Die Neue Zeit
29th January 2008, 05:25
First of all, I would like to say that I am aware of the anarchist origins of "platformism," with all the surprisingly constructive discussion on the "platformist tradition" in the Anarchists user group (and if any anarchists wish to chime in here on what I'm about to say, feel free to do so), but I also have a Leninist-Marxist precedent here.
Now, my question concerns the word "factionalism." Is it still OK to use that word, and even the organization revolving around that word, in revolutionary organizations (including the communist "party of power" in the future (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1055546&postcount=44)) - or has that word become a joke because of trends in bourgeois politics (the notorious factionalism of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Democratic_Party_(Japan)#Factions) comes to mind)?
[Of course, I'm aware of Stalinist and Maoist objections to the organization involved in intra-party factionalism.]
Would it be appropriate for current and future revolutionary organizations to appropriate the word "platformism" in describing healthy debate within (while trying to prevent, as much as possible, fossilized intra-party divides)? After all, the Leninist-Marxist precedent came in the form of none other than Lenin's own "Platform of the Ten (http://books.google.com/books?id=_ztHKlN_ObwC&pg=PA368&lpg=PA368&dq=lenin+%22platform+of+the+ten%22+kalinin&source=web&ots=HOZ6kxK1nR&sig=_62M2uc36MVzUvAdZEASnUPSPw4)."
Now, my question concerns the word "factionalism." Is it still OK to use that word, and even the organization revolving around that word, in revolutionary organizations (including the communist "party of power" in the future (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1055546&postcount=44)) - or has that word become a joke because of trends in bourgeois politics (the notorious factionalism of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Democratic_Party_(Japan)#Factions) comes to mind)?
[Of course, I'm aware of Stalinist and Maoist objections to the organization involved in intra-party factionalism.]
Would it be appropriate for current and future revolutionary organizations to appropriate the word "platformism" in describing healthy debate within (while trying to prevent, as much as possible, fossilized intra-party divides)? After all, the Leninist-Marxist precedent came in the form of none other than Lenin's own "Platform of the Ten (http://books.google.com/books?id=_ztHKlN_ObwC&pg=PA368&lpg=PA368&dq=lenin+%22platform+of+the+ten%22+kalinin&source=web&ots=HOZ6kxK1nR&sig=_62M2uc36MVzUvAdZEASnUPSPw4)."