- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Is centralization necessary?

Posted by: Chuck ( Virginia ) on October 25, 1999 at 11:17:45:

In Reply to: The 'Vanguard' posted by Barry Stoller on October 23, 1999 at 02:31:12:

: The idea that Marxist revolution shall spontaneously arise from the atomized members of the working class---or the trade unions---is sheer bunk. A vanguard is necessary to lead the revolution. To repudiate the idea of a revolutionary party is to repudiate the idea of revolution.

I agree. Nikolai Bukharin rightly pointed out that if a class were inwardly unified, the formation of a party would be superfluous. My concern is that Lenin's concept of party organization (though it presupposes the fact - the actuality - of the revolution) leads to the eventual subordination of the proletarian movement to the central committee. As Rosa Luxemburg reminded us in 1904:

Let us speak plainly. Historically, the errors committed by a truly revolutionary movement are infinitely more fruitful than the infallibility of the cleverest Central Committee (Leninism or Marxism, p. 108, The University of Michigan Press, 1976).


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