File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1996/96-12-02.045, message 1


Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 09:17:33 -0500 (EST)
From: Louis N Proyect <lnp3-AT-columbia.edu>
Subject: M-I: Fire in the Americas, part one


A month or so ago in the course of a discussion on the left-unity list I
mentioned a book that had a very strong influence on my political
thinking: "Fire in the Americas". It is basically an attempt to apply the
methodology the FSLN used in reaching and mobilizing the masses of
Nicaragua to North American realities. All right, I might as well come
clean. Most of my "brilliant" ideas are ripped off from this book. I am
like the comedian Milton Berle who was notorious for stealing other
people's material. In defense, Berle commented that at least he had the
smarts to know which material to steal.

The work was co-authored by Roger Burbach and Orlando Nunez in
1986. Burbach is in the Latin American Studies Department of U.
California, Berkeley and Nunez was the Director for the Study of
Agrarian Reform during the FSLN years in power. This is a pretty
short book at 108 pages. It is also out of print. It is divided into 5
chapters:

1) Revolutionary Practice and Theory in the Americas

2) Socialism and the Democratic Banner

3) The Neglected Revolutionary Allies

4) the Internationalization of Struggle in the Americas

5) The Challenge of the 1990s

Over the next five days I will post excerpts from each chapter, starting
today. I am glad I discovered this book in the Barnard Bookstore. It
has great relevance not only to the question of working-class
consciousness that is being discussed in the marxism-international
cyber-seminar, it also relates to the general question of left unity. One
of the great lessons of the Nicaraguan revolution, regardless of the
disappointing outcome brought on by a combination of US counter-
revolution and Soviet betrayal, is that revolutionaries have to unite
around important questions and not split over secondary questions.
This theoretical conquest is something that poor, agrarian and
miserable Nicaragua can bequeath to the "advanced" nations of the
world.

1. Revolutionary Practice and Theory in the Americas

"Placed in historical perspective, the political upheaval of the 1960s
and the early 1970s had two important effects on US society. On the
one hand it nurtured the development of an array of Marxist thinkers
and theorists, many of whom were able to secure positions in
universities or affiliated research centers from which they continued to
develop Marxist thought. Simultaneously, the social discontent and
political questioning of the 1960s enabled a number of powerful single
issues social movements to arise..."

"By the end of the 1970s, however, both the new social movements
and Marxist thought were thrown on the defensive. A major problem
was that no real symbiosis occurred between the different social
movements and Marxism. They each operated in different spheres.
While the Marxists were based primarily on campuses or directed
small publishing and research centers, the social movements
concerned themselves with concrete issues and looked increasingly to
the liberal wing of the Democratic party to redress their grievances.
None of the old or new Marxist-Leninist parties was able to bridge this
gap. Some of them made sustained efforts to organize in the workplace
and trade unions. But most Marxist parties were more concerned with
debating who had the 'correct political line' of the American revolution
(preferably with a franchise from Beijing). None of the parties
developed strong social bases to become a force in American political
life. To this day the central issue remains that of developing a political
strategy to mobilize and unify the different single issue movements so
that they pose an alternative, mass pole..."

"Precisely because the organized Marxist left failed to develop its own
body of native theoreticians in the earlier part of this century, it was
>from the universities and small groups of independent Marxian
theorists that the most creative Marxist thinking began to emerge in
the 1950s. In the Americas the Monthly Review school was in the
forefront of this process and played a critical role in preserving
Marxist thought at a historic moment when it was under siege=85"

"A serious problem for revolutionaries today stems from the fact that
since the early part of this century Marxism-Leninism has been
identified with the evolution of post-revolutionary society in the Soviet
Union. The party and state structures that were implanted in the Soviet
Union were generally viewed as the models for other revolutionary
societies to follow..."

"A related problem stems from the fact that most Marxist-Leninists
have defined themselves by their international perspectives rather than
by the concrete issues of their own societies. The Third International
considered itself to be the ultimate authority on just how Marxism-
Leninism should be applied in all revolutionary struggles around the
world. But when differences and splits emerged, such as the split
between Stalin and Trotsky in the late 1920s, each new revolutionary
formation proclaimed that its interpretation of Marxism-Leninism was
the correct one. Instead of engaging in a concrete analysis of political,
economic and social conditions in each country, many parties and
theorists were caught up in the debate over who was really following
the 'correct political line'. The debates over Trotskyism, Maoism,
Titoism, and even foquismo often divided the revolutionary parties
over international issues with each camp proclaiming that it alone was
the real guardian of revolutionary thought and practice..."

"Another important historical lesson is that theory can distort
revolutionary practice rather than guide it. This was the case with
foquismo. By focusing on the Cuban revolution and the initial
endeavors of the handful of men who led it, the foquistas misled many
revolutionaries in the Americas into believing that they too could carry
out a revolution with a small but determined group of people. This
perspective was reinforced by the obsession of many political activists
in the early 1970s, particularly in the United States, with the role
played by Lenin in the Bolshevik revolution. They saw him as a
solitary figure who, through his iron will and clear vision, was able to
persevere and lead the Bolshevik party to power. Regardless of
whether or not this view of Lenin is correct, it led many
revolutionaries to believe that they could adopt a political strategy and
resolutely carry it to completion, no matter what the political
realities..."

"This leads to a broader problem: once a revolutionary political theory
has been developed it often tends to limit the imagination of future
leaders rather than to guide them. This is not to deny the importance
of theory. But it does mean that we have to be constantly on guard to
ensure that theory does not become dogma. Each new revolutionary
struggle and movement must rethink its premises and its theoretical
approach as well as its practice. This is only possible if we apply the
Marxist method in the most creative manner, without relying on
dogma or letting preconceptions distort our understanding..."

"Che Guevara recognized the role and limit of theory in the Cuban
Revolution when he wrote: '...this revolution is different. In the minds
of some it is an exception to one of the fundamental tenets of orthodox
theory. That tenet, as enunciated by Lenin, holds that without revolutionary
theory there can be no revolution. We must recognize, however, that
revolutionary theory, in as much as it reflects conditions in a society,
transcends any statement of that theory. In other words, a revolution can
proceed based on accurate historical analysis and skillful balancing of the
forces involved without its theoretical framework every having been
enunciated. To be sure, an adequate statement of theory does simplify
the process and helps avoid dangerous pitfalls, provided that statement
is in fact correct.'"

(chapter two "Socialism and the Democratic Banner" continues in my
next post)


Louis Proyect




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