The New Left?

[btpound]

Can someone explain to me what Left Communism and Libertarian Marxism is?

[bailey_187]

I will leave it to the Left Communists to explain, but "the New Left" is not neccesarily Left Communist - many are Trots, Maoists etc

[The Ungovernable Farce]

Yeah, I'd agree that the New Left, libertarian Marxism and left communism are three different things.

Basically, the New Left = catch-all term for a variety of new movements that arose in the 60s, ranging from fairly straightforward Maoism, to useless academic bollocks, to genuinely useful and inspiring stuff.

Libertarian Marxism = a variety of currents like the Situationists, council communists and autonomists. I think it's probably fair to say that most if not all of them reject Leninism, the idea of a vanguard party, and the idea of a workers' state. Fairly close to anarchism.

Left Communism = identify to some extent with Leninism. Very hard-line communists that reject all collaboration with the ruling class and see trade unions and national liberation struggles as counter-revolutionary, but still usually defend the vanguard party and the idea that a workers' state will be necessary after the revolution (but oppose all the regimes that've been set up claiming to be that state).

Is that any help? Sorry if I presumed too much knowledge.

[StoneFrog]

Isn't Libertarian Marxism same as Left Communism?

In short what i have come to believe is that Left Communism consists of more self management of the workers rather than workers being organized through the party and unions. Different Left-commies will have different takes on the parties roll, but i think all agree that the use of unions will lead to harming the revolution, and fall back into a capitalist roll. The workers would organize not in unions, but worker councils, class consciousness is what will lead the revolution. The Left-Communists where opposed to the USSR and the regime of the vanguard party.

[The Ungovernable Farce]

Isn't Libertarian Marxism same as Left Communism?

In short what i have come to believe is that Left Communism consists of more self management of the workers rather than workers being organized through the party and unions. Different Left-commies will have different takes on the parties roll, but i think all agree that the use of unions will lead to harming the revolution, and fall back into a capitalist roll. The workers would organize not in unions, but worker councils, class consciousness is what will lead the revolution. The Left-Communists where opposed to the USSR and the regime of the vanguard party.
As I understand it, left commies don't see the terms "libertarian" and "authoritarian" as having any meaning (I think they're wrong on this one). And libertarian Marxism is more of an umbrella term - council communists and autonomists might see themselves as lib Marxists but not left commies, for instance.

[Sasha]

wrong thread

[mikelepore]

........ more self management of the workers rather than workers being organized through the party and unions .........

The distinction is lost on me. Are the workers expected to build a new computer spontaneously -- rather than having some kind of organization or institution in which they call meetings to decide how to build the new computer? I don't get the point.

[Soldier of life]

Do left communists believe the transitory stage of a workers' state is necessary?

[[email protected] War]

Can someone explain to me what Left Communism and Libertarian Marxism is?

The New Left is the term used generally referring to a wave of people who left the Community Party in 1956 (not the first wave and not the last) as a result of the Russian invasion of Hungary. This is the group of people including EP THompson, Raymond Williams, and others. There were a series of attempts to rethink Marxism in more libertarian terms against the Stalinist/Trot/Leninist/Maoist party forms, though as already been said on this thread these groups became to be labelled New Left by the media.

The New Left became an umbrella term for the 1968 movement around the world. After 1956 the New Left became involved in CND, EP Thompson certainly thought that the threat of imminent world nuclear catastrophe overrode simplistic, authoritarian and essentialist views of the working class being the sole target of politics. In short humanism demanded that a cross class alliance form against the threat of annihilation (so there are parallels with today, climate change assuming a similar role to Nuclear weapons).

This was to become socialist humanism, and/or Marxist Humanism - a wide ranging and global movement of different groups and individuals (Inc. Eg. Praxis in Yugoslavia). There were a couple of libertarian magazines, which became the Universities and Left review, which eventually became "The New Left Review" in approx. 1961 (still publishing today, huge and interesting back catalogue on the web but only available to subscribers, for students its £25 a year which is worth it IMHO).

The New Left was against the ultra left (left communists) for being too unimaginative, conservative, and unrealistic, failing to take into consideration the vastly important arena of culture (Raymond Williams, then Stuart Hall et al, and the hugely influential cultural/sub cultural movement). The New Left said being in the unions was not enough, neither was rejection of unions. We have to push in all spheres, organising within unions and using extra union activity where necessary. It widened the scope of definitions of class too.

The Left communists haven't changed their essential theory/practice for 80 years, they have no understanding of praxis, and that is sad politics without excuses, as bad as what the USSR became before the fall of the wall.

If you are interested further you can message me privately or publically, and perhaps you could read Kenny and his book 'The New Left'.

[Sasha]

^ kinda same in the netherlands, the PSP (socialist pacifist party) was formed as an acceptable alternative for the CPN (dutch comunist party) who refused to condemn the invasion in hungary.

they became pretty big in the 60's and 70's only to fuse with the progresive remnants of the CPN in the progresive liberal "green left" later.

[#FF0000]

Do left communists believe the transitory stage of a workers' state is necessary?

Yes.