Revolution in the 21st Century

REVOLUTION IN THE 21st CENTURY
Chris Harman
About the author:
Chris Harman was the author of A People’s History of the World (Bookmarks 1998), Economics
of the Madhouse (Bookmarks 1995) and The Lost Revolution: Germany !" to !#$
(Bookmarks 1982). He was the editor of International Soialism and was a leadin! mem"er of
the Soialist #orkers $art% (www.sw&.or!.uk). He died suddenl% in '!%&t in (o)em"er 2*11.
+irst &u"lished ,ul% 2**- "% Bookmarks $u"liations, .o 1 Blooms"ur% Street, /ondon #C1B
01'
Contents
Introdution2 ')er%thin! to 3!ht for
12 4he atualit% of re)olution
22 #hat makes a re)olution5
02 $arliamentarianism and re)olution
62 7e)olutionar% demora%
52 Class and re)olution
82 Class and onsiousness
-2 4he role of re)olutionaries
82 Buildin! the &art%
92 Ca&italism and )iolene
1*2 7e)olutions of the 2*th entur%
112 Human nature and the alternati)e to a&italism
122 $lannin! for human need
Conlusion2 9nokin! on histor%:s door
Introduction: Everthin! to "!ht #or
4he fall of the Berlin #all and olla&se of the dea%in! ditatorshi&s of 'astern 'uro&e and the
So)iet ;nion in 1989<91 su&&osedl% ended the stru!!le to re&lae a&italism with somethin!
"etter. =et the 3rst %ears of this entur% ha)e seen a new s&irit of resistane aross the world.
It "e!an >ust "efore the new entur% itself with the demonstrations around the #orld 4rade
?r!anisation meetin! in Seattle in (o)em"er 1999. 4he slo!an @Another world is &ossi"le:
resonated aross ontinents, with e)er lar!er and more militant &rotests in $ra!ue, Bel"ourne,
Cakar, Dothen"ur! and Denoa. 4he resistane then mer!ed into the "i!!est mo)ement a!ainst
war the world has e)er seen < tens of millions takin! to the streets of ma>or ities on 15
+e"ruar% 2**0 < while in /atin Ameria, &o&ular u&risin!s o)erthrew !o)ernments from
Ar!entina to 'uador.
4he resistane has !rown dee&er and drawn in wider num"ers of &eo&le e)er%where. In 2**5
)oters in +rane and the (etherlands threw esta"lished &olitis into turmoil "% re>etin! a
'uro&ean onstitution that aimed to slash restraints on market fores. /ater in the same %ear
immi!rant ommunities aross +rane eE&loded in ra!e.
2**8 saw +renh students leadin! millions of workers in suessful &rotests a!ainst attem&ts
to sra& the em&lo%ment ri!hts of %oun! &eo&le, FeneGuela:s &resident Hu!o Cha)eG delared
his intention to im&lement @soialism for the 21st entur%:, and an u&risin! to&&led the
!o)ernment of (e&al. In ?aEaa, BeEio, a teahers: strike turned into a re"ellion that dro)e
the arm% and &olie from the it%, while students in Chile and Dreee followed the +renh
eEam&le. B% the time %ou read this, the resistane will ha)e found fresh forms of eE&ression
and shaken the esta"lished order in new wa%s < and the num"ers "e!innin! to seek &olitial
answers outside those oHered "% the eEistin! s%stem will ha)e !rown.
At the "e!innin! of the 199*s we were &romised a @new world order: and told we had reahed
@the end of histor%:. Ca&italism was the onl% o&tion for humanit%, it was said, "ut there was no
ause for worr% "eause a @new eonomi &aradi!m: had "anished eonomi risis.
How Iuikl% the illusions were shattered. +or most &eo&le, e)en in more &ros&erous &arts of
the world, life has "eome more "urdensome and less seure. An eonomi risis at the
"e!innin! of the new entur% ost millions of >o"s in the ;S, whih an eonomi re)i)al has not
restored. ,a&an has suHered 12 %ears of eonomi sta!nation, and the eonomies of
ontinental 'uro&e ha)e &ro)ed ina&a"le of dentin! an unem&lo%ment rate of 1* &er ent. In
the ;S, the rihest soiet% in histor%, 9* &er ent of the &o&ulation ha)e seen no im&ro)ement
in li)in! standards in the &ast 0* %ears and half are worse oH. 4his is des&ite an inrease in the
time s&ent at work "% the a)era!e male worker in the ;S of 18* hours a %ear < eIui)alent to
a"out one month. +or women workers it is worse < on a)era!e the% s&end an additional 2**
hours at work in a %ear. In Derman%, the 3)e million on the dole ha)e had their "ene3ts ut. In
+rane, one<3fth of %oun! &eo&le are >o"less and others an 3nd nothin! more than inseure
B,o"s. In Britain, we fae the lon!est workin! hours in 'uro&e, %et more than half the hildren
aross swathes of /ondon !row u& in &o)ert%.
/ife in muh of the rest of the world is inom&ara"l% worse. In su"<Saharan Afria a)era!e
li)in! standards ha)e fallen steadil% for 0* %ears. Hundreds of millions stru!!le eah da% to
o"tain the 2,*** alories a da% reIuired for life. 4here are &eriodi famines and tens of
thousands of hildren die eah da% from malnutrition or diseases that ha)e lon! "een treata"le
< diarrhoea, d%senter%, tu"erulosis, malaria. In /atin Ameria, &o)ert% is not >ust the fate of
millions in (iara!ua, Duatemala, 'uador, Boli)ia and $eru who ha)e "een &oor for
!enerationsJ it is the fate of tens of millions in the more eonomiall% ad)aned ountries <
Ar!entina, BeEio and BraGil.
A&olo!ists for the s%stem talk of the !rowth of China and India, omittin! to mention that
&ros&erit% for the 1* or 2* &er ent of &eo&le who make u& the middle lasses lea)es hundreds
of millions in des&erate &o)ert% in the ountr%side. Hene, 15* million Chinese mi!rate to the
ities eah %ear to trai&se the streets as asual la"ourers, and an e&idemi of suiide
on)ulses ommunities of inde"ted farmers in the more @&ros&erous: states of India.
$o)ert% is not the onl% ni!htmare for a hu!e setion of the world:s &eo&le. Ban% suHer the
"ar"arit% of modern warfare. 4he &rolamation of the (ew #orld ?rder has "een followed "%
one war after another, with the ;S takin! the lead in &ourin! death and destrution on ities
halfwa% around the world. 4he most modern on)entional wea&ons are used, su&&lied "%
om&anies that "oast of their om&etiti)e suess in sellin! them. 4he asualties are
o)erwhelmin!l% i)ilians < "lown a&art "% "om"s dro&&ed from 0*,*** feet, "lasted "% !uns
3rin! thousands of rounds a minute, "uried in their homes "% rokets and tanks.
#hen &eo&le diret "om"s a!ainst i)ilians in the ities of the west, the% are denouned as
e)il terrorists and a"horrent to i)ilisation. =et horrors 1,*** times worse are inKited on
i)ilians elsewhere in the world. ?ur leaders warn of wea&ons of mass destrution, while
insistin! on their ri!ht to stok&ile nulear warheads and onstrut missile s%stems. $eo&le
from an Islami "ak!round who turn to reli!ious<"ased &olitis in reation to forei!n
domination and de)astation are denouned, "ut a ;S &resident an launh wars on
Af!hanistan and IraI while laimin! he o"e%s the will of Dod.
Alon!side the old horrors of &o)ert% and war, the 21st entur% "rin!s a new one < limate
han!e. If unheked, the rise in tem&eratures aused "% !reenhouse !ases from ar"on fuels
will melt the &olar ie a&s, han!e oean urrents and weather &atterns, turn fertile areas to
desert, "rin! ro&<destro%in! storms and Kood immense low<l%in! re!ions suh as Ban!ladesh,
the (ile Celta and +lorida. Hurriane 9atrina, whih ame lose to destro%in! (ew ?rleans,
!a)e a foretaste of what to eE&et. Bost of the world:s !o)ernments admit somethin! must "e
done, "ut retreat from measures to urtail emissions lest an% !rou& of a&italists lose out. All
these e)ils ha)e a sin!le ause in the a&italist s%stem. Bore than two "illion &eo&le work eah
da% to &rodue more wealth than there has e)er "een < more than enou!h to &ro)ide suLient
food for e)er%one and to o)erome &o)ert%. =et &eo&le !o hun!r% in one &art of the world while
farmers elsewhere are &aid to lea)e 3elds unulti)ated. 4he or!anisation of &rodution in a
s%stem "ased on ri)al om&anies, eah moti)ated "% the dri)e to om&ete for &ro3t, is the root
ause.
At the to& of the "i!!est om&anies are a selet !rou& of eEtraordinaril% wealth% indi)iduals.
4here are a"out 05* "illionaires in the world. 4he to& 2** ha)e more than M1 trillion (M1,***
"illion) in assets. 4he three wealthiest are worth as muh the 68 &oorest ountries om"ined.
Suh indi)iduals ha)e a ontrollin! stake in the multinational or&orations, a"out 2** of whih
< run "% &erha&s 1,5** &eo&le < ha)e a om"ined turno)er eIual to more than one<Iuarter of
the world out&ut. ?f these 2** multinationals, 188 are "ased in 3)e ountries < the ;S, ,a&an,
Derman%, the ;9 and +rane. 4he 3)e "i!!est, run "% &erha&s 6* &eo&le, ha)e a !reater
out&ut than the Biddle 'ast and Afria om"ined, and dou"le the out&ut of South Asia.
4hese few indi)iduals deide what to &rodue and where, who will ha)e >o"s and who will "e
ondemned to &o)ert%. 4heir eonomi &ower !i)es them enormous &olitial &ower in ountries
where the% o&erate, and the% N 11 &ressure states to ful3l their desires < throu!h "odies like
the International Bonetar% +und, #orld Bank and #orld 4rade ?r!anisation, and "% diret
militar% means. It is a&italism that &rodues this im&erialism, with the rulin! lasses of a
handful of ountries < led "% the ;S < &re&ared to use an% "ar"arit% to !et their wa%.
#here)er there is &o)ert%, o&&ression, war or en)ironmental destrution there are alwa%s
num"ers of &eo&le who resist. 4he 19th and 2*th enturies saw suessi)e mo)ements of
resistane that !a)e "irth to the ideas of soialism and ommunism, and the 21st entur% has
alread% &rodued fresh mo)ements. 4here are millions lookin! for an alternati)e to the &resent
s%stem and askin! Iuestions. #hat do we do a"out the &ower of the "illionaires, the
or&orations and the states that further their interests5 Is it &ossi"le to o)erturn that &ower5
Could we re"uild soiet% on a diHerent "asis5 And how do we a)oid the dream of another world
turnin! into a ni!htmare like Stalin:s 7ussia or sim&l% a re&aka!ed )ersion of market
madness5
4his "ook attem&ts to answer some of those Iuestions "% lookin! at how rulers ha)e "een
o)erthrown at )arious &oints in the 2** %ears durin! whih industrial a&italism has ome to
dominate the world, at the alternati)es &eo&le ha)e &osed to it, and at the &ossi"ilities for
re)olution toda%.
1: The actua$it o# revo$ution
7e)olution is neither &ossi"le nor desira"le, we are told, eEe&t ma%"e to remo)e !o)ernments
whih interfere with the runnin! of market a&italism. =et the 21st entur% has alread% seen a
suession of near<re)olutionar% u&hea)als < the risin! that fored the &resident of 'uador to
Kee the ountr% in ,anuar% 2***, the u&risin! that dro)e out the Ar!entine &resident in
Ceem"er 2**1, the s&ontaneous insur!en% that "rou!ht Hu!o Cha)eG of FeneGuela "ak to
&ower after a ri!ht<win! ou& in A&ril 2**2, the u&risin! that dro)e out the &resident of Boli)ia
in ?to"er 2**0, the risin!s that dro)e out &residents in 'uador and Boli)ia in 2**5, and the
mass mo)ement that o)erthrew the !o)ernment in (e&al in the s&rin! of 2**8.
In fat, re)olution is so harateristi a feature of the modern a&italist world that the 2*th
entur% an "e desri"ed as a entur% of re)olution. In 'uro&e, alone, there was a re)olution in
what is now 4urke% in 19*8J re)olutions in 7ussia in 19*5 and 191-J the Irish re"ellion of 1918<
21J the Derman and Austrian re)olutions that o)erthrew their res&eti)e em&erors in 1918<19J
and the S&anish re)olutions of 1901 and 1908. 4here were the u&risin!s that freed $aris, the
ities of (orthern Ital% and Athens from (aGi ou&ation in 1966J the 'ast Derman u&risin! of
1950J the Hun!arian re)olution of 1958J the e)ents of Ba% 1988 in +raneJ the $ortu!uese
re)olution of 19-6<-5J the Solidarnos mo)ement in $oland in 198*81J and the 'astern
'uro&ean re)olutions of 1989<9*. Britain is )irtuall% alone amon! 'uro&ean states in not
ha)in! fairl% reent memories of re)olutionar% han!e, and most of the non<western
!o)ernments re&resented at the ;nited (ations would not ha)e a seat without the
re)olutionar% mo)ements that ended olonial domination.
4he &re)alene of re)olution should not reall% sur&rise an%one. 4he modern world is sha&ed "%
the most ra&idl%<han!in! eonomi s%stem e)er known. Its moti)e fore is "lind om&etition
to aumulate &ro3t. 4o this end a&italism ontinuall% resha&es a!riulture and industr%,
transformin! the onditions under whih &eo&le make a li)in!, and in doin! so ontinuall%
han!es the wa% in whih the% li)e. At the "e!innin! of the last entur% 85 &er ent of the
world:s &o&ulation li)ed in the ountr%side, workin! the land and followin! &atterns of life
similar to those of their anestors. B% 2***, half the world:s &o&ulation was onentrated in
towns and ities, and it is foreast this will rise to 8* &er ent "% 2*0*. 4his in)ol)es a
transformation in &eo&le:s li)es !reater than an% sine the de)elo&ment of a!riulture durin!
the Stone A!e.
REVOLUTION AN% THE RI&E O' CA(ITALI&)
Chan!es in the wa%s &eo&le worked and li)ed ourred slowl% in the soieties that eEisted &rior
to the rise of industrial a&italism in &arts of north<west 'uro&e 25* %ears a!o. Bost of the
world was dominated "% a!rarian rulin! lasses whose wealth ame from seiGin! throu!h rents
and taEes one<third to a half of the &rodue of those who tilled the soil. 4hese rulin! lasses
used )arious reli!ious ideas to mould the li)es of those the% ruled into a ri!id &attern,
enoura!in! onser)ati)e leris who &reahed that life would ne)er alter. In the words of a
Christian h%mn2 @4he rih man in his astle, the &oor man at his !ate, He made them hi!h and
lowl% and ordered their estate.:
4he rise of a&italism shook these old wa%s of atin! and thinkin!. A new wealth% lass
emer!ed that "eame rih not throu!h ownin! land, "ut throu!h &ro3ts from the eE&loitation
of wa!e la"our. 4his lass of manufaturers, "ankers and a&italist farmers had diHerent
interests and saw the world in diHerent wa%s to the old landed lasses. As the wealth of this
lass inreased, its mem"ers tried to im&ose their )ision of how soiet% should "e run.
Soieties were turned u&side down in the enturies that followed. 4he a&italists hallen!ed
the old landownin! lass eonomiall%, ideolo!iall% and &olitiall%. 4his &roess han!ed the
wa% e)er%one made a li)in! as well N 15 as the institutions that sha&ed their li)es. It was the
real reason for the re)olutions of the 18th, 19th and earl% 2*th enturies < from the Amerian
#ar of Inde&endene and +renh 7e)olution of the 1-9*s to the 7ussian 7e)olutions of 19*5
and +e"ruar% 191-.
4he new rulin! !rou&s onserated their )itories "% em"rain! onser)ati)e ideolo!ies of
their own, im&risonin! &eo&le:s minds one a!ain with the notion that soiet% is 3Eed and
unhan!ea"le. 4he% enoura!ed a new arra% of intelletuals < eonomists, writers, editors,
aademis < who delared a&italist )alues to "e &art of an unhan!in! human nature. At the
same time, the% made &eae with the remnants of the lasses the% had re&laed < landowners,
lords, ro%al families, tri"al hiefs and reli!ious di!nitaries, who were well rewarded for "lessin!
a&italism with the same enthusiasm the% had "lessed the &reedin! s%stem of eE&loitation.
So toda% we are told from all sides that soiet% annot "e han!ed. 4he messa!e omes from
&o&es and &orno!ra&hers, Christian fundamentalists and soio"iolo!ists, !utter >ournalists and
uni)ersit% )ie<hanellors, eonomists and (ew /a"our &olitiians. @Com&romise, om&romise,
that is the wa% for %ou to rise: is the underl%in! messa!e to intelletuals < in other words, hel&
&ut mental shakles on the minds of the ma>orit% whose la"our kee&s soiet% !oin!.
4his has its eHets. (ew !enerations !row u& in soieties sha&ed "% a&italism. $eo&le ha)e
ne)er known an%thin! else and take for !ranted the &attern of life im&osed on them, ae&tin!
)oluntar% inareration at work 3)e or siE da%s a week, 68 weeks a %ear for 6* %ears, or
lan!uishin! on less than M1 a da% in a third<world slum. $eo&le are rarel% )er% ha&&% under
a&italism < %ou hardl% see &eo&le lau!hin! with >o% on the "us towork or while stuk in a
traL >am. But for &eriods of time, most &eo&le tolerate what the s%stem has to oHer. ;nder
suh onditions, a&italist notions olonise &eo&le:s minds < the rat<rae mentalit%,
om&etiti)eness, the tenden% to "lame those of a diHerent ethni ori!in, reli!ion, !ender or
seEual orientation for soiet%:s ills. In this wa% onser)ati)e moods an !ri& not onl% those at
the to& of soiet%, "ut man% at the "ottom.
THE RE&TLE&& &Y&TE)
Suh &eriods ne)er last inde3nitel%. 4he ra&idit% of eonomi han!e &rodues reurrent soial
disloation, to whih ideas must ad>ust. 4he a&italist s%stem is "uilt on om&etition "etween
owners of the means of &rodution < small 3rms in the mid<19th entur%, !iant mono&olies and
state 3rms in the mid<2*th entur%, and multinationals toda%. 4his om&etition fores e)er%
om&an% to transform &rodution methods ontinuall%, losin! old work&laes and o&enin!
new ones. 4owns and ities that !rew u& around ertain industries are deimated. $eo&le who
li)e in them 3nd e)er%thin! the% ha)e taken for !ranted disa&&ears. 4he% ha)e to han!e the
)er% rh%thm of their li)es, learnin! new skills, ae&tin! new onditions, mo)in! to new areas,
while ne)er knowin! if the han!es the% make won:t also soon "e o"solete.
#ritin! in the %ommunist Manifesto, when industrial a&italism was still in its infan%, 9arl
BarE and +rederik 'n!els o"ser)ed the2
%onstant revolutionisin& of production' uninterrupted distur(ance of all social conditions'
everlastin& uncertainty and a&itation distin&uish the (our&eois epoch from all earlier ones) All
*+ed' fast fro,en relations' -ith their train of ancient and venera(le pre.udices and opinions'
are s-ept a-ay' all ne-/formed ones (ecome anti0uated (efore they can ossify) All that is
solid melts into air)
4his a&&lies more than e)er to the &resent &hase of a&italism, usuall% known as !lo"alisation.
+ree markets and neoli"eralism mean unleashin! a&italism from e)er% onstraint < inludin!
soial institutions and attitudes that ser)ed it well in the &ast. ,ust as &eo&le !et used to
ertain wa%s of workin! and li)in!, the s%stem throws these into haos. $eo&le naturall% eE&et
thin!s to ontinue in a similar wa%, "ut !lo"alised a&italism annot ful3l suh eE&etations.
')er% &hase of sta!nation or ontration throws tens of millions on the sra& hea&, and an%
so"er a&&raisal of the future must see these on)ulsions onl% !rowin! as om&etin! units of
a&ital eE&and to monstrous siGe.
Half a entur% a!o the defenders of a&italism "oasted the% had found a wa% of &re)entin!
eonomi rises and ensurin! full em&lo%ment, risin! li)in! standards and eE&andin! welfare
ser)ies throu!h state inter)ention. 4he% laimed the eonomist ,ohn Ba%nard 9e%nes had
shown how to ahie)e these thin!s in the ad)aned industrial ountries and it was onl% a
matter of time "efore suh de)elo&ments would s&read to the rest of the world. /a"our $art%
&olitiians in Britain, their soial demorat ounter&arts in mainland 'uro&e and the
Cemorati $art% in the ;S ar!ued re)olution was outmoded "eause their reforms would
reate a world of !rowin! &ros&erit% and eE&andin! leisure time.
4oda% their talk is )er% diHerent. 4he% delare 9e%nes out of date and ar!ue &ro"lems annot
"e ured "% state inter)ention. (ow !o)ernments reat to the u&s and downs of the a&italist
s%stem "% a"andonin! the methods the% one laimed ould ontrol the %le of "ooms and
slum&s. Instead of &romisin! a seure future, the% sa% the s%stem de&ends on the reati)e
destrution of esta"lished wa%s of workin!. 4here is no alternati)e to reforms that eE&and the
so&e of the market. ')en the most tedious >o"s are no lon!er seure. 4he% tell us >o"s for life
ha)e no &lae in the modern world. #e must a"andon demands for shorter workin! hours and
deent retirement in old a!e.
CA(ITALI&)* +AR AN% &OCIAL U(HEAVAL
#arfare dominated the 3rst half of the 2*th entur%, with lashes on an immense sale. 4he
&eriod "e!an with Britain at war in South Afria and a stru!!le "etween 7ussia and ,a&an in
the +ar 'ast. It onluded with the 9orean #ar in)ol)in! the ;S, (orth 9orea and China. 4he
two world wars in "etween ulminated in the Holoaust and nulear attaks on Hiroshima and
(a!asaki.
4hrou!h muh of the seond half of the entur% it seemed thin!s had han!ed for the "etter.
4he !reat &owers, the ;S and the So)iet ;nion, a)oided war with one another and their ma>or
allies out of fear of mutual annihilation. Howe)er, the% were no less "ar"ari than "efore. 4he
;S wa!ed a war in Fietnam that killed millions and "aked death sIuads and torturers aross
/atin Ameria. 7ussia rushed an u&risin! in Hun!ar% and in Af!hanistan tried to re&liate what
the ;S had done in Fietnam.
4he a&&roah of the 21st entur% "rou!ht "ak old ni!htmares in a new form. 4he wea&ons at
the dis&osal of smaller states were now terri"le enou!h to ause hu!e death tolls in the wars
"etween IraI and Iran, 'thio&ia and 'ritrea, Armenia and AGer"ai>an, Ser"ia and Croatia, and
on the eastern "orders of the Con!o. A sin!le su&er&ower, the ;S, seiGed o&&ortunities to show
it ould out<"om" and out<shoot the rest < a!ainst IraI in 199*91, Ser"ia in 1998 and IraI
a!ain in 2**0. ?ther &owers, es&eiall% Britain, ta!!ed alon! "ehind, while +rane eEaer"ated
the ma%hem in &arts of its former em&ire "% sendin! troo&s to the I)or% Coast in 2**8.
4his new im&erialism is no &assin! &hase. 4he ri!ht to eE&loit is onneted to militar% mi!ht. In
the most de)astated &arts of the world, those seekin! inreased wealth seiGe it "% fore,
o&eratin! as militar% entre&reneurs, knowin! the aumulation of arms &ermits the
aumulation of a&ital. At the to& of the s%stem, the neo<on !rou& in the ;S !o)ernment
ha)e set a"out usin! the world:s most &owerful militar% mahine to im&ose a @new Amerian
entur%:. In "etween, a ran!e of middle<rankin! and re!ional &owers see armaments <and
a"o)e all nulear wea&ons < as ke% to makin! their )oies heard2 Britain, +rane, China, Israel,
India and $akistan. ?ther states threaten to tra)el the same &ath in order to rise in the !lo"al
&ekin! order.
#ithout an alternati)e to a&italism, wars an onl% reur and nulear wea&ons &roliferate.
Howe)er, war does not onl% "rin! suHerin!. It an shake soiet% to its roots, "reakin! &eo&le
from the routine of the &ast. 4his an lead to the most reationar% ideas and monstrous
"eha)iour takin! hold, "ut an also result in a Iuestionin! of the s%stem that leads to war and
to onfrontation with the &olitiians, !enerals and t%oons who re>oie in it. #ar raked
seemin!l% im&re!na"le re!imes in the 2*th entur%, "rin!in! the fall of tsars, em&erors and
&residents. It an do the same in the 21st entur%.
CON'LICT AN% CLI)ATE CHAN,E
4his @"est of all &ossi"le s%stems: is destro%in! the en)ironment we de&end on for eEistene.
Ca&italism has alwa%s funtioned "% !ra""in! the hea&est raw materials and &ourin! out
waste &roduts. #hat this meant in the earl% da%s of industrial a&italism in 'uro&e and (orth
Ameria an "e seen toda% in the derelit oal<minin! and iron<makin! areas < the !ashes torn
in the earth, the sta!nant &onds, sla! hea&s and &oisoned soil. (ow the s%stem is !lo"al, the
de)astation is !lo"al too.
Howe)er, the im&at is unlikel% to "e limited to the &h%sial onditions of &eo&les: li)es. 4here
will also "e a soial im&at. $eo&le are hardl% !oin! to wath their li)elihoods disa&&ear
without seekin! in some wa% to defend themsel)es.
Studies of &re)ious soieties that a&&ear to ha)e olla&sed amid en)ironmental risis < suh as
the Ba%an i)ilisations of southern BeEio and Duatemala, and the soiet% on 'aster Island in
the $ai3 < su!!est eolo!ial atastro&he was the atal%st for soial re)olt "% the mass of
&eo&le. 4hose whose la"our had reated the wealth to &rodue &alaes and monuments turned
on their kin!s and &riests and tore down the s%m"ols of the soial s%stem that was destro%in!
them.
Chan!es in the world:s limate in the omin! deades are sure to ha)e an eIuall% &rofound
soial im&at. ?ur rulers will attem&t to om&ensate themsel)es for en)ironmental losses at
the eE&ense of ri)als in nei!h"ourin! states and "% inreasin! the "urden on the rest of us. A
re&ort for the ;S Cefense Ce&artment foreast some &ossi"le onseIuenes2
Riots and internal con1ict tear apart 2ndia' 3outh Africa and 2ndonesia4 Access to -ater
(ecomes a ma.or (attle&round) The 5ile' 6anu(e and Ama,on are all mentioned as hi&h
ris74 Rich areas li7e the 83 and Europe -ould (ecome 9virtual fortresses’ to prevent
millions of mi&rants from enterin& after (ein& forced from land dro-ned (y sea/level
rise or no lon&er a(le to &ro- crops) Waves of (oat people pose si&ni*cant pro(lems)
5uclear arms proliferation is inevita(le) :apan' 3outh ;orea' and Germany develop
nuclear/-eapons capa(ilities' as do 2ran' E&ypt and 5orth ;orea) 2srael' %hina' 2ndia and
Pa7istan are poised to use the (om( O4he ?"ser)er, 22 +e"ruar%, 2**6P.
(o<one an know &reisel% the im&at of limate han!e, let alone how this will translate into
soial and &olitial &ressures. #hat is ertain is that there will "e &ressures. As resoures dr%
u&, ri)al a&italists and states will 3!ht for aess to them and ordinar% &eo&le will tr% to
&re)ent themsel)es suHerin!. All the &olitial and soial tensions that haraterise the world
toda% will "e intensi3ed.
4he Iuestion is not whether onditions an de)elo& that lead to &otential re)olutionar%
u&hea)als. 4hese are ine)ita"le in a world in turmoil < as eonomi rises dee&en, wars
intensif%, wea&ons &roliferate and !lo"al warmin! reates ha)o. Howe)er, there is nothin!
&redetermined a"out the outome of suh u&hea)als. 4he turmoil in the %ears after the +irst
#orld #ar led not to a "etter soiet%, "ut to fasism and renewed war.
A(ATHY AN% %I&A''ECTION
4here is onl% a minorit% of &eo&le worldwide who ae&t the need for total soial han!e,
des&ite the !rowth of anti<a&italist ideas. But the si!ns of &assi)e disaHetion with the
&resent s%stem are )isi"le e)er%where.
In )irtuall% e)er% ma>or ountr%, the &ro&ortion of &eo&le )otin! in eletions has in !eneral
fallen o)er the last two deades. 4he turn<out in British eletions was more than 8* &er ent in
the earl% 195*s. In 2**1 it was 5-.5 &er ent, and in 2**5 81 &er ent < two &eo&le out of 3)e
ould not see a reason to hoose "etween &arties oHerin! the same neo<li"eral &oliies. In the
;S, two<thirds of &eo&le did not )ote in 2***, and e)en in the tense eletion of 2**6 more than
half sta%ed at home. In &arliamentar% eletions in +rane turn<out fell from more than -* &er
ent in the 196*s and earl% 195*s to under 8* &er ent in the late 199*s. In $oland, in 2**5,
the eletion turn<out was 0* &er ent. ?nl% when somethin! a&&ears to "e )itall% at stake has
this downwards trend "een "uked < so "oth the last two +renh &residential eletions ha)e
seen hi!h turnouts. In the 3rst the fasist /e $en had !ot throu!h to the run<oH round for the
3rst time, while in 2**- SarkoG%:s hard ri!ht<win! &latform &olarised +renh &olitis and )oters
turned out in lar!e num"ers.
Suh %niism a"out &olitiians and eletoral institutions is not, of ourse, the same as a desire
to o)erthrow them. But it is an eE&ression of the inreasin! feelin! that the s%stem has little to
oHer the mass of &eo&le. #hat is haraterised as a&ath% in)ol)es a loss of faith in the
a&ait% of eEistin! &olitial strutures to do an%thin! for &eo&le. 4he same &assi)e
detahment is demonstrated "% the &o&ularit% of dru!s or the !rowth of reli!ious ults,
&artiularl% in the ;S. A more dan!erous eE&ression of the same thin! is the !rowth in the
minorit% who listen to the rants of neo<(aGis. 4he 1*, 15 or e)en 2* &er ent of &eo&le who
sometimes )ote for suh &arties are turnin! awa% from the monotone messa!e of the
mainstream &arties and diretin! their "itterness at &eo&le who suHer from the s%stem at least
as muh as themsel)es. It is a fri!htful illustration of how disaHetion an turn &oisonous if no
&ositi)e alternati)e to the ram&a!e of !lo"al a&italism emer!es.
4he ke% Iuestion is whether a&ath% an !i)e wa% to onsiousness of the need for han!e
amon! masses of &eo&le and the anti<a&italist minorit% "eome a ma>orit%. 'E&eriene
su!!ests suh a transformation is &ossi"le. A&ath% results from a feelin! of im&otene in the
fae of o)erwhelmin! &ressures and a "ewilderin! world. =et it an swith to its o&&osite, a
ommitment to han!e the world, when indi)iduals "eome aware that their onerns are
shared "% man% others. It is this whih eE&lains the !rowth of the anti<a&italist and anti<war
mo)ements, the wa)e of u&risin!s in /atin Ameria and the emer!ene of new left fores in
'uro&e.
2: +hat -a.es a revo$ution/
$eo&le often talk as if re)olutions are made solel% "% !rou&s of re)olutionaries. Che Due)ara
famousl% delared shortl% "efore the CIA murdered him in Boli)ia in 198-2 @If %ou are a
re)olutionar%, make a re)olution.: But re)olution ne)er ours >ust throu!h the "eha)iour of a
&artiular !rou&, howe)er "i! or small. It ha&&ens "eause masses of &eo&le, man% of whom
ha)e ne)er onsidered the matter "efore, demand han!e and &ut themsel)es at the entre of
&olitial e)ents.
4he +renh 7e)olution of 1-89 "e!an not "eause of the ati)it% of a handful of re&u"lians,
"ut "eause thousands of &eo&le from the &oorest areas of $aris marhed on the ro%al &alae
at Fersailles. 4he +e"ruar% 191- re)olution in 7ussia started when women teEtile workers, sik
of workin! lon! hours for star)ation wa!es, went on strike and threw snow"alls at the windows
of fatories where their men worked to !et them out too. Suh e)ents our s&ontaneousl%
when )ast num"ers of workin! &eo&le feel the% an onl% !et what the% need "% takin! thin!s
into their own hands. ;suall%, those who ha)e am&ai!ned for re)olutionar% han!e are as
sur&rised as an%one "% the turn of e)ents.
4he 7ussian re)olutionar% /enin, writin! in 1915, &ointed to two elements neessar% for this
transformation in "eha)iour to our. +irst, the lower lasses must reah a &oint where the%
feel the onditions of life are inreasin!l% intolera"le. But in itself this is rarel% enou!h to "rin!
a"out re"ellion. $eo&le an reat to li)in! standards worsenin! "% "eomin! demoralised and
turnin! a!ainst one another. 4he amount of !rum"lin! ma% inrease, "ut not the amount of
ation.
4he seond element is that the rulin! lass !ets into suh a mess that it annot easil% 3nd a
wa% out. Dreat eonomi or &olitial rises do not sim&l% ause inreased "itterness at the
"ase of soiet%J the% an also &ro)oke the most &owerful a&italists to &ani < as an a
&rotrated war that annot easil% "e settled. Bem"ers of the rulin! lass start "lamin! eah
other for what is ha&&enin! and eah a&italist tries to esa&e the risis at the eE&ense of
ri)als.
In eEtreme irumstanes, the &ro&a!anda mahines and re&ressi)e a&&aratus of rulers an "e
&aral%sed. 'ah N 25 setion of the rulin! lass tries to use the media or seret &olie a!ainst
its ri)als, and eah tries to stir setions of the masses to su&&ort its &lans a!ainst its ri)als. But
e)en short of suh a risis, 3!htin! within a rulin! lass an make the mass of &eo&le feel the%
no lon!er fae a wall of resistane to their demands. $eo&le who were a&atheti suddenl%
diso)er the% an at.
A re)olutionar% situation o&ens u& when these s&lits inside a rulin! lass om"ine with risin!
disontent amon! the mass of &eo&le < when, in /enin:s words, @the lower lasses do not want
to li)e in the old wa%: and @the u&&er lasses annot arr% on in the old wa%:.
REVOLUTIONARY &ITUATION&
Ca&italism re&eatedl% reated re)olutionar% situations in the 3rst half of the 2*th entur% with
its wars and eonomi rises. At the "e!innin! of the 21st entur% the s%stem is doin! so
a!ain. #hole ountries, e)en whole re!ions of the world, an suddenl% "e hit "% eonomi
rises or militar% onKits that make life intolera"le for the mass of &eo&le and &ut rulin!
lasses at eah other:s throats.
')ents in Ar!entina at the end of 2**1 oHer a &rime eEam&le of what we an eE&et in the
deades ahead. 4hrou!h most of the 199*s the ountr% had "een a &rotot%&e of the !lo"alised
national eonom%. Its &resident and eonomis minister were the toast of esta"lishment
eonomists for the s&eed with whih the% had dere!ulated and &ri)atised the eonom% and
welomed forei!n a&ital. 4hen Ar!entina was hit "% the "akwash from a 3nanial risis that
"e!an on the o&&osite side of the world. Its forei!n de"t mushroomed out of ontrol. 4he
domesti market for !oods olla&sed, unem&lo%ment roketed and the state froGe e)er%one:s
"ank aounts. 4he rulin! lass s&lit o)er what to do. ?ne setion wanted to &reser)e its a"ilit%
to in)est &ro3ta"l% elsewhere in the world "% maintainin! the eEhan!e rate of the urren%
a!ainst the ;S dollar. Another setion, made u& of loall% "ased industrialists and "i!
landowners, wanted the urren% de)alued so the% ould sell &roduts more easil% on world
markets. 4heir Iuarrels "roke the stran!lehold the% eEerised o)er the media. An attem&t "%
the dominant setion in the !o)ernment to lam& down "% im&osin! a state of sie!e, followin!
riots "% the unem&lo%ed, "ak3red in the fae of !eneral "itterness. $eo&le who had ne)er
taken to the streets "efore < !o)ernment em&lo%ees, setions of the middle lasses < >oined
manual workers and the unem&lo%ed in marhin! on the &residential &alae, fou!ht the &olie
for 26 hours and dro)e the !o)ernment from oLe. 4he di)ision within the rulin! lass meant
4F hannels and news&a&ers !a)e eE&ression to some of the "itterness. It also meant the
re&ressi)e a&&aratus of the state was )irtuall% &aral%sed in the fae of reurrent mass
demonstrations and as workers took o)er some of the losed fatories.
Ar!entina has not "een an isolated ase. #e ha)e seen some of the same elements at work in
u&risin!s in Al"ania, Indonesia, Ser"ia, 'uador, Boli)ia and (e&al. #e an eE&et man% more
eEam&les in the %ears ahead. A ountr% an a&&ear sta"le and &eaeful for %ears, onl% to
diso)er it has "een like a raft on a alm &ath of water "etween two tidal wa)es. ;nder suh
irumstanes, the mass of &eo&le an enter &olitial life in a wa% no<one ould foresee.
4he d%nami of a&italism itself ensures there will "e suh u&risin!s. Howe)er, not e)er%
u&risin! results in re)olutionar% han!e. 4he ountries mentioned a"o)e remain lar!el% as the%
were "efore the risin!s. Do)ernments ha)e han!ed, "ut the same a&italists run industr% and
3nane, and dominate a!riulture. 4he same hierarhies run the armed fores and &olie, e)en
if a few indi)iduals ha)e stood down. ?"sene le)els of ineIualit% &ersist and the li)es of the
mass of &eo&le remain dominated "% the insane lo!i of a&italist markets, e)en when
!o)ernments onede small reforms. Suh soieties ha)e !one throu!h on)ulsions < what are
sometimes alled &re<re)olutionar% situations < "ut these ha)e not ulminated in suessful
re)olution.
U(RI&IN,&* &TATE& AN% REVOLUTION&
7e)olution in)ol)es not >ust a han!e of !o)ernment, "ut the turnin! u&side<down of soial
hierarhies so that a lass &re)iousl% eEluded from &ower takes o)er at the to&. In the
re)olutions durin! the rise of a&italism this in)ol)ed the "our!eoisie < the lass with interests
tied to a&italist forms of eE&loitation < who seiGed ontrol of the state from the old landed
aristora% and im&osed &oliies to suit themsel)es.
4he state does not merel% om&rise &arliament and similar institutions. ?n the ontrar%, at its
ore are the armed fores, &olie, &risons and seret &olie that onstitute the means of
re&ression. 4hese are alwa%s or!anised on a hierarhial "asis, so that whate)er the soial
ori!ins of rank and 3le soldiers, &olie or >ailers, those who !i)e the orders "elon! to a hi!hl%
&ri)ile!ed !rou& linked to the dominant eonomi lass.
4he end of feudalism ulminated in su&&orters of the "our!eoisie defeatin! the armies of the
old order. 4he suess of the 'n!lish 7e)olution of the 186*s de&ended on ?li)er Cromwell
reatin! an arm% of his own (the (ew Bodel Arm%) and usin! it to &ur!e $arliament, lose
down the House of /ords and ut oH the head of the kin!. 4he +renh 7e)olution of 1-89<96
in)ol)ed lashes with troo&s defendin! the monarh% (the Swiss Duards), wars a!ainst forei!n<
"ased armies, the eEeution of the kin!, and the use of the !uillotine a!ainst the aristora%
and its su&&orters. Industrial a&italism was onl% esta"lished as the dominant fore in the ;S
"% a "itter war to destro% the armies of the sla)e<ownin! &lantora% in the South. In Derman%
and Ital%, wars were reIuired to fore dis&arate loal monarhs and &rines to ae&t
inte!ration into modern a&italist states.
Howe)er, these re)olutions in)ol)ed more than >ust the onIuest of the state. Soiet% ould
onl% "e o)erturned in its entiret% if there was also a transformation of eonomi relations and
of the )alues whih sha&ed &eo&le:s li)es. 4here had to "e eonomi and ideolo!ial re)olution
as well as &olitial re)olution. 4hese han!es took &lae o)er a muh lon!er time than the
&olitial re)olutions. But the new lass ould not onsolidate its rule without seiGin! state
&ower.
4he ori!ins of a&italism !o "ak to the 10th and 16th enturies, with !rou&s in &arts of 'uro&e
slowl% inreasin! their eonomi &ower throu!h a&italist forms of eE&loitation. As their
eonomi &ower !rew, so did their a&ait% to inKuene ideas < throu!h the de)elo&ment of
&rintin! and "ooksellin!, the s&onsorshi& of hurhes, the endowment of uni)ersities.
Howe)er, this did not rule out the need for a ulminatin! moment of onIuest "% armed fore.
#here suh a onIuest did not our, there was the likelihood of the old rulin! lass usin! its
armed mi!ht to destro% the eonomi &ower of the emer!in! a&italists and to terrorise &eo&le
into ae&tin! the old ideolo!%. 4his ha&&ened at the end of reli!ious wars in the 18th and 1-th
enturies in Derman%, +rane, Austria and the CGeh lands, durin! whih the "our!eoisie
fou!ht under the "anner of )arious )ersions of $rotestantism and the old rulin! lasses under
that of Catholi ounter<reformation. 4he "our!eoisie lost the militar% "attles to han!e the
state and was fored to su"mit to the old order for a entur% or more. 4his ha&&ened a!ain
after +rane:s N 29 defeat "% the other 'uro&ean &owers in 1816<15, althou!h the set"ak was
more short<li)ed. It would ha)e ha&&ened in 'n!land in the 186*s, +rane in the 1-9*s and the
;S in the 188*s if Cromwell, 7o"es&ierre or /inoln had held "ak from a full<"looded assault
on the fores of the old order. In eah ase, re)olution was a drawn out &roess, "ut one whih
reahed a &oint when sudden and deisi)e ation was neessar%.
4here is a diHerene "etween the situation of workers under a&italism and that whih faed
the "our!eoisie under feudalism. 4hose eE&loited under the &resent s%stem annot !raduall%
aumulate eonomi ontrol. 4here are those who dream of esta"lishin! workers: or &easants:
oo&erati)es to hallen!e a&italism, "ut these ha)e no hane of lon!<term suess. 4he
a&italists ontrol all the aumulated fruits of the eE&loitation of &re)ious !enerations. #hile
workers: oo&erati)es ma%, on oasion, demonstrate that &rodution an take &lae without
a&italists, the% do not &ro)ide a means of ounterin! the enormous resoures in the hands of
"illionaires and multinational or&orations.
4his means the Iuestion of who ontrols the state is e)en more im&ortant toda% than durin!
the "our!eoisie:s asent to &ower. If the "our!eoisie were defeated "% the armies of the old
order, the% ould still eEerise inKuene throu!h their ontinuin! ownershi& of &ro&ert%. But
when the a&italists sueed in smashin! the stru!!les of the lasses the% eE&loit < "%
"reakin! strikes, im&risonin! trade unionists, dri)in! &easants from the land < these lasses are
left with nothin! to resist further attaks. 4he% fae eonomi su">u!ation as well as &olitial
su">u!ation, and ine)ita"le demoralisation. $eo&le lose faith in the &ossi"ilit% of re&lain!
a&italism and suum" to the idea that there is no alternati)e. #orse, the defeated an turn
on one another and sa&e!oat mem"ers of ethni and reli!ious minorities.
0: (ar$ia-entarianis- and revo$ution
4he &la%wri!ht Deor!e Bernard Shaw, in his &la% Man and 3uperman, wrote2 @')er% !eneral
eletion is a re)olution.: He was eE&ressin! the wides&read assum&tion that, under a&italism,
&ower lies in the hands of eleted &arliaments or &residents. #e ommonl% hear that a
&olitiian has @taken &ower: followin! an eletion. =et this is mistaken.
4he ori!ins of the British state !o "ak to the Biddle A!es, with its modern form sha&ed to suit
the needs of a&italism in the 1-th, 18th and 19th enturies. 4here was no demora% in
Britain in the earl% 19th entur%. $arliament was hosen "% a tin% minorit% < 95 &er ent of the
male &o&ulation was eEluded from )otin! until 1802, 8* &er ent remained eEluded after the
reform of that date, and women did not !et the )ote until the followin! entur%. Cemora%
was anathema to those who ran the British state at the time. 4he% denouned it as @mo" rule:
and the masses as @the swinish multitude:. 4he British historian Baaula% wrote in the earl%
19th entur%, @;ni)ersal suHra!e would "e fatal for all &ur&oses for whih !o)ernment eEists:
and @utterl% inom&ati"le with the eEistene of i)ilisation:.
Bass &ressure fored eEtensions of the franhise, "ut it was not until after the +irst #orld #ar
that somethin! a&&roahin! uni)ersal suHra!e was oneded in Britain < and e)en then some
women had no )ote and some u&&er lass men more than one. Howe)er, the eEtension of the
)ote did not han!e the fundamental harater of the state. In his "ook %apitalist 6emocracy
in <ritain (?Eford, 1982), 7al&h Bili"and wrote2
The politicians’ appropriation of 9democracy’ did not si&nify their conversion to it: it -as
rather an attempt to e+orcise its e=ects))) A carefully limited and suita(ly controlled
measure of democracy -as accepta(le' and even from some aspect desira(le) <ut
anythin& that -ent (eyond that -as not) The -hole political system -as &eared to such
sentiments)
+HERE (O+ER RE)AIN&
4he arm%, ourts, seurit% a!enies and i)il ser)ie were run )er% muh as "efore, with the
same hierarhies in ontrol. At the to& were the relati)es and friends of those with !reat
eonomi wealth < and the situation has not han!ed. Studies of the oLer lass in the armed
fores, the >udiiar% and the to& ranks in the i)il ser)ie show 8* &er ent of their mem"ers
attended the to& fee<&a%in! shools. 4he oasional &olie hief from a lower middle lass or
workin! lass "ak!round an eE&et to "e honoured with a lurati)e &osition u&on retirement.
4he rank and 3le of the state mahine must o"e% these &eo&le unIuestionin!l%. A #hitehall
i)il ser)ant or &rison oLer who refuses to toe the line will lose their >o". A soldier who
diso"e%s an order faes militar% &rison. 4he% are trained to o"e% orders and fae &unishment if
the% for!et that trainin! < and it is those a"o)e them in the hierarh% the% are trained to o"e%,
not B$s )otin! in &arliament.
#hat is true of Britain is true of e)er% other ountr% in the world. If most of the oLers of the
armed fores ome from the middle rather than the rulin! lass, as sometimes ha&&ens the%
are still or!anised as a aste a&art from rank and 3le soldiers. 4he% li)e in s&eial
aommodation, eat s&eial food, ha)e rank and 3le soldiers as ser)ants, and en>o% a areer
that &romises most to those who stik losest to the rules. Suh &eo&le mi!ht sometimes fall
out with setions of the rulin! lass, "ut the% rarel% for!et what di)ides them from the mass of
&eo&le.
At eletions, )oters do not !et to hoose who will hold eonomi &ower. 4hat does not han!e.
So there is no demora% when it omes to eonomi deisions < a"out what to &rodue, how
hi!h to 3E wa!es and who has a >o". 'letions do not alter the harater of the state. ')en if a
left<win! &resident or a ma>orit% of left B$s are eleted, the !enerals, &olie hiefs and >ud!es
remain in &lae, alon! with the industrialists and "ankers, and soiet% ontinues runnin! alon!
a&italist lines. 4hose at the to& ma% !o throu!h the formalit% of im&lementin! deisions "%
eleted "odies, "ut the% do their "est to sa"ota!e suh measures the% dislike, usin! e)er%
eEuse not to dama!e the interests of the a&italist lass while that lass uses its eonomi
&ower to fore the !o)ernment to a)e in to its demands.
IT HA& HA((ENE% HERE
In 19-6 a /a"our !o)ernment was eleted in Britain that &romised to redue ineIualit% "%
@sIueeGin! the rih until the &i&s sIueak:. 4he &hrase was that of a leadin! /a"our ri!ht<
win!er, Cenis Heal%. 4he a&italist lass reated with fur%. A to& industrialist, Sir +rederik
Catherwood, announed an @in)estment strike:. /ord #atkinson "oasted of the @industrial
musle: of "i! "usiness and its a"ilit% to onfront the !o)ernment. Ba>or 3rms and "anks
"e!an to mo)e mone% a"road. 4he Sunda% 4imes desri"ed the resultin! sterlin! risis as the
@lo!ial limaE of the mood of h%steria neessar% to &rodue an a!reed inomes &oli%: that
would ut wa!es. A follower of the markets told the news&a&er2 @It looks as if the%
OindustrialistsP are &uttin! the fri!hteners on.:
4hose in the hierarhies of state did their "est to aid "i! "usiness in its "attle. ,oe Haines,
&ress seretar% to the &rime minister of the da% < Harold #ilson < later desri"ed the "eha)iour
of the heads of the i)il ser)ie2
>rom !?@' 6efence fou&ht to spend more a&ainst La(our’s commitment to spend lessA
Environment -a&ed -ar a&ainst the rail-ay system -hen La(our -as pro/rail-ayA and
the Treasury persuaded the &overnment to retreat from its commitment to a -ealth ta+)
The determination of the Treasury to tell the &overnment to accept policies is ruthless'
even to the point -here it see7s to create conditions -hich ma7e it impossi(le for the
%a(inet to spurn its advice.
,ournalist $eter ,enkins desri"ed in the Guardian how he had "een told "% Qan authoritati)e
forei!n soureR that the 4reasur% was usin! the sterlin! risis to &ressurise the !o)ernment.
Q4he% are onstantl% in touh with our &eo&le sa%in!, @Con:t "ail these "astards out:.R
4here was no wa% the /a"our !o)ernment ould address the risis throu!h the eEerise of its
&arliamentar% ma>orit% alone. It did not ontrol the state mahine, and the state mahine did
not ontrol "i! "usiness. Harold #ilson was like a weaklin! in the rin! with a ham&ion
hea)%wei!ht "oEer. 4he onl% wa% to sto& "ein! &ummelled was to surrender. A /a"our
!o)ernment that had ome to &ower &romisin! reforms to im&ro)e the li)es of workin! lass
&eo&le ended u& &ushin! throu!h the "i!!est uts in real wa!es for half a entur%.
4his has not >ust ha&&ened one. It was the eE&eriene of /a"our in Britain in 1929<01 and
1986<-* as well as 19-6<-9, the Soialist<led $o&ular +ront !o)ernment in +rane in 1908, the
oalition !o)ernments of +rane and Ital% at the end of the Seond #orld #ar, and of the
Bitterrand and ,os&in !o)ernments in +rane in the 198*s and late<199*s. ?n eah oasion,
hi!h ho&es of reform !a)e wa% to "itter disillusion and disredited ri!ht<win! &arties seiGed the
o&&ortunit% to make a ome"ak.
4he onl% eEe&tions to this &attern of "lakmail and "etra%al ame in the 25 %ears after #orld
#ar 4wo. 4he 1965<51 /a"our !o)ernment in Britain and similar !o)ernments in Sandina)ia
were res&onsi"le for some reforms of onsidera"le "ene3t. Howe)er, this was an eEtraordinar%
&eriod for a&italism < what some refer to as its !olden a!e. Bassi)e s&endin! on arms,
es&eiall% "% the ;S, fuelled a world eonomi "oom and !o)ernments were a"le to work with
"i! "usiness to ensure more<or<less ontinual !rowth. $ro3ts rose to suh an eEtent under
these onditions that em&lo%ers ould aHord to !i)e wa% to &ressure for im&ro)ed wa!es and
welfare ser)ies. 4his was not >ust true of ountries with /a"our<t%&e !o)ernments < it
ha&&ened in onser)ati)e<run ountries like +rane, Ital% and #est Derman%, and in the 4or%
Britain of the 195*s and earl% 198*s.
4hat era is lon! &ast. Ca&italism toda% is dominated more than e)er "efore "% !iant
multinationals that reah out from their national "ases to manufature and trade around the
world. Do)ernments annot ontrol the tem&o of indi)idual eonomies under suh onditions,
howe)er muh the% olla"orate with "i! "usiness. All the% do is dane to the rh%thm of the
wider s%stem as it !%rates wildl% from "ooms to sudden slum&s. But kee&in! u& with the dane
in)ol)es tellin! workers to ae&t reforms of a )er% diHerent kind < si!nif%in! lon!er workin!
hours, less seure >o"s, lower unem&lo%ment "ene3t and redued &ensions.
4he word neo<li"eralism si!ni3es the re"irth of what used to "e alled @li"eral a&italism: in
ontinental 'uro&e and @free market: or @laisseG faire: a&italism in Britain and the ;S. It
ulminated in the !reat eonomi risis of the inter<war %ears.
Do)ernments run "% those who laimed to "e a"le to reform a&italism &ro)ed hel&less in the
fae of that risis. In Britain, /a"our &rime minister 7amsa% BaConald told his &art%:s
onferene in 190* there was little his !o)ernment ould do. QSo m% friends, we are not on
trial. 4he s%stem under whih we li)e has "roken down, not onl% in this little islandJ it has
"roken down in 'uro&e, in Asia, in AmeriaJ it has "roken down e)er%where as it was "ound to
"reak down.R In Derman%, the former soial demorati 3nane minister 7udolf Hilferdin!
admitted, Q#e are una"le to tell the &eo&le in a onrete manner how we will eliminate the
risis.R 4oo muh was Qout of the hands of Derman soial demora%, out of the hands of
an%"od%R, he said.
Instead of runnin! a&italism, the% found a&italism was runnin! them and leadin! to disaster.
A %ear later BaConald a"andoned the &art% to run a 4or% !o)ernment. 4en %ears later
Hilferdin! ommitted suiide to a)oid torture and murder at the hands of the (aGis. 4here is no
reason to "elie)e !o)ernments o&eratin! toda% under the re<"orn, free market a&italism an
"e an% more suessful.
1ITTER LE&&ON&
4here are those who ar!ue &o&ular &ressure an sto& left !o)ernments a)in! in so easil% <
and mass &ressure an ertainl% ha)e an im&at. It an "e so !reat that not onl% !o)ernments,
"ut the state and "i! "usiness !i)e !round "efore it. Bem"ers of the rulin! lass an feel
similar to the 4or% 1uentin Ho!! (later /ord Hailsham), who told his &art% onferene in the
middle of #orld #ar 4wo2 QIf we do not !i)e reform, we will !et re)olution.R
+aed with mass strikes in 1908, the +renh rulin! lass allowed the $o&ular +ront !o)ernment
to &ush throu!h reforms. So did the Chilean rulin! lass when faed with the hu!e u&sur!e of
a!itation that followed the eletion of Sal)ador Allende as &resident in 19-*. A ;S<"aked
attem&t at a ou& failed misera"l% late in that %ear. But on "oth these oasions, the rulin!
lasses and their state !a)e !round onl% tem&oraril%, to &la% for time. B% 190-<08 the +renh
rulin! lass was om&ellin! the $o&ular +ront:s &arliamentar% ma>orit% to undo the reforms
&assed in 1908 < and in 196*, &arliament )oted for olla"oration with the (aGi ou&ation
under Barshall $etain. In Chile, the rulin! lass went further and took armed ation to im&ose
its will. After a %ear or more of eonomi sa"ota!e desi!ned to turn a setion of the &o&ulation
a!ainst the !o)ernment, there was a militar% ou&. In Se&tem"er 19-0 Deneral $inohet
mo)ed tanks into the ma>or ities, "om"arded the &residential &alae < killin! Allende < and
arrested and murdered thousands of !o)ernment su&&orters. Allende had a&&ointed $inohet
head of the arm% onl% two months earlier.
In the aftermath of that ou&, man% of those who su&&orted han!in! soiet% "% workin!
throu!h the eEistin! state < inludin! the leaders of the Italian Communist $art% and the British
historian 'ri Ho"s"awm < drew a stran!e onlusion. 4he% ar!ued the mistake in Chile had
"een to !o too far, too fast, and onluded the onl% wa% a reformist !o)ernment ould sta% in
oLe was "% a"stainin! from im&lementin! the reforms &eo&le wanted. It was an admission
that %ou annot "rin! the kind of han!es we need to soiet% throu!h the eEistin! state. If
another world is &ossi"le, we will not reah it throu!h suh methods.
4his does not mean we should sim&l% i!nore &arliaments. 4he% are the fous for what most
&eo&le see as &olitis and &ro)ide the terrain on whih ar!uments a"out the diretion of
soiet% take &lae. #hen &eo&le want to takle a soial ill, the% usuall% look to &arliament to
do it. So althou!h eletion results annot, in themsel)es, &rodue serious soial han!e, the%
an "e a measure of &eo&le:s desire for han!e < and make indi)iduals aware of the de!ree to
whih others share their desire.
An eletion am&ai!n an hel& &ull to!ether those who want to han!e soiet% and oHer a
hane for them to &resent their ideas. Suess in eletin! e)en a sin!le B$ or de&ut% an !i)e
a &latform for a radial &osition that an inKuene the o&inions of millions. 4his was the ase in
Derman% at the "e!innin! of #orld #ar ?ne when the re)olutionar% soialist 9arl /ie"kneht
used the &arliamentar% ham"er to make a stand a!ainst the war, "reakin! the wall of silene
im&osed "% state ensorshi&. It was also what ha&&ened in Britain in the late 198*s and earl%
19-*s when a %oun! soialist from (orthern Ireland, Bernadette Ce)lin, used her eletion to
&arliament to denoune re&ression "% the British state. Bost reentl%, in 2**5, the eletion of
Deor!e Dallowa% as 7es&et B$ for Bethnal Dreen and Bow &ro)ided an o&&ortunit% to take
the ar!ument a!ainst im&erialist war to the heart of the ;S !o)ernment < the Senate.
$arliament is a de"atin! ham"er in whih, at its "est, re&resentati)es of diHerent lasses, with
diHerent notions of what soiet% should "e like, an air their )iews in &u"li. A de"atin!
ham"er annot o)erturn the hierarhies of &ower em"odied in the state, "ut it an &ro)ide a
means for mo"ilisin! &eo&le a!ainst those hierarhies.
Howe)er, e)en when there is a left<win! ma>orit% in &arliament or a left<win! &resident, suh a
mo"ilisation de&ends on what ha&&ens in the streets and work&laes. 4his was shown in a
ne!ati)e sense in Chile in the earl% 19-*s. It was shown in a muh more &ositi)e sense in
FeneGuela in A&ril 2**2 after a !rou& of !enerals sta!ed a ou&, kidna&&ed the twie<eleted
&resident, Hu!o Cha)eG, and installed the head of the em&lo%ers: federation in his &lae.
Billions of the &oor of Caraas surrounded the &residential &alae two da%s later, leadin! a
setion of the armed fores to turn a!ainst the !enerals and restore Cha)eG. SiE months later,
mass ation "% the ountr%:s workers sto&&ed a seond attem&t to o)erthrow the &resident
durin! a mana!ement shutdown of industr%.
Had it "een left sim&l% to those in &arliament, Cha)eG would not ha)e sur)i)ed and FeneGuela
would ha)e !one the wa% of Chile. 4he ountr%:s &oor would not ha)e !ained the su"seIuent
reforms &aid for from "oomin! oil re)enues, and there would "e no talk in FeneGuela of
Qsoialism in the 21st entur%R. As it is, the ountr%:s rih are fored to tolerate reforms out of
fear of a renewed mass mo)ement, while "idin! their time in the ho&e that the workers and
the &oor for!et how the ou& was thwarted.
2: Revo$utionar de-ocrac
')er% !reat re)olution has de&ended u&on &eo&le eEerisin! &ower throu!h institutions muh
more !enuinel% demorati than eleted &arliaments and &residents. $eo&le ha)e tried to
reate forms of or!anisation su">et to their ontinual ontrol, knowin! that the% ould not
sim&l% rel% on )otin! one for a re&resentati)e to at on their "ehalf in fae of the &owerful
fores tr%in! to &reser)e the old order.
4his was true e)en in the "our!eois re)olutions. At the hei!ht of the 'n!lish 7e)olution of the
186*s, the soldiers of the re)olutionar% (ew Bodel Arm%, drawn from the lower lasses,
eleted dele!ates known as Qa!itatorsR. 4he% were "rieK% a"le to fore the wealth% !randees
who ommanded the arm% to listen to some of the demands from "elow and to &ush throu!h
the re)olution. In the +renh 7e)olution of the earl% 1-9*s, the lower lasses of $aris < the sans
ulottes < met in eah distrit to enfore their demands on the it% ounil and on the
re)olutionar% on)ention that ran the !o)ernment.
Howe)er, these eE&erienes &ro)ed transitor%. ?ne the risin! middle lass had suLient
&ower to su"ordinate the old feudal interests to their ontrol, the% rushed the re)olutionar%
demora%, &referrin! to re)ert to monarhial !o)ernment rather than see their eonomi
&ower threatened "% a demorati mass mo)ement.
4he 3rst !reat attem&t "% workers to take &ower, the $aris Commune of 18-1, &rodued a
muh !reater eEtension of re)olutionar% demora%. +ollowin! a war with Derman% that saw
the +renh arm% rushed and $aris "esie!ed, the workers of the it% took ontrol and
esta"lished a ommune. 4he% eleted dele!ates from eah distrit to re&resent them, makin!
them su">et to reall at an% time and &aid no more than the wa!e of a skilled worker. 4he%
im&lemented deisions themsel)es rather than turn to an uneleted hierarh% of "ureaurats,
and relied not u&on a &rofessional or onsri&t arm%, "ut on the armed workers, or!anised as a
national !uard.
(ew forms of re)olutionar% demora% "e!an to emer!e in the workin! lass re)olutionar%
u&sur!es of the 2*th entur% < the workers: ounils. 4he 3rst was "orn in ?to"er 19*5,
durin! strikes that ame lose to destro%in! the 6**<%ear<old 4sarist 'm&ire. Strikin! &rint
workers in the a&ital St $eters"ur! eleted dele!ates to form a ounil, or so)iet in 7ussian,
and dele!ates from other strikin! fatories >oined them. 4he ounil "eame the or!anisin!
entre of a mo)ement that held the it% in its !ri&, a fous for the eonomi and &olitial
demands of the o&&ressed lasses and, in eHet, an alternati)e !o)ernment to that of the 4sar.
%UAL (O+ER
4his set the &attern for what was to ha&&en in e)er% 7ussian it% in 191-, when mass strikes
and demonstrations led the arm% to mutin%. 4he 4sar a"diated and was re&laed "% a
!o)ernment ommitted to a&italism and to kee&in! 7ussia in the +irst #orld #ar. Howe)er,
workers: and soldiers: ounils emer!ed o)erni!ht from the mass mo)ement and !a)e
or!anised eE&ression to the !rowin! anti<war and anti<a&italist feelin!s of the mass of &eo&le.
+or ei!ht months there was a state of Qdual &owerR, with the ounils atin! )irtuall% as a
workers: !o)ernment hallen!in! the &rero!ati)es of the oLial !o)ernment. In ?to"er 191-,
the ma>orit% in the workers: and soldiers: ounil in the a&ital took &ower into its own hands <
a deision immediatel% rati3ed "% a on!ress of the workers: and soldiers: ounils aross the
ountr%.
A similar situation de)elo&ed in Derman% a little o)er a %ear later when strikes and mutinies
o)erthrew the em&ire of the 9aiser. A!ain there was dual &ower, with an oLial !o)ernment
seekin! to maintain a&italist rule, and workers: and soldiers: ounils takin! man% da%<to<da%
deisions. But this time the oLial !o)ernment won out, usin! setions of the old oLer or&s
to smash the re)olutionar% mo)ement in a suession of loalised i)il wars.
Cele!ate "odies of armed workers &la%ed a similar role in the S&anish re)olution of the
summer of 1908 after mass u&risin!s had defeated Deneral +rano:s militar% ou& in more
than half the ountr%:s ities. 4hese ommittees or!anised the militias whih fou!ht a i)il war
a!ainst +rano and at the same time "e!an to take o)er setions of the eonom% < a stor% told
in Deor!e ?rwell:s "ook Homa&e to %atalonia and 9en /oah:s 3lm Land and >reedom.
#hen Hun!arian workers rose a!ainst 7ussian ou&ation in 1958, workers: ounils a!ain
"eame their or!anisin! tool. In the 3rst &lae, dele!ates were eleted from fatories in
diHerent loalities to or!anise the stru!!le a!ainst the ou&ation and ensure food and "asi
ser)ies were &ro)ided. But the ounils soon "e!an to oordinate their eHorts to &ro)ide the
"e!innin!s of a !o)ernment from "elow.
$eter +r%er went to Hun!ar% to re&ort for the 6aily Wor7er, the &a&er of Britain:s Communist
$art%, and was su"seIuentl% eE&elled from the &art% for the honest% of his re&ortin!. In his
"ook Hun&arian Tra&edy (/ondon, 199-) he wrote2
2n their spontaneous ori&in' in their composition' in their sense of responsi(ility' in their
eBcient or&anisation of food supplies and civil order and not least in their resem(lance
to the -or7ers' peasants and soldiers councils -hich spran& up in Russia in the !CD
revolution and in >e(ruary !?' these committees' a net-or7 of -hich no- e+tended
over the -hole of Hun&ary' -ere at once or&ans of insurrection / the comin& to&ether of
dele&ates elected (y factories and universities' mines and army units / and or&ans of
popular self &overnment in -hich the armed people trusted)
')en after 7ussian troo&s rushed the armed u&risin!, the Central Buda&est #orkers: Counil
o&erated as an alternati)e !o)ernment in the it% for se)eral weeks, until its mem"ers were
arrested.
In Chile, in the last months of 19-2 and earl% 19-0, dele!ates from fatories in the industrial
"elt of the a&ital
Santia!o "e!an to &la% a somewhat similar role in ommittees known as cordones. 4he left<
win! !o)ernment was under inreasin! attak from a&italist interests, with the "arel%
onealed su&&ort of setions of the state mahine. #hen the em&lo%ers attem&ted to lose
down industr%, in a kind of "osses: strike, workers set u& fator% ommittees to kee& industr%
runnin! and su&&l% their ommunities with food. In drawin! the diHerent ommittees to!ether
throu!h the cordones, the% reated the "e!innin!s of a &o&ular !o)ernment network.
4he eE&eriene was re&eated in the $olish it% of Ddansk in 198*. #orkers ou&ied a shi&%ard
to resist the sakin! of a female ati)ist and to demand im&ro)ed wa!es and onditions.
#orkers in 25* other work&laes >oined in and to!ether the% reated a dele!ate "od%, the
QInter<enter&rise strike ommitteeR (B9S). In his histor% of the stru!!le, Colin Barker wrote2
The -hole movement -as (ased on a hu&e -ave of -or7place occupations) Each
stri7in& enterprise sent a dele&ate to its local M;3) The dele&ates elected an inner
e+ecutive committee under this immediate control) The ma.or ne&otiations -ith the
state -ere conducted in front of microphones' -hich -ere lin7ed to the shipyard tannoy
system so that thousands of -or7ers could follo- the proceedin&s) 6ele&ates returned
to their -or7places -ith tape recordin&s of the proceedin&s' to report and rene- their
mandates) Within days of its esta(lishment the Gdans7 M;3 had (e&un ta7in& control of
essential services in the area OColin Barker, Q$oland, 198*<812 4he Self</imited
7e)olutionR in Colin Barker (ed), Revolutionary Rehearsals, /ondon, 198-P.
+or 18 months there were two &owers in $oland. 4here was the oLial !o)ernment, whih
ontrolled the arm% and &olie "ut had little su&&ort amon! the &o&ulation, and there was the
network of workers: or!anisations, now allin! themsel)es a trade union, Solidarnos, "ut in
&ratie more like workers: ounils than an% union ("% ontrast, when Solidarnos reformed in
1989 it was as an old<st%le trade union, lakin! an% mass<"ased workers: demora%).
#orkers &la%ed the ke% role in eah of these mo)ements. But the momentum drew in muh
wider la%ers of soiet%. In 7ussia in 191-, Derman% in 1918<19, S&ain in 1908, Hun!ar% in 1958
and $oland in 198* similar demorati forms of or!anisation s&read to enom&ass all sorts of
!rou&s < soldiers, &easants, teahers, intelletuals, setions of the lower middle lass and
o&&ressed minorities. ?ne one setion of the eE&loited and o&&ressed showed it had the
&ower to 3!ht "ak and resha&e its eEistene, it drew all sorts of other setions "ehind it and
"e!an to unite the whole of soiet%. In doin! so, these mo)ements "e!an to show in &ratie
how soiet% ould "e re"uilt on a new "asis. In eah ase, &eo&le of all sorts "e!an to onsider
how to make a diHerent world.
+HICH CLA&& %ICTATE&/
As 9arl BarE saw it, e)er% lass soiet% in)ol)es a ditatorshi& of the rulin! lass o)er the rest
of soiet%. Sometimes this ditatorshi& is eEerised "% a des&ot. Sometimes it is eEerised
throu!h a form of demora% restrited to the rulin! lass. So in the 7oman 7e&u"li the sla)e<
ownin! u&&er lasses eEerised their ditatorshi& @demoratiall%: throu!h a senate to whih
the% alone had aess. In the southern states of the ;S "efore the Ci)il #ar, sla)e owners
deided amon! themsel)es how to eEerise ontrol o)er their sla)es.
In modern a&italist soieties, ontrol of the eonom% and the state "% a small rulin! lass
amounts to a ditatorshi& o)er the rest of soiet%, e)en when it is tem&ered "% the !rantin! of
&olitial ri!hts to the masses. In eah ase, one lass rules o)er another.
7e)olution in)ol)es turnin! the situation u&side down, so the eE&loited and o&&ressed rule. It
means the workin! lass "eomin! the rulin! lass. 4his is the sense of a &hrase BarE used <
@the ditatorshi& of the &roletariat:. He meant that the workin! lass would or!anise
demoratiall% to im&ose its will on those who &re)iousl% held &ower. 4his would "e somethin!
more demorati than &arliamentar% demora%, not less so. It would in)ol)e re&lain! the
eEistin! authoritarian state with institutions diretl% aounta"le to the mass of soiet%, and
these would take o)er eonomi as well as &olitial deision<makin!. BarE ar!ued suh
institutions would arise as the mass of the &o&ulation or!anised themsel)es to ounter the
)iolene of the eEistin! state, and would reor!anise soiet% as a whole in the interests of the
ma>orit%. +rederik 'n!els &ointed to the $aris Commune of 18-1, with its eleted dele!ates
su">et to reall, to illustrate in &ratie what workin! lass rule < the ditatorshi& of the
&roletariat < would look like. #here the Commune led, the workers: ounils of the 2*th entur%
would follow, &ro)idin! a taste of the kind of re)olutionar% or!anisations we an eE&et in the
u&hea)als ahead.
3: C$ass and revo$ution
7e)olutionar% soialists "elie)e the workin! lass is the ke% to transformin! soiet%. 4his
follows from the harater of a&italist soiet%. Ca&italists annot sur)i)e without makin!
&ro3ts, "ut the% annot do that without "rin!in! workers to!ether to eE&loit and thus reatin!
disontent. 4his is what BarE meant when he wrote that a&italism reates its own
@!ra)edi!!er:.
7ulin! lasses "efore a&italism also eE&loited the mass of the &o&ulation. But the% did so
mainl% "% eE&loitin! &easants dis&ersed aross the ountr%side, eah famil% tendin! its own
land, li)in! in )illa!es or hamlets with little onnetion "etween them, s&eakin! loalised
dialets, una"le to read and write, and &ossessin! little understandin! of the wider world.
Ca&italism, "% ontrast, onentrates those it eE&loits in !iant ities, in work&laes where
im&ro)ed onditions an onl% "e o"tained throu!h olleti)e stru!!le. In order to eE&loit
workers to the maEimum, a&italists demand a le)el of litera% and numera% hi!her than that
amon! most of the eE&loitin! lasses of the &ast. In doin! so, the s%stem reates a lass with
the a&ait% to or!anise a!ainst it and the &otential to turn soiet% on its head.
THE REALITY O' CLA&& TO%AY
4he re)olutionar% mo)ements of the 2*th entur% were entred on the industrial workin! lass.
Innumera"le aademis and media &undits ar!ue this makes workers irrele)ant to the Iuestion
of re)olution toda% "eause the workin! lass has delined as a fore. If there is talk of
demands for han!e it is ouhed in terms of @multitudes: and @soial mo)ements:.
4here is no dou"t the &ro&ortion of &eo&le em&lo%ed in manufaturin! and minin! has delined
in Britain and ertain other ad)aned industrial ountries. 4he num"er in manufaturin! in
Britain toda% is a"out half that of 19-0. But this does not mean the industrial workin! lass has
disa&&eared < its num"ers were still !rowin! in the ;S until onl% siE %ears a!o and e)en in
Britain there are still millions of suh workers. Bore im&ortantl%, the notion of the workin! lass
annot "e restrited to those in &artiular industries.
4he media, &olitiians and aademis treat lass as a Iuestion of lifest%les or, followin! the
Derman soiolo!ist BaE #e"er, @life hanes:. 4heir startin! &oint is the wa% &eo&le dress and
s&eak, the harater of the >o"s the% do, the de!ree to whih the% are held in esteem or eEtent
to whih the% li)e in &o)ert%. 4his leads to the assertion that we li)e in an inreasin!l% middle<
lass soiet%, sine the &ro&ortion doin! hea)% manual work has delined while inreasin!
num"ers work in white<ollar, ser)ie setor >o"s. #e li)e in a @two<thirds, one<third: soiet%, it
is laimed, in whih most &eo&le &ros&er and a minorit% make u& an @underlass:.
Ban% on the left see lass in similar wa%s < identif%in! a @la"our aristora%: of skilled, male
manual workers and an im&o)erished underlass, or &ortra%in! industrial manual workers as
@&roletarian: and white<ollar and ser)ie<setor workers as middle lass.
4hese theories o"sure the fat that the fundamental di)ide in soiet% is "etween those who
ontrol the means of &rodution and those who work for them. /ifest%le, dress, inome and
onsum&tion are &roduts of this di)ision, not its ause. It is irrele)ant if oasional mem"ers
of the &ossessin! lass hoose to slum it, or if some of the toilers !ain mar!inal ad)anta!es
and imitate as&ets of the lifest%le of their eE&loiters. 4he fat that the head of Barla%s and a
ounter lerk in a "ranh of the "ank "oth wear suits does not "rid!e the !a& "etween them.
4he "ank lerk, om&uter o&erator and all entre em&lo%ee are om&elled to ae&t )oluntar%
wa!e<sla)er%, 3)e da%s a week, 68 weeks a %ear, >ust as muh as a ar worker or doker.
RE&TRUCTURIN, AN% THE CONTINUITY O' CLA&&
4he om&etition at the ore of a&italism means 3rms re&eatedl% restruture &rodution to tr%
to !et ahead of ri)als and to sur)i)e reurrent rises. 4his leads to the re&eated restruturin!
of the la"our fore. Some !rou&s of workers diminish in siGe and others eE&and. So in Britain in
the 180*s and 186*s the "i!!est onentrations of workers were in teEtiles. #hen &eo&le
thou!ht of the t%&ial worker, the% thou!ht of someone in a otton mill. +ort% %ears later,
whole new "ranhes of industr% were eE&andin! and &eo&le inreasin!l% identi3ed the workin!
lass with those in hea)% industr% < the shi&%ards and mines. B% the Seond #orld #ar thin!s
had han!ed a!ain, with a !reat eE&ansion of >o"s in the ar industr%, eletrial !oods and
li!ht manufaturin!.
At eah sta!e &eo&le looked at the han!in! lifest%les of those around them and onluded the
militant workin! lass of the &ast was !one. Around 18-* 4homas Coo&er, a former ati)ist in
the Chartist mo)ement 0* %ears earlier, sur)e%ed the workers of the north of 'n!land and2

noticed -ith pain that their moral and intellectual conditions had deteriorated) 2n our old
%hartist times' it is true' Lancashire -or7in& men -ere in ra&s (y the thousandsA and
many of them lac7ed food) <ut their intelli&ence -as demonstrated -herever you -ent)
Eou -ould see them in &roups discussin& the &reat doctrines of social .ustice / they
-ere in earnest dispute respectin& the teachin&s of socialism) 5o- you -ill see no such
&roups in Lancashire) <ut you -ill hear -ell dressed -or7in& men tal7in& of cooperative
stores and their shares in them' or in (uildin& societies) And you -ill see others' li7e
idiots' leadin& small &reyhound do&s' covered -ith cloth' on a strin&) Wor7in& men had
ceased to thin7F
O1uoted in BaE Beer' A History of <ritish 3ocialism, 196*P.
Some -* %ears later the idea that the old workin! lass had disa&&eared "eame fashiona"le
a!ain. A "roadsheet of the !o)ernment:s Central ?Le of Information delared in 1982 that
British soiet% was haraterised "% a Qswellin! middle lassR. 4here ould "e no return to the
workin! lass onditions of the 190*s "eause2 Q4he a)era!e man has made too !reat an
in)estment in his own future as a middle lass itiGen and householderR (Iuoted in ,ohn
Doldthor&e, Ca)id /okwood and others, 4he ASuent #orker in the Class Struture,
Cam"rid!e, 1989).
4here was a serious aademi disussion as to whether QaSuentR ar workers were
Qem"our!eoisi3edR. /a"our $art% theorist Anthon% Crosland wrote2
Gne cannot ima&ine today a deli(erate o=ensive alliance (et-een &overnment and the
employers on the !# or !#D/H model' -ith all the paraphernalia of -a&e cuts'
national loc7outs and anti/union le&islationA or a serious attempt to enforce a coal
policyA to -hich the miners (itterly o(.ected
OCA7 Crosland, 4he +uture of Soialism, /ondon, 1958P.
=et a wa)e of workers: stru!!les "e!an in the late 198*s, ulminatin! in onfrontations that
shook soiet% as muh as those of the 192*s, forin! a 4or% !o)ernment out of oLe in 19-6.
At the heart of the militan% were su&&osedl% aSuent workers in the ar, minin! and &rintin!
industries. And the militan% was not 3nall% destro%ed until the defeat of the miners in a %ear<
lon! strike in 1986<85 that in)ol)ed the &olie ou&ation of the minin! areas.
4he restruturin! of industr% han!es the workin! lass and onfuses o"ser)ers, "ut it annot
do awa% with the entral features of a&italism that lead to reurrent wa)es of lass stru!!le.
THE +OR4IN, CLA&& IN THE 21st CENTURY
4he restruturin! of a&italism in the ad)aned ountries is haraterised "% two trends2 a
!rowin! &ro&ortion of the workfore is made u& of white<ollar workers, and ser)ie
em&lo%ment is !rowin! more Iuikl% than industrial em&lo%ment. 4he trends should not "e
onfused. Ban% ser)ie >o"s are manual ("us dri)ers, dokers, refuse olletors) while a
onsidera"le &ro&ortion of manufaturin! em&lo%ees are white ollar (&ro!ress hasers, desi!n
oLe staH). But the trends an !i)e a misleadin! im&ression of what is ha&&enin! to the lass
struture if %ou identif% the workin! lass solel% with manual industrial workers.
#hat has not han!ed, des&ite all the transformations in work "rou!ht a"out "% restruturin!,
is the fat that the s%stem is "ased on om&etition "etween ri)al 3rms. 4his leads om&anies
to do their utmost to &um& the maEimum &ro3t out of their workfore. As a setion of workers
!rows in siGe, then the &ressure on them to &rodue &ro3ts inreases.
#hen white<ollar work was the &rero!ati)e of a relati)el% small num"er of male lerks in the
19th entur%, a&italism ould aHord to &ro)ide them with "etter salaries and onditions than
the mass of manual workers. But 21st entur% a&italism de&ends on )ast num"ers of white<
ollar workers doin! routine >o"s. Ban% work for &ri)ate 3rms in "anks, insurane om&anies
and ad)ertisin! a!enies. ?thers are em&lo%ed "% the state to arr% out funtions im&ortant to
the s%stem as a whole < trainin! the neEt !eneration of workers, olletin! taEes, &rotetin!
&ro&ert%, kee&in! &eo&le 3t for work. 4hese workers are eE&loited throu!h the same methods
as manual workers. ,o" e)aluation methods &ioneered in the teEtile mills, steel &lants and on
ar assem"l% lines are a&&lied to i)il ser)ants, teahers and e)en uni)ersit% leturers.
?ne onseIuene of this han!e is that suh !rou&s now en!a!e in harateristiall% workin!<
lass forms of stru!!le. In Britain, strikes "% teahers, i)il ser)ants, leturers, >ournalists,
nurses and white<ollar workers in loal !o)ernment were )irtuall% unknown until the late
198*s. 4he% ha)e "eome as normal as strikes "% old<st%le manual workers in the last 0*
%ears.
Bodern a&italist soiet% is di)ided into two main !rou&s as learl% as the 19th soiet%
anal%sed "% BarE or desri"ed in the no)els of Charles Cikens. 4here is a small minorit% who
ha)e enou!h wealth to li)e a life of leisure if the% wish, and there is a !reat mass of &eo&le
who an onl% make a li)elihood if the% work for this minorit%.
4his di)ision is more im&ortant than an% other in soiet%. It determines how muh ontrol %ou
ha)e o)er %our life < whether %ou en>o% real hoies or whether e)er%thin! %ou do is
su"ordinated to the need to work for others. It e)en determines how lon! %ou are likel% to li)e,
with the em&lo%in! lass in Britain toda% eE&etin! to li)e, on a)era!e, more than 1* %ears
lon!er than the rest of us. It determines the Iualit% of the lothes %ou wear, the ar %ou dri)e,
the food %ou eat and the !oods %ou own. All the fators usuall% taken to indiate lass are
eHets of this di)ision. Anal%se Britain aordin! to this "asi di)ision and %ou 3nd well o)er -5
&er ent of &eo&le are workin! lass, in the sense of de&endin! for their li)elihood on sellin!
their la"our to the minorit%.
(ot all ser)ie em&lo%ees or salaried staH are workers. In an% soiet% there are !radations
"etween the small minorit% at the to& and the mass of &eo&le at the "ottom. In a sla)e soiet%
there are not >ust sla)e owners and sla)es, "ut also a la%er of sla)e dri)ers, who reei)e a
small share of the wealth that omes from eE&loitin! the sla)es. In a a&italist soiet%, there
are a mass of small a&italists and self<em&lo%ed "usiness &eo&le as well as the ma>or
a&italists. 4here is also a la%er of mana!ers, to& i)il ser)ants, &olie hiefs and so on who are
&aid muh more than the )alue of an% la"our the% &erform in return for hel&in! "i! a&ital
eE&loit the mass of &eo&le. 4his la%er is or!anised throu!h "ureaurati hierarhies. 4hose at
the to& &artake full% in the fruits of eE&loitation and ha)e ommon interests with "i! a&ital.
4hose at the "ottom !et )er% little from eE&loitation and share man% interests with the white<
ollar and manual workers "elow them. /ow<!rade su&er)isors and line mana!ers are &aid a
little more those the% order around, "ut rel% on the same &u"li ser)ies and an "e hit >ust as
hard "% work&lae losures and redundanies.
4he &resene of this middle la%er o"sures the "asi di)ide "etween the eE&loitin! and
eE&loited lasses. But it does not do awa% with it an% more than the slo&e "etween a hill and a
)alle% does awa% with the ontrast "etween the two. +ar from makin! u& the ma>orit% of
soiet%, this middle lass &ro&er amounts at most to 15<2* &er ent of the &o&ulation.
IN&ECURITY AN% &TRU,,LE
Another ar!ument %ou hear a"out workers toda% is that !lo"alisation has reated suh massi)e
inseurit% in em&lo%ment that it is all "ut im&ossi"le to de)elo& the stron! workers:
or!anisations that eEisted in the &ast. +ar from workers "ein! a"le to hallen!e the state, the%
3nd themsel)es "arel% a"le to 3!ht an indi)idual em&lo%er.
4his ar!ument suHers from two inter<related faults. +irst, workers ha)e often sueeded in
or!anisin! and 3!htin! "ak a!ainst em&lo%ers des&ite massi)e le)els of >o" inseurit%. 4ake
the ase of /ondon:s dokers in 1889. 4his was a !rou& with no seurit% of em&lo%ment.
Dareth Stedman ,ones: "ook Gutcast London Iuotes the 3ndin!s of a &arliamentar% selet
ommittee on onditions in the doks in 18882
<ri(ery and favouritism -ere the normal means of &ainin& employment in the doc7s)
Treatin& the foreman to (eer on the evenin& (efore -as a fre0uent means of &ainin&
employment in the doc7s the ne+t day) %asuals in the doc7s applied daily for doc7 -or7
at &ates -here they -ere 7no-n (y the foreman) This could not assure them a day’s
-or7' since the foreman al-ays employed a proportion of outsiders in order to increase
the si,e of the casual pool) Gn the other hand' the foreman could punish lon& term
a(sence on the part of the casual -or7ers (y -ithdra-in& his patrona&e) 2t -as this
precarious dependence of the casual upon the foreman that maintained the casual
frin&e intact)
Beatrie #e"", one of the founders of the reformist +a"ian Soiet% desri"ed the &osition of
dok la"our in 188- as Q)er% ho&elessR. Q4he em&lo%ers were ontent and the men, althou!h
far from ontent, were entirel% disor!anised,R she wrote.
Conditions were not muh more seure for metal and teEtile workers in the 7ussian a&ital St
$eters"ur! at the end of 19*6. Aordin! to historian Derald Surh2
The turnover -ithin the factory -or7force in Peters(ur& seems to have (een 0uite hi&h)
8ns7illed and semis7illed -or7ers -ere normally more volatile (ecause they -ere more
easily replaced) The lac7 of or&anisation and therefore protection at the -or7place
meant that the inevita(le dispute (et-een -or7ers and foremen and mana&ers -ere
fre0uently resolved (y resi&nation or dismissal
ODerald Surh, !CD in 3t Peters(ur&, Stanford, 1989P.
In "oth ases, mass strikes transformed the situation and enoura!ed hundreds of thousands
of other workers to throw u& new or!anisations of their own. #hen the /ondon dokers struk
in 1889, the% shut down the it%:s international trade for 3)e weeks, won their eonomi
demands and "uilt a union of 25,*** mem"ers. Beatrie #e"" hi!hli!hted the han!e2
What the men had achieved throu&h or&anisation -as not to (e measured solely (y
advanta&e achieved in pay or the conditions of employment))) We see the e=ect in the
chan&ed attitude of the employers as to casual employment)
In $eters"ur!, the transformation was e)en more dramati. 4he unor!anised workers of 19*6
eE&loded into ation after mana!ement )itimised a woodworker in the $utilo) &lant. As Surh
writes2
A mass meetin& of # :anuary' attended (y a(out HCCC -or7ers' enthusiastically voted
for a stri7e at the Putilov plant) <y >riday ? :anuary' $"# enterprises -ere on stri7e)
#hen the 4sar:s troo&s 3red on a &eaeful demonstration, the strike s&read aross the it% and
"e!an a %ear of re)olutionar% u&hea)al that ame lose to o)erthrowin! the re!ime.
Suh a sudden diso)er% of the &ower to 3!ht "ak olleti)el% an our amon! the
restrutured workin! lass of the 21st entur%. #e ha)e alread% had !lim&ses of it. In the
forefront of the u&risin!s in Boli)ia in 2**0 and 2**5 were workers from the mass of small
worksho&s in the it% of 'l Alto. 4he s&rin! of 2**8 "rou!ht sudden, uneE&eted strikes and
riots in the !iant teEtile fatories of Ban!ladesh, and ,anuar% 2**- saw strikes and fator%
ou&ations "% workers in '!%&t.
Ca&italist restruturin! an ertainl% deimate old<esta"lished setors of industr% and weaken
the &ower of !rou&s of workers that used to "e amon! the "est or!anised, as ha&&ened with
the defeats of the miners and news&a&er &rinters in Britain in the mid<198*s. But the same
restruturin! leads to a !rowth in the im&ortane of new !rou&s. (either the &ostal workers
nor /ondon tu"e workers were re!arded as militant or &owerful in Britain in the 19-*s, "ut the%
ha)e "eome so in reent %ears. #e an eE&et other !rou&s, at &resent lar!el% unor!anised <<
like those workin! in 3nane, all entres and su&ermarkets < to follow at some &oint. 4he )er%
lo!i of a&italism reates disontent amon! those it eE&loits and o&&resses, and at some
&oint this "itterness will eE&lode. 4he ke% Iuestion is not whether it will ha&&en, "ut whether it
will &ro)e suessful.
4he seond ma>or fault with the ar!ument that &rearious em&lo%ment &re)ents workers from
stru!!lin! is that, in most ountries, it is a minorit% of workers who are in asual >o"s. A stud%
"% the International /a"our ?r!anisation onludes2
While this type of employment increased su(stantially durin& the *rst half of the !!Cs'
the relative proportions of permanent and non/permanent .o(s remained almost
unchan&ed (et-een !!D and the year #CCC: permanent I"# per centJ' non/permanent
I" per centJ)
4he a)era!e oneals lar!e di)er!enes "etween ountries, with a hi!h &oint of 05 &er ent of
workers in inseure em&lo%ment in S&ain. In Britain, aordin! to the !o)ernment statistial
&u"liation 3ocial Trends2 QAs man% as 92 &er ent of workers held &ermanent em&lo%ment
ontrats in 2*** as om&ared with 88 &er ent who did ei!ht %ears earlier.R
')en in third world ountries suh as India and $akistan, where millions of workers mo)e eah
%ear from the ountr%side to ities seekin! work, there is relati)e seurit% of em&lo%ment for
some setions. 'm&lo%ers like to ha)e a sta"le element in their la"our fore, to sto& other
em&lo%ers &oahin! eE&eriened workers when trade is "oomin! and to enoura!e workers to
identif% with their &artiular 3rm in a wa% that disoura!es militan%. After all, it is a &ositi)e
"ene3t to an em&lo%er if workers sa%, as a sho& steward in a /eeds fator% one told me2 @4his
is the "est 3rm in the ountr%.R 4here has "een an inrease in asual em&lo%ment in some
ountries in reent &eriods of eonomi risis. But it is not an unsto&&a"le trend in a&italism
as a whole, and it ertainl% will not sto& workers or!anisin! and rokin! the s%stem.
,LO1ALI&ATION AN% +OR4ER&
It is often ar!ued workers annot 3!ht "ak as the% one did "eause the !lo"alisation of the
world eonom% allows 3rms to shut down o&erations and re<o&en somewhere else.
Dlo"alisation ertainl% means 3nane houses and s&eulators an mo)e massi)e amounts of
mone% from one ountr% to another at the lik of a om&uter.
4here is also a trend for 3rms in one ountr% to "u% into those in other ountries. But it is
harder to mo)e &rodution from ountr% to ountr% than it is to mo)e mone%. $roduti)e a&ital
is made u& of fatories and mahiner%, mines, doks and oLes. 4hese take %ears to "uild and
annot sim&l% "e arted awa%. Sometimes a 3rm an mo)e mahiner% and eIui&ment. But this
is usuall% an arduous &roess and, "efore eIui&ment an "e o&erated elsewhere, the 3rm has
to reruit and &ossi"l% train a suLientl% skilled workfore. In the interim, not onl% does
in)estment in the old "uildin!s ha)e to "e written oH, there is no return on in)estment in the
mahiner%.
#hat is more, few &roduti)e &roesses are e)er om&letel% self<ontained. 4he% de&end on
in&uts from outside and links to distri"ution networks. So "efore a 3rm sets u& a ar &lant it
has to ensure there are su&&lies of Iualit% steel a)aila"le, seure soures of nuts and "olts, a
la"our fore with the ri!ht le)el of trainin!, relia"le &ower and water su&&lies, a trustworth%
3nanial s%stem and a road and rail network a&a"le of shiftin! 3nished &roduts. It has to
&ersuade other 3rms or !o)ernments to &ro)ide these thin!s, and the &roess of assem"lin!
them an take months or %ears of "ar!ainin!. Bultinational om&anies do not sim&l% throw
these assets awa% and ho&e to 3nd them thousands of miles awa% "eause la"our is sli!htl%
hea&er or !o)ernments sli!htl% more o<o&erati)e. Suh mo)es take time and eHort and
in)ol)e writin! oH osts. $roduti)e a&ital sim&l% annot "e as footloose as &eo&le often
su!!est.
4he laim that 3rms 3nd it eas% to mo)e &rodution o)erseas is wides&read in the ;S. But
eonomist 4im 9oehlin re&orts that less than 8 &er ent of ;S &roduti)e in)estment !oes
a"road. ,o" losses are mainl% the result of 3rms uttin! the num"er of workers the% em&lo% in
eEistin! &lants, or losin! some &lants so as to onentrate &rodution in those that remain.
In Britain, the &attern is muh the same. 4he manufaturin! workfore has "een ut in half
o)er the last 0* %ears, "ut total out&ut has not fallen and eah worker is &roduin! twie as
muh as 0* %ears a!o. In other words, eah worker is more im&ortant to the s%stem now than
in the &ast. 4here are man% im&ortant >o"s that annot "e mo)ed a"road < for eEam&le, in
onstrution, news&a&er &rintin!, the doks, the i)il ser)ie, &ost and teleommuniations,
loal !o)ernment, eduation, refuse dis&osal, food distri"ution and su&ermarkets. ')en in the
ase of all entres, where some work has mo)ed to India, em&lo%ment in the setor in Britain
ontinues to eE&and.
?f ourse, 3rms do shift loation and in)estments do not alwa%s our in the same &laes.
7estruturin! often does in)ol)e mo)in! &rodution to a new area, and sometimes to another
ountr%, and this is likel% to inrease in the deades ahead. But suh deisions inur osts and
are ne)er taken li!htl%. +irms that are restruturin! usuall% &refer to at !raduall%, mo)in!
&ieemeal from old &lant to new, kee&in! su&&l% and distri"ution networks intat and
minimisin! disloation. In the &roess, workers retain the &ower to sto& &rodution and to 3!ht
attem&ts to make them &a% for restruturin!.
4he most im&ortant eHets of the mo)ement of mone% from ountr% to ountr% are that it
inreases eonomi insta"ilit% and makes &eo&le feel more inseure. +irms often &la% on this,
threatenin! to mo)e &rodution a"road when the% ha)e little intention to do so, in the
eE&etation that this will demoralise workers and &ersuade them to ae&t deterioratin!
onditions. In allin! the "osses: "luH, workers an "e!in to diso)er their a&ait% to 3!ht for
a world without inseurit%.
5: C$ass and consciousness
4he workin! lass om&rises the ma>orit% in soiet%, it has the &ower to shake the s%stem, and
it will reo)er e)entuall% from the om"ination of defeat and restruturin!, howe)er muh its
om&osition ma% ha)e han!ed.
;nfortunatel%, this does not mean most of its mem"ers ha)e a lear idea of their a"ilit% to
re&lae the eEistin! s%stem with a "etter one. ?n the ontrar%, "ein! "rou!ht u& in a&italist
soiet% leads most &eo&le to ae&t the ideas of the s%stem to a !reater or lesser de!ree < its
raism, seEism, om&etition and !reed, and the "elief that there is no other wa% of li)in!. 4his
is what 9arl BarE meant when he wrote that Qthe rulin! ideas are the ideas of the rulin! lass.R
#orkin! lass or!anisations suh as the trade unions sim&l% do not ontrol the resoures
neessar% to om&ete durin! normal times with the a&italist media. In suh &eriods onl% a
minorit% of &eo&le ae&t ideas that hallen!e the s%stem as a whole. 4he ma>orit% take most
thin!s for !ranted and ae&t muh of what the a&italist media sa%.
It is onl% when those whose la"our kee&s a&italism !oin! are en!a!ed in 3!htin! as&ets of
the s%stem that the% diso)er the% ha)e the &ower to &aral%se it. ?nl% then do lar!e num"ers
"e!in to see learl% that their interests run in o&&osite diretions to those of the a&italists.
4he% diso)er throu!h stru!!le that the% an hallen!e the s%stem, and that as a lass the%
ha)e an interest in unitin! to re&lae &ro3t makin! and om&etition with a soiet% of
demorati self or!anisation. It is throu!h stru!!le that &eo&le diso)er the% ha)e the
olleti)e a&ait% to han!e soiet%.
CONTRA%ICTORY CON&CIOU&NE&&
Antonio Dramsi, a ke% 3!ure in the histor% of re)olutionar% soialism in Ital%
1
, eE&lained that
most workers ha)e a Qontraditor% onsiousnessR. ?n the one hand, the% are "rou!ht u& in
a&italist soiet% and take man% of its notions for !ranted. ?n the other hand, the% ha)e
eE&erienes of olleti)e stru!!les in whih the% stand to!ether and han!e the world a little
to their own ad)anta!e. Some of these eE&erienes are diret ones the% ha)e had &ersonall%.
?thers are on)e%ed from one !eneration to the neEt within work&laes, ommunities and
or!anisations suh as trade unions. #orkers who ha)e ne)er "een on strike "efore take u& the
lan!ua!e of solidarit%, of unit% and res&et for &iket lines, and the use of terms like Qsa"R for
those who "reak a strike. So the mind of the a)era!e worker ontains elements that look to the
future and the )alues of olleti)e stru!!le and or!anisation, as well as elements that &ull "ak
to the &ast, towards lass soiet% and its &re>udies.
4he num"er of &eo&le o&en to the idea of han!in! soiet% !rows massi)el% durin! !reat
stru!!les. Bass strikes and s&ontaneous u&risin!s lead to an un&reedented le)el of disussion
a"out what to do neEt. +or the 3rst time &eo&le feel their a&ait% to han!e thin!s. $olitis is
talked a"out e)er%where < in e)er% "us Iueue, sho&, fator% and oLe, in e)er% shool and at
e)er% soial !atherin! < in a manner inonei)a"le durin! non<re)olutionar% times. I ha)e )i)id
memories of +rane in Ba% 1988 and $ortu!al in 19-5 when &eo&le de)oured soialist
news&a&ers the moment sellers a&&eared, and how in Ar!entina in 2**1<2 &eo&le !athered at
sores of loal &o&ular assem"lies to disuss what to do neEt.
Cis!ust at the &resent s%stem allied to eE&eriene of strikin! and demonstratin! to!ether
makes workers &artiularl% ree&ti)e to the notion that olleti)el% and demoratiall%, the%
an take har!e of soiet% themsel)es. Soialist ideas 3t with workin! lass eE&eriene
whene)er &eo&le !et in)ol)ed in stru!!les.
1
His ideas ha)e "een distorted "% reformist &olitiians and aademis sine his death in 190- for
&ur&oses he was adamantl% o&&osed to. See m% &am&hlet, Dramsi )ersus 7eformism a)aila"le at
www.is>.or!.uk
Howe)er, re)olutionar% soialist ideas are not the onl% ones on oHer. 4he news&a&ers of the
rulin! lass use the old methods of di)ide and rule T sa&e<!oatin! mem"ers of ethni or
reli!ious minorities, s&readin! lies a"out soialists, tr%in! to turn those not in)ol)ed in stru!!le
a!ainst the !rou&s that mo)e 3rst. +or eEam&le, in 7ussia in 19*5 after the strikes and
formation of the 3rst so)iet the 4sarist !o)ernment worked with the far ri!ht in an attem&t to
deKet the mo)ement "% enoura!in! a series of &o!roms a!ainst ,ews. 4oda% we not onl% see
a re)i)al of stru!!les a!ainst the s%stem, we also see an onslau!ht a!ainst reli!ious and ethni
minorities < Islamo&ho"ia in 'uro&e and the ;S, attaks a!ainst Shia Buslims and Christians in
$akistan, a!itation a!ainst immi!rants from Boli)ia and $ara!ua% in Ar!entina, a with<hunt
a!ainst as%lum seekers in Britain. $eo&le an reat to these horrors "% turnin! to notions that
make it seem that reli!ion, not a&italist eE&loitation, is the entral fat of the world we li)e in.
So while re)olutionar% soialist ideas an !row in the ferment a!ainst the s%stem, the% ha)e to
"e fou!ht for. 4here is alwa%s a "attle of ideas.
RE'OR)I&)
4here ha)e alwa%s "een those who "alane "etween su&&ort for a&italism and o&&osition to
it. 4he% sa% soiet% should "e han!ed in a non<a&italist diretion, "ut slowl% < throu!h
ne!otiations and le!al &roesses, not diret onfrontation. 4his was the a&&roah of Q?ld
/a"ourR in Britain and the Soial Cemorati &arties in mainland 'uro&e.
Suh reformist ideas are enoura!ed "% &olitiians who make their areers "% &resentin!
themsel)es as ham&ions of the workers within the eEistin! order. 4he% ha)e ad>usted their
li)es to ar!uin! for &ro!ressi)e reforms within the eEistin! state and ine)ita"l% tr% to hannel
an% u&sur!e a!ainst the s%stem in this diretion. Sometimes this is "eause the% ha)e ome to
ae&t man% of the )alues of the rulin! lass. Sometimes it is that the% ha)e so ad>usted to
3!htin! for reform that the% annot ima!ine an% alternati)e. In either ase, the% tr% to tame
the mo)ement so as to sto& it hallen!in! the state. 4heir eHorts are reinfored "% setions of
the media who im&lore all lasses to work to!ether.
Howe)er, this reformism should not "e seen merel% as somethin! im&osed on the mass of
&eo&le, who would otherwise "e re)olutionar%. It Kows from the &osition of an% su"ordinate
soial !rou& in a lass soiet% as its mem"ers tr% to "rid!e the ontraditions in their
onsiousness "etween the ideas the% ha)e a"sor"ed from that soiet% and those whih ome
from their ats of re"ellion. 7eformism is the or!anised &olitial eE&ression of ontraditor%
onsiousness, whih is used "% &olitiians for their own &ur&oses.
THE TRA%E UNION 1UREAUCRACY
7eformism is not >ust em"odied in &olitial &arties. 4rade unions are also &ulled in a reformist
diretion. 4he whole struture of a&italist soiet% s&rin!s from &eo&le:s la"our. 4o hallen!e
the wa% this is &ro)ided < at work < means, im&liitl%, to hallen!e that struture. B% or!anisin!
&eo&le at work, trade unions "e!in to raise Iuestions a"out the )er% foundations of soiet%.
4his is what /enin meant when he said an% strike raises the Qh%dra head of re)olutionR.
But &eo&le:s a&ait% to work (what BarE alled their la"our &ower) is also a ommodit% within
a&italism. It is "ou!ht and sold "% the hour >ust as a&&les or tomatoes are "ou!ht "% the kilo.
Ha!!lin! o)er the &rie of la"our &ower an seem no diHerent to "ar!ainin! o)er the &rie of
an% other transation in the market, enoura!in! the notion that what matters are
&resentation skills and administrati)e strutures < the &rofessional ne!otiator rather than the
re)olutionar% a!itator. So the union a&&aratus "eomes an institutional struture within
eEistin! soiet%, run "% its own s&eialist funtionaries. It has the dou"le role of or!anisin!
workers and "ar!ainin! with a&italists o)er the terms of em&lo%ment. It mediates with
em&lo%ers on "ehalf of workers.
4his kind of trade unionism a&&eals to workers insofar as the% ha)e not "roken from the ideas
of a&italist soiet%. It seems to oHer the reformist ho&e of im&ro)in! onditions without the
reIuirement for re)olutionar% ation. Howe)er, the a&&eal is not onl% to workers < it is also to
!rou&s of a&italists. An% rulin! lass faes ontraditor% &ressures of its own. It wants
unlimited &ower to eE&loit and dominate the rest of soiet%, "ut rude fore alone is not
suLient to sta"ilise that eE&loitation and domination. 4he need arises for mediatin!
strutures that draw in elements from amon! the mass of &eo&le. As "oth /enin and Dramsi
&ut it, a rulin! lass needs institutions that !i)e it he!emon% as well as domination.
+or eEam&le, the feudal rulin! lasses of medie)al 'uro&e usuall% ended u& allowin! a setion
of the merhant and artisan lasses to esta"lish limited forms of or!anisation < in !uilds and
town or&orations. 4he% !ranted those who ran these a su"ordinate, "ut honoured, &osition in
the soial hierarh%, understandin! this would lead to ae&tane of the hierarh% as a whole.
4his worked for deades, e)en enturies, at a time. 4he most suessful merhants sou!ht to
"u% their wa% into feudal soiet%, not o)erthrow it.
Ca&italists usuall% start oH o&&osin! all attem&ts "% workers to or!anise, and some !rou&s of
a&italists ne)er a"andon this outlook. But others learn that a resentful workfore an "e
)olatile and &rone to sudden, disru&ti)e ation. 4he% see the need for mediatin! strutures to
"ind workers: or!anisations to the s%stem < hene, the wooin! of trade union oLials with
)arious honours. 4he former leader of the &rint workers: union, Brenda Cean, now sits in the
House of /ords, and the former leader of the trans&ort workers: union, Bill Borris, is on the
"oard of the Bank of 'n!land. 4his need also eE&lains the attaks "% the media and the ourts
on trade union leaders who hallen!e this os% relationshi& < as miners: leader Arthur Sar!ill
did durin! the !reat strike of the 198*s. 4his arrot<and<stik a&&roah sha&es the trade union
"ureaura% to ae&t the s%stem < whether indi)idual trade union leaders do so relutantl% or
enthusiastiall%.
4he trade union "ureaura% omes to take this mediatin! role for !ranted. It e)ol)es a areer
and salar% struture that mirrors the mana!erial hierarhies of "usiness and de)elo&s a
relutane to en!a!e in an% onfrontation that mi!ht threaten the union a&&aratus, &ro&ert%
and salaries. In a lassi histor% of trade unionism Sidne% and Beatrie #e"" desri"ed the
han!e amon! workers in Britain who "eame union oLials2
Whilst the points at issue no lon&er a=ect his o-n earnin&s or conditions of
employment' any disputes (et-een his mem(ers and their employers increase his -or7
and add to his -orry) The former vivid sense of the privations and su(.ection of the
artisan’s life &radually fades from his mind and he (e&ins more and more to re&ard all
complaints as perverse and unreasona(le) With this intellectual chan&e may come a
more invidious transformation) 5o-adays the salaried oBcer of a &reat union is courted
and 1attered (y the middle class) He is as7ed to dine -ith them' and -ill admire their
-ell/appointed houses' their *ne carpets' the ease and lu+ury of their lives) He &oes to
live in a little villa in a lo-er middle/class su(ur() With the ha(its of his ne- nei&h(ours
he insensi(ly adopts more and more of their ideas) Gradually he *nds himself at issue
-ith his mem(ers) He attri(utes the (reach to the in1uences of a cli0ue of malcontents'
or perhaps to the -ild vie-s held (y the youn&er &eneration
OSidne% and Beatrie #e"", A Histor% of 4rade ;nionism, 1896P.
4he #e"":s aount has "een )indiated man% times. In 1928 one of the most im&ortant
e&isodes in the histor% of lass stru!!le in Britain took &lae < the Deneral Strike. At that time
one in ten industrial workers in Britain was in the oalmines, whose owners announed the%
would lok out and refuse work to an% miner who would not ae&t a ut in wa!es and lon!er
hours. 4he Conser)ati)e !o)ernment "aked the mine owners, delarin! all workers had to
ae&t wa!e uts.
4he ountr%:s union leaders, !athered in a s&eial meetin! or!anised "% the 4rades ;nion
Con!ress, made rin!in! delarations in su&&ort of the miners and alled for all trade unionists
to strike < 3rst trans&ort workers and then other setions. Billions of workers did so and Britain
was &aral%sed. But the union leaders were far from o)er>o%ed. Some, like rail union leader
,imm% 4homas, were as fri!htened "% the strike as the !o)ernment and "i! "usiness. 4homas
told 4;C leader #alter Citrine2 Q4he strike is a!ainst the state and the state must "e su&reme.R
He later wrote2 Qwhat I dreaded most was this2 if "% an% hane it should ha)e !ot out of the
hands of those who knew how to eEerise some ontrol.R 4he leader of the !eneral workers:
DB#; eE&ressed a similar attitude2
Every day the stri7e proceeded' control -as passin& out of the hands of responsi(le
e+ecutives and into the hands of men -ho had no authority' no control' and -as
-rec7in& the movement from one end to the other)
4hese leaders manoeu)red alon!side the !o)ernment to den% )itor% to the lass from whih
the% ame. 4he% "rou!ht the !eneral strike to an end after nine da%s, des&ite there "ein! no
loss of momentumJ in fat num"ers on strike !rew "% 1**,*** 26 hours after the 4;C alled it
oH. 4he 4;C left the miners to 3!ht alone for nine months "efore surrenderin! to fae lon!er
hours on &o)ert% &a% or unem&lo%ment. ?ther em&lo%ers were left with a free hand to sak
workers who had or!anised the strike at a loal le)el.
Almost 8* %ears later, the miners: strike of 1986<85 unfolded in a shokin!l% similar wa%. 4he
miners fou!ht des&eratel% for 12 months a!ainst a &ro!ramme of &it losures that was to
de)astate the industr% and their ommunities. 4here were !lowin! delarations of su&&ort from
trade union leaders at the 1986 4;C Conferene, while "ehind the senes leaders of some
unions outside the mines sa"ota!ed solidarit% with the miners and undermined the strike. 4he
head of the Coal Board, Ian BaDre!or, who led the onslau!ht a!ainst the miners, wrote later2
Q4here were a num"er of union leaders with whom I ould ommuniate and talk frankl%R. 4he
result was the seond !reat defeat of the entur% for Britain:s trade union mo)ement < a defeat
to "e followed "% two deades of demoralisation and union weakness.
Howe)er, res&onsi"ilit% for these defeats did not >ust lie with the leaders who allowed
themsel)es to "e "ou!ht "% the a&italist lass. It also la% with union leaders of a more honest
dis&osition who were unwillin! to "reak with the rest of the union leadershi& and enoura!e
the rank<and<3le to arr% the stru!!le forward. #hen it ame to the runh, the% were as little
inlined to see the stru!!le throu!h to the end as their &ro<a&italist ollea!ues. After the 1928
Deneral Strike, ,imm% 4homas < the rail union leader who did so muh to sa"ota!e it < re&orted
that a left win! leader of a seond rail union had "een >ust as keen to end the strike.
#hat was true of these deisi)e "attles is also true of man% lesser stru!!les o)er &a% or
redundanies. +ull<time trade union oLials are &art of an a&&aratus ommitted to ne!otiatin!
on "ehalf of ordinar% workers < &ressin! laims on mana!ement, "ut also &ersuadin! workers
to ae&t whate)er onessions mana!ement mi!ht make. It results in an em&hasis on the
ne!otiatin! skills of union oLials rather than the 3!htin! s&irit of the union mem"ers and
seeks esa&e routes from onfrontations with em&lo%ers. A!ain and a!ain, it has meant
sari3in! the union mem"ers in an eHort to &reser)e the union a&&aratus < althou!h a union
that annot defend its mem"ers is ine)ita"l% dama!ed as the workers will see no reason to
"elon! to it.
4his is not the end of the matter "eause a struture that seeks to mediate "etween lasses is
su">et ine)ita"l% to tensions, whih &ull 3rst one wa% and then another. Cisontent amon!
workers re&eatedl% throws u& new ati)ists who hallen!e the onser)atism of the
"ureaura%. ')en ri!ht<win! "ureaurats an see that the% mean nothin! to the em&lo%ers
unless the% an hannel and eE&ress some of the disontent "elow them. So the% swith
"etween o&&osin! an% form of industrial ation to allin! strikes in an eHort to maintain their
inKuene, and from with<huntin! militant ati)ists to tr%in! to inor&orate these into the union
hierarh%. At the same time, union eletions ensure that there are alwa%s some indi)idual
oLials who want to 3!ht for the interests of ordinar% mem"ers.
=et the onser)ati)e tendenies remain. 4he "ureaura% that alls a strike to show its
inKuene will all oH the ation at the 3rst o&&ortunit% if its &osition is threatened either "%
rank<and<3le initiati)e from within or "% re&ressi)e threats from without. /eft<win!ers within
the "ureaura% then suddenl% 3nd themsel)es isolated, una"le to use the le)ers of the union
to kee& the stru!!le !oin!. It is this that eE&lains the tenden% for the ri!ht win! to run from
the "attle3eld in an% !reat onfrontation, &ullin! the entre "ehind them and lea)in! the left
feelin! hel&less to o&erate on its own.
THE CONTRA%ICTORY ROLE O' RE'OR)I&)
4he !rowth of reformist &arties and trade unions onstituted a !ain for workers as the% ame
to understand their &osition as a lass within a&italist soiet%, with interests o&&osed to other
lasses. 4he "uildin! of the soial demorati &arties in ontinental 'uro&e in the 188*s and
189*s, the /a"our $art% in Britain in the 3rst Iuarter of the 2*th entur%, or the more reent
!rowth of or!anisations suh as the #orkers $art% in BraGil, all re&resented a ste& forward
om&ared to the &re)ious situation, when workers "aked o&enl% a&italist &arties. But the
ad)ane is onl% a &artial one. Suh &arties tr% to restrain workers from onfrontin! the real
soures of a&italist &ower and the state e)en whilst or!anisin! them as a lass. 4he% "oth
hold the lass to!ether and hold it "ak at the same time.
7eformism ould !ain dee& roots in the workin! lass durin! &eriods of eonomi &ros&erit%,
when it seemed a&italists ould inrease their &ro3ts while onedin! im&ro)ed li)in!
standards. 4he reformist &arties and moderate win!s of the trade unions ould reruit
hundreds of thousands of ati)ists to "uild workin! lass or!anisation < "ut who did not see an%
lo!i in 3!htin! to o)erthrow the s%stem. So in the deades immediatel% after the Seond
#orld #ar in #estern 'uro&e most soialists and man% who alled themsel)es Communists
ae&ted the idea that there was a &arliamentar% road to soialism. Alle!iane to the reformist
&arties remained stron! e)en when a&italism "e!an to demand ounter<reforms from
onser)ati)e !o)ernments that took awa% the im&ro)ed li)in! onditions that had "een
&re)iousl% !ranted. Howe)er little the reformist &arties &romised, the% seemed a Qlesser e)ilR.
=et freIuentl%, it has "een /a"our and soial demorati !o)ernments that ha)e &ushed
throu!h the ounter<reforms in the &ast deade, doin! enormous dama!e to workers:
alle!iane to them. Billions of )oters ha)e turned awa% from the /a"our $art% in Britain and
the Soial Cemorati $art% in Derman%, and hundreds of thousands of mem"ers ha)e dro&&ed
out of these &arties. Ban% now a"stain from &olitis, "ut a su"stantial minorit% ha)e "e!un to
look for a new, left<win! form of &olitis re&resented "% the /eft $art% in Derman%, 7es&et in
Britain, the /eft Blo in $ortu!al, the )ote for the )arious far left &arties in +rane, and the new
$S?/ &art% in BraGil.
$eo&le who "reak with the old reformist &arties do not neessaril% make a lean "reak with
reformist ideas. Bitterness a!ainst the urrent leaders of suh &arties does not in itself lead
&eo&le awa% from reformist to re)olutionar% notionsJ the% an still "elie)e reformist methods
would work with "etter leaders. But the "itterness is leadin! them to or!anise and mount
&olitial resistane alon!side those &eo&le who do em"rae a re)olutionar% &ers&eti)e. 4he
new left &olitis &ro)ides a fous for resistane and a &olitial s&ae in whih &eo&le who share
a ommon o&&osition to the s%stem an seek to resol)e the de"ate a"out reform and
re)olution.
6: The ro$e o# revo$utionaries
7e)olutions ne)er "reak out >ust "eause of the eHorts of !rou&s of soialists, howe)er
dediated. 4he% our, as we saw, when !reat soial rises reate a situation in whih Qthe
lower lasses do not want to li)e in the old wa%R and Qthe u&&er lassesR are Qannot arr% on
in the old wa%R. 4he urrent sta!e of a&italism, !lo"alisation, has led to !reater
un&redita"ilit% and unertaint% for the rulin! lasses, and !reater suHerin! for the o&&ressed
in whole re!ions of the world < makin! it ine)ita"le there will "e
!reat soial rises in the entur% ahead of us. 4he d%nami of a&italism ensures that
u&hea)als will take &lae.
But not e)er% situation of this kind ends in a soialist re)olution, far from it. Bost of those we
ha)e referred to in the last entur% did not. Bore reentl%, the u&risin!s in 'uador, Ar!entina
and Boli)ia ha)e so far re&laed o&enl% neo<li"eral !o)ernments with those &romisin!
&ro!ressi)e reforms. 4his is "eause the ontraditions in &eo&le:s onsiousness do not
sim&l% disa&&ear e)en durin! &eriods of u&hea)al. $eo&le ha)e it hammered into their heads
that the% an:t run thin!s. So, e)en after o)erthrowin! a !o)ernment, most &eo&le are likel% at
3rst to &lae their ho&es in a new !o)ernment, a&&arentl% less hostile to their demands.
')en as millions of &eo&le disuss how to han!e soiet%, the inKuene of ideas and
institutions that ar!ue for onl% limited reforms &ersist. #hile whole !rou&s of workers with &ast
eE&eriene of stru!!le mo)e "e%ond notions of reform to see the need to onfront the s%stem,
other !rou&s makin! their 3rst mo)es towards lass onsiousness tend to follow the trade
unions and reformist &arties whih tell their su&&orters to hold "ak from a re)olutionar%
onfrontation. 4his reformist a&&roah < sometimes oated in radial, e)en re)olutionar%
lan!ua!e < alwa%s 3nds a mass audiene in the &eriod after a 3rst &o&ular u&sur!e.
In fat, solutions that a)oid onfrontation are not &ossi"le durin! soial rises on this sale. But
that does not &re)ent man% &eo&le seein! the reformists at 3rst as more &ratial and less
)iolent than those &ushin! for re)olution. After the u&risin! that o)erthrew the 4sar in 7ussia in
+e"ruar% 191-, &eo&le &ut their faith in !o)ernments headed 3rst "% a war &ro3teer, $rine
/)o), and then "% a law%er, 9erensk%, ommitted to maintainin! a&italism intat. In Ar!entina
in 2**1<2 &eo&le who threw out four &residents from the old &olitial esta"lishment, one after
the other in less than a month, e)entuall% ame to tolerate two others from a similar
"ak!round < Cuhalde and 9irhner.
#hat seems like a sin!le, s&ontaneous mo)ement on the da% of the 3rst u&sur!e, alwa%s
de)elo&s into diHerent urrents < in eHet, three &arties, whether the% use this name or notJ a
re)olutionar% &art%, a reationar% &art% and, attem&tin! to "rid!e the !a& "etween them, a
reformist &art%.
4here are sinere re)olutionaries who o&&ose the eEistene of &arties at all ar!uin! that the%
undermine the s&ontaneous self<ati)it% of workers. But an% !enuine mass mo)ement in)ol)es
a wide arra% of &eo&le with diHerin! )iews on what needs to "e done. Ban% ar!ue for the line
of ation the% think orret. Someone su!!ests a demonstration or strike. Someone else thinks
suh ation is &remature and there should "e further ne!otiations. A third &erson wants no
ation at all. A mo)ement ma% a&&ear s&ontaneous to an outside o"ser)er "ut )iewed from
the inside it in)aria"l% in)ol)es attem&ts "% m%riad indi)iduals to lead in diHerent diretions.
$arties would ome to eEist e)en if the di)er!enes "etween &eo&le were sim&l% random, "ut
the% ne)er are. 4he di)er!enes are strutured "% the &ressure of eEistin! soiet% on the
&rotests that arise < a"o)e all "% the assum&tions en!rained in the &eo&le:s onsiousness that
thin!s annot "e fundamentall% diHerent to the &ast. Conser)ati)e urrents ar!ue soiet%
annot "e han!ed at all and reformist urrents that it an onl% "e han!ed in &art. 4hese
urrents form s&ontaneousl% throu!h the im&at of eEistin! soiet%, and are enoura!ed "% the
media and "% those with areers tied to the eEistin! &olitial institutions. So when &eo&le sa%
there is no need for &arties, the% are sa%in! that there is no need for re)olutionaries to !et
to!ether to o&&ose these urrents.
Howe)er, the outome of a re)olutionar% situation de&ends on the outome of the "attle "%
these diHerent urrents to !i)e diretion to &eo&les: "itterness. In onditions of !reat risis,
where the reformist o&tion an &ro)ide no solutions, the "attle inreasin!l% "eomes a strai!ht
3!ht for inKuene "etween re)olutionaries and reationaries. 4he future omes to de&end on
whether those who ha)e a"andoned ho&es for reform turn to re)olution or reation.
4he "attle is "oth one of ideas and a &ratial stru!!le. 4he rulin! lass relies for its su&rema%
on the workin! lass "ein! fra!mented and lakin! in on3dene. #orkers an onl% o)erome
suh im&ediments throu!h the eE&eriene of stru!!lin! for ontrol in the work&lae and on the
streets. 4he momentum of stru!!le at suh times an !i)e e)en the most un&olitial workers a
sense that the% are &art of a mo)ement that an reate a new soiet%. 7eformist attem&ts to
slow the mo)ement then an &ro)e disastrous, "reakin! the feelin! of stren!th and allowin!
fra!mentation to return alon! with the reationar% ideas of the rulin! lass.
4his was shown tra!iall% in the ase of Chile. 4he attem&t of the rulin! lass to smash the
reforms of the Allende !o)ernment in 19-2<-0 &ro)oked a ounter<oHensi)e "% workers. But
there was a &owerful reformist urrent in the workers: mo)ement, entred on the Soialist and
Communist &arties and in ontrol of the national union federation. Its leaders ar!ued the arm%
!enerals would res&et the onstitutional &owers of the &resident and that the most im&ortant
thin! was not the stru!!le in the fatories "ut winnin! eletions and the su&&ort of the
su&&osedl% more moderate of two &ro<a&italist &arities, the Christian Cemorats. #hen
workers took to the streets a!ainst an attem&ted ou& in ,une 19-0, fraternisin! with soldiers,
a minister in the Allende !o)ernment told them to !o home and rel% on the lo%alt% of the
!enerals to the onstitution. 4his !a)e the !enerals time to re<esta"lish their hold o)er the
rank and 3le of the armed fores and to &re&are the "ar"arousl% suessful ou& of Se&tem"er
19-0. 4he !enerals then murdered the minister.
7e)olutions in)aria"l% reah a &oint at whih the% must either mo)e forward, or "e!in to sli&
"ak. Doin! "ak an mean a return of the old order in a worse form e)en than "efore. 4he
onl% wa% to &re)ent this is for re)olutionaries to "e or!anised to &resent their ideas and
su!!est a diHerent wa% forward. A re)olutionar% &art% is not neessar% to start a re)olution,
"ut it is essential to ensure its )itor% when the hoie is "etween soialism and "ar"arism.
7: 1ui$din! the 8art
#hat sort of or!anisation onstitutes a re)olutionar% soialist &art%5 4here are two wides&read
one&tions, "oth of whih are mistaken. ?ne is that the &art% should "e "ased on
eletioneerin!, like the /a"our $art% "ut more left win!. It "uilds its stren!th throu!h
&ro&a!anda until it has enou!h &arliamentar% seats to form a !o)ernment, or at least a
oalition with other left<win! &arties. 4his was the a&&roah of the 3rst BarEist &art% in Britain,
the Soial Cemorati +ederation, more than a entur% a!o, and it is an a&&roah that &ersists
toda% in or!anisations suh as the Communist $arties of +rane and India, the Soialist $art% in
the (etherlands and the ;nited /eft in S&ain. 4he &ro"lem is that !reat soial rises in)ol)in!
masses of &eo&le are not fou!ht out in &arliament or aordin! to &arliamentar% timeta"les.
'letoral ati)it% an &ro)ide soialists with an im&ortant wa% of &uttin! aross their ideas "ut
it annot su"stitute for wa!in! a stru!!le in work&laes and on the streets.
4he seond one&tion is of a ti!htl% or!anised !rou& that tells workers the% need a re)olution
and that it will make one on their "ehalf, "elie)in! workers will turn to it when the situation
"eomes des&erate. But it kee&s lear of dail% stru!!les in ase this reates illusions in the
&ossi"ilit% of reform. 4his was the )iew of the 19th entur% +renh re)olutionar% BlanIui and of
one of the most &rominent Italian Communists of the earl% 192*s, Bordi!a. It was also the
a&&roah of some of the left<win! !uerrilla !rou&s that Kourished in /atin Ameria in the 198*s
and 19-*s. In man% wa%s it is a mirror ima!e of the eletoral a&&roah, sharin! the notion that
re)olutionaries must han!e soiet% on "ehalf of the mass of &eo&le < the masses ha)e onl% to
&ro)ide &assi)e su&&ort, whether for a left B$ or a re)olutionar% 3!hter.
4he !enuinel% re)olutionar% a&&roah is diHerent. It starts from the reo!nition that a "reak
with the horrors of lass soiet% an onl% our if the mass of workers take &ower in their own
hands, and that the onl% wa% the% an !ain the stren!th and understandin! to do so is throu!h
their own stru!!les.
?nl% at times of soial risis and re)olutionar% u&hea)al an the ma>orit% of workers "e won to
the ar!uments of re)olutionaries. =et there is alwa%s a minorit% who an "e won to
re)olutionar% soialist ideas outside of &eriods of u&hea)al "eause a&italism ontinuall%
&ushes &eo&le to re"el. 4he% ma% >oin a strike o)er wa!es, a am&ai!n a!ainst housin!
&ri)atisation, a &rotest a!ainst raism, or a mo)ement a!ainst war. At an% &oint there will "e
sores of stru!!les and in eah of these some &eo&le will "e!in to hallen!e the &riorities of
the s%stem. A !enuine re)olutionar% or!anisation attem&ts to draw these &eo&le to!ether to
hel& larif% their ideas throu!h disussion, learnin! from the eE&erienes of &ast stru!!les,
anal%sin! the s%stem and the stru!!les of toda%, and feedin! the onlusions "ak into the
da%<to<da% stru!!le.
4he aim is to reate a network of the most militant &eo&le to reinfore eah other:s stren!ths,
om&ensate for eah other:s weaknesses and learn from eah other:s eE&erienes. Bem"ers of
the network an at to!ether in the diHerent stru!!les, drawin! these to!ether and ounterin!
an% attem&ts to turn one !rou& of workers a!ainst another.
4his is im&ortant e)en when the le)el of stru!!le is low. 'ah defeat weakens workers, makin!
it easier for reationar% ideas that sa&e!oat minorities to take hold. 'ah )itor% makes it
more diLult for the rulin! lass to su"due workers and the &oor om&letel%. But when
stru!!le reahes a hi!h &ith, the eEistene of a re)olutionar% or!anisation with a network of
ati)ists in e)er% work&lae and loalit% an "e )ital. 4he outome of ma>or "attles an
determine the harater of the lass stru!!le and the ideolo!ial atmos&here for %ears. So the
memor% of Ba% 1988 in +rane still !i)es ri!ht<win! &olitiians ni!htmares toda%, while the
memor% of the defeat of the miners in 1986<85 still dam&ens the lass stru!!le in Britain. 4he
"uildin! of networks of soialists is a neessit% if future stru!!les are !oin! to win.
Ban% &eo&le are sus&iious of self<&rolaimed )an!uard or!anisations. But the realit% is some
workers ha)e a learer idea of what a&italism is and the need to 3!ht it than others. 4he% are
the &eo&le who stand u& a!ainst raism or seEism, see the need for solidarit% with an% !rou&
3!htin! "ak, and want to 3!ht to win. In these wa%s the% are ahead of other workers in
&olitial onsiousness and need to or!anise to!ether to win others to 3!ht a!ainst the s%stem
eHeti)el%.
(ARTIE& AN% +OR4ER&9 COUNCIL&
4here is no ontradition in sa%in! we want to see soiet% run "% workers: ounils and
stressin! the need for a re)olutionar% &art%. 4he entral &oint a"out workers: ounils is that
the% re&resent all workers, not >ust those who ha)e "een re)olutionaries or trade union
militants in the &ast. In 7ussia in 19*5 and 191- the workers: ounils were the means "%
whih workers from )er% diHerent &olitial "ak!rounds ould deide to!ether what the%
needed to do and set a"out doin! it. Someone who had ae&ted 4sarist &ro&a!anda until the
+e"ruar% 7e)olution ould feel >ust as in)ol)ed in framin! the demands of their lass throu!h
the workers: ounils as someone who had "een a re)olutionar% o&&onent of the 4sar for a
Iuarter of a entur%. 4he workers: ounils ena"led all sorts of workers to "e!in to feel the%
had the &ower to determine how to run soiet%.
Howe)er, these han!es did not take &lae at the same s&eed amon! all workers. Ban%
ontinued to "e inKuened "% the ideas inulated in them "% the old s%stem. In e)er%
work&lae there remained workers inKuened "% 7ussian nationalism, "% anti<semitism and "%
traditional attitudes towards women. A"o)e all, e)en workers who felt the% should "e a"le to
inKuene the diretion of soiet% often ae&ted that the% were not a&a"le of runnin! thin!s
themsel)es. So, at 3rst, the middle lass and moderate soialist &olitiians who wanted to
maintain 7ussia a&italism !ot a "i! followin! amon! workers and won the ma>orit% in the
workers: ounils.
4he eE&eriene of the months of u&hea)al led man% workers to han!e their minds < "ut onl%
when that eE&eriene was distilled throu!h dail% ar!uments with those who saw the need for a
further re)olution. 4his is where the Bolshe)ik $art% ame in. /enin and the &eo&le around him
were known as the hard fation amon! soialists in 7ussia in the %ears "efore 191-. 4he% were
disdainful of amateurism and )a!ue thinkin!. 4he% insisted two thin!s were essential to make
the 7ussian 7e)olution a suess < the de)elo&ment of lear ideas, and a relentless stru!!le to
onnet with e)er% work&lae and loalit% throu!h a network of &art% mem"ers. 4he
Bolshe)iks were not afraid to "e un&o&ular when oasion demanded < as when the% stood out
3rml% a!ainst the war in 1916. But the% were ertainl% not a small, ons&iratorial !rou& run like
a reli!ious ult "% /enin. 4he% attem&ted to "uild as widel% amon! workers as the situation
&ermitted. So in the %ears 1912<16 the% took ad)anta!e of a "rief relaEation of ensorshi& laws
to esta"lish a "est<sellin! workers: news&a&er.
4he Bolshe)iks formed a small minorit% in the earl% s&rin! of 191-, "ut the% !rew out of the
stru!!les whih &itted workers a!ainst the new !o)ernment until the% had more mem"ers
amon! workers in the main ities than all other &arties om"ined. Bolshe)ik mem"ers were not
ro"ots who sim&l% followed /enin:s ommands. /enin often found himself in a minorit% and had
to win &eo&le to his )iews throu!h )i!orous de"ate. +or eEam&le, /enin was isolated to "e!in
with when he returned to 7ussia from eEile in 191- and ar!ued the Bolseh)iks should o&&ose
the new !o)ernment. He was onl% a"le to win the rest of the &art% to this )iew "eause
workers in the ke% F%"or! industrial distrit a!reed that what he said made sense.
In autumn 191- one of /enin:s oldest olla"orators, Uino)ie), s&oke out &u"lil% a!ainst the
o)erthrow of the !o)ernment s&arkin! a hu!e de"ate within the &art%. 4hree months after the
?to"er re)olution /enin and 4rotsk% ar!ued with &aked meetin!s that the re)olutionar%
!o)ernment should ae&t sa)a!e terms from Derman% for endin! the war.
4he &art% was not somethin! outside the workers: mo)ement and workers: ounils. It was the
means "% whih the most militant setion of workers ar!ued a"out &olies and sou!ht to win
the others to their im&lementation. If the Bolshe)ik &art% had not eEisted, the &arties that
sou!ht to tie workers to a&italism would ha)e sueeded and the workers: ounils would
ha)e "een drowned in "lood < as the% were in Derman% "arel% 18 months later.
&TRATE,Y* TACTIC& AN% THE (ARTY O' A NE+ &ORT
4he stru!!le takes man% forms. +or lon! &eriods it in)ol)es what Antonio Dramsi alled a war
of &osition < a lon!, drawn out 3!ht to make a slow ad)ane. Curin! this &eriod, re)olutionaries
en!a!e in hundreds of little "attles < in trade union stru!!les, 3!htin! a!ainst welfare uts,
anti<raist am&ai!ns, "uildin! solidarit% with strikes and am&ai!nin! at eletions < to tr% to
im&ro)e the ondition of the workin! lass a little and to win a few more &eo&le to
re)olutionar% ideas.
Suh ations in themsel)es lea)e a&italism intat while "uildin! the network of &eo&le who
want to o)erthrow it. 4hese networks onl% ome into their own when the war of &osition !i)es
wa% to what Dramsi alled a war of manoeu)re < sudden, ra&id onfrontations in whih the
mood of millions of &eo&le an han!e
o)erni!ht. If a re)olutionar% or!anisation is stron!, its mem"ers an &oint )ast num"ers of
&eo&le in the diretion neessar% for soiet% as a whole to mo)e forward. If it is weak or non<
eEistent, &eo&le:s ho&e an turn to des&air and e)er%thin! !oes "akwards.
4he lass stru!!le is a form of warfare, e)en if for lon! &eriods it is a low intensit% war. Both
sides use strate!% and tatis to tr% and !ain a winnin! &osition. 4his is ertainl% true of the
rulin! lass. At "usiness assoiation meetin!s, in eElusi)e lu"s, at meetin!s of the D8 or
'uro&ean summits, in the olumns of news&a&ers and ma!aGines, suh as the +inanial 4imes
and the 'onomist, mem"ers of the rulin! lass disuss how to reate the onditions for
&ro3ta"ilit% to rise, and how to "eat "ak the ine)ita"le resistane. Drou&in!s of rulin! lass
interests emer!e that win the "akin! of the rest of their lass for )arious measures desi!ned
to lull the resistane into &assi)it% or to isolate one setion from the rest, or s&lit it down the
middle. 4hrou!h seret meetin!s and memos these !rou&s &ressure !o)ernments, to& i)il
ser)ants and &olie hiefs to at aordin!l%.
A re)olutionar% or!anisation rooted in the lass stru!!le has to de)elo& strate!ies and tatis
to ounter suh manoeu)res. It has to identif% the weak &oints in the resistane and do its "est
to o)erome these, and must tr% to loate the weak &oints on the rulin! lass side. Sometimes
it is sim&l% a Iuestion of tr%in! to hold &eo&le to!ether in the fae of a defeated strike or a
demonstration smashed u& "% the &olie. Sometimes it is a Iuestion of seiGin! an o&&ortunit%
to !o on the oHensi)e &resented "% a new on3dene amon! workers and di)isions within the
rulin! lass. ?ften it is a Iuestion of winnin! a handful of &eo&le to the &ossi"ilit% of re)olution,
oasionall% it is a Iuestion of leadin! millions of &eo&le in a diret assault on the &ower of the
rulin! lass. 4here is no sin!le set of tatis or slo!ans a&&ro&riate to e)er% situation. 4hese
ha)e to "e worked out at e)er% &oint in the stru!!le, and the re)olutionar% or!anisation has to
o&erate in suh a wa% as to &ut them to the test, to see whih ideas work in &ratie.
4his has im&ortant onseIuenes. 4he or!anisation annot "e a loose federation of ati)ists,
eah doin! what the% want without referene to one another. 4heir ations ha)e to "e
oordinated, to &ro)ide a oherent res&onse to the rulin! lass in an e)er<han!in! stru!!le.
4his reIuires a de!ree of entralisation in the or!anisation, a willin!ness to ome to deisions
and to im&lement them olleti)el%. It also neessitates demora%, as the onl% wa% to ensure
deisions reall% 3t the eE&eriene of mem"ers in)ol)ed in diHerent stru!!les.
In mainstream &olitial &arties there is alwa%s a se&aration "etween a leadershi& that works
out &oliies and a mem"ershi& that im&lements them. In the /a"our $art% tradition there is a
further se&aration "etween those who en!a!e in &olitis throu!h the &art%:s eletoral ati)it%
and those who en!a!e in eonomi stru!!les throu!h the unions. 4he re)olutionar%
or!anisation aims to o)erome "oth sorts of di)ision. In the words of those who took &art in the
!reat re)olutionar% wa)e at the end of the +irst #orld #ar, it is a @&art% of a new sort:. It seeks
to 3!ht on e)er% front < the eonomi, the &olitial and the ideolo!ial < >ust as the rulin! lass
does. It tries to mo"ilise at work and in the unions o)er &olitial issues < a!ainst war or to
o&&ose fasism < and sees ideolo!ial and theoretial de"ate not as somethin! for aademis,
"ut as &art of the &roess of larif%in! issues for e)er%one in)ol)ed in stru!!le. At the same
time, the or!anisation does not ne!let e)en the most elementar% issue onernin! wa!es and
onditions in work, refusin! to lea)e suh issues to the reformism of the trade union leaders.
THE UNITE% 'RONT
4he most im&ortant tatial Iuestion for re)olutionaries onerns workin! with those workers
who are inKuened "% reformist ideas. It is eas% when someone 3rst "eomes a re)olutionar%
to "e dismissi)e of &eo&le who ontinue to ha)e faith in reformist &olitiians or trade union
leaders. After all, this means ae&tin! &arliamentarianism and the eEistin! state and the idea
of &artnershi& with em&lo%ers. But to refuse to work with suh &eo&le is to turn %our "ak on
them and to a"andon the lass stru!!le.
4his "eame a entral issue for re)olutionaries in the %ears immediatel% after 191-, when
re)olution had "een )itorious in 7ussia "ut failed in Derman% and Ital% "eause the ma>orit%
of workers still looked to reformist leaders. It was a entral issue a!ain in the 190*s, when the
s&read of fasism threatened the eEistene of all workin! lass or!anisations. It is entral
toda% when there is a !rowth of resistane to the s%stem, "ut most of the world:s workers,
&easants and &oor &eo&le are far from ae&tin! re)olutionar% soialist ideas.
4he essential method for dealin! with this, de)elo&ed in 191- and the %ears followin! it, was
the @united front:. It rests u&on the reo!nition that &eo&le who look to reformism want thin!s
that a&italism will not !i)e without a stru!!le, and that reformist leaders will usuall% hesitate
a"out leadin! suh stru!!les. #hat &eo&le want an )ar% hu!el% from wa!e inreases to the
withdrawal of wa!e uts, from &rotetion of &u"li ser)ies to &olitial ri!hts or an end to an
im&erialist war. In e)er% ase these are thin!s that re)olutionaries as well as reformists fa)our,
and the% annot "e won "% re)olutionaries alone.
In the 190*s, for eEam&le, fasism was a threat to e)er% form of workin! lass or!anisation as
well as to ,ews and other minorities. Hitler "anned the Soial Cemorati $art% as well as the
Communist $art% and dissol)ed the trade unions. 4he onl% wa% to defeat the (aGis and
forestall the Holoaust and world war would ha)e "een to mo"ilise the stren!th of the entire
workin! lass. 4ra!iall%, it did not ha&&en.
Similar onsiderations ha)e a&&lied sine 2**1 in the stru!!le a!ainst the wars wa!ed "% the
;S with British su&&ort. 7e)olutionaries o&&ose suh wars out of &rini&le, "ut our num"ers
alone would ha)e no im&at on the !o)ernments wa!in! them. It is onl% "% am&ai!nin!
alon!side )ast num"ers of &eo&le who do not share re)olutionar% )iews that endin! the wars
in IraI and Af!hanistan "eomes a &ossi"ilit%.
Suh unit% annot "e "uilt on ultimatums and &reonditions. =ou annot "uild unit% a!ainst
fasism if %ou work onl% with those who a!ree to o&&ose all a&italist !o)ernments. 4he
demands around whih a united front is esta"lished should "e ae&ta"le to &eo&le with
reformist ideas, e)en when these are the minimum desired "% re)olutionaries.
Somethin! else is im&ortant. 4o win lar!e num"ers of &eo&le to en!a!e in >oint stru!!le, when
the% still ha)e faith in reformist &olitiians or trade union leaders, reIuires a all for united
ation to "e addressed to those leaders, e)en thou!h the% annot "e trusted. 4he all has to
"e alon! these lines2 Q=ou sa% %ou stand for o&&osition to war. So do we. /et us 3!ht to!ether.R
If the leaders a!ree, we ha)e a "etter hane to ahie)e the !oal of the am&ai!n and an
o&&ortunit%, workin! alon!side those who look to these leaders, to demonstrate the su&eriorit%
of a re)olutionar% a&&roah. If the leaders re>et the all, it should "e easier to win their
followers awa% from suh inKuene than if the all were ne)er made.
$ursuin! a united front does not mean re)olutionaries dro&&in! their disa!reements with
reformist leaders, who in)aria"l% attem&t to "aktrak on the stru!!le neessar% to win.
7e)olutionaries must aim to &ersuade lar!e num"ers of &eo&le to arr% the stru!!le forward if
the reformist leaders refuse to do so. 4hat means ontinuin! to &ut re)olutionar% ar!uments in
news&a&ers, leaKets, &u"li meetin!s and indi)idual disussions while en!a!ed in united
ation.
How the united front is formed de&ends on onrete irumstanes. ?")iousl%, it does not
make sense for re)olutionaries to seek a united front with (ew /a"our a!ainst a war wa!ed "%
4on% Blair, or one a!ainst uts in &u"li ser)ies made "% (ew /a"our in !o)ernment. But there
should "e attem&ts to in)ol)e /a"our and trade union 3!ures in united ation on suh issues,
e)en thou!h the% disa!ree with re)olutionaries on muh else. 4his is how the Anti (aGi /ea!ue
was "uilt in the late 19-*s and a similar a&&roah has "een essential to the suess of the
Sto& the #ar Coalition sine 2**1.
?ne 3nal &oint2 reformism does not alwa%s take a form assoiated with the /a"our $art% or
trade unions. Bo)ements an arise o)er sin!le issues and not see a onnetion "etween that
issue and a&italism as a whole. Buildin! a united front ma% in)ol)e an a&&roah to suh
mo)ements or to well<known indi)iduals identi3ed with them. 4his is es&eiall% im&ortant in
the stru!!le a!ainst raism. 4he issue is alwa%s how to draw &eo&le who do not ae&t
re)olutionar% ideas into united stru!!le.
:: Ca8ita$is- and vio$ence
4he anti<a&italist olumnist Deor!e Bon"iot has artiulated an ar!ument %ou often hear.
#ritin! in the Guardian in Ba% 2***, he wrote QIf ad)aned a&italism is the most )iolent of all
&olitial s%stems then )iolent onKit with that s%stem is "ound to fail.R Suh ar!uments are
usuall% om"ined with laims a"out the suess of non<)iolent diret ation mo)ements in the
&ast, like those of Bartin /uther 9in! and Bahatma Dandhi. Howe)er, neither eEam&le li)es u&
to the laims made for it.
Bartin /uther 9in!:s mo)ement did use non<)iolent tatis. But the aim was not to on)ert the
se!re!ationists of the ;S South and the 9u 9luE 9lan. 7ather, it was to &ersuade the ;S
!o)ernment to inter)ene a!ainst the se!re!ationists, usin! an em"odiment of or!anised
)iolene, the ;S federal fores. #hen this tati eased to work the Student (on<Fiolent Co<
ordinatin! Committee "roke with 9in! and ado&ted the slo!an of armed self defene.
Dandhi re&resented one element in a "road li"eration mo)ement, most of whih was &re&ared
to use )iolene if it seemed neessar%. 4he hi!hest &oint of stru!!le, the 1uit India Bo)ement
of 1962, inluded strikes, armed attaks on &olie stations, the derailin! of trains, "om"in!s
and riots. ?ne of the Indian leaders, Bose, esta"lished an arm% to 3!ht on the ,a&anese side
a!ainst the British. 4he 3nal ation that &ersuaded the British to a"andon the ountr% was an
Indian na)al mutin% in Bom"a% in 1968 that was denouned "% Dandhi.
All states de&end on armed "odies &re&ared to use )iolene a!ainst those their rulers: deree
as enemies < eEternal or internal. Sometimes the le)el of fore is relati)el% small, as when
&olie smash u& a demonstration or a &iket line. But faed with a serious threat suh fores
will use horri3 )iolene e)en when their o&&onents insist on a ommitment to &eaeful
methods as Chile in 19-0 demonstrated. An% mo)ement that stands for re)olutionar% soial
han!e "ut rules out the use of fore when neessar% ondemns itself to destrution and its
su&&orters to unneessar% suHerin!.
Bon"iot:s laim that there is no wa% to "eat the )iolene of a&italism i!nores the s%stem:s
de&endene on wider soial &roesses. 4he &osition of an% rulin! lass rests on its eonomi
&ower and ideolo!ial dominane as well as its mono&ol% of &h%sial fore. 7e)olutionar%
situations arise when mass mo)ements in)ol)in! millions of &eo&le lead to the near &aral%sis
of the state. 4he% in)ol)e mass strikes, fator% ou&ations, mutinies, the formation of
workers: and soldiers: ounils, hu!e demonstrations and dee& s&lits in the rulin! lass.
7e)olution is &ossi"le at suh &oints if the mass mo)ement is &re&ared to use armed fore to
disarm those militar% and &olie units still ommitted to the old order. 7e)olutionar% ferment
in)aria"l% has its eHet on the rank and 3le of the armed fores. After all, the% are &eo&le from
workin! lass or lower middle lass "ak!rounds and ha)e either "een onsri&ted or >oined
"eause the militar% seems a seure >o". 4he% an hardl% a)oid "ein! inKuened "% the
insur!ent mood aHetin! their "rothers, sisters, &arents and former shool friends. But the
strit disi&line im&osed "% the oLers and (C?s &re)ents them !i)in! o&en eE&ression to
their feelin!s. 4hose that threaten to diso"e% orders an eE&et the harshest &unishment <
durin! normal times, lon! sentenes in militar% &risons, durin! wars or states of sie!e the 3rin!
sIuad. So in Chile in 19-0, na)al (C?s who showed s%m&ath% with the mass mo)ement were
thrown into &rison and tortured. In Derman% in 191-, when sailors or!anised a &eaeful strike,
the oLers listened to their om&laints, asked them to dis&erse and then or!anised a sIuad to
arrest and eEeute those the% onsidered the rin! leaders.
An% suessful re)olution de&ends on the rank and 3le of the armed fores "ein! &re&ared to
use their arms to disarm their oLers and dissol)e the most reationar% militar% units. 4he ke%
moment in the esta"lishment of the $aris Commune in 18-1 ame when a !rou& of workin!
lass women &ersuaded soldiers mo)in! hea)% !uns to hand them o)er to the &eo&le. In
7ussia in +e"ruar% 191- three da%s s&ent onfrontin! mass demonstrations left man% soldiers
s%m&atheti to the risin! and some of them took the initiati)e to arrest their own oLers. In
Barelona in ,ul% 1908, when the !enerals initiated a ou& to im&ose fasism aross S&ain, it
was the resistane of &oorl% armed militias in Barelona set u& "% anarhist union the C(4 and
the BarEist &art%, the $?;B, that &ersuaded a setion of the arm%, the Assault Duards, to >oin
the resistane.
In eah ase, the initiati)e from workers outside the arm% was the ke% to !i)in! the rank<and<
3le soldiers the on3dene to take a stand a!ainst their reationar% oLers. 4he% would onl%
take suh a stand if the% felt the workers mo)ement was !oin! to !o all the wa% < not merel%
eEert &ressure on the arm%, "ut >oin with the soldiers to "reak the ontrol of the oLers and
&re)ent &unishment of the soldiers. 4hat did not neessitate massi)e fore. ?ne hundred
armed &ri)ates an onfront one armed oLer with minimal )iolene. But it does reIuire a
lear determination to use fore if there is an% resistane. (on<)iolene is not an o&tion for
soldiers intent on a suessful mutin%, for it lea)es the oLers free to or!anise )iolent ation
a!ainst them.
#hen the most ati)e setions of the masses and the minorit% amon! the rank<and<3le of the
armed fores are or!anised to at deisi)el% the le)el of real )iolene < of deaths and in>uries <
is in)aria"l% small. B% ontrast, when the ad)aned setions are disor!anised or &ai3st
feelin!s &re)ail the le)el of )iolene from the other side will "e )er% !reat.
#hat is )ital is the le)el of suess in drawin! the most militant setions of workers into a
re)olutionar% or!anisation with wide inKuene not onl% in the work &laes and loalities, "ut
also in the armed fores. ?nl% suh an or!anisation an set out to oordinate the ations of
those in the "arraks who seretl% s%m&athise with the re)olutionar% !oals of the wider
mo)ement.
1;: Revo$utions o# the 2;th centur
Q?ne of the world:s most im&ortant and terri"le e)entsR, was how a 7adio 4hree announer
introdued an e)enin! of &ro!rammes to mark the anni)ersar% of the 7ussian 7e)olution. 4he
entre<&iee was a ommentar% "% historian ?rlando +i!es, whose &o&ular histor% of the
re)olution, A $eo&le:s 4ra!ed% (/ondon, 199-), asri"es the e)ents of ?to"er 191- to /enin:s
Q"loodlustR. 4o +i!es, ?to"er 191- and the horrors of Stalinism were one and the same thin!.
4his is a mantra o&&onents of re)olution lo)e to re&eat2 re)olutions alwa%s lead to disaster,
the% sa%, and the onl% wa% to &rotet i)ilisation is to su&&ort the &ower of millionaires and
multinationals or aristorats and kin!s. 4o sustain this ar!ument, the% ha)e to i!nore the most
elementar% fat < that the "asis of Stalin:s &ower from 1929 until his death in 1950 was utterl%
diHerent to that esta"lished in ?to"er 191-.
4he re)olutionar% !o)ernment of 191- was "ased on eleted dele!ates to a workers: ounil. It
had the su&&ort of 8- &er ent of the dele!ates eleted in ?to"er 191- and -6 &er ent of
those hosen in eletions three months later. Suh eletions took &lae a!ainst a "ak
&eriodials su&&ortin! diHerent &arties. #ithin the Bolshe)ik &art%, o)erwhelmin!l% made u& of
workers, there was free and o&en de"ate for at least the neEt four %ears.
4he 3rst %ears of the re)olution were haraterised "% soial transformation < the
esta"lishment of workers: ontrol o)er the mana!ers in the fatories, the di)ision of landlords:
&ro&ert% amon! the &easants, the !rantin! of self<determination to o&&ressed nationalities. A
mass of soial reforms, far in ad)ane of those in an% a&italist ountr% at the time, !a)e
women the )ote in so)iet eletions, le!alised di)ore, esta"lished rVhes, remo)ed laws
a!ainst homoseEualit%, ended disrimination a!ainst ,ews and o&ened eduation to all.
B% ontrast, there were no workers: ounils under Stalin. 4he su&reme so)iet of his 1908
onstitution was a fake &arliamentar% struture, for whih eletions were not free. 4here was
onl% one &art%, and all news&a&ers and &eriodials sla)ishl% followed its line. 4he ma>orit% of
the &art% mem"ers were not workers, "ut mana!ers, state "ureaurats and full<time &art%
oLials. (o &art% mem"er, hi!h or low, was allowed to &resent an% &oli% diHerent to Stalin:s.
An%one who tried was im&risoned and usuall% eEeuted.
Stalin:s &art% ontinued to all itself the Communist $art% of the So)iet ;nion (Bolshe)iks). But
it had nothin! in ommon with the &art% of 191-. ?nl% 1.0 &er ent of the 1.5 million mem"ers
in 1909 had "een mem"ers in 191- and onl% one in 1* of the 2**,*** sur)i)in! Bolshe)ik
&art% mem"ers of 1918 were still in Stalin:s &art% "% then. ?f the 15 mem"ers of the 3rst
re)olutionar% !o)ernment, 1* were eEeuted or murdered on Stalin:s orders, four died
naturall% and onl% one < Stalin < sur)i)ed. Hundreds of thousands of re)olutionaries were killed
"% the seret &olie or died in la"our am&s. As /eon 4rotsk% &ut it "efore Stalin had him
assassinated, there was Qa ri)er of "loodR "etween Bolshe)ism and Stalinism.
Some &eo&le ar!ue that "eause Stalinism arose in 7ussia after the re)olution and in)ol)ed
some of those who &la%ed a &art in the re)olution, there must "e a onnetion. But one e)ent
followin! another does not &ro)e ausation. A fator% mi!ht make an o">et out of iron. If it is
left in the rain and rusts until it is useless no<one in their ri!ht mind would ar!ue the fator%
aused the rust. Similarl%, one annot sim&l% sa% that a re)olution is res&onsi"le for somethin!
that ha&&ens se)eral %ears later. =ou ha)e to look at the im&at of other fators.
HO+ THE REVOLUTION +A& &TRAN,LE%
9arl BarE and +rederik 'n!els ar!ued that a soialist soiet% ould onl% "e "uilt one
ad)aned a&italism was esta"lished. Classes emer!ed in the &ast, the% said, "eause natural
sarit% &re)ented the &uttin! aside of wealth to ad)ane i)ilisation or im&ro)e &rodution
without one setion of soiet% eE&loitin! the rest. Ca&italist aumulation !a)e rise to suh
massi)e means of &rodution it o)erame that sarit%, "ut its lass interests and struture
&re)ented soiet% mo)in! forward. Howe)er, a&italism also made &ossi"le a re)olution "% the
Qo)erwhelmin! ma>orit% in the interest of the o)erwhelmin! ma>orit%R.
7ussia in 191- was far from "ein! an ad)aned a&italism. 4here were &okets of ad)aned
industr% in $eters"ur!, Bosow and a few other &laes, and it was the workers there who made
the re)olution. But four 3fths of the &o&ulation li)ed on the land, ulti)atin! it under )irtuall%
medie)al onditions, with minimal le)els of litera% or knowled!e of the world at lar!e. +or this
reason, /enin and other Bolshe)ik leaders ar!ued until 191- a!ainst an% notion that a
re)olution in 7ussia ould "e a soialist re)olution. 4he% han!ed their minds "eause the%
saw what was ha&&enin! as &art of a re)olutionar% wa)e that ould s&read ri!ht aross 'uro&e
< a &roess /eon 4rotsk%, who had ome to this idea onsidera"l% earlier, alled Q&ermanent
re)olutionR. 4he ad)aned industr% of #estern 'uro&e < es&eiall% of Derman% < would &ro)ide
the means to o)erome the "akwardness of 7ussia. If this did not ha&&en, Qwe will &erishR,
said /enin.
It was not a raG% &ers&eti)e. (ot onl% 7ussia, "ut the other !reat em&ires that dominated
most of 'uro&e, Austria<Hun!ar%, Derman% and the ?ttoman 'm&ire, olla&sed after 191-. At
the end of 1918 there were workers: and soldiers: ounils in Fienna and Berlin as well as
Bosow and /enin!rad. A workers: !o)ernment ontrolled Hun!ar% for se)eral months. Ital%
went throu!h @two red %ears: ulminatin! in 192* in the ou&ation of almost all the ountr%:s
fatories. A re)olutionar% mo)ement eru&ted in S&ain. In Britain, &rime minister /lo%d Deor!e
told trade union leaders the% had the &ower to make a re)olution if the% wished.
=et the attem&t to s&read re)olution failed. #orkers in the west were not immune to
re)olutionar% ideas, "ut the leaders of the soial demorati and /a"our &arties worked with
the a&italists and the militar% to maintain the old order. QI hate re)olution like the &la!ue,R
said the Derman Soial Cemorati leader '"ert who "eame &resident in 1919. QSomeone has
to "e the "loodhound,R said his ollea!ue (oske as he direted a merenar% arm% made u& of
oLers from the old em&ire to rush strikes and u&risin!s.
4he re)olutionar% re!ime in 7ussia was left de)astated "% three %ears of world war and was
then in)aded "% Q#hiteR armies run "% the old rulin! lass. Q4he !reater the terror, the !reater
our )itories,R delared the ounterre)olutionar% !eneral, 9ornilo), Q#e must sa)e 7ussia,
e)en if we ha)e to set 3re to half of it and shed the "lood of three fourths of all 7ussiansR.
QAnti<Semiti )enom fairl% dri&&ed from the &u"li &ronounements of Cenikin:s !eneralsR a
historian uns%m&atheti to the Bolshe)iks reords of the #hite armies2 QAs the &o!roms of
1919 "urst u&on the ,ews of the ;kraine with inredi"le feroit%, the enemies of Bolshe)ism
ommitted some of the most "rutal ats of &erseution in the modern histor% of the #estern
world.R ;nder the >urisdition of Deneral 9olhak Qinnoent men and women dan!led "% the
sores from tele!ra&h &olesW and his men mahine<!unned frei!ht trains full of )itims at
eEeution 3elds alon! the railwa%R
2
.
4he de)astation aused "% the #hite armies was multi&lied man% times o)er "% the
inter)ention of all the ma>or a&italist &owers. +ourteen ountries sent fores to tr% to rush
the re)olution, whih seemed doomed to defeat in Au!ust 1919 as the #hite armies, "aked
"% 2**,*** western troo&s, ad)aned into the heart of 7ussia from three sides.
4he re)olutionar% &ower sur)i)ed, "ut at a terri"le &rie. 4here were a&&allin! food shorta!es
and wides&read holera with re&orts of anni"alism in some &arts of the ountr%. Firtuall% all
the fatories shut down as raw materials ran out, until &rodution was a"out one ei!hth of the
&re<war 3!ure. Half the workfore left the ities to 3nd food in the ountr%side. 4he remainin!
half sur)i)ed on mea!re rations of "read o"tained "% armed detahments in the ountr%side.
4he workin! lass that had made the re)olution disinte!rated, sattered aross 7ussia. 4he
re)olutionar% demora% that rested on this lass ine)ita"l% suHered also. 4he militants were
2
All Iuoted in # Brue /inoln, 7ed Fitor% ((ew =ork, 1989).
left in &ower with no mass "ase to de"ate the ri!hts and wron!s of what the% were doin!. But
the% knew that to a"andon &ower would onl% "rin! the horror of the ounter<re)olution.
Fitor Ser!e, an anarhist from #estern 'uro&e who went to 7ussia after the re)olution,
desri"ed the han!es in the re)olutionar% &ower &rodued "% forei!n inter)ention and i)il
war. ;& to ,une 1918, he wrote in his The Eear Gne of the Russian Revolution (/ondon, 1992)2
The repu(lic has a -hole system of internal democracy) The dictatorship of the
proletariat is not yet the dictatorship of a central committee or of certain individuals) 2ts
mechanism is comple+) Each soviet' each revolutionary committee' each committee of
the <olshevi7 Party or the Left 3ocial Revolutionary Party holds a portion of it and
operates it after its o-n fashion) All the decrees are de(ated durin& sessions Kof the all/
Russian 3oviet e+ecutivesL -hich are often of tremendous
interest))) Here the enemies of the re&ime en.oy free speech -ith more than
parliamentary latitudeF
But the &ressure on the ore area held "% the re)olution "eame almost o)erwhelmin! in ,une
1918. (ot onl% were the #hite armies ad)anin!, "ut the minorit% &art% in the re)olutionar%
!o)ernment, the /eft Soial 7e)olutionaries, assassinated the Derman am"assador in an eHort
to &ro)oke renewed war with Derman% and seiGe &ower themsel)es. Ser!e desri"ed how the
&ressure2
poses an unmista7a(le threat to the survival of the repu(lic) The proletarian
dictatorship is forced to thro- o= its democratic paraphernalia forth-ith) >amine and
local anarchy compel a ri&orous concentration of po-ers in the hands of the appropriate
commissariats) %onspiracy compels the introduction of a po-erful apparatus of internal
defence) Assassinations' peasant risin&s and mortal dan&er compel the use of terror'
3oviet institutions no- function in a vacuum)
4his transformation was not the result of some dia"olial sheme of /enin and the Bolshe)iks
as onser)ati)es, li"erals, soial demorats and man% anarhists ha)e laimed sine. It was
the &rodut of the stran!ulation of the re)olution from outside.
THE &TRAN%E% (ARTY
4he Bolshe)ik &art% itself underwent han!es as it fou!ht to kee& the re)olution ali)e. It "e!an
in 1918 as an o)erwhelmin!l% workersR &art%, with a"out 0**,*** mem"ers < one in ten of
those workin! in modern industrial &lants. 4hese were the ati)ists who arried the "urden of
defendin! the re)olution, formin! the ore of a 7ed Arm% in)ol)ed in ontinual warfare, riskin!
their li)es to thwart ounter<re)olutionar% ons&iraies in the ities and des&eratel% tr%in! to
kee& industr% runnin! des&ite the a"sene of raw materials.
Bost retained the soialist ommitment that had held them 3rm durin! the %ears of re&ression
and world war. But eEternal &ressures "e!an to han!e the wa% man% saw this ommitment.
$eo&le "e!an to rede3ne the Qditatorshi&R reIuired to seure the situation as no lon!er one
eEerised throu!h demorati workers: or!anisation, "ut a ditatorshi& of the &art%.
At the same time, the% were fored to rel% on the assistane of lar!e num"ers of &eo&le from
the middle and lower ehelons of the old 4sarist administration, &eo&le with hardl% an oune of
soialist s&irit in them. /enin was inreasin!l% aware of the &ro"lems fain! the re)olutionar%
re&u"li. In 192* he ar!ued2 Q?urs isW a workers: state with "ureaurati distortions.R He
desri"ed the state a&&aratus as Q"orrowed from 4sarism and hardl% touhed "% the So)iet
world... a "our!eois and 4sarist mehanism.R
4hese &ressures !a)e rise to a la%er within the Bolshe)ik &art% and the state who were
inreasin!l% remo)ed from the re)olutionar% demorati traditions of 191-. 4he &erson who
ame to eE&ress its attitudes was ,osef Stalin, a seond<le)el &art% 3!ure in 191- "ut
inreasin!l% takin! the &lae of the d%in! /enin "% 1922. In his Testament, written in 1920
shortl% "efore his death, /enin alled u&on the &art% to remo)e Stalin from the &ost of !eneral
seretar%. Suh was the le)el of dea%, e)en at the to& of the &art%, that his ad)ie was
i!nored.
?)er the neEt deade, &art% mem"ers o&&osed to the Stalin !rou& were dri)en out and a
series of trials from 1908 onwards led to the eEeution of )irtuall% the entire re)olutionar%
!eneration of 191-. /eon 4rotsk%, uni)ersall% reo!nised alon!side /enin in 191-<21 as the
most im&ortant of the re)olutionar% leaders, was thrown out of the ;SS7 and hased from
ountr% to ountr% until his murder "% one of Stalin:s a!ents in BeEio in 196*.
(one of this was an ine)ita"le &rodut of re)olution. 7ather, it was the &rodut of the attaks
launhed a!ainst the re)olution "% the &arasiti lasses of the world. 4he $olish<Derman
re)olutionar% 7osa /uEem"ur!, herself murdered in 1919 for tr%in! to s&read the re)olution,
reo!nised this as earl% as 1918. She wrote2
Everythin& that happens in Russia is comprehensi(le and represents an inevita(le chain
of causes and e=ects' the startin& point and end term of -hich are: the failure of the
German proletariat and the occupation of Russia (y German imperialism) 2t -ould (e
demandin& somethin& superhuman from Lenin and his comrades if -e should e+pect of
them that under such circumstances they should con.ure forth the *nest democracy'
the most e+emplary dictatorship of the proletariat and a 1ourishin& socialist economyF
A model and faultless proletarian revolution in an isolated land' e+hausted (y -orld -ar'
stran&led (y imperialism' (etrayed (y the international proletariat' -ould (e a miracle
O7osa /uEem"ur!, The Russian Revolution, a)aila"le from2
www.marEists.or!.arhi)e.luEem"ur!.1918.russian<re)olution.h*8.htmP.
A human "ein! who is stran!led ends as a smell%, disoloured or&se rawlin! with worms, "ut
no<one "lames the li)in! &erson for that. 4he li)in! re)olution of 191- was stran!led, "ut no<
one should "lame that re)olution for the a"omination it "eame.
&TATE CA(ITALI&)
4he murder of the re)olutionar% !eneration of 191- was a s%m&tom of a fundamental han!e
in 7ussian soiet%. In the 192*s, the So)iet ;nion was run "% an inreasin!l% "ureauratised
la%er that still !a)e some indiret, thou!h inreasin!l% faint, eE&ression to the onerns of
workers and &easants. But in 1928 the &ro"lems of tr%in! to maintain an isolated state in a
"akward ountr% in a a&italist world s%stem ame to head.
4he "ureaurats around Stalin a"andoned an% real ho&e of o)eromin! the &ressure of the
world s%stem "% s&readin! re)olution. 4he% "elie)ed that left them onl% one hoie < to "uild
u& industr% in om&etition with the rest of the world "% attakin! the onditions of the
&easants and workers. 4he% sent the arm% into the ountr%side to seiGe 3rst the ro&s from the
&easantr%, and then the land allin! this &roess @olleti)isation:. 4he re!ime did awa% with
the last elements of trade union inde&endene and slashed real wa!es "% a"out 5* &er ent.
?&&ression of national minorities, who made u& half the total &o&ulation, returned. 4hose who
resisted the loss of their land or their ri!hts were sent to sla)e la"our am&s, where the
num"er of inmates !rew from 0*,*** in 1928 to 882,*** in 190* and 3)e million "% the late
190*s. Intelletuals were "ri"ed or terrorised into su"mission, with the re!ime afraid lest a
&oem or &la% should eE&ress the suHerin! of the masses.
4here is a onnetion "etween the totalitarian struture that ame to dominate the So)iet
;nion under Stalin and the &oli% of "uildin! industr% in om&etition with the eEistin! &owers.
But it is a onnetion that annot "e !ras&ed "% those who see Stalinism as a lo!ial
ontinuation of Bolshe)ism.
4he industrialisation of eonomiall% "akward ountries has alwa%s "een arried throu!h at
the eE&ense of the mass of &eo&le, often "% "ar"ari means. 4his was true of the industrial
re)olution in Britain, whih de&ended on dri)in! the &easantr% from the land, &uttin! hildren
to work in fatories, settin! u& workhouses to fore &eo&le to take >o"s, ensla)in! millions of
Afrians, and lootin! and im&o)erishin! India. 4his &roess took 0** %ears. Stalin used similar
means om&ressed into two deades < olleti)isation of the &easantr%, &enal la"our, sla)e
am&s, and the ou&ation of 'astern 'uro&e after 1965. 4he "ar"arit% was orres&ondin!l%
onentrated.
Stalin alled this s%stem soialism and the &art% of the rulin! lass in 7ussia Communist. Bost
of the left in the rest of the world took him at his word, allowin! ri!ht win!ers to laim the
So)iet ;nion &ro)ed soialism ine)ita"l% led to totalitarianism and hardshi&. Both sides missed
the fundamental similarities "etween the Stalinist s%stem and western a&italism < the
su"ordination of the mass of &eo&le to a s%stem of eE&loitation that allowed one set of rulers
to om&ete eonomiall% and militaril% with another.
OTHER REVOLUTION& O' THE 2;th CENTURY
4he 7ussian 7e)olution was not the onl% u&hea)al of the 2*th entur%. 4here were others in
BeEio, 4urke%, Derman%, Austria, China, '!%&t, IraI, Iran, Fietnam, Cu"a, $ortu!al and
(iara!ua. But none of these in)ol)ed workers or!anisin! demoratiall% to esta"lish their own
&ower. Some of the re)olutions in)ol)ed mass mo)ements that were held in hek,
o)erthrowin! old monarhies to "e re&laed "% the limited demora% &ermitted under
a&italism. 4his is what ha&&ened in Derman% and Austria at the end of the +irst #orld #ar,
and in Ital% at the end of the Seond. In other ases, suh as BeEio in 192*, a new "our!eois
la%er re&laed an old one, usin! the slo!ans of re)olution while onni)in! in the murder of
re)olutionar% leaders.
4here were other suessful re)olutionar% mo)ements that alled themsel)es soialist or e)en
Communist and BarEist. =et eEamined losel%, these were all a far r% from the re)olutionar%
workin!<lass demora% of 7ussia in 191-. 4he% in)ol)ed !uerrilla armies of )arious siGes, run
in an authoritarian manner, with man% rank<and<3le 3!hters from &easant "ak!rounds and
leaders from the middle lass. 4his was the harater of the Chinese $eo&le:s Arm% that swe&t
into Bei>in! in 1969, of the Fietminh who defeated the +renh in Fietnam in 1956 and of its
suessor, the (/+, whih dro)e the ;S out of South Fietnam in the war that ended in 19-5.
4hese fores em"odied &o&ular resistane to landlords and forei!n rule. But the% were ne)er
under demorati &o&ular ontrol.
4he same was true of the re!ime of A"dul (asser that took o)er in '!%&t in the re)olution of
1952, def%in! im&erialism, redistri"utin! land and nationalisin! 85 &er ent of industr%. It was
true of the re"el arm% that took &ower in Cu"a on (ew =ear:s Ca% in 1959. At no &oint were the
mass of workers and &easants in Cu"a in)ol)ed in free de"ate a"out the diretion the
re)olution should take or the aims of eonomi &lannin!, and the% en>o% no suh in)ol)ement
toda%. Cu"an workers and la"ourers on the land an a&&laud measures the% like and !rum"le
Iuietl% a"out those the% do not. But the% are not allowed to or!anise, to irulate &u"liations
with )iews diHerent to those at the to&, or to )ote on &ro&osals for the de)elo&ment of soiet%.
7e!imes suh as Castro:s in Cu"a ma% ha)e "een "etter, at some &oint, than the soiet%
"efore < and Cu"a deser)es defendin! a!ainst stran!ulation "% the ;S toda%. But this is not
what re)olution in the 21st entur% should "e a"out. Indeed, all the re!imes mentioned show
si!ns of !rowin! e)er more like the western )ersion of a&italism.
11: Hu-an nature and the a$ternative to
ca8ita$is-
?&&onents of re)olutionar% han!e alwa%s fall "ak on one ke% ar!ument < human nature.
4he% sa% this rules out an% alternati)e to the om&etition and !reed that haraterise
a&italism, that an% re)olution N 1*0 will sim&l% !i)e rise to new rulers who treat the mass of
&eo&le in the same wa% as the old rulers. 7e)olutions ine)ita"l% @de)our their own hildren:,
the% sa%, Iuotin! one of the moderates of the +renh 7e)olution, "eause of human nature.
4hese ar!uments draw on the notion of human "ein!s as @naked a&es:, su!!estin! &eo&le ha)e
a tenden% towards om&etiti)eness and )iolene inherited from our &rimate anestors.
Aordin! to one writer2
Hierarchy is an institution amon& all social animals and the drive to dominate one’s
fello-s an instinct three or four million years old))) The human drive to ac0uire
possessions is the simple e+pression of an animal instinct))) The roots of nationalism are
du& *rmly in the social territory of almost every species of our related primate family)))
Gur early human ancestors -ere en&a&ed in continual (loody com(at (oth -ith other
species and -ith each other
O7o"ert Ardre%, African Genesis, /ondon, 1989P.
Su&&osedl% sienti3 disi&lines, 3rst soio<"iolo!% and more reentl% e)olutionar% &s%holo!%,
ha)e "een used to !i)e a so&histiated )eneer to suh laims. A "ook o<authored "% one of
the world:s eE&erts on insets, onluded there are !enes for entre&reneurshi&, a!!ression,
s&ite, onformit%, Eeno&ho"ia, !ender roles and muh more, and warned a!ainst onei)in! of
human nature Qas relati)el% unstrutured and lar!el% or wholl% the &rodut of eEternal soio<
eonomi foresR (Charles , /umsden and 'dward ? #ilson, Genes' Mind and %ulture,
Cam"rid!e, Bass, 1981).
Howe)er, there is a ke% feature of the human !eneti make<u& whih se&arates us from other
reatures. Animals are !enetiall% &ro!rammed in narrow wa%s that &ro)ide them with
"eha)iour a&&ro&riate to a limited ran!e of en)ironments. #e are haraterised "% immense
KeEi"ilit% in our "eha)iour that ena"les us to thri)e in an% &art of the world. ?ur !eneti
s&eialit% is that we are not s&eialised, not onstrained "% a ran!e of instinti)e "eha)iour.
?ne result is that human "ein!s an dis&la% )er% diHerent forms of "eha)iour < ran!in! from
!reat are for one another to sel3shness and )iolene. 4he "eha)iour that &redominates is not
!enetiall% determined.
+or a"out 96 &er ent of the time sine modern human "ein!s e)ol)ed our anestors li)ed "%
fora!in! < what is often alled huntin! and !atherin! < "efore the de)elo&ment of a!riultural
and settled )illa!e life. ')olutionar% "iolo!ists laim we were !enetiall% determined durin!
that &eriod to "eha)e as we do in &resent da% soiet%. But studies of hunter<!atherer soieties
re&ort features )er% diHerent to the stereot%&ial )iew of human nature. An earl% o"ser)er of
the hunter<!atherin! Bonta!nais of Canada noted in 18062
The t-o tyrants -ho provide hell and torture for many of our Europeans do not rei&n in
their &reat forests / 2 mean am(ition and avarice))) not one of them has &iven himself to
the devil to ac0uire -ealth
O1uoted in B Sahlins, 3tone A&e Economics, /ondon, 19-6P.
Bore reentl% an anthro&olo!ist wrote2
There is no formal leadership' let alone class division' -ithin these societies) 2ndividual
decision ma7in& is possi(le for (oth men and -omen -ith respect to their daily
routines))) Men and -omen ali7e are free to decide ho- they -ill spend each day:
-hether to &o huntin& or &atherin&' and -ith -hom
O' +riedl, Women and Men: the Anthropolo&ist’s Mie-, (ew =ork, 19-5P.
Indi)idual mem"ers of hunter<!atherer "ands en>o% a le)el of autonom% in3nitel% !reater than
the mass of &eo&le in lass soieties. But it is not aom&anied "% sel3shness.
4he anthro&olo!ist 7ihard /ee, who arried out the most<thorou!h studies of one fora!in!
soiet%, the X9un! of South<#est Afria, onluded2
2t is the lon& e+perience of e&alitarian sharin& that has moulded our past) 6espite our
seemin& adaptation to life in hierarchical societies' and despite the rather dismal trac7
record of human ri&hts in many parts of the -orld' there are si&ns that human7ind
retains a deep/rooted sense of e&alitarianism' a deep/rooted commitment to the norm
of reciprocity' a deep/rooted))) sense of community
O7 /ee, Q7eKetions on $rimiti)e CommunismR, in 4 In!old and others, Hunters and
Gatherers, )ol I, (ew =ork, 1991P.
Sur&risin!l%, the most &rominent ri!ht<win! eonomist of the 2*th entur%, +riedrih )on
Ha%ek, shared the same o&inion, althou!h he did not like the fat, writin! of dan!erous Qinnate
instintsR that led the mass of &eo&le to want Qa >ust distri"ution, in whih or!anised &ower is
used to alloate to eah what he deser)esR.
)ANY HU)AN NATURE&
(one of this means there is a wonderful, "eni!n human nature that automatiall% leads &eo&le
to "eha)e in &ositi)e wa%s. 7ather, human "eha)iour is KeEi"le and )aries aordin! to the
situation in whih &eo&le 3nd themsel)es. 4he reason oo&eration Kowered in hunter<!atherer
soiet% was that humans had to oo&erate and are for one another if the% were to sur)i)e.
Humanit% has li)ed in man% diHerent sorts of soiet% sine some of our anestors "e!an to
ado&t wa%s of li)in! other than hunter<!atherin! a"out 1*,*** a!o < from li!ht hoe a!riulture,
herdin! and 3shin!, to hea)% &lou!h a!riulture, lon!<distane tradin!, handraft &rodution
and 3nall%, industrial &rodution. 4here ha)e "een soieties "ased on diHerent kinshi&
linea!es, soieties run "% &ri)ile!ed reli!ious or ro%al !rou&s, soieties dominated "% warrin!
!rou&s of land owners and a&italist soieties "ased on the eE&loitation of wa!e la"our "% ri)al
owners of the means of &rodution. 'ah soiet% has !i)en rise to harateristi forms of
human "eha)iour that "eome so en!rained in &eo&le:s thinkin! that the% a&&ear natural. So
in the Biddle A!es, it was taken for !ranted aross most of 'uro&e, Asia and Afria that
soieties were formed of a 3Eed hierarh% of estates or astes into whih &eo&le were "orn.
4oda%, it is taken for !ranted that indi)iduals om&ete with one another to im&ro)e their soial
&osition < des&ite the winners almost alwa%s "ein! the hildren of those alread% at the to&.
4he transition from one suh form of soiet% < whih we desri"e as feudal < to another,
a&italism, in)ol)ed a transformation in @human nature:. 4he wa%s of thinkin! and atin! toda%
are s&ei3 to a&italist soiet%, hammered into us "% hundreds of %ears of this soiet%.
4his is not the end of the matter howe)erJ otherwise it would "e diLult to see how we mi!ht
"uild a soiet% "ased on diHerent )alues. Ca&italism is "ased on the ontraditor% om"ination
of what BarE identi3ed as Qsoial &rodution and indi)idual a&&ro&riationR.
?n the one hand there is a !lo"al &roduti)e s%stem, drawin! to!ether the la"our of "illions of
&eo&le, who work olleti)el% in fatories, mines, doks, warehouses, su&ermarkets, oLes,
farms < eah onneted "% trans&ort and ommuniations networks to other units. 4his
in)ol)es ontinual oo&erati)e interation "etween &eo&le. In e)er% work&lae &eo&le
oo&erate as well as om&ete. If the% did not, the s%stem ould not funtion. (urses do not
look at time sheets or &a% sales "efore dealin! with a &atient. 4eahers do not demand a
"onus "efore hel&in! a hild with readin! diLulties. Soldiers often risk their li)es for one
another. 4hese tendenies are inreased "% one of the man% ontraditions in the s%stem <
that as &roesses "eome more om&leE, ontrol from a"o)e "eomes more diLult.
Bana!ement an ne)er ha)e an%thin! like full knowled!e of what is ha&&enin! in a work&lae
and &lae e)er !reater reliane on elements of altruism and the desire to do a !ood >o".
Hene, the fashion for &artii&ator% shemes desi!ned to make workers feel the% ha)e a real
interest in their work. ')en at the most mundane le)el, &eo&le are alwa%s !ettin! hel& from
others < whether askin! for diretions or reIuirin! aid in an emer!en%.
?n the other hand, all our eHorts are framed "% the relentless om&etition "etween om&anies
and states that !ra" the fruit of our la"our. 4he s%stem "reeds "oth oo&eration and
sel3shness, altruism and a!!ression, are for others and hatred. 4he s%stem distorts e)en our
"est intentions. 4o hel& their hildren, &arents must om&ete for nurser% and shool &laes.
Charities 3!htin! &o)ert% must "attle other harities for mone%. It is these ontraditions in
@human nature: under a&italism that eE&lain the miEture of ho&e and horror in reent histor% <
the eEam&les of selKessness and solidarit% alon!side atroities and war.
4he )alues of oo&eration and mutual arin! onl% reall% ome into their own when those whose
la"our kee&s the s%stem !oin! are dri)en to stru!!le a!ainst it. It is stru!!le that frees the
oo&erati)e s&irit from the orrosi)e eHets of om&etition. ')en in small<sale, defensi)e
"attles &eo&le "e!in to em"rae ideas that hallen!e the )alues of a&italism < notions of
unit%, solidarit% and olleti)e endea)our. Ba>or "attles lead to new wa%s of oo&eratin! that
&oint to a diHerent wa% of runnin! soiet%. 4he oo&erati)e s&irit an 3nd its hi!hest
eE&ression in strike ommittees and &iket lines, workers: ounils and workers: militias.
Fast demonstrations &rodue a sense of solidarit% that "e!ins to dissol)e the atomisation and
sel3shness of dail% life. Dreat strikes allow &eo&le to de)elo& this sense o)er da%s, weeks or
months. But re)olutions transform life totall%. Hene, one of the eEtraordinar% features of
re)olutions re&eated in almost e)er% aount < rime delines e)en as &olie fores
disinte!rate.
In his The Paris %ommune of "? (/ondon, 190-), +rank ,ellinek wrote2 Q$u"li order had
ne)er "een so little distur"edW Crimes of )iolene were fewJ ro""er% dereased nota"l%.R
Deor!e ?rwell desri"ed the mood in re)olutionar% Barelona at the end of 19082
Waiters and shop -or7ers loo7ed you in the eye and treated you as e0uals) 3ervile and
even ceremonial forms of speech had temporarily disappearedF A(ove all there -as a
(elief in the revolution and the future' a feelin& of havin& suddenly emer&ed into an era
of e0uality and freedom) Human (ein&s -ere tryin& to (ehave as human (ein&s and not
as co&s in a capitalist machine)
In the Ddansk shi&%ard ou&ation of 198*, $olish 3lm diretor AndGre> #a>da o"ser)ed Qan
im&ression of alm, oolness, festi)it%, somethin! loft% and eEtraordinar%R. B% the end of that
%ear, the workers: mo)ement eEtended to e)er% work&lae in $oland, leadin! a soiolo!ist to
note2 QBuh of the inter&ersonal irritation and a!!ressi)eness has disa&&eared. $eo&le are
"ein! nie to one another.R A &s%holo!ist in Ar!entina re&orts how the de)elo&ment of a
mo)ement amon! the unem&lo%ed in 2**1, the &iIueteros, led to a ra&id fall in &s%holo!ial
ailments.
In eah ase, stru!!le led to one element of Qhuman natureR "e!innin! to eli&se another. 4he
soial element in &rodution, whih unites &eo&le, esa&ed from the Qindi)idual a&&ro&riationR
< the eE&loitation < whih di)ides them. It is ertain we will see a transformation of human
nature in the re)olutionar% u&hea)als that are ine)ita"le this entur%. #hat is not ertain is
whether these transformations "eome &ermanent or remain Keetin! memories.
12: ($annin! #or hu-an need
7e)olution is a"out more than >ust o)erthrowin! the rulin! lass. It is also a"out settin! in train
a new wa% of oo&eratin! to make our li)elihoods. 4his is neessar% if humanit% is to "anish
the material hardshi& that means one "illion of the world:s &eo&le !o hun!r% eah da%, end the
eonomi rises that &eriodiall% de)astate the li)es of millions more, end the olossal waste,
en)ironmental destrution and s&endin! on wea&ons, and li"erate the mass of the world:s
&o&ulation from the dail% treadmill.
4akin! ontrol of the means of &rodution is the &reondition for doin! this. After all, few of the
handful of &eo&le who ontrol the multinational or&orations and determine what ha&&ens to a
hu!e hunk of the world:s &rodution ha)e an% &artiular skill when it omes to &roduin!
thin!s. 4heir wealth ena"les them to &a% other &eo&le to do what is reIuired.
CO)(LE<ITY AN% (LANNIN,
4hose who su&&ort the &resent s%stem tell us it sim&l% is not &ossi"le to run thin!s in an%
other wa%. 4he eonomist Ale (o)e in his inKuential "ook The Economics of >easi(le 3ocialism
(/ondon, 1980) ar!ued modern &rodution is too om&leE to "e o&erated in an% other wa% than
throu!h the market mehanisms of a&italism. It in)ol)es the &rodution of too man% diHerent
&roduts, in)ol)in! )ast Iuantities of om&onents. An% attem&t to im&lement demorati
&lannin! would result in a "ureaura% of the sort that arose in the So)iet ;nion and "e
eEtremel% ineLient. He ar!ued2 Q4he om&leE modern eonom% is unnamea"le to entralised
diretionR and Qwas "ound to "e o)erwhelmed "% these tasks.R
But if the tehnial om&leEit% of &rodution would "e a &ro"lem for a demoratiall% &lanned
eonom%, it must also "e &ro"lem in a world eonom% under the ontrol of a few hundred
"illionaires. If these !lo"al &rodution em&ires are to funtion &ro3ta"l%, the% annot assume
the "lind &la% of the market will &ro)ide the hundreds of thousands of om&onents and other
in&uts the% will need in three months or two %ears time. 4he% ha)e to tr% to &lan to ensure
the% ha)e these thin!s.
4his was true e)en 6* %ears a!o. 4o &rodue a li!ht ar ran!e the ;9 3rm 7ootes then had2
to order' correctly schedule and marshal no less than H'CCC di=erent parts to (e fed
throu&h the production machine in such a -ay that thousands of variations can (e
made on a handful of (asic models the company -as forced to -or7 on an
appro+imately *ve/year pattern on any &iven model
OD 4urner, 4he Car Bakers, Harmondsworth, 1986P.
4he three su&ermarket hains that now dominate the sale of foodstuHs in Britain ha)e to &lan
for a similar le)el of om&leEit%. 4he% want to !uarantee the ri!ht miE of &roduts in stores
month after month, %ear after %ear. 4he% are not &re&ared sim&l% to ho&e that market fores
will su&&l% these. ?n the ontrar%, the% ha)e esta"lished a stran!lehold o)er the food<
&roessin! industr%, most of British a!riulture and man% farmers in ountries suh as S&ain
and 9en%a to ensure the out&ut the su&ermarkets &redit the% will need.
Howe)er, a&italist &lannin! is direted towards om&etition with ri)al 3rms, not the needs of
the mass of &eo&le. It in)ol)es &lannin! at the "ehest of those whose wealth !i)es them
ontrol of &rodution < who ha)e the &ower to mani&ulate market relations with small 3rms and
farmers, and to rediret all know<how to their own &ur&oses.
At the most "asi le)el, if those runnin! a multinational or&oration an &lan to ahie)e their
ends, there is no intrinsi reason wh% demorati or!ans of workers: &ower ould not do the
same. Indeed, these would "e "etter &laed to do so, sine the &lannin! of eah a&italist 3rm
is ontinuall% undermined "% attem&ts to dama!e the &ros&ets of ri)als. $lans are often
a"andoned half wa% throu!h, reatin! haos for other 3rms strutured around su&&l%in!
in&uts. A workers: !o)ernment that su">eted all food outlets, for eEam&le, to demoratiall%
deided tar!ets would not suHer from this. It would allow o<ordination aross an entire
industr% instead of om&etition within it.
4his does not mean someone tr%in! to alulate in ad)ane the num"er of )arious om&onents
to &rodue < an% more than the indi)idual or&orations do this toda%. But it does mean
deisions a"out the !eneral diretion of the eonom% "ein! su">et to demorati ontrol.
#hat matters is ensurin! in)estment is direted to satisf%in! human need. Suh demorati
ontrol should "e eEerised "% eleted and realla"le re&resentati)es of those whose la"our
&rodues the wealth of soiet% as a whole. 4he% would deide whether to &rioritise &rodution
of )ehiles or of kidne% mahines, whether to shorten workin! time or use eEtra a&ait% to
raise li)in! standards.
4he ke% deisions would ha)e to "e made entrall% otherwise the "i! &rodution units would
"e om&etin! with eah other to sell &roduts. But one the ma>or deisions are made in an%
eonom%, there would "e an enormous leewa% a"out how &arts of the eonom% 3t in to ful3l
these. 4here is no reIuirement for entralised state ontrol o)er e)er% &rodution unit. All that
is needed is a "asi demorati willin!ness "% those runnin! eah unit < the workers who would
take ontrol of them in a re)olutionar% onfrontation < to ae&t the need to 3nd wa%s of 3ttin!
what the% do to what has "een deided in a free disussion.
4his is the o&&osite of what ha&&ened under the so<alled &lannin! im&lemented "% Stalinist,
soial demorati and third world re!imes in the &ast. (one of these su"mitted their &lans to
an% or!an of !enuine demorati ontrol. 4hose whose la"our reated the wealth in suh
soieties were the last to ha)e an% sa% o)er what the% &rodued and for what &ur&ose. 4he
om&etition "etween rulers < for eEam&le, "etween those in the 'astern "lo and those in the
#est, reKeted in the arms rae "etween the ;S and ;SS7 < om&letel% distorted their
Q&lannin!R, >ust as om&etition "etween one su&ermarket hain and another distorts the
&lannin! of "oth. It was not the om&leEit% of the eonomies that reated haos, "ut the
attem&t to om&ete with the !iants of world a&italism. 4he So)iet eonom% at its hei!ht was
less than half the siGe of the ;S eonom%. 4he &ressure of om&etition was orres&ondin!l%
!reater as a result, >ust as the orner sho& has more diLult% om&etin! with 4eso than does
Sains"ur%.
4he re)olution of the 21st entur% an o&en the wa% to !enuine, demorati &lannin!, "%
settin! itself a )er% diHerent !oal to that of Stalin and his suessors.
INTERNATIONALI&) VER&U& CA(ITALI&T =%EVELO()ENT9
4he re)olution of the 21st entur% an onl% ahie)e its !oals if it s&reads from initial )itories
in one ountr% to others. 4he histor% of attem&ts at Qsoialism in one ountr%R shows this to "e
a "lind alle%. Ca&italism, as an international s%stem, has reated an une)en distri"ution of
resoures !lo"all% and, alon! with that, an international di)ision of la"our. (o one ountr%
ontains the resoures neessar% to full% satisf% human needs.
4his a&&lies e)en more to indi)idual third world ountries. After enturies of &illa!in! "%
im&erialism, man% are too im&o)erished to 3nd within their own "orders the means to
industrialise to the le)el of the eEistin! ad)aned ountries. 4hose third world ountries that
ha)e de)elo&ed ha)e done so on the "asis of )iious, ditatorial re&ression a!ainst the mass of
workers and &easants2 this was true not >ust in 7ussia and China, "ut also 4aiwan and South
9orea. ')en in Cu"a, whih man% &eo&le on the left see as a "etter eEam&le, the attem&ts at
inde&endent de)elo&ment in the 198*s olla&sed after the failure to ahie)e the tar!et of 1*
million tonnes of su!ar &rodution in the 19-*s, des&ite su"ordinatin! )irtuall% the whole of
eonomi life to this !oal. 4his failure left Cu"a as de&endent on the So)iet ;nion as it had
one "een on the ;S and the olla&se of the So)iet ;nion in 1991 left its &eo&le fain! %ears of
aute shorta!es and &o)ert%.
#hat is needed in the 21st entur% is not de)elo&ment as it was seen "% the middle lasses of
the third world and their multinational ad)isors in the 2*th entur% < the attem&t to sIueeGe
out of the mass of workers and &easants the means to "uild u& industr% to a le)el om&ara"le
to that in the west. 7ather, what is needed is a rediretion of the hu!e resoures that urrentl%
!o to the loal rih and the &ro3teers of the international s%stem towards im&ro)in! the li)es of
the mass of &eo&le. 4his would "e a )er% diHerent kind of de)elo&ment to that of the &ast.
;ltimatel%, to ahie)e this de&ends u&on !ainin! aess to the resoures not onl% of the &oor
&arts of the world, "ut also to some at least of those ontrolled "% a&italism in its heartlands.
But the mass of &eo&le in a sin!le ountr% do not sim&l% ha)e to sit "ak and wait for
re)olution elsewhere. 4he% an make man% immediate ste&s forward "% takin! &ower in their
own hands. In onditions of aute eonomi risis, the atual wealth &rodued in a ountr% an
"e far "elow its &otential le)el. In suh irumstanes a re)olutionar% transformation, in)ol)in!
the redistri"ution of wealth from the )er% rih to the mass of &eo&le an &rodue one<oH
im&ro)ements in li)in! standards. It is a"surd that in a ountr% like Ar!entina, millions ha)e
!one hun!r% while )ast amounts of food ha)e "een eE&orted to &a% interest on forei!n de"ts
and fatten the &ro3ts of the ountr%:s a!rarian a&italists. But to sustain these im&ro)ements
reIuires the reation of a new international di)ision of la"our, in)ol)in! more than one ountr%,
somethin! onl% &ossi"le "% the s&readin! of the re)olution.
4here an ne)er "e a !uarantee that a re)olutionar% "reakthrou!h in one ountr% will s&read
elsewhere. 4he 7ussian re)olution of 191- was, as we ha)e seen, left isolated des&ite the wa)e
of near re)olutions in Derman% and elsewhere in 'uro&e. 4he Cu"an re)olution of 1959 reated
a tidal wa)e of ho&e elsewhere in /atin Ameria, "ut this was not suLient to wash awa% the
loal re!imes whih the ;S rushed to "olster u&.
But suh an outome is not ine)ita"le. 'onomi, soial and &olitial rises that o&en u& the
&ossi"ilit% of re)olution are rarel% on3ned to indi)idual ountries. 4he most im&ortant
re)olutionar% u&sur!es in the last entur% all ourred on an international sale2 191-<2*,
1906<08, 1960<65, 1958, 1988<-5, 1989<91. In eah of these, what ha&&ened in one ountr%
had a deisi)e eHet elsewhere.
4here are alread% si!ns of similar wa)e<like &roess at work in the 3rst %ears of the 21st
entur%. 4he antiwar &rotests on 15 +e"ruar% 2**0 were not on3ned to indi)idual ountries
"ut fed into eah other drawin! more of the &lanet:s &eo&le on to the streets than an% sin!le
issue e)er "efore in human histor%. ?ne estimate &ut the num"ers marhin! around the world
at 2* million. 4he mo)ements in /atin Ameria ha)e stren!thened eah other, so that the
ontinent is a!ain ali)e to the ho&es of re)olution after two deades of defeat and
demoralisation. In 'uro&e, attem&ts "% !o)ernments to &ush throu!h neoli"eral ounter<
reforms ha)e reated resistane aross national frontiers, &ro)idin! the im&etus for the "irth of
a new left aross the ontinent.
In either ontinent a suessful re)olution would ha)e a )er% real &ros&et of s&readin! to
nei!h"ours, drawin! into one demoratiall% &lanned eonomi &roess the resoures needed
to oHer &eo&le "etter li)es in the lon! term as well as the short term.
Conc$usion: 4noc.in! on histor9s door
As I was writin! the 3rst draft of this "ook, the latest wa)e of re)olt in Boli)ia fored the
Boli)ian &resident Besa from oLe. 'mails, we" &a!es and news&a&er re&orts &ainted a
&iture like that of $etro!rad in the summer of 191-, Berlin in ,anuar% 1919 or Barelona in the
autumn of 1908. 4he% desri"ed !eneral strikesJ olumns of &easants marhin! on the it%J the
ou&ation of oil wells and air&ortsJ strikin! miners handin! stiks of !eli!nite to strikin!
teahers to throw a!ainst &olie linesJ attem&ts to in)ade the &residential &alaeJ threats "%
&etro<a&italists in the east of the ountr% to seede from the stateJ workers in /a $aG
hantin!, QCi)il #ar, =esXRJ the on!ress re&lain! the &resident while intimidated "% hu!e,
an!r% rowds. =et the% also 3nall% desri"ed a true "etween the two sides, with an end to the
strikes and the de&arture of demonstrators from /a $aG.
9arl BarE one wrote a"out the Qmole of histor%Y, whih "ores awa% "eneath the surfae of
e)ents, suddenl% re)ealin! itself "% underminin! a&&arentl% all<&owerful institutions. So it was
in Boli)ia.
4he 198*s and 199*s had "een terri"le deades for the mass of the Boli)ian &eo&le, >ust as
the% were in muh of the rest of /atin Ameria. 'onomi de)astation was aom&anied "%
neoli"eral reforms resultin! in li)in! standards, alread% on a &ar with those in su"<Saharan
Afria, sinkin! e)en lower. 4he workin! lass was ra)a!ed "% losures, with the mass sakin!
of 2*,*** tin miners (half the national total) in 1985. $olitis "eame a !ame &la%ed "etween
mem"ers of the white elite. 4he &easants, lin!in! to the &lots of land !i)en to them after a
re)olution in 1952, remained indiHerent to alls for further stru!!le and the Boli)ian left, one
an im&ortant fore, was a shadow of its former self.
=et, "arel% notiea"l%, han!es were slowl% reatin! new fores a"le to hallen!e the
esta"lished order. 4he &easantr% "e!an to 3nd that its land was no lon!er seure, as
a!riulture "eame inreasin!l% su">et to market fores makin! it diLult for small farmers to
hold on to what the% had. 4he one ro& with sure market &otential, oa (from whih oaine is
manufatured), was soon under threat from the ;S Qwar on dru!sR. 4he &enetration of e)en
the most remote )illa!es "% modern ommuniations inreased the onsiousness of
o&&ression amon! the indi!enous two thirds of the ountr%:s &o&ulation, the A%mara and
1uehua &eo&les, whose 3rst lan!ua!e is not S&anish. 4he% "e!an to or!anise a!ainst the
inferior &osition im&osed on them e)er sine the S&anish onIuest of the Ina 'm&ire 6-*
%ears a!o, reallin! with &ride &ast risin!s in the ei!hteenth and nineteenth enturies.
+inall%, the deline of other older industries was aom&anied "% the rise of a new workin!
lass. Indi!enous &eo&le left the &o)ert% of the ountr%side to 3nd a li)elihood in &laes like 'l
Alto, the hu!e im&o)erished onur"ation that han!s o)er the a&ital it%, /a $aG. So, while
man% ommentators ar!ued that Boli)ia was under!oin! QdeindustrialisationR and that the
ountr%:s workin! lass was disa&&earin!, the num"er of manufaturin! workers atuall% rose <
from 11-,*** in the ma>or ities in 1988 to 201,*** in 1995, with 08 &er ent in work&laes of
more than 0*. 4hese 3!ures were mathed "% !rowin! num"ers of onstrution workers and
miners of other metals than tin. B% 199-, there were nearl% as man% wa!e earners < 1,6**,***
< as there were &easants.
It was the lo!i of a&italism itself that !a)e ati)e life to these new fores. 4he &ri)atisation of
water su&&lies in the Coha"am"a re!ion &ushed u& water &ries for workers and &easants
alike, ausin! tens of thousands to demonstrate, 3!ht a!ainst the &olie and to diso)er in
2**1 that "% "lokin! roads the% ould "rin! the ountr% as a whole to a halt. Suess in
"eatin! &ri)atisation in Coha"am"a led to emulation of the tatis elsewhere, with &rotests
and "lokades "% the oa !rowers and indi!enous or!anisations. 4his eEam&le in turn reated
a new s&irit of stru!!le in workin! lass areas like 'l Alto and "reathed life into the &re)iousl%
Iuiesent union federation, the C?B, with the eletion of new leaders.
(ews that the !o)ernment of the neoli"eral &resident /oGada was sellin! oH the ountr%:s one
!reat &ros&et for wealth, its reentl% diso)ered !as reser)es, to multinationals "rou!ht the
ferment to a head in ?to"er 2**0. #hat "e!an as s&asmodi a!itation suddenl% eru&ted into
mass strikes and onfrontations after the &olie shot down sores of &rotesters marhin!
towards /a $aG. It was then that 'l Alto "eame the entre of the mo)ement. It was then too
that miners rediso)ered their old traditions and militan% "% marhin! with !eli!nite in
lenhed 3sts to >oin the masses in the a&ital.
4he ?to"er risin! led /oGada to Kee the ountr% in a helio&ter (the third /atin Amerian
&resident to do so in three %ears). But there was neither the onsiousness nor the
or!anisation amon! the hundreds of thousands of &rotesters in /a $aG and 'l Alto to determine
who re&laed him. His de&ut%, Besa, took his &lae in the &residential &alae and the mass of
demonstrators de&arted, "elie)in! the% had won a !reat )itor% "ut neoli"eral &oliies
ontinued as "efore. 4he neEt da% at an eE&anded meetin! of the C?B union, dele!ate after
dele!ate lamented the fat that the% had not "een a"le to raise the idea of a workers and
&easants !o)ernment.
As is often the ase in re)olutionar% u&hea)als, the 3rst suessful u&risin! was followed "% a
&eriod of &rearious sta"ilit%. 4he new !o)ernment made attem&ts to di)ert &o&ular an!er into
nationalist a!itation a!ainst Chile, whih had anneEed Boli)ia:s oastal re!ion and "loked its
aess to the sea more than a entur% "efore. $resident Besa held a referendum o)er the !as
issue and mana!ed to !et awa% with &hrasin! the issue in suh a wa% as to !et a ma>orit%.
Attem&ts at new mo"ilisations ne)er seemed to !et u& a head of steam to re&eat the ?to"er
e)ents.
An im&ortant fator in the im&asse that followed ?to"er 2**0 was the wa%, as also in &ast
re)olutionar% u&hea)als, ertain &olitial 3!ures and formations that had hel&ed to lead the
mo)ement forward at &re)ious sta!es now no lon!er did so. Indi!enous leaders like +eli&e
1uis&e of the ;nion of $easant #orkers had &la%ed an im&ortant role in artiulatin! !rie)anes
a!ainst the S&anish s&eakin! white elite who dominated oLial &olitis. But the% allowed
>usti3ed resentment at &ast treatment "% the mestiGo (miEed rae S&anish s&eakin!) setion of
the masses to di)ert them from &ushin! forward the stru!!le a!ainst the ommon enem%. ')o
Borales and his BAS &art% was the other hannel for indi!enous "itterness. 4he% alled for a
onstituent assem"l% to remould the ountr%:s &olitial institutions to reKet its ethni make
u&. But daGGled "% the lar!e )ote for &resident that Borales reei)ed in 2**2, the% followed a
strate!% of kee&in! a weak Besa in &ower so that Borales would e)entuall% ha)e the hane of
sueedin! him "% onstitutional means in 2**- and so the% ur!ed a Q%esR )ote in Besa:s !as
referendum.
4he C?B union leaders took a more left win! stane, denounin! the !as referendum and
ur!in! &eo&le to a"stain or s&oil their "allot &a&ers. But their traditions were still )er% muh
that of the old workin! lass, and had little inKuene amon! the newl% radialised indi!enous
fores, treatin! as a di)ersion their demand to "e &art of a new demorati &olitial struture.
As a result, Besa not onl% sta%ed in oLe for 21 months, "ut for most of that &eriod en>o%ed a
de!ree of su&&ort amon! man% of those who had taken to the streets in ?to"er 2**0.
But thin!s do not sim&l% stand still when a mass mo)ement !ets stuk in an im&asse. 4hose
assoiated with the old order for!et their fri!ht and "e!an to reassert their "elief in their !od<
!i)en ri!ht to rule. Besa:s !o)ernment "eame inreasin!l% like the o)erthrown /oGada
!o)ernment, &re&arin! a law whih left the ma>orit% of the !as and oil &ro3ts in &ri)ate hands.
Beanwhile in the lowland re!ion in the east of the ountr% around the it% of Santa CruG, where
the !as and oil reser)es are loated, a&italist interests insisted that the% would delare
autonom% from the rest of the ountr% if there was an attem&t to use &etroleum wealth for an%
&ur&oses other than their own. 4he% looked to su&&ort from the ;S and the su&&osedl% left
entre !o)ernments of BraGil and Ar!entina, whose oil om&anies are in)ol)ed with Shell and
B$ in &ro3tin! from Boli)ia:s &etroleum resoures.
4his was the s&ark whih rei!nited the ur"an and rural masses in ,une 2**5. 4he% saw the one
hane of usin! the ountr%:s wealth to o)erome their &o)ert% snathed awa% from them.
4he% mo)ed as the% had 21 months &re)iousl% to lose down the whole ountr% and "esie!ed
the &residential &alae and on!ress.
4he rulin! lass was &aral%sed. Besa tried to hold on "% "alanin! "etween the seessionists
in Santa CruG and the mass mo)ement. He &romised a onstituent assem"l% to rewrite the
onstitution in a wa% that would &lease Borales and his su&&orters and a referendum on
autonom% that would &lease the Santa CruG &etro<a&italists. CondoleeGGa 7ie &led!ed her
su&&ort for Besa, and Borales o&&osed dri)in! him from oLe. But the mo)ement on the
streets was more &owerful and more radial than e)er. 4he nationalist lan!ua!e o&&osin! !as
&ro3ts !oin! to forei!ners now "eame lass demands for !as nationalisation in the interests
of the workers, the &easants and the ur"an &oor.
#hen it "eame lear Besa was "e%ond sa)in!, the Con!ress deam&ed to Sure from /a $aG
in the ho&e of esa&in! the sie!e and resol)in! thin!s aordin! to the wishes of its neoli"eral
ma>orit%. 4he% &laed their ho&es "rieK% in Besa:s onstitutional suessor, Faa CieG, a
re&resentati)e of the Santa CruG oli!arh%. But it was alread% too late. 4he% were "esie!ed in
Sure too, as the workers mo)ement &aral%sed all trans&ort aross the ountr%. Con!ress
&assed o)er Faa CieG to a&&oint as interim &resident 'duardo 7odri!ueG, head of the su&reme
ourt < "ut for siE months onl% "efore eletions.
Beanwhile, the hierarh% of the Catholi Churh ur!ed a QtrueR, warnin! of the dan!ers of
QeEtremismR, the BraGilian and Ar!entine !o)ernments a&&lied &ressure, and the ;S
am"assador !a)e his seal of a&&ro)al to the deal. After heti ne!otiations, ')o Borales too
"aked it when he was assured there would "e eletions and the onstituent assem"l% (a ke%
fator in his deision, aordin! to the re&uta"le Buenos Aires &a&er Clarin was a ell &hone
all from Hu!o Cha)eG ad)isin! him to do so). It was enou!h to si!nal the end of the
demonstrations and a return to work "% most of the strikers, tired after three weeks of stru!!le
and suHerin! from food shorta!es as the road "lokades sto&&ed food arri)in! in the ities.
4he Boli)ian e)ents illustrate all the &oints made in this "ook. 4he !lo"alisation of a&italism
tears &eo&le:s li)es a&art, often demoralisin! them at 3rst, "ut then &ushin! them into
situations where the% feel the% ha)e no hoie "ut to 3!ht "ak. $reisel% "eause a&italism
annot mana!e without an eE&loited lass, it reates a new workin! lass with the &ower to
3!ht >ust as it destro%s muh of the old workin! lass. Boli)ia also demonstrates how a
suessful stru!!le an suddenl% ins&ire a sore of others and as this ha&&ens a&&arentl%
for!otten traditions of solidarit% and insur!en% are re"orn. #ith this, &eo&le:s attitudes to
eah other and to the state "e!in to "e transformed, until the% an onei)e of a re)olution
takin! &lae with the workin! lass "eomin! the rulin! lass and the mass of &eo&le takin!
ontrol of their own li)es.
But Boli)ia also shows how these thin!s "% themsel)es are not enou!h to "rin! a"out the
han!e whih &eo&le want. 4he mo)ement &aral%sed the strutures of &ower of eEistin!
soiet%. But it ne)er &osed an alternati)e of its own. #ithout suh an alternati)e, e)en feedin!
its own su&&orters was an insu&era"le &ro"lem. As the oordinatin! ommittee of the stru!!le
in Coha"am"a &ut it2
We have seen t-o thin&s in the May/:une stru&&le) Gn the one side' the ma&ni*cent
force of the social movements is capa(le of paralysin& the country and dealin& -ith the
manoeuvres of (i& (usiness and the (ad &overnments) Gn the other side' -e have not
(een capa(le of imposin& our o-n decisions and o(.ectives on these same
&overnments' althou&h they are in the -orst crisis they could faceF
In the ,une risis there was a moment when the whole Iuestion of who held &ower in soiet%
was in the "alane. ?ne an ne)er "e sure in suh irumstanes whether the workers and
&easants mo)ements ould ha)e taken &ower into their own hands. 4he solidit% of disi&line in
the arm% and &olie in suh a &otentiall% re)olutionar% situation an onl% "e tested in &ratie <
%ou en!a!e in "attle and then %ou see. But on this oasion the deisi)e "attle was not
en!a!ed.
4here was a &otentiall% re)olutionar% situation in Boli)ia. 4he rulin! lass was di)ided. 4he
workin! lass, the &easantr%, the ur"an &oor, e)en the mass of self<em&lo%ed street traders
felt thin!s ould not ontinue as "efore. 4here were si!ns that setions of the arm% were
wo""lin!. But two additional elements needed to turn the &otential into realit% did not eEist <
there was no workers: ounil or other &o&ular form of re)olutionar% demora% that ould
unite the whole of the &o&ular masses into a sin!le or!anism standin! in o&&osition to the old
state. (or did there eEist an or!anised network of re)olutionaries, a &art%, drawin! to!ether
the most determined and militant ati)ists in eah of the )arious fronts of stru!!le that had
emer!ed sine the 3rst )itor% in Coha"am"a.
In the last da%s of the ,une stru!!le some ati)ists did "e!in to look towards reatin!
strutures from "elow that ould &ro)ide the 3rst elements of demorati forms of self
or!anisation. 4here was an initiati)e in 'l Alto for a $o&ular 7e)olutionar% Assem"l% to take
ontrol of the it%, to defend and feed it. In Coha"am"a, the oordinatin! ommittee drew the
onlusion that there had to "e disussion a"out how to Qlittle "% little reate forms of our own
self !o)ernment.R But these initiati)es ame too late and with too little im&etus to inKuene
the outome in ,une. $eo&le talked of an 'l Alto Commune "ut it ne)er ame into "ein!.
4he Boli)ian stru!!le is far from o)er. 4he im&at of the near<re)olutionar% e)ents in ,une 2**5
was to swee& ')o Borales to eletoral oLe as &resident in Ceem"er of that %ear on a
&ro!ramme of &ro!ressi)e reforms. But a&italism annot satisf% the aroused ho&es of the
workers, &easants and indi!enous &eo&les. ')en the limited reform measures that ha)e "een
im&lemented ha)e roused the rih in Santa CruG to "uild armed or!anisations that threaten to
tear the ountr% in two.
It remains to "e seen what will ha&&en neEt. But the real im&ortane of the Boli)ian e)ents is
not what the% mean for one relati)el% small ountr%. It is that the% show how the endless
unertaint% that haraterises !lo"al a&italism re&eatedl% "reeds &otentiall% re)olutionar%
resistane. 4he same s&irit of resistane is to "e seen in FeneGuela. As in Boli)ia, a !o)ernment
&led!ed to satisf% the needs of the mass of &eo&le still rules o)er a a&italist soiet%, with
massi)e onentrations of &ri)ate wealth and enormous ineIualit%. But also as in Boli)ia, the
sur!in! desire for han!e from "elow, eE&ressed in )er% lar!e !o)ernment demonstrations for
Qre)olutionR and Qsoialism of the 21st entur%R, has reated a rift "etween the lasses. 4his
will ha)e to "e resol)ed at some &oint in the future either "% reation of a new state "ased on
the demora% of workers and other eE&loited !rou&s, or "% the return of the old order.
7esistane is not on3ned to Boli)ia and FeneGuela, or e)en to /atin Ameria. It is "e!innin!
make its mark on e)er% ontinent. 4hin!s annot "e otherwise, sine !lo"alisation means
!lo"al eonomi risis, a !lo"al war dri)e, !lo"al en)ironmental de)astation and all the soial
on)ulsions that ome in the train of suh thin!s. 4he rulers of 'uro&e and (orth Ameria tell
workers the% ha)e no future unless the% lower their wa!es, len!then their workin! hours and
worsen their onditions in order to om&ete with the workers of India and China. All this an
onl% mean that there will "e "itter lass "attles in the most ad)aned &arts of the a&italist
s%stem as well as in the &oorer &arts.
(one of this !uarantees suessful soialist re)olution an%where. 4hose who defend the
eEistin! s%stem s&end "illions on armsJ the% ha)e their &olie and their seret &olie, "ri"es for
those who dane to their tune, a sIualid !utter &ress, lon! eE&eriene of di)idin! and rulin!
and the a"ilit% to rel% on ha"its of deferene amon! those the% o&&ress. 4hose who think
nothin! of "lastin! tens of thousands of &eo&le to death in order to esta"lish their ontrol o)er
oil wells will do an%thin! to tr% to sto& a hallen!e to all their wealth and &ower. And %et the%
annot "reak their de&endene on us, the four or 3)e "illion &eo&le who la"our for them in
fatories, 3elds, mines, oLes, railwa% networks, truk de&ots, warehouses, &ower stations.
#ithout our lass the% are nothin!. And sine their s%stem annot !uarantee a 3Eed, sta"le
eEistene for our lass, re)olts will Kare u& a!ain and a!ain in the &resent entur% as in the
last. 4he Iuestion is not whether there will "e re)olutions in the entur% ahead, "ut in whih
diretion those re)olutions will !o. #ill the% "e snuHed out, as so often in the last entur%, as
&eo&le &ut their trust in the lies and false &romises of those who rule o)er them5 ?r will the
new mo)ement of the last few %ears rise to the task of unitin! into re)olutionar% or!anisations
all those amon! the eE&loited and o&&ressed a"le to see a little further than their fellows the
e)ils of the s%stem and the &ossi"ilities of o)erthrowin! it.
A$so b Chris Har-an:
A (eo8$e>s Histor o# the +or$d
Brilliant BarEist anal%sis of what ha&&ened in histor%.
@I Ha)e had man% &eo&le ask me if there is a "ook whih does for world histor% what m% "ook
A $eo&le:s Histor% of the ;nited States does for this ountr%. I alwa%s res&ond that I know of
onl% one "ook that aom&lishes this eEtremel% diLult task, and that is Chris Harman:s A
$eo&le:s Histor% of the #orld. It is an indis&ensa"le )olume on m% referene "ookshelf: <
Howard Uinn, leadin! ;S historian and radial
The 'ire Last Ti-e: 1:57 And A#ter
+antasti histor% of the !reat stru!!les from the +renh fator% ou&ations of
Ba% 1988, the ;S i)il ri!hts mo)ement and the im&at of the Fietnam #ar, throu!h to the fall
of the Dreek, $ortu!uese and S&anish ditatorshi&s.
The Lost Revo$ution: ,er-an 1:17 to 1:20
A histor% of a !reat re)olutionar% u&hea)al, now almost for!otten. Chris Harman resues it
from o"li)ion and shows how lose )itor% was, and wh% it ultimatel% eluded the
re)olutionaries.