Searchlight South Africa, Vol. 2, No. 4 (No
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Searchlight South Africa, Vol. 2, No. 4 (No. 8), A Marxist Journal of Southern African Studies http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.PSAPRCA0010 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. 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For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Searchlight South Africa, Vol. 2, No. 4 (No. 8), A Marxist Journal of Southern African Studies Alternative title Searchlight South Africa Author/Creator Hirson, Baruch; Trewhela, Paul; Ticktin, Hillel; MacLellan, Brian Date 1992-01 Resource type Journals (Periodicals) Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Czechoslovakia, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, United Republic of, Unknown Coverage (temporal) 1992 Source Northwestern University Libraries, 320.509 68 S439 Description Table of contents: The 'New World Order'-And 'Old Worder' Disorder; Within the Secret State: The Directorate of Military Intelligence; Documents of the Exile; Return of an Exile: September 1991; Colonialism of a Special Type and the Permanent Revolution; Opening Address to the Conference on Marxism in South Africa; A Literature of Wolves; Trotsky's Political Economical Analysis of the USSR: 1929-1940; Letter from Johannesburg: Inside the ANC Conference; The PAC Conference, 1959; South African Sanctions A Plea for Open Debate Format extent 94 (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.PSAPRCA0010 http://www.aluka.org SEAR CH L IG HT SEAR CH L IG HT SOUTH A? AFRICA No8 January 1992 £3.50 .: Inside the ANC Conference -. July 1991 Th Diretdrate e of ilitary Intelligence The Conference on Marxism in South Africa - 1991 Trotsky's Analysis of the Soviet Political Economy SEARCHLIGHT SOUTH AFRICA Vol 2, No 4 (No 8) A Marxist Journal of Southern African Studies Editorial The 'New World Order' - And 'Old World' Disorder 1 Paul Trewhela Within the Secret State: The Directorate of Military Intelligence 7 Documents of the Exile 25 Baruclh Hirson Return of an Exile: September1991 34 Appendix: Colonialism of a Special Type and the Permanent Revolution 48 Opening Address to the Conference on Marxism in South Africa 56 Paul Thewhela A Literature of Wolves 62 Hillel Ticktin Trotsky's Political Economical Analysis of the USSR: 1929-1940 69 Braam Fleish Letter from Johannesburg: Inside the ANC Conference 82 Police Documents:The PAC Conference,1959 89 Merle Lipton South African Sanctions A Plea for Open Debate 92 Cover Picture: Kiithe Kolivitz, Death Reaches out for Children SEARCHLIGHT SOUTH AFRICA Published Quarterly Addresses: 13 Talbot Av, London N2 OLS, Great Britain SSA, PO Box 28510, Kensington, Johannesburg 2101. ISSN: 0954-3384 Editors: Baruch Hirson, Paul Trewhela, Hillel ticktin, Brian MacLellan. .... ........ r.8................. R ate ga b: found ini the attached leaflet. -Follwn teorasi SSouth~rica weha tke: n account ofthe vast differentials in earnin inn eountr an d nar, t ngo e sape our As freomers undestan theareaoningSbehind this dei in. Subycithionsc :besetothejoneur orindoinaddre. That pl readershi This tsed chneque oi oe anode it the exo sen yontions hod Weoe e only acptsn reln. Unfortunatelywiynt oe h pri kc tsi es on Africa, a but o ig tat theyjntuew are uasnacrpcetoleet .' . .9....... Announcing new Printing Arrangements. As from this issue Searchlight South Africa is being printed and distributed from Johannesburg. By this means the editors hope to achieve several things. Firstly, we hope to avoid the endless interference with mail from abroad in South Africa. Secondly, we hope by this means to keep the sale price of the journal to a minimum in order to reach the largest possible readership. This is the only way in which we can cope with the extrele poverty of many potential readers in South Africa. In the process readers who could afford a higher prieve will benefit. We only hope that they will find their way clear to send us donations to recover some of our costs. Unfortunately we cannot lower the price outside South Africa, but at this juncture we are not raising our price to meet higher postage and other costs. Otherwise there will be no changes in our policies and the editorial board will stay, at least for the present, in London, We also hope to appear more regularly and regret the long interval since issue No 7 , Notes to Contributors: Articles and reviews, accompanied by IBM ASCII fliles on disk - if possible - should be submitted to the editors, typed or printed out, in one-and-a-half, or double spacing, Articles should be between 4,000 and 7,000 words, but we will be flexible and will consider longer pieces. Short articles (other than letters) will only be accepted if they are of exceptional interest. Letters commenting on recent articles in Searchlight South Africa, or relating to current events in South Africa, will be printed as soon as possible. These contributions should not exceed 1,500 words and may be shortened to fit available space, If substantial alterations would improve an article or review, the editors will communicate with authors before proceeding with publication, The editors reserve the right to alter grammar, spelling, punctuation, or obvious errors in the text. Footnotes and references should follow the practice of previous issues of the journal.. These should be kept as short as possible, and notes should, where possible, be included in the text. THE 'NEW WORLD ORDER' - AND 'OLD WORLD' DISORDER Malevolence has been gratified by the errors they have committed, attributing that imperfection to the theory they adopted which was applicable only to the folly of their practice. Mary Wollstonecraft* The Betrayal of a Russian Dream In the year 1992, when one-time Marxists are busy chasing their tails and claiming that their Gods have failed them, we must point again to that profound truth of Mary Wollstonecraft. Those who now repudiate the theories they once held as erroneous or imperfect, either misunderstood the Marxism they claimed to follow, or they deliberately perverted Marx's teachings. They altered the meaning of Marx and his close collaborators, they lied in order to justify the crimes of the USSR, and they assisted in preventing the development of socialism. Now, in an effort to resurrect their claim to honesty they shift the folly of their practice to the theory itself. It is only because some sections of the old Communist Party still have a grip on a section of the working class - and this is certainly the case in South Africa - that it is essential that their falsehoods be exposed. Also, it is still necessary to protect those who follow them unwittingly. In the short space available we offer this sketch of events over the past seventy years in the belief that there are still people who can hear and will listen. Seventy four years ago the Bolshevik Party took power in Russia and set as its goal the establishment of an international socialist society. But that did not ensure stability. First they accepted the most humiliating terms and signed a peace treaty with Germany in order to extricate the state from a disastrous war. Then they routed armies financed by the capitalist west and tried to reach the German borders to win the western workers to their dream of a free society. Next they organized a Communist (or Third) International (Comintern) and a Red international of Labour Unions (Profmtern), to unite the workers of the world in a revolutionary movement. Faced by their need to escape from isolation, and seeking support for their beleaguered state, the Bolsheviks extended the hand of friendship to the colonial people, to the workers, and to intellectuals everywhere. Reality did not favour the Bolsheviks. Conditions inside the Soviet Union deteriorated. There was a cholera epidemic, drought and starvation. The Kronstadt sailors rose in rebellion and the command economy organized under war conditions was replaced, under duress, by a free market of farm produce. Nor did the international movement prosper: the communist regime in Hungary collapsed (and in this General Smuts had a role to play as an envoy of the western powers), and the German revolt of 1923 was misconceived and bungled. The Comintern never rallied large movements, the Profintern was always peripheral to the working class movement. Also, within a few years it became obvious that: The socialism of many Bolsheviks was not unalloyed with corruption; the Red army contained many careerists; the Comintern became a centre of intrigue. The Bol- Searchlight South Africa, Vol 2, No 4, January 1992 shevik party had failed to develop an active tradition of democratic dissent and after the death of Lenin the already fragile unity of the party was seen to have depended on the authority of one man. Without Lenin the party became increas. ingly narrow and restrictive; the tenuous practice of debate and discussion came to an end; and the purges got under way.