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THE CLASS STRUGGLE AND ITS MOST CHARACTERISTIC ASPECTS IN RECENT YEARS : Re-Emergence of the Communist Perspective  The original purpose of this text was to try to show the fundamental reasons why the revolutionary movement of the first half of the century took various forms ( parties, trade and industrial unions, workers' councils ) which now not only belong to the past, but also hinder the re-formation of the revolutionary movement. But only part of the project was carried out. This task still has to be realised. But it would be a mistake to wait for a complete theoretical construction before moving on. The following text gives certain elements which are useful for an understanding of new forms of the communist "party." Recent events ( mainly strikes in the U.S., in Britain, in France, and Italy ) clearly show that we are entering a new historical period. For example, the French Communist Party ( P.C.F. ) still dominates the working class, but it is under strong attack. While for a long period of time the revolutionary movement's opposition to capital was deflected by the P.C.F., today this mediation tends to disappear : the opposition between workers and capitalism is going to assert itself more and more directly, and on the level of real facts and actions, as opposed to the situation when the ideology of the P.C.F. was prominent among workers and the revolutionary movement had to fight against the P.C.F. mainly on a theoretical level. Today revolutionaries will be forced to oppose capital practically. This is why new theoretical tasks are necessary. It is not enough to agree on the level of ideas; one must take positive action, and first of all intervene in present struggles to support one's views. Communists do not have to build a separate party from the one which asserts itself in practice in our society; yet they will increasingly have to support their positions so that the real movement does not waste its time in useless and false struggles. Organic links ( theoretical work for practical activity ) will have to be established among those who think we are moving towards a conflict between the proletariat and capital. The present text tries to determine how the communist movement is going to reappear, and to define the tasks of the communists. |