Hi Cde Lucian, Thanks for your response. Naturally, it is for the group to discuss. I must say, before anything else, that my notes are only intended as an (optional) opening to discussion of the original document, and not a conclusion. We never conclude on the CU, anyway. Nor would I hold myself out as someone who knows what is correct, as a rule. For the permutations of class alliance it is good to read Karl Marx’s “*The class struggles in France, 1848-1850 <http://studycircle.wikispaces.com/file/view/21031%2C%20Marx%2C%20Class%20Struggles%20in%20France%2C%201850%2C%20Part%201.pdf>*,” the “*18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte <http://studycircle.wikispaces.com/file/view/21032%2C%20Marx%2C%2018th%20Brumaire%20of%20Louis%20Bonaparte%2C%20C1%20part%20of%20C6%2C%20and%20C7%2C%201852.pdf>*,” and the “*Civil War in France <http://studycircle.wikispaces.com/file/view/21033%2C%20Marx%2C%20The%20Civil%20War%20in%20France%2C%20C5%2C%20Paris%20Commune%2C%201871.pdf>* ”. The defeats of 1848 and 1871, which Marx records in these works, took place as a result of the proletarian party being isolated, following which they were massacred. Bottom line: don’t get isolated. Please find attached two fun spreadsheets from the early days of the CU. The proof of the NDR type of class alliance is that since this first conception of it, articulated by Lenin in 1920, it has changed the world, up to and including the hold-outs in South Africa. It’s a democratic revolution we are talking about, which establishes democracy and therefore the opportunity to organise fully on a class basis. The democratic republic, such as we have achieved, is not the end of the road, and nor would a dictatorship of the proletariat be the end of the road. The end of the political road is the end of class altogether, including the end of the state. Concerning the peasantry, there is an interesting discussion by Samir Amin *right at the end of this course <http://studycircle.wikispaces.com/17+Anti-Imperialism%2C+War+and+Peace#x10 The Struggle Continues>*, where he compares the different treatment of the land question in revolutionary Russia, and in revolutionary China. The proletarians, in ancient Rome and now, are those who are free and not slaves, but who have no property. In ancient times they were fed with the corn dole, but nowadays they mostly work for a living (i.e. they sell themselves into slavery by the day) . The proletarians who do not work are by Marx called “lumpen”, which is German for “in rags”. “Working class” is a broader term. Surely a serf class, or a slave class, is a working class, for example. But slaves are not proletarians. The special feature of the modern working proletariat is its capability of the highest degree of organisation, which renders it capable in turn of leading a class alliance. Whereas land-owning peasants have never been capable of organisation to the same extent. Marx called such peasants a “sack of potatoes” (see 18th Brumaire for more explanation). There is no conceivable circumstance where the proletarian class would repudiate a class alliance unilaterally, that I can think of. On the contrary, the destiny of the proletarian class is to lead the entire society, in my opinion. VC *Communist University** Course Downloads**:* *[image: CU Course Archive] <http://studycircle.wikispaces.com/Communist+University>* *E-mail forums (click)*: *Communist University <https://groups.google.com/group/communist-university>*; *YCLSA <https://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum>*; *CU-Africa <https://groups.google.com/group/CUAfrica>*; *SADTU <https://groups.google.com/group/sadtu-political-education-forum>* *Moderator*: *[email protected] <[email protected]>* On 27 June 2016 at 16:07, Lucian Segami ([email protected]) < [email protected]> wrote: > Dear Cde VC > > > > This is very interesting, except that there is some nuance Lenin placed > around 2 issues (in the summary) in discussing this topic, which seems to > be a bit masked. > > > > 1. In the Russian context, the class alliance in the bourgeois > democratic phase of the revolution was between the proletariat and all of > the peasants, but in the October revolution the proletariat exclusively > allied the poorer section of the peasants and the revolution was directed > at the bourgeoisie and the rich peasants collectively. So those alliances > are shifting and changes all the time. Secondly, > > *2. **Secondly where you state** “But proletarian parties have also > made class alliances with parts of the petty-bourgeoisie or national > bourgeoisie, against feudalism or against colonialism”. *It might be > crucial that you take further the point on the class alliance between the > proletariat and the national bourgeoisie. Lenin seemed more decisive that > this type of alliance is permissible only in the revolutions in colonial, > or colonial type countries and not part of the ML strategy to form them in > imperialist countries for pursuit of the socialist revolution. It appears > there was some insistence that the revolution, which could only be > socialist, must be led by proletarian partiers and no one else. I don’t > think comes out well in the summary. I also think there’s important points > for revolutionary practice which are not being exhausted, such as when the > proletarian parties should forego such classes alliances and what factors > underpin their continuation or discontinuation not just in the socialist > revolution, but even under the NDR. > > > > *I bear in mind our own experience in raising these 2 points. * > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *VC > *Sent:* 26 June 2016 10:47 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* [YCLSA Discussion] COURSE, NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION: > GENESIS OF THE NDR > > > > > > *National Democratic Revolution, Part 2* > > > > [image: HammerAndSickle.JPG] > > > > *Genesis of the NDR* > > > > The Hammer and Sickle emblem of the communists, invented in 1917, is a *symbol > of class alliance* between two distinct classes: proletarian workers, and > peasants. > > > > Peasants often work hard and they are often poor, but they are not the > same as the working proletariat of the towns. Nor are they the same as the > rural proletariat. > > > > So the hammer and the sickle are not two equal things. They represent two > different things, allied. > > > > Practical class politics is always a matter of alliance, and in different > circumstances, different alliances are called for. Communists commonly > regard an alliance between workers and peasants as normal. But proletarian > parties have also made class alliances with parts of the petty-bourgeoisie > or national bourgeoisie, against feudalism or against colonialism. > > > > Alliances are normal and necessary, in order to isolate and thereby to > defeat an adversary, and equally, to avoid being isolated and defeated by > the adversary. Therefore, the question of the appropriate alliances in the > anti-colonial and anti-Imperialist struggle was bound to arise. > > > > The origin of the specific type of class alliance that is nowadays > referred to by the term *National Democratic Revolution* can be precisely > located in the Second Congress of the Communist International (2CCI), in > the discussion on the National & Colonial Question, reported by V. I. Lenin > on 26 July 1920 (attached), less than three years after the Great October > Revolution in Russia, a revolution based on a worker-peasant alliance. > > > > The founding Congress of the Communist International (“Comintern”) took > place in March, 1919, a little more than a year after that October 1917 > Russian Revolution, of which it was an integral consequence. The setting up > of the Communist International was a demand that was part of Lenin’s “*April > Theses <http://sadtu-pol-ed.blogspot.com/2010/11/april-theses.html>*”. > > > > The first “International Working Men’s Association”, of which Karl Marx > had been a founder member in 1864, had faded after 1871 following the fall > of the Paris Commune. The Second International fell apart in 1914, when > most of the Social-Democratic workers’ parties backed the bourgeois masters > of war in the conflict between the Imperialist powers. > > > > The communists, led by Lenin, had held out against that betrayal. After > the revolutionary victory in Russia they lost very little time before > constructing a new International. The Third, Communist International was > naturally and explicitly anti-Imperial and anti-colonial, but it > explicitly, carefully, and out of necessity, extended the revolutionary > alliance to include parts of the bourgeoisie. > > > > In his report to the 2CCI on the National & Colonial Question, Lenin says: > > > > *“We have discussed whether it would be right or wrong, in principle and > in theory, to state that the Communist International and the Communist > parties must support the bourgeois-democratic movement in backward > countries. As a result of our discussion, we have arrived at the unanimous > decision to speak of the national-revolutionary movement rather than of the > ‘bourgeois-democratic’ movement. It is beyond doubt that any national > movement can only be a bourgeois-democratic movement, since the > overwhelming mass of the population in the backward countries consist of > peasants who represent bourgeois-capitalist relationships… However, the > objections have been raised that, if we speak of the bourgeois-democratic > movement, we shall be obliterating all distinctions between the reformist > and the revolutionary movements. Yet that distinction has been very clearly > revealed of late in the backward and colonial countries…”* > > > > In this report we find, for the first time all together, the makings of > the NDR, including the name, even if the words are not quite in their > present-day order. Lenin calls it “national-revolutionary”, but he makes it > very clear that he is talking of a democratic class alliance with > anti-colonial, anti-Imperialist elements of the national bourgeoisie in > colonial countries. > > > > The 2CCI was followed within two months by the famous “*Congress of the > Peoples of the East > <http://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/baku/index.htm>*”, > in Baku, in the southern part of what was soon to become the Soviet Union. > This 1920 event was the first international anti-colonial conference, and > it had huge consequences. We will deal with the Congress of the Peoples of > the East in the next instalment, as a contribution to the discussion of the > realisation of the NDR, the concept which had been laid down in Lenin’s > report. > > > > · *The above is to introduce the original reading-text:* *Report > on National and Colonial Question, 2CCI, Lenin > <http://studycircle.wikispaces.com/file/view/12021%2C%20Lenin%2C%20Report%20on%20National%20and%20Colonial%20Question%2C%202CCI%2C%201920.pdf>* > *.* > > > > · *A PDF file of the reading text is attached* > > > > · *To download any of the CU courses in PDF files please click > here <http://studycircle.wikispaces.com/Communist+University>*. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 13710 (20160626) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > -- > -- > You are subscribed. 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Class Alliance Simplified.xls
Description: MS-Excel spreadsheet
Class Struggle Simplified.xls
Description: MS-Excel spreadsheet
