Gramsci

  1. Workers-Control-Over-Prod
    Workers-Control-Over-Prod
    I have come back from the Gramsci weekend Braunschweig and found it rather interesting (never having read Gramsci before). If my interpretations are correct, Gramsci sought to concretise Marx's Capital and explain why the revolutions in Central Europe in 1918-1923 failed. His vague answer is that there is a Hegemony that originates in the form of production, although there was some debate about whether or not he also meant general social hegemony as he also mentions hegemony in the civil life of the "sub-state" (local councils and the like). The interesting thing with Gramsci is that he views Capitalism as always having different evolving forms of the mode of production, and not that a certain mode of production destined to have the same results.

    The vast, overwhelming majority at the conference where Trade-Unionists, popular-movement-ists, and spontaneous-ists, so i did not speak against the main consensus of working with counter-revolutionaries, mainly listened. What was peculiar was that there was very little talk about party building or the question of whether Culture is part of this hegemony (obviously it must, since Hegemony should be a general concept in my opinion), and if yes, what ways to combat it. I feel more confident that the communist party has to take on roles of a mass party and invest into alternative culture now.
  2. Workers-Control-Over-Prod
    Workers-Control-Over-Prod
    Oh yes, by "concretising" Marx's Capital i meant that he further wanted to explore the dialectic between Capital and workers, the State etc. to come to a more concrete analysis in contrast to the abstract, vacuum that Marx gives us in the first volume of Capital. Very interesting, too bad Communists die so soon.
  3. Marxaveli
    Marxaveli
    Culture is definitely part of ruling class hegemony, not even sure how any Marxist of today that is worth a damn can deny this. No surprise though that they didn't talk about culture, since they were in favor of working with counter-revolutionaries, and again, any self respecting Marxist knows that is a big no-no. I think one of the first things workers need to do to create a counter-culture to ruling class hegemony, is starting with politics. Quit voting in bourgeois elections, and stop believing in the false dichotomy of "lesser evilism". But it seems the political problem lies deeper than this, because Americans have been voting for the same two fucking parties for over 200 years now, and shit hasn't changed one bit (well there has been some change, but not through the ballot box). Yet they continue to vote, and they continue to believe in the so-called myth of social mobility. "If you don't vote, you can't complain" rhetoric is a perfect example of how ruling class hegemony is ingrained within capitalist culture. Fuck, I don't know. An alternative culture is definitely needed, but how we go about starting it, well, that is the hard part. I would like to see what some other comrades have to say.
  4. Grenzer
    Grenzer
    Yes, Gramsci is very interesting; but unfortunately his theory of hegemony has often been appropriated by reformists who want to apply a class collaborationist spin on it. I find a lot to like about his works, and I agree that really only a mass party can achieve the hegemonic support needed for revolution.
  5. Workers-Control-Over-Prod
    Workers-Control-Over-Prod
    Rosa'sDream:
    An alternative culture is definitely needed, but how we go about starting it, well, that is the hard part. I would like to see what some other comrades have to say.
    That is the problem i has at the conference. While debating about this interesting concept of Hegemony and Transition, the vast majority were trade union and movement-ist activists. Unions get millions and millions of Euros and Dollars from worker members to pay for transport cars (nice ones; i have seen them), infrastructure (ver.di [germany's biggest union] has an office floor in a Frankfurt skyline building and many other comfortable houses), bookstores, flag and book printing firms, large meetings with entrees, and last but not least, a bloodsucking bureaucracy.

    Now, i have always been rather ideologically hostile towards unions. The majority of mass unions are bourgeois tools that take a large part of workers salary for their bureaucracy.

    The vanguard party needs to compete with these unions, get workers to give their money to their own class (communists) and not the class enemy (union bureaucracy). The amount of money that unions consume is really incredible. My aunt's Union takes 500 Euros from her paycheck a month and she earns 3,000 a month. I think Ver.Di might make hundreds of millions a year instead of tens of millions.

    The point is, mass Unions are not only reformist allies of the bourgeoisie, but are active tools for Capitalist social dominance.

    If a mass Marxist worker party were to take on roles of wage negotiations and get workers to funnel their money to their own class interest instead of the class enemy, a lot could be possible. That vast amount of money could be used by the party to invest into organizing recreational and cultural events free for the public. In my city there are regular movie nights in the summer where people have to pay 2 Euros per person to sit in a public park and watch movies on a large screen. We could and should compete for such events. We could use party funds to show public movies on weekends that the people can vote for online and have some kind of advertising/machine in the park where people can select which movie should be shown on the weekend.

    There are endless such cultural events to compete with. We would surpass existing events within months because we would have the funds and radical dedication to it. What other political parties actively seek a strategy of building cultural hegemony? Capitalist parties take money and propagate annoying advertisement slogans on the TV and on placards. Private or Capitalist organized events charge money where our events would of course always be gratis.
  6. Workers-Control-Over-Prod
    Workers-Control-Over-Prod
    I just mentioned the cinema event in my city, there are countless other cultural events: concerts (that my youth organization is always organizing), art displays, dances, flower gardens, theater plays. We would not only rely on public spaces once we have enough money however, party owned infrastructure would develop (strategically in poor parts of town mind you).

    Of course sports infrastructure could be donated and recreational events organized. There are skateboard-rinks here that certainly lack ramps and the like (infrastructure donated and events organized later); the public park fields are blatantly missing footbal goals and volleyball nets; basketball courts around here look so empty, mostly children are practicing by themselves and the courts could certainly do with a restoration; same with the football fields, often there are just teams of two against three and the grass looks despicable, there should be made a plaque with public meet playing schedules and maybe a sprinkler system is missing; ad infinitum etc. etc.

    What i would add is that there should be bonuses for people joining the party. Free children's Winter vacation weekends for members should be advertised in the poor parts of town; gratis sports products made available for new youth group members (football, shirts, shorts etc.); priviliged access to party infrastructure at public off times should be granted; party edition classic Marxist book selections should be given gratis to new members; low-cost day care centers should be set up for parent worker members; basic necessities for children should be always available from the party; summa summarum, there should be visible gains for party members. If the party grows to a considerable size of a couple of million expenditures a year, party membership will take on a social dimension.