Dennis,
The potential for a paralyzing dialectic is that, with the expansion and
intensification in the integration of global communication systems and
organizations, the working class becomes more completely incorporated into
the logic of global capitalism. I fear that what appears as "global
capitalism...spawning whole new techniques of workplace input and
democracy, via the electronic media..." actually represents a greater
level of ideological and structural hegemony, a quantum leap in the
technology of domination. Transnationalizing struggle is the key, of
course, and industry-wide organizing is a good strategy, but compromise is
also the road to co-optation and neutralization, especially in the context
of globalization. A period of transnational organizing along traditional
lines may be analogous to the era of labor co-optation in the historic
fashioning of the capital-labor accord following WWII. Like you, I believe
the potential for socialism is present. I envision a much more
revolutionary path, one that will grow out of the inevitable decay or
collapse of global capitalism. We must organize for this. And you are
right when you say that a movement will not happen by itself. But we also
have to be careful and not follow our predecessors down the path of
compromise. Compromise is the enemy of justice. Anything short of
dismantling capitalism is defeat.
Thanks for the clarification.
Andy