31.08.2011

Debate, controversy and comradeship

Danny Hammill reports on this year's CPGB summer school

Without doubt, this has been a tumultuous year. We had the Arab spring, the continuing economic crisis, the exposure of the corrupt relations between the UK political establishment, the police and the media, and the recent riots. All this and more should surely mean that increasing numbers of people, confronted by an obviously malfunctioning world system, are looking for answers.

Therefore, in that sense, the CPGB's annual Communist University - held in south London over August 13-20 - could not have come at a more auspicious time. With so much to discuss and debate, it is more a question of what to leave out than to include. As anyone who has attended will readily tell you, our CU is distinctive from the various other left schools and conferences in a number of ways - most notably the Socialist Workers Party's Marxism, which always precedes our gathering.

Crucially, the CPGB positively aims to seek out differences of opinion among comrades - to bring them into the open sunlight. But we do so not in order to ridicule them or launch an ideological heresy-hunt, a monstrous trait of the confessional sects that litter the left. Instead, the CPGB has consistently promoted the open clash of contending ideas - the only method by which we can arrive at the truth. From some of our left critics you would get the distinct impression that this is some sort of peculiar idiosyncrasy on the part of the CPGB, rather than the very foundation stone of Marxism - based as it is on the principles of scientific socialism, of free and fearless inquiry. Marx said that the dialectic "does not let itself be impressed by anything, being in its very essence critical and revolutionary". In essence, that is the ethos that we try to inculcate at all levels of the organisation. History has taught us that today's minority or 'eccentric' viewpoint can be tomorrow's common sense or majority opinion.

Our CU endeavours to be as all-rounded and collective an experience as is objectively possible. Meaning that CU should, in no matter how fleeting or radically incomplete a way, be an anticipation of the communist future: act as an advert for communism, if you like. As repeatedly stressed throughout the week during the numerous sessions, communism is an eminently practical project - certainly not a demand for the impossible or nonsense like that. Our message should be stark and simple: unless we positively supersede capitalism, we will be convulsed by one devastating economic and ecological crisis after another, as the world slides into further irrationality.

Logically then, CU itself should embody in organisational form such communist practicality in however small a way - practice what you preach, no matter how imperfectly. Thus collective meals are prepared by participants using a flexible rota system. Notwithstanding the frustration that can occasionally arise from missing parts of a session if there has been a partial breakdown in organisational efficiency (which has been known to happen on occasion), this helps to foster solidarity and comradeship - not to mention the production of relatively high-quality food at a very reasonable price - a serious consideration, given that London is not exactly the cheapest place in the world. Equally as important, it is fun, as it involves a lot of play and experimentation - hallmarks of any genuine communist society, past and present. Indeed, if truth be told, a lot of left schools often lack real fun - and, if it exists at all, seems to mainly consist of getting ridiculously pissed at every available opportunity. Not that CU is necessarily a festival of sobriety, of course - once the sessions are over for the day.

Another facet which deserves a mention is childcare. Some comrades were only able to attend for the full week because of the childcare facilities organised - many were happy to miss a session to do their stint. Needless to say, the presence of children gives the week more of the feel of a genuinely joyful communist household - one which we all want to live in, as opposed to the asphyxiating confines of the bourgeois nuclear family.

Whilst still on the subject of fun, there was an evening musical performance from comrade Steve Cooke on his amazing Roland Keytar - whose music blends sharp-witted lyrics with funk and acid jazz grooves, electronica and new wave rock (at least, that is what it says on his Facebook page!). Slightly disappointingly, there were no film nights, recitals of original poetry or organised games on other evenings - perhaps next year.

Highlights

As for the actual sessions, all the presentations made by the speakers will shortly be available on the CPGB website (video and audio files). So we need only concentrate on those aspects of the week that generated some degree of controversy or threw a particularly acute light on the CPGB's programmatic outlook where it differs from those of other left groups.

In this context, the session on 'The Labour Party: past, present and future' was of special interest. Regular readers of the Weekly Worker will know that there is a minority within the CPGB who believe that systematic work within the Labour Party is a waste of time - a diversionary dead-end that is doomed to failure. Indeed, comrade Chris Strafford believes the CPGB majority are completely misreading the situation for stating that Labour under Ed Miliband is likely to be forced to the left. Sadly, comrade Strafford could not stay for the whole session, as he had a train to catch. Naturally, it is only to be expected that further articles and polemics on this extremely important issue will appear in the Weekly Worker.

'They fuck you up, the left' - unsurprisingly, given some comrades' experiences, this was one of the hits of the week. Pat Byrne (ex-Militant Tendency, Towards a New International Tendency), Andy Wilson (ex-SWP), Simon Pirani (ex-Workers Revolutionary Party) recounted grimly amusing stories about their treatment at the hands of respective sect leaders. However, as noted during the subsequent discussion, there was a noticeable tendency to throw out the Marxist baby with the sectarian bathwater. That is, to reject any sort of disciplined organisational structure - conflating democratic centralism with bureaucratic centralism. Though understandable, such anarchistic or individualistic inclinations need to be combated. Indicatively, comrade Pirani repeated the hoary old myth - so assiduously cultivated by academia - that the seeds of elitism, Stalinism, etc can be found in Lenin's What is to be done?

Another session featured comrade Owen Jones, who has a long-standing and lively relationship with the CPGB. He is now a bit of a celebrity thanks to his book, Chavs: the demonisation of the working class - which has received relatively widespread coverage in the mainstream press. He has even battled it out with the notoriously cantankerous historian, David Starkey, on BBC's Newsnight. Anyway, a minor controversy emerged when the word 'lumpenproletariat' made an appearance. An early shorthand for 'chav'. Not how Marx deployed the word, of course.

Hillel Ticktin is now a CU veteran. His analysis of capitalist crisis and Marxist theory has become especially pertinent, given the recent fear and panic on the stock markets - capitalism is in visible decline. His other talk on the Soviet Union was exceptionally interesting - what was the USSR exactly? Comrade Ticktin has consistently argued that it was an unviable social formation - the only question being how it managed to survive for as long as it did. Clearly, for comrade Ticktin - and the CPGB - the Soviet Union was not 'state capitalist'. But neither was it a workers' state of any kind. Obviously, communists need to continue the arduous, but essential task of grasping the Soviet Union's inner laws of development and motion, not slap on ready-made, dogmatic labels. The Weekly Worker is one vehicle for such work.

Comrades from the Radical Anthropology Group, gave their usual inspiring talks (Engels' Origins of the family, matriarchy, our Neanderthal cousins, the human revolution and visions of communism were all explored). Not for the first time, there were dissatisfied mutterings from a handful of CPGB comrades about the supposedly excessive attention paid to the RAG's "just-so" stories about the revolutionary origins of humanity and our primitive communist past. But, to date, these comrades have yet to publish any material that challenges or refutes the logical, coherent stance of the RAG comrades. Time will tell.

Perhaps related to visions of communism, comrade James Turley gave an entertaining introduction on 'Marxism and other worlds: fantasy and sci-fi'. Just as we continue to rediscover our magnificent communist past, thanks to the sterling work of the RAG comrades, so science fiction and fantasy at their most inventive can help us see the communist future. There were two books launches at CU this year - first, comrade Ben Lewis's Zinoviev and Martov: head to head in Halle, co-authored with Lars T Lih. This book recalls an important moment in our pre-Stalinist communist history, but grievously neglected up to now - the October 1920 congress of the Independent Social Democrats in Germany. Then there was our Draft programme, with its very prolonged gestation period - now available to read in a convenient format.

Special mention should go to comrades Spencer Leonard and Chris Cutrone from the US Platypus group - who spent the entire week at CU. Among others fully participating were comrades from the SWP, Socialist Party in England and Wales, International Bolshevik Tendency and Socialist Fight. Finally, it does have to be said that attendance at CU 2011 was a little disappointing - a noticeable number of our own supporters and members were absent. For whatever reason, there appeared to be an unusually high preponderance of weddings, births, illnesses and so on. Unlike the SWP's Marxism, which saw an increase in numbers this year. Every effort must be made to ensure that next year's CU sees a more impressive turnout - and even greater left participation.