worked" was the refrain, cutting short debate with representatives from the gloomy socialist left. A disconnect from the lineages of past movements — movements that energized more, accomplished more and were only half as self-congratulatory — was a point of pride. The posture was all the more tragic, because Occupy’s potential went beyond the minuscule core that laid its foundation. It rested in the millions who saw in it their discontent with austerity regimes, wage cuts, unemployment, and financial abuse. OWS, now drifting towards irrelevance, lacked the experience and political strategy to rally these people to action. Of course, no diverse movement emerges out of an apolitical era and latches immediately onto a unified and comprehensive critique. Politicization is a process. In this context, the translation of Lucio Magri’s The Tailor of Ulm, a history of the rise and fall of the Italian Communist Party, once the most powerful and influential one in the West, is perfectly timed. With the Communist movement long dead and Italian politics vacillating between the dry and technocratic and the bombastic and corrupt, that’s an odd pronouncement. But the history of the PCI is the history of a vibrant and deeply political organization that in a few short decades embedded itself within the Italian working class, attempting to chart a new course between Stalinism and social democracy. -
The Italian Communist Party 1921--1964: a Profile
University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 1-1-1966 The Italian Communist Party 1921--1964: A profile. Aldo U. Marchini University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Marchini, Aldo U., "The Italian Communist Party 1921--1964: A profile." (1966). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 6438. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/6438 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. NOTE TO USERS Page(s) not included in the original manuscript and are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was scanned as received. it This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE ITALIAN COkkUNIST PARTY 1921 - 196A: A PROPILE by ALDO U. -
PROOF Contents
PROOF Contents Acknowledgements viii 1 Survival and Renewal: The 1990s 1 2 Regroupment: Establishing a European Movement 29 3 The Party of the European Left 46 4 Diverse Trends: An Overview 66 5 A Successful Model? Die Linke (the Left Party – Germany) 83 6 How Have the Mighty Fallen: Partito della Rifondazione Comunista (Party of Communist Refoundation – Italy) 99 7 Back from the Brink: French Communism (Parti Communiste Français) Re-orientates 116 8 Communism Renewed and Supported: The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (the Czech Republic) 132 9 The Scandinavian Left 147 10 The European Left and the Global Left: 1999–2009 163 Notes 192 Index 204 vii PROOF 1 Survival and Renewal: The 1990s Almost two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, on the occasion of the German federal elections in September 2009, the International Herald Tribune marked the electoral victory of the German right with the headline, ‘Is socialism dying?’1 The German Social Democratic Party or the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) took 23% of the votes – its lowest poll since the Second World War – just months after the European elections registered a poor performance from left- wing candidates across the European Union (EU). As the article went on to observe, ‘Even in the midst of one of the greatest challenges to capitalism in 75 years, involving a breakdown of the financial sys- tem because of “irrational exuberance”, greed and the weakness of regulatory systems, European socialists and their leftist cousins have not found a compelling response, let alone taken advantage of the failures of the right.’ There is no doubt that across Europe the failure of the social demo- cratic parties to present a ‘compelling response’ to the economic crisis has led to a wave of electoral setbacks. -
Compagne E Compagni, Come Militante Della Federazione Di Pisa
Compagne e compagni, come militante della Federazione di Pisa, esprimo una profonda soddisfazione per la qualità complessiva delle tesi congressuali, con le quali viene riposizionata al centro del dibattito la questione comunista, con il fine della costruzione del Partito comunista. Ora come mai l'affermazione “comunismo o barbarie” è dimostrata a livello mondiale dalle politiche inique adottate dal capitalismo per “uscire dalla crisi”. Politiche che immiseriscono le vite di tutte le classi subalterne e gettano il seme di nuove guerre imperialiste. Moltissimi compagni in Italia che hanno smesso di andare a votare, rifiutando questa democrazia vuota nata con il maggioritario, guardano ora al nostro Congresso fondativo con grandi aspettative, così come tutta quell'area di giovani, disoccupati o precari, donne e tutti quei soggetti che non hanno trovato negli ultimi trent'anni un Partito nel quale sentirsi compiutamente rappresentati e che vivono una vita di difficoltà dovuta alle dinamiche del sistema capitalistico. Sentiamo il peso della responsabilità di aver deciso di dar vita al Partito comunista, anche per avere alle nostre spalle una storia complessa fatta di vittorie, di errori e sconfitte. E per tornare a vincere dobbiamo mettere sotto la lente d'ingrandimento la storia del Partito comunista italiano, di cui dobbiamo capire fino in fondo la portata con un'analisi che ci è necessaria per poter conquistare, oggi, una capacità egemonica che ci consenta un'avanzata sociale elevata quanto quella raggiunta in Italia, dal dopoguerra fino al rapimento Moro, grazie al lavoro di quanti si riconoscevano nel Pci. Che ha avuto una fine oscura, troppo rapida e non sufficientemente analizzata. -
The Italian Communist Party and The
CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY The Italian Communist Party and the Hungarian crisis of 1956 History one-year M. A. In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts Candidate: Aniello Verde Supervisor: Prof. Marsha Siefert Second reader: Prof. Alfred Rieber CEU eTD Collection June 4th, 2012 A. Y. 2011/2012 Budapest, Hungary Copyright in the text of this thesis rests with the Author. Copies by any process, either in full or part, may be made only in accordance with the instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European Library. Details may be obtained from the librarian. This page must form a part of any such copies made. Further copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the written permission of the Author. CEU eTD Collection Acknowledgements I would like to express my frank gratitude to professors Marsha Siefert and Alfred Rieber for their indispensible support, guidance and corrections. Additionally, I would like to thank my Department staff. Particularly, I would like to thank Anikó Molnar for her continuous help and suggestions. CEU eTD Collection III ABSTRACT Despite a vast research about the impact of the Hungarian crisis of 1956 on the legacy of Communism in Italy, the controversial choices of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) have been often considered to be a sort of negative exception in the progressive path of Italian Communism toward modern European socialism. Instead, the main idea of this research is to reconstruct the PCI’s decision-making within the context of the enduring strategic patterns that shaped the political action of the party: can the communist reaction to the impact in Italy of the Hungarian uprising be interpreted as a coherent implication of the communist preexisting and persisting strategy? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to reconstruct how the news coming from Hungary left an imprint on the “permanent interests” of the PCI, and how the communist apparatus reacted to the crisis. -
CS02 08 Finetti Layout 1
8 ■ CRITICAsociale 2-3 / 2013 ■ LA BATTAGLIA DI NAPOLITANO NELLA DIREZIONE DEL PCI (DOPO IL MURO) PER UNA SCELTA SOCIALISTA MA OCCHETTO FU IL GATTOPARDO: “INNOVARSI AL FINE DI CONSERVARE L’ESSENZIALE” Ugo Finetti clino del comunismo era già in atto da un de- cennio. uando il 14 novembre 1989 La flessione elettorale iniziata nel 1979 – Q Giorgio Napolitano prende la salvo il risultato del 1984 all’indomani della parola nella Direzione del Pci morte di Berlinguer – era costante e crescente che discute la relazione del segretario, Achille in particolare tra le nuove generazioni che era- Occhetto, dopo la caduta del Muro di Berlino, no sempre state invece un punto di forza del nella sala al secondo piano delle Botteghe voto comunista. La “questione comunista” ne- Oscure si va delineando una piattaforma di “ri- gli anni ’80 è sempre meno centrale nella sce- lancio” del Partito con nuovo nome sulla base na politica nazionale rispetto al decennio pre- di una rivendicazione della sostanziale autono- cedente tra il ’68 ed il ’79 e la dialettica poli- mia e specificità della storia del Pci rispetto alla tica tendeva a ruotare sempre più intorno allo storia di ciò che nelle relazioni di Togliatti, scontro per la leadership del Paese tra Psi e Longo e Berlinguer era denominato “Movi- Dc. mento Comunista Internazionale”1. Una tesi D’altra parte nel dibattito del 14-15 novem- che - come aveva rilevato criticamente Ema- bre dell’89 emergono anche i punti di forza del nuele Macaluso intervenendo subito dopo Oc- comunismo italiano. A differenza degli altri chetto - doveva però essere adattata al fatto che partiti comunisti occidentali, il Pci non era sta- la stessa decisione di cambiare nome veniva to tenuto né si era fatto tenere in un “ghetto” e presa in un quadro di “effetto domino” ovvero vediamo in campo dirigenti che hanno alle sull’onda di analoghe decisioni di altri partiti spalle non solo una storia di lotte anche vinte comunisti al potere nell’Europa dell’Est. -
Ken Magazine, the Consumer Market, and the Spanish Civil
The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of English POLITICS, THE PRESS, AND PERSUASIVE AESTHETICS: SHAPING THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR IN AMERICAN PERIODICALS A Dissertation in English by Gregory S. Baptista © 2009 Gregory S. Baptista Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2009 ii The dissertation of Gregory S. Baptista was reviewed and approved* by the following: Mark S. Morrisson Associate Professor of English Graduate Director Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Robin Schulze Professor of English Department Head Sandra Spanier Professor of English and Women’s Studies James L.W. West III Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English Philip Jenkins Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of the Humanities *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the presentation of the Spanish Civil War in selected American periodicals. Understanding how war-related works functioned (aesthetically and rhetorically) requires a nuanced view of the circumstances of their production and an awareness of their immediate cultural context. I consider means of creation and publication to examine the complex ways in which the goals of truth-seeking and truth-shaping interacted—and were acted upon by the institutional dynamics of periodical production. By focusing on three specific periodicals that occupied different points along a line leading outward from the mainstream of American culture, I examine the ways in which certain pro- Loyalist writers and editors attempted to shape the truth of the Spanish war for American readers within the contexts and inherent restrictions of periodical publication. I argue that responses to the war in these publications are products of a range of cultural and institutional forces that go beyond the political affiliations or ideological stances of particular writers. -
Perestroika the Demise of the Communist World?
Introduction Perestroika The Demise of the Communist World? Francesco Di Palma With the rise to power of Mikhail Gorbachev as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, a range of exten- sive reforms were initiated under the headings of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). Among other objectives, they sought to make the regime less bureaucratic, to tackle increasing financial woes and to reduce foreign trade imbalances. Given the leading role that Soviet Russia played in bi- and multilateral relations between communist par- ties on both sides of the Iron Curtain, however, these reforms had impor- tant effects not only in the USSR. This book examines both the encounter with Gorbachev’s policies by select European communist parties and the historical actors who helped to guide those policies’ reception and implementation—topics that the historical literature has hitherto failed to analyze systematically.1 It is concerned with the parties’ responses in two respects: firstly, with regard to their mutual political, cultural, and not least financial connections; and secondly, within the context of their bilateral relationships to the hegemonic CPSU. While the “export”2 of Perestroika has been widely acknowledged and extensively described, historians have rarely broached the topic of the independent reformist policies among communist parties that emerged in the 1970s, nor whether and to what extent Gorbachev and his aides may have drawn upon already existing doctrines to buttress their restruc- turing.3 Moving beyond the impact of Perestroika on the Soviet Union and its foreign policy (e.g., the abandonment of the Brezhnev Doctrine), Notes for this chapter begin on page 17. -
Anti-Fascism and Italians in Australia, 1922-1945 Index Bibliography ISBN 0 7081 1158 0 1
Although Italians had migrated to Australia since the middle of the nineteenth century, it was not until the 1920s that they became aware that they were a community in a foreign land, not just isolated individuals in search of fortune. Their political, cultural, economic and recreational associations became an important factor. Many of them, although settled in Australia, still thought of themselves as an appendage of Italy, a belief strengthened by Fascism’s nationalist propaganda which urged them to reject alien cultures, customs and traditions. The xenophobic hostility shown by some Australians greatly contributed to the success of these propaganda efforts. Moreover, the issue of Fascism in Italy was a contentious one among Italians in Australia, a large minority fighting with courage and determination against Fascism’s representatives in Australia. This broad study of Italian immigrants before and during World War II covers not only the effects of Fascism, but also records the ordeal of Italian settlers in the cities and the outback during the Depression and the difficulties they faced after the outbreak of the war. It deals with a subject that has long been neglected by scholars and is an important contribution to the history of Italian migrants in Australia. Although Italians had migrated to Australia since the middle of the nineteenth century, it was not until the 1920s that they became aware that they were a community in a foreign land, not just isolated individuals in search of fortune. Their political, cultural, economic and recreational associations became an important factor. Many of them, although settled in Australia, still thought of themselves as an appendage of Italy, a belief strengthened by Fascism’s nationalist propaganda which urged them to reject alien cultures, customs and traditions.