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Sent: Sunday, January 11, 1998 9:57 AM
To: pen-l@galaxy.csuchico.edu;
marxism-international@jefferson.village.virginia.edu; cm150-l@mtu.edu
Subject: James Petras' critique of the Communist Manifesto
The sequence of capitalist expansion, destruction of traditional bonds and
global integration was, according to Marx, the process of creating a
unified working class, conscious of its class interests and linked across
national boundaries. His chain of reasoning lacks a clear understanding of
the importance traditions and social bonds preceding capitalism played in
creating social solidarity for confronting capitalism and sustaining class
consciousness. When Marx describes the bourgeoisie as reducing human
relations to the "cash nexus" as a prelude to the development of class
consciousness, he is essentially describing the condition of the U.S.
working class--probably the least willing and able to identify its source
of exploitation let alone struggle against it. The stripping of older
beliefs--what Marx and Engels unfortunately called "philistine
sentimentalism"--includes the sense of community and not necessarily belief
in a "natural superior." Thus the assumption that the "everlasting
insecurity and agitation" that the Manifesto's authors associate with
capital's "revolutionizing of the means of production" does not necessarily
"compel [man] to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life and
his relations with his kind." In fact, economic processes are having the
opposite effects in deepening reaction, atomizing labor, stimulating ethnic
warfare and undermining a vast swath of economic production throughout
Latin America, Africa, the ex-USSR and elsewhere.
Thus the centrality of "tradition" and culture and community in defining
the formation of class consciousness is lost before Marx and Engels'
sweeping and uncritical celebration of the revolutionary potential of the
development of the forces of production.
Similarly, the savaging of the Third World labor force occurring under the
aegis of the internationalization of capital has not led to greater class
consciousness or "civilized" behavior. One look at free trade zones should
dissuade anyone of that notion. Instead, it has broken class ties and
fostered greater deference and servility.
Bourgeois globalization has not created "a world in its own image" as Marx
and Engels argued. Today these are the "sentimental pieties" printed out in
World Bank public relations handouts trumpeting the "modernization" of the
Third World. [And LM TV documentaries, I might add.]
Their lack of a sense of class consciousness directly related to the
producers and not derived from the capitalist process of production
explains the difficulties many "Marxists" have in creating an alternative
to capitalism. Today capitalists don't "call into existence the men who
will wield the weapons" to deal a death blow to capitalism. They create
millions of frightened, uncertain, temporary workers, tied to the cash
nexus. To become a Marxist in the sense of realizing the goals of the
Manifesto, one must reject Marx and Engels' false assumptions about the
"revolutionary role" of the bourgeoisie. To move toward working class
action, their conception of the transformation of workers into a
revolutionary class must be subjected to the harshest criticism.
Where Marx and Engels say that "man's consciousness changes with every
change in the conditions of his material existence, in his social relations
and in his social life" the changes that capitalism has wrought have
undermined the construction of a revolutionary consciousness at every
point. The notion that the bourgeoisie revolutionizes production through
competition and in the course "forces" workers to "confront" their
conditions and subsequently join together is false on all counts. The most
important change is not the revolutionizing of production, but the
transformation of political and social relations throughout the world in a
fashion that undermines the possibility of "material recognition of
proletarians."
To speak of the Manifesto today, one must move from the brilliant economic
analysis to the revolutionary conclusions by constructing a new theory of
revolutionary action.
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The passage above appears in James Petras' article "The Manifesto's
Strength and Flaws," which is part of a symposium on the relevance of
Marxism on the 150th anniversary of the Communist Manifesto published in
the latest New Politics, Winter 1998. I highly recommend this issue. For
ordering information, check www.wilpaterson.edu/~newpol.
Louis proyect
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Dear wsn,
Thanks to Carolyn Ballard for sending me the above critique, which supports
one of my objections to marxism - the invalid prediction that "socialist
revolution is the only likely consequence of the contradictions of
capitalism". As Petras points out: "a new theory of revolutionary action"
must be constructed.
In order to construct a new revolutionary theory, not only must the issue
of class consciousness be reviewed objectively, but some of Marx's
"brilliant economic analysis" must also be rejected. As I suggested
before:
> there are several paradigm shifts involved which need to
> be considered separately:
> (1) end of capitalist hegemony
> (2) awareness that prosperity and growth are not synonyms
> (3) awareness that capitalism and free enterprise are not synonyms
> (4) awareness that there are many other alternatives to capitalism
> besides marxism
(1) end of capitalist hegemony
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Capitalist hegemony must be overcome, but this calls for sound political
strategy and action, which must include management of a smooth transition
to a successor paradigm.
(2) awareness that prosperity and growth are not synonyms
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Belief in the efficacy of growth has been deeply ingrained in the masses by
capitalist propaganda, and reducation is necessary for struggle against
capitalism to be politically feasible. The practical case for Green-based
prosperity needs to be better articulated.
(3) awareness that capitalism and free enterprise are not synonyms
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Here's where Marx was most in error. Small business is a good thing,
economically productive, and laws can guard effectively against
exploitation, as can encouragement of labor solidarity and activism.
Throwing the baby out with the bathwater is the common insantity of
fundamentalist faiths.
(4) awareness that there are many other
alternatives to capitalism besides marxism
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Marxist hegemony in the discussion of revlutionary alterntives is
dangerously detrimental to the progress of revolution.
Marx said, and Engels credited it to him, that the working class could only
overcome its oppression by ending all forms of suppression and
exploitation. He offered no argument for this view, but it had a nice ring
to it, and so it became part of the marxist religion, to be believed on
faith.
But behind Marx's hyperbole was a grain of truth: if capitalist hegemony is
to be broken, given how deeply entrenched it is, only a radical reversal of
the political order can succeed. A new broom must sweep clean, and one
might then hope for comprehensive societal reforms, not just marginal gains
against current elites.
There's no historical imperative which guarantees that the societal changes
will end all forms of exploitation, as we saw in the USSR and China. It is
necessary to discuss objectively and with an open mind the alternatives to
the capitalist system. Workers simply taking over their factories is not
an answer to capitalism - it isn't radical enough - its just capitalism
under new management.
rkm
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Posted by Richard K. Moore - rkmoore@iol.ie - PO Box 26, Wexford, Ireland
www.iol.ie/~rkmoore/cyberjournal (USA Citizen)
* Non-commercial republication encouraged - Please include this sig *
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