Communism in Africa and "Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin Movement"?

[punisa]

That is actually the name of the political (communist) party in Botswana.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx,_Engels,_Lenin,_Stalin_Movement
You have to agree that the name is catchy :thumbup1:

Does anyone know more about this particular party? Or other communist parties in Africa?
We rarely discuss these and I'd like to learn more about it.
Perhaps some links or important party lists?

[bricolage]

Depends what you mean by communism.
Take South Africa for example. There is a party there called the South African Communist Party, some people might say they are communist and are fighting for communism, I would say they are a reformist, oppressive wing of capital and offer no hope. I would say that Abahlali baseMjondolo, a shackdwellers movement operating in South Africa under the ideals of a 'politics of the poor' and a 'living communism' are fighting for communism here and now. Others will say they are not, that they are just a bunch of shackdwellers. Such is the problematic.

If however you are just after a list of parties with communist in the name I'm sure you can find that pretty easy, for example; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_communist_parties

[vuntean]

Hallo!
I will collect information about Communist parties in all lands.
Look here: google Форум Движения "17 марта" компартии
Languages are English and Russian.
For exemple, a theme about Botswana is here: google Форум Движения "17 марта" Ботсвана
Other themes you may search by the forum Alphabeth card google Форум Движения "17 марта" Карта форума
(if you know a Russian alphabeth).
Thanks for any information.

[daft punk]

Stalinist parties are not communist. Stalin got rid of all the communists in Russia.

[Tim Cornelis]

South African Communist Party are fucking idiots.

The Abahlali baseMjondolo made road blocks against the bourgeois ANC, and the CP denounced it as "anarchist and reactionary". Idiots.

But then again, the same pattern can be seen in Greece, and whatnot, so it's not exclusive to that particular party.

[Ocean Seal]

Stalinist parties are not communist. Stalin got rid of all the communists in Russia.
Can you contribute a bit more than a sectarian bit of commentary that we've all heard before? Or is it that you don't support the victories of the proletariat just because a party upholds "Stalin". Stalin, Trotsky, and everone's favorite heroes are all dead and chances are during the revolution we won't have any of the old tendencies reigning, seriously. Learn to understand and appreciate what was done in the past but don't obsess over it.

[hatzel]

The best thing about this thread is clicking a little link on the cited Wiki-article and finding myself a little lol:


The International Socialists Botswana (ISBO) is a small Botswanian Trotskyist organisation. It is part of the International Socialist Tendency and produces a newspaper called Socialism from Below.

They have campaigned over workers rights, particularly the workers sacked from the Debswana mine (a DeBeers and Government of Botswana partnership). They also support the Basarwa/Bushmen in their resistance against forced relocation by the Botswana Government out of their ancestral land, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

They are the only Botswanian political group who publish a regular newspaper.Ohoho, them Trots, always the same anywhere they go! :lol:

On a more serious note I'll quote that article again, this time with different emphasis:


The International Socialists Botswana (ISBO) is a small Botswanian Trotskyist organisation. It is part of the International Socialist Tendency and produces a newspaper called Socialism from Below.

They have campaigned over workers rights, particularly the workers sacked from the Debswana mine (a DeBeers and Government of Botswana partnership). They also support the Basarwa/Bushmen in their resistance against forced relocation by the Botswana Government out of their ancestral land, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

They are the only Botswanian political group who publish a regular newspaper.I don't know about 'communism,' but I know that African anarchism is often to be found in these kinds of movements defending indigenous autonomy and so on (which often intersects with preserving non- or less hierarchical forms of society, resisting integration into Western societal structures). Or, as has already been mentioned, groups like Abahlali baseMjondolo. There would be almost no possibility of similar groups emerging in Europe, for obvious reasons. At the same time, however, European-style leftist groups, all clamouring for the urban proletariat or whatever, wouldn't have quite as much resonance in Africa, where the peasantry and these traditional tribesmen (for want of a better word) still play a more significant role; 'the Movement' must be sought in different places in such a different sociopolitical climate as Africa, and one should not expect carbon-copies of European communist parties to spring up. Those that do are inevitably banished to irrelevance and obscurity.

EDIT: haha only just realised how unbelievably necroed this was!

[kuros]

Like most stalinist movements, i dont believe it is genuine communism.