Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 09:21:36 -0500 (EST)
From: Louis N Proyect <lnp3-AT-columbia.edu>
To: James Miller <jamiller-AT-igc.apc.org>
cc: marxism-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU
Subject: Re: fascism, class consciousness


On Wed, 13 Mar 1996, James Miller wrote:
> 
>    I think Louis has a narrower definition of "class consciousness"
> than I do. I would argue that any form of consciousness that
> contributes to the fighting strength of the workers in the class
> struggle is an attribute of class consciousness. This includes
> the growing mutual acceptance and harmonious relations among workers
> who are men and women, Black and white, immigrant and US-born.

Louis: It is not a narrower definition. It is a Marxist definition. 
The nationalism of the oppressed is not class consciousness. Feminist 
consciousness is not class consciousness. Although these forms of 
consciousness arise on account of the tendency of capitalism to create 
superexploited sectors, the response of these sectors does not 
automatically translate into class consciousness.

For example, black workers tend to identify their interests as common to 
the entire black population. This means that they will cast their vote 
for Jesse Jackson in an uncritical manner. It also led to a lot of 
confusion over the Clarence Thomas nomination. It has also led to a 
number of civil rights leaders having the wrong position on immigration. 
This does not negate the overall progressive thrust of the black 
population acting on behalf of its own special interests.

The same basic problems obtain with the woman's liberation movement and 
it is not necessary to provide details.

The reason this sort of thing hits home is that I remember vividly the last 
SWP convention I was at in the late 1970s. Frank Lovell, the head of the 
national trade union fraction who was subsequently expelled, argued that 
the late 1970s was the period of the greatest radicalization in 20th 
century US politics. This wasn't just his own opinion. It was the party 
line. What was Frank's proof of this claim? Exactly the same sort of 
things that Jim points to: the emergence of new social movements of 
oppressed nationalities and women.

The biggest problem in US politics, however, is that the growth of these 
movements has not led in most instances to class consciousness. Some 
blacks and Latinos have developed class consciousness; so have women in 
struggle. But basically, we are at the same point we were when these 
movements began. We lack the most elementary political expressions of any 
kind of class-consciousness.

There are a whole galaxy of reasons that account for this that I really 
can't explore fully in e-mail, but I would point to the following:

1) The role of racism, which is tied up with the history of slavery in 
this country. White workers tend to see their interests as "white" 
based. In a defensive response, black workers tend to be black-issue 
oriented.

2) The two-party system, which is deeply rooted in US politics and 
history. We had an opportunity to create a labor-based party in the 
1930s, but this was squandered by the CP which used its substantial 
influence to get workers to vote Democrat.

3) The emergence of the US as a nation of immigrants. This country became 
a nation that "delivered" the working-class people in Europe--the Italians, 
the Irish, the Jews, the Eastern Europeans--from their oppression at home. 
As a consequence, these groups tended to identify their interests more 
closely with the interests of the US ruling class.

4) The most important factor dulling class-consciousness, however, is 
the upward mobility that this country has afforded most workers through 
the 20th century. This is related to the special characteristics of the 
US political economy. It was able to develop its own ample resources without 
interference from outside powers. It was able to benefit greatly from the 
slaughters of WWI and WWII since it acted as a financier and inherited 
the colonial empires of the European powers.

All of this is changing, needless to say. The US working class is facing 
the same types of assaults that workers in other countries have been 
facing. Furthermore, the attacks are deeper here than they are elsewhere 
in developed capitalist countries. However, consciousness lags behind 
altered objective conditions. This reflects the dead weight of historical 
traditions. People are slow to react to painful circumstances. There is 
an element of denial.

However, when true class-consciousness begins to emerge, we won't have to 
squint to see it. I recommend Howard Zinn's "People's History of the 
United States" for descriptions of how class-consciousness marked the 
Debs and depression eras, but it just doesn't do the left any good to see 
things today that aren't there.


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