30.05.2001

Introduction to discussion with LCR

Chris Harman?s notes for May 17 meeting

We should begin by explaining how we see international situation of left. First we need to look back over last two decades. From late 1970s to mid-1990s period which we called ?the downturn? - period of defeats and demoralisation for the working class, even where there were bitter defensive battles ? from Chile and Argentina, through Fiat Turin to the miners and printworkers in Britain to the isolation and absorption of the guerrilla movements in Central America.

Period also of isolation and to varying degrees demoralisation and fragmentation of revolutionary left ? in Europe most spectacularly in Italy and Spain, but also in Britain and France.

Then when the Stalinist regimes fell apart in eastern Europe and the former USSR, despite the important role of workers? struggles (eg, the miners? strikes in Russia), the only ideological alternative for the democratic opposition seemed to be market capitalism ? which then led the oppositions to be absorbed by a wing of the nomenclature who had turned to privatisation, the Mafia, etc. This further isolated the revolutionary left in the west and the third world.

All the pressure was on revolutionaries to make concessions to reformist ideas, and, even worse, to post-Marxism, identity politics, even neo-liberalism. We analysed the beginning of the end of this period seven or eight years ago. The absence of a left focus in the crisis of the early 1990s was encouraging the rise of far right groups in important European countries. But it was also producing the first signs of a revival of class struggle and of the left. This was clear in Germany, then Italy and finally Britain and France.

The revival was both industrial and political (except in Britain, where the defeats of the 1980s meant a still very low level of class struggle). The industrial revival showed itself in the public sector and metal workers strikes in Germany, the mass strikes against the Berlusconi government in Italy, above all the November-December 1995 movement in France.

The political beneficiaries of the change were the social democrats ? despite their attempts to move to even more rightwing ?third way? positions. But we argued the revival had a tendency to spill over to the left of the social democrats, so creating a layer of disillusioned reformists who were willing to work with revolutionaries and open to revolutionary arguments.

Today this seems to us an important phenomenon in most European countries ? eg, the openings for the left in France, the Socialist Alliance and SSP in Britain.

At same time, new, often semi-spontaneous movements in a whole range of third world countries ? Indonesian revolution, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Nigeria, Algeria, etc.

Finally, the sudden growth of a generalised movement to the left such as we have not seen since the mid-1970s ? the ?anti-capitalist? movement from Seattle onwards.

Important as providing a focus for a minority which exists in every factory, mine, office, school or college in the world.

Sudden ?respectability? of anti-capitalist arguments.

Like movements in the US, Britain, Germany or Italy before 1968 ? a whole mix of different political positions ? reformist, anarchist, revolutionary Marxist, combinations, etc - just as you would expect in a new, spontaneous insurgency.

Test for the revolutionary left is relating to the three new components ? the revival of the workers? struggle, the overflow to the left from social democracy, the anti-capitalist movement.

Central is seeing the anti-capitalist movement as key to other two ? the minorities it attracts among both youth and trade unionists can be key to tapping move to left of social democracy and to new militancy in industry.

There are formally revolutionary organisations who are refusing to see this. Most notably Lutte Ouvri?re in France. Did not understand importance of November-December 1995. Attacks anti-capitalist movement. This has also been true of one of the organisations in our tendency, the ISO in the US. Is refusing to shift from the methods it developed in the early 1990s to relate to the new situation, and is missing enormous opportunities.

Even for our members, the shift is not easy. Great danger of sectarian response ? veterans of the miners? strike dismissing 18-year-olds who are impressed by Naomi Klein and Susan George ? people who defended independent revolutionary organisation for 20 years not seeing possibilities with rise of layer who have half-broken with reformism.

There is also another danger. Pouring new wine into old bottles. Eg, breaking movement down into one-issue campaigns, or adoption of ?post-Marxist? ideas and methods within movement (eg, semi-autonomism, Ya Basta, etc) or adapting to reformist milieu (article in Labour left paper saying we will inevitably do this!) ? there will be pressures to do this we have to resist ? eg, there are important people in SSP for whom all that really matters are Scottish elections in two years time, not struggle in between.