Date: Sat, 16 Mar 1996 03:35:34 -0800
To: marxism-AT-jefferson.village.virginia.edu
From: djones-AT-uclink.berkeley.edu (rakesh bhandari)
Subject: Re: fascism, class consciousness


Re: Jim Miller's 
>CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND WORK
>" But I don't think
>workers are developing "habits of cooperation" that have relevance
>for the "communistic organization" of society. The elements of
>cooperation and unity that develop among workers now is mainly
>of importance for their coordinated action in the class struggle.
>   As far as the means of production are concerned, they are
>organized by the capitalist owners. The workers are integrated
>into the means of production in accordance with the dictates of
>capital. Of course, this requires cooperative labor within each
>workplace. But this in itself doesn't promote the kind of
>political class consciousness that is necessary to overthrow
>the regime of capital.

I think there are two forms of organization here: the organizational forms
through which workers fight the reign of capital and the organizational
forms by which capital extracts surplus labor at the point of production
(this is to say nothing of the total social control towards which capital
strives in order to amortize rapidly and continuously fixed capital, as
theorized by Mandel in *Late Capitalism*). 

In one of Carchedi's earlier books, I remember that he argued against
Lenin's idea that workers learned the discipline necessary for united,
decisive Party action from the habits they develop on the factory floor. 
Carchedi attempted to demonstrate the anti-democratic implications of such
a form of political organization. 

 Many unions are no more democratic in structure, so perhaps they too don't
help to inculcate the habits necessary for an association of *free*
producers.  

I was attempting to suggest that while struggles may be entirely defensive,
it is also true that through them people do sometimes change themselves as
much as they change their circumstances.  

But maybe someone will want to bite on Carchedi's criticism of Lenin's idea
of party organization?  Or Mattick's criticism of Lenin?  Isn't there also
a book Lenin and the Cultural Revolution?  



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