Collaborative list of Left Communist organisations

  1. Blake's Baby
    Blake's Baby
    As the page of Left Communist organisations at http://www.broadleft.org/leftcomm.htm is so hopelessly out of date, I thought it might be useful to collect some at least of the information here. So what follows will be a list of organisations that claim some heritage from the Communist Left, with links to their websites and/or forums.


    Communist Bulletin Group - http://cbg.110mb.com/

    Controversies - http://leftcommunism.org/

    Fraction of the International Communist Left
    - see International Group of the Communist Left

    Insurgent Notes - http://www.insurgentnotes.com/

    International Communist Current - http://en.internationalism.org/

    International Communist Party (Il Communista) - http://www.pcint.org/

    International Communist Party (Il Partito) - http://www.international-communist-party.org/

    International Communist Party (Il Programma) - http://www.partitocomunistainternazi...124&Itemid=156

    International Group of the Communist Left - http://www.fractioncommuniste.org/en...tion_igcl.html

    Internationalist Communist Tendency - http://www.leftcom.org/en

    Internationalist Communists - Klasbatalo - see International Group of the Communist Left

    Internationalist Perspectives - http://internationalist-perspective..../ip-index.html

    Internationalist Voice - http://internationalist.ueuo.com/en/english.htm

    KpK (Kolektivne proti kapitalu)- http://protikapitalu.org/?cat=2

    Left Communist Group (Korea) - http://cafe.daum.net/leftcommunist (this appears to be mostly in Korean but does include some English texts)

    Mouvement Communiste - http://mouvement-communiste.com/Pres...on.php?lang=EN

    n+1 - http://www.quinterna.org/lingue/english/0_english.htm

    TPTG - http://www.tapaidiatisgalarias.org/?page_id=105

    Not an organisation but a forum: http://leftcommunistnetwork.freeforums.org/ - this has now been deleted from freeforums as there wasn't enough traffic on it.

    Not an organisation as such but a website and magazine:
    http://www.freecommunism.org/

    I've only included links to the English-speaking sites or forums for those organisations publishing in more than one language, except for groups (like the Left Communist Group from Korea) where there are some English texts published on a substantially non-English forum. If anyone can think of other groups to add to these list (I'm sure I must have missed a good many), or know of URLs to add to the organisations I've not managed to post a link to, please post below. I shall endeavour to add new groups and sites to the list, to keep it usable both for those of us who have some familiarity with organisations of the communist left, and those who are coming to Left Communism afresh.

    I've also added the Left Communist Network forum. It isn't an organisation, but it is a forum where all Left Communists can discuss. A bit like this group is supposed to be, but (because RevLeft is somewhat prone to banning people) one where hopefully more people can participate.

    I've also added a link to the journal 'Free Communist'. It isn't specifically Left Communist but certainly draws on both the Dutch/German and Italian Lefts.

    Update: I've added a note to the effect that the Left Communist Network forum has now disappeared. Apparently, there was no posting on it since September and the forum software automatically deletes forums that have no posts for three months.

    Latest update: 27/12/14
  2. Leo
    Leo
    Aufheben - best I can manage for this is the facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aufheb...035201?sk=wall
    I don't think Aufheben can be considered a left communist organization.

    Communist Bulletin Group - CBG site seems to be down at the moment; at least, I can't access it
    I think the CBG dissolved itself recently.
  3. Искра
    Nice. Shame that most of leftcom's don't develop their websites.
  4. Blake's Baby
    Blake's Baby
    I don't think Aufheben can be considered a left communist organization.
    In my original post I said 'organisations that claim some heritage of the communist left'. I think that applies to Aufheben, as much as Internationalist Perspectives for instance. But, if someone from Aufheben wants to object to me including their name, I'll be happy to take it down. Likewise the members of any other group, I'll take them down if they object to being on the list; but I'm not going to take out Group A on the objection of someone from Group B.



    I think the CBG dissolved itself recently.
    I think it dissolved itself in 1993. But it also put its old texts online, re-established itself (in part at least) as a discussion group (CBG-DG) in 2009, and I believe members were attending meetings as such as recently as the first half of this year. If the CBG-DG dissolved more recently than that, I haven't noticed. The point of including the CBG wasn't to link to a forum (as they don't, and never did, have one as far as I know) but to their archive of articles.
  5. SHORAS
    SHORAS
    Nice. Shame that most of leftcom's don't develop their websites.
    I'm not really sure what you mean by develop but I think the ICC website is excellent. The amount of literature on there is fantastic. They constantly update the site with new material, they have recently added a forum which I wish more people would use and their theory and introductory sections are great.

    Some of the other sites are poor though and I wish the ICT would update their site, I don't go on there that much simply because I find it difficult to navigate and explore. Other Left Com sites I don't really bother with, they just seem to be even smaller minorities reproducing even smaller amount of literature based around the same kinds of things. There's a lot of duplication going on and not only in Left Com circles.

    As for aufheben, I think this is their home:
    http://libcom.org/aufheben
  6. Leo
    Leo
    In my original post I said 'organisations that claim some heritage of the communist left'. I think that applies to Aufheben, as much as Internationalist Perspectives for instance. But, if someone from Aufheben wants to object to me including their name, I'll be happy to take it down. Likewise the members of any other group, I'll take them down if they object to being on the list; but I'm not going to take out Group A on the objection of someone from Group B.
    This has got nothing to do with the organization I am a member of. Aufheben has no history with the ICC and the I have no ax to grind against them because I am an ICC militant.

    I think Internationalist Perspectives definitely qualifies and they can't in any way be compared to Aufheben. Here's how Aufheben describes itself: Our influences included the Italian autonomia movement of 1969-77, the situationists, and others who took Marx's work as a basic starting point and used it to develop the communist project beyond the anti-proletarian dogmatisms of Leninism (in all its varieties) and to reflect the current state of the class struggle. We also recognized the moment of truth in versions of class struggle anarchism, the German and Italian lefts and other tendencies. In developing proletarian theory we needed to go beyond all these past movements at the same time as we developed them - just as they had done with previous revolutionary movements.

    Nevertheless, I would not have bothered to object to them being put on the list here, had it not come out that one of their leading members consults for the police. Given that Aufheben's main reaction was to defend this member as well as his action, saying it would have looked weird if he didn't consult for the police for professional reasons, and slander the group which brought this out, which incidentally happens to be a left communist group proper, the TPTG. Their very detailed study of the case can be read on their website, which should be included in the list above anyway: http://www.tapaidiatisgalarias.org/?page_id=105

    I think it dissolved itself in 1993. But it also put its old texts online, re-established itself (in part at least) as a discussion group (CBG-DG) in 2009, and I believe members were attending meetings as such as recently as the first half of this year. If the CBG-DG dissolved more recently than that, I haven't noticed. The point of including the CBG wasn't to link to a forum (as they don't, and never did, have one as far as I know) but to their archive of articles.
    I think they dissolved recently again, and started posting individually on Libcom as the "ex-CBG".

    They may have put their website down, or they may have simply ceased maintaining it - I don't know which.
  7. Blake's Baby
    Blake's Baby
    This has got nothing to do with the organization I am a member of. Aufheben has no history with the ICC and the I have no ax to grind against them because I am an ICC militant..

    I didn't say you (or the ICC) did have an axe to grind, Leo; all I said was that I wasn't going to take one group off the list on the basis that someone from another group didn't think they qualified. I'm putting up groups that claim some heritage from the historic groups of the communist left. Not all of them necessarily would be defined by other people as 'left communist groups'. That list would be very small, as, for instance, the ICC has in the past declared itself the only pole of regroupment left, and the ICT (or, at least one of its militants) has declared that it is the only pole of regroupment left... it's arguable that a list of groups that all groups considered to be 'left communist' might consist of no entries at all.


    ...
    I think Internationalist Perspectives definitely qualifies ...

    ...except they have in the last 2 years or so begun to 're-evaluate' their position 'with regard to Left Communism'. That was what one of their members said at a meeting I was at when I referred to them being a group of the communist left. It seems that their left communism is somewhat more nuanced than that of, for instance, the ICC or ICT. But I'm including them because they have some heritage of the communist left, as do Aufheben, as the following quote shows.

    ...and they can't in any way be compared to Aufheben. Here's how Aufheben describes itself: Our influences included the Italian autonomia movement of 1969-77, the situationists, and others who took Marx's work as a basic starting point and used it to develop the communist project beyond the anti-proletarian dogmatisms of Leninism (in all its varieties) and to reflect the current state of the class struggle. We also recognized the moment of truth in versions of class struggle anarchism, the German and Italian lefts and other tendencies. In developing proletarian theory we needed to go beyond all these past movements at the same time as we developed them - just as they had done with previous revolutionary movements...
    Seems to me that it's reasonable to regard Aufheben and Internationalist Perspectives as being similar; groups with some orientation to the communist left as well as other theoretical currents.

    ...Nevertheless, I would not have bothered to object to them being put on the list here, had it not come out that one of their leading members consults for the police. Given that Aufheben's main reaction was to defend this member as well as his action, saying it would have looked weird if he didn't consult for the police for professional reasons, and slander the group which brought this out, which incidentally happens to be a left communist group proper, the TPTG. Their very detailed study of the case can be read on their website, which should be included in the list above anyway: http://www.tapaidiatisgalarias.org/?page_id=105...
    I will put TPTG on the list. I admit I haven't followed the Aufheben affair on LibCom closely, so I have little idea what it's about. My understanding (which may be erroneous) was that the Aufheben member's name was included on the relevent report by academics where he works even though it's claimed he didn't write any of it. That may not be true of course. But it's what I had picked up from my own brief reading of the LibCom threads.

    TPTG do have a link to Aufheben on their site, however. But I'm happy to consider removing Aufheben from this list if comrades think there's grounds for doing so. I suppose I'm asking, do other comrades think Aufheben is beyond the pale?

    ...I think they dissolved recently again, and started posting individually on Libcom as the "ex-CBG".
    I hadn't noticed that on LibCom; if it is the case it is a shame.

    ...They may have put their website down, or they may have simply ceased maintaining it - I don't know which.
    No, me neither. I still can't access it - http://cbg.110mb.com/ - and have no notion what's going on. I suppose it may even be a problem with my computer.
  8. Leo
    Leo
    I didn't say you (or the ICC) did have an axe to grind, Leo; all I said was that I wasn't going to take one group off the list on the basis that someone from another group didn't think they qualified. I'm putting up groups that claim some heritage from the historic groups of the communist left. Not all of them necessarily would be defined by other people as 'left communist groups'. That list would be very small, as, for instance, the ICC has in the past declared itself the only pole of regroupment left
    This is actually not true, the ICC did not declare itself to be anything as such. For a while this was more or less how the situation was evaluated by the ICC internally, but the ICC never said anything like this is public. The reason it came into public knowledge is because it was leaked out recently by a former member of the ICC after he left the organization (the founder of Controversies, in fact) to pit the ICT against the ICC. The ICC did reevaluate the situation and has reversed the previous one.

    ...except they have in the last 2 years or so begun to 're-evaluate' their position 'with regard to Left Communism'. That was what one of their members said at a meeting I was at when I referred to them being a group of the communist left. It seems that their left communism is somewhat more nuanced than that of, for instance, the ICC or ICT. But I'm including them because they have some heritage of the communist left, as do Aufheben, as the following quote shows.
    The Internationalist Perspectives is a council communist (sort of) group, and unlike Aufheben, the Communist Left is the only heritage they claim (they don't claim any heritage to Italian Autonomism, the Situationists, anarchists etc. etc.), although their left communism is more nuanced than that of the ICC or the ICT.

    Seems to me that it's reasonable to regard Aufheben and Internationalist Perspectives as being similar; groups with some orientation to the communist left as well as other theoretical currents.
    In regards to the number of theoretical groups Aufheben claims some orientation towards, they can be compared with the Anarchist Federation in England. The AF also claims to be influenced by the communist left, especially the German Left.

    I will put TPTG on the list. I admit I haven't followed the Aufheben affair on LibCom closely, so I have little idea what it's about. My understanding (which may be erroneous) was that the Aufheben member's name was included on the relevent report by academics where he works even though it's claimed he didn't write any of it. That may not be true of course. But it's what I had picked up from my own brief reading of the LibCom threads.
    The mentioned individual had stated his involvement in radical politics in his personal/professional blog and quoted Aufheben in his academic work - it wasn't like they grassed him out.

    In regards to the academic articles which the TPTG and others are politically criticizing, the man claims he didn't write the articles, just signed them with his name. Whether he wrote them or not, I think if one takes credit for something, they should also take the shit for it.

    The main issue however is that this man has an organic relationship with the police, giving them regular consultation, and that Aufheben is defending this.

    TPTG do have a link to Aufheben on their site, however.
    Yes, they had no ax to grind against Aufheben themselves before they found about this incident.

    I hadn't noticed that on LibCom; if it is the case it is a shame.
    Knowing that there is only three of them in a single city who have been politically together for the last however many years, I actually think its pretty good for them. They are still in touch with each other I think, its not like they had a split or something. I think some of them have been in contact with the ICC for a while.

    No, me neither. I still can't access it - http://cbg.110mb.com/ - and have no notion what's going on. I suppose it may even be a problem with my computer.
    I can't access it either.
  9. Android
    Android
    As far as categorising groups etc. I think the label 'left-communist' summons a very small number of groups under its banner. There is an alternative way of categorising the broad ultra-left that I will outline before, taken from the libcom.org user ocelot.

    paleo ultra-left: that currents that developed within various national sections of the Comintern against its rightward trajectory. The most well being the Italian, German-Dutch, Russian and British lefts.

    meso ultra-left: essentially those currents that emerged in the period after WW2 that broke with Trotskyism (Jamesians, Marxist-Humanists, SouB and Solidarity (UK)) or developed to its left without locating themselves within the communist left (Situationists)

    neo ultra-left: the political and theoretical developments that occurred in the aftermath - principally in France - whereby writers and groups coming from the historical communist left (paleo ultra left) tradition developed a critique of that tradition. Present day examples of this trend are in different ways - Gilles Dauve, Theorie Communiste, Aufheben, Endnotes etc.

    Obviously to map present groups and individuals onto such a categorisation is not straightforward and is a bit arbitrary, since a lot of groups in the third category tend to be a bit eclectic.

    As far as the discussion about groups previously mentioned

    Aufheben - I would not call them 'left-communist' for the reasons Leo has already given and plus I don't think they would identify as such.

    CBG/CBDG - I was not aware that they had dissolved again. I know they are still politically engaged, one of them keeps in regular with the CWO as far as I know.

    IP - I don't think they can be described as 'council communist' or 'left communist'. I think they are a sort hybrid of neo-Bordigism and neo ultra-left. Neo-Bordigist, in that there analysis of capitalist decadence is heavily focused on the transition from the formal to real domination of capital and subsumption of labour. Neo ultra-left, in that they take a very critical view of the Comintern, Bolsheviks etc as well the fact that they are proponents of the value-form reading of Marx which is largely a post-68 development even if it has its roots in some writers in the 1920s.

    Leo, a question - from some of your recent posts on libcom.org that you implly (or state) that you have had contact with TPTG. I had a discussion recently where a couple of comrades were saying that were 'situationist', I always thoughts they were more generally 'ultra-left'. How do they identify politically themselves. Although they have a situish name I didn't think they were?
  10. Leo
    Leo
    Leo, a question - from some of your recent posts on libcom.org that you implly (or state) that you have had contact with TPTG. I had a discussion recently where a couple of comrades were saying that were 'situationist', I always thoughts they were more generally 'ultra-left'. How do they identify politically themselves. Although they have a situish name I didn't think they were?
    They identify themselves as left communists and as the communist wing of the anti-authoritarian milieu in Greece. They also say that they don't deny they have been influenced by the situationists and anarchism.
  11. Искра
    TGTP are great. I enjoy reading their articles on Greek situation and economy/crisis/stuff.
  12. Искра
    btw. what about these guys? http://www.blaumachen.gr/
  13. Niccolò Rossi
    Internationalist Communists of Montreal: http://internationalistcommunistsmontreal.blogspot.com/
  14. Leo
    Leo
    btw. what about these guys? http://www.blaumachen.gr/
    More councilist/modernist from what I hear. Never met them. They're based in ThessalonÃ*ki whereas the TPTG is based in Athens.

    Given the direction our organization is going, I should add it:
    Still too soon, not quite there yet, I think.
  15. Niccolò Rossi
    Fraction of the International Communist Left (Formerly External Fraction of the ICC): http://fractioncommuniste.org/

    Website is in French but they translate theyre bulletins into English
  16. Niccolò Rossi
    There are actually two different fractions I've had contact with. One split from the other after the name change a year or so ago. I can't recall which is which although I've had contact with both. Anyone who knows more on this please feel free to clarify.
  17. Niccolò Rossi
    Groups like Against Wage might be worth bringing to attention: http://againstwage.com/

    They have some sort of Iranian connection. They're based in Iran or...? Dev, could you clarify this again for me?
  18. Niccolò Rossi
    Communist Bulletin Group - http://cbg.110mb.com/ - CBG site seems to be down at the moment; at least, I can't access it; and it may be that the CBG discussion group, active at least untill early 2011, has disbanded
    Fuck, they had all theyre old bulletins in PDF format and letters and other really good materials on that website. I think I have some saved on my hard drive but its a loss to have their website off the net.
  19. Android
    Android
    FICL - split after the others in the Internal Fraction of the ICC wanted to discontinue their activity. At least that is what I remember someone saying to me. 'External Fraction' was the original name of what became the IP group.

    'Against Wage-Labour' group - are a exile group plus supporters is my impression, based in Norway and Toronto, Canada.
  20. Blake's Baby
    Blake's Baby
    Given the direction our organization is going, I should add it:

    Workers Party in America -- http://www.workers-party.com
    I'm sorry Miles, given the democratism I see in the party's statements of principles and such like, I don't think I'll be adding it any time soon.

    Fraction of the International Communist Left (Formerly External Fraction of the ICC): http://fractioncommuniste.org/

    ...

    Internationalist Communists of Montreal: http://internationalistcommunistsmontreal.blogspot.com/
    Now added to main list, thanks Niccolò

    I've not added 'Against Wage-Labour' as I can't see anything that would suggest that they identify with the traditions of the Communist Left (even less so, perhaps, than Aufheben), even though there seems to be a certain commonality of positions. I haven't examined the site in great detail though, and this list will always be a work in progress. I'm happy to discuss the inclusion of any group that comrdes might think qualifies.
  21. Android
    Android
    Re CB(D)G - I asked one of them and he told me that the website is down, they are looking into and that in Aberdeen they hold weekly discussion meetings.

    More a technical issue then the dissolution of the group it seems.
  22. Devrim
    Devrim
    Groups like Against Wage might be worth bringing to attention: http://againstwage.com/

    They have some sort of Iranian connection. They're based in Iran or...? Dev, could you clarify this again for me?
    There are a lot of Iranian groups about. I think the 'Against Wage' has its origins in the Worker Communist party of Iran, but seems to have gone beyond being an 'exile group'. I think they are based in Canada and Sweden, as well as having some people in Iran.

    Devrim
  23. sabotage
    sabotage
    What about Mouvement Communiste and Kolektivne proti kapitalu?
  24. Blake's Baby
    Blake's Baby
    I don't know, what about them? Are you suggesting them for inclusion as Left Communist groups? Do you have links to their sites or forums?
  25. sabotage
    sabotage
    I don't know, what about them? Are you suggesting them for inclusion as Left Communist groups? Do you have links to their sites or forums?
    http://protikapitalu.org/
    http://mouvement-communiste.com/
  26. Android
    Android
    MC as far as I know came out of French operaismo and people who split from the GCI in Belgium. I would not say they are 'left-communist' using the strict definition of relation to the historical communist left. But they do share common positons with the communist left on opposition to trade-unionism, nationalism and parliamentarism.

    KPK developed out of a split from the neo-platformist group that existed in the Czech Republic. Like MC they hold communist positions.
  27. Blake's Baby
    Blake's Baby
    Is there anyone from either of those groups that posts on here, does anyone know?

    From what Android says, it seems unlikely that the KpK group would claim either to be or even to be particularly influenced by the communist left. But I'll add Mouvement Communiste to the list at the top. As always I'm happy to consult on whether to add or remove things.
  28. Android
    Android
    I did not think any member of MC or KPK posts on RevLeft. At least two members of KPK post on libcom.org - 'Jura' and 'guadia'. Jura posts quite frequently as well.

    IIRC Devrim has met members of both groups.

    To be honest, I think you can't include MC and exclude KPK since they are pretty much sister groups today, i.e. they engage in joint activity and publish material together.
  29. Leo
    Leo
    But I'm happy to consider removing Aufheben from this list if comrades think there's grounds for doing so. I suppose I'm asking, do other comrades think Aufheben is beyond the pale?
    Well, one other person said such so far and no one else commented. What's going to happen with this? What do people think?
  30. Kadir Ateş
    Insurgent Notes - http://www.insurgentnotes.com/
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