Hello comrades! Background: I have been having many discussions with comrades lately concerning the role of communist revolutionaries today. There have been many important questions raised. Perhaps more threads will be started addressing those, maybe with some collaboration between some of us (Nic!). However, a phrase that keeps coming up in discussion is this notion of revolutionaries living in a "closed" period of struggle rather than an "open" one. Question: Is it safe to make the distinction between a so-called "open" period of struggle, and a "closed" one? Have any historical currents, or theorists, in the communist movement ever subscribed to this distinction? What factors determine these distinctions in any given period? Personal Comments: I've used the term quite a bit myself. It was a convenient way for me to throw all my proverbial eggs into one basket and get my point across in conversation. But since I've really been tackling some of the previously mentioned issues, I decided that it was a umbrella term and I should try and understand what was meant by it...viola!
Am I in left field with this one? Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Am I in left field with this one? Anyone know what I'm talking about? I think your question is a perfectly valid one. Personally I don't have the answers to your questions. Just give a little time, I'm sure others may want to use the weekend to respond.
ok haha sry. just makin sure someone was still out there..
Hi I1988. Maybe it would help if you gave some examples of 'open and closed' periods of struggle. What kind of timescales are you thinking of? There are obviously long-term periods of revolution and counter-revolution -- and the turning points in-between. In the ICC we have the conception of the 'historic course' which depends on the balance of forces between the two historic classes, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Classically, the two extremes have been socialism or barbarism, either the course of history is towards class confrontations or imperialist war. This article here is quite long but gives a very good explanation of what we mean by the historic course. On the other hand there are also shorter periods of advance or retreat within these larger epochs. For example, while we see the counter-revolution drawing to a close at the end of the 1960s, there was a great retreat in class consciousness and combativity after the collapse of the Eastern bloc in the early 1990s, which has took the class some 10 years to shake off. Also, I'm trying to get a grip on what you think the consequences are for revolutionaries of being in periods of 'open' or 'closed' struggle. could you shed some light on your thinking on this? B.
Comrade(s), I just read the first couple of paragraphs to the link you provided. Sorry I haven't been online lately..my computer was messed up and I had to save some money to fix it....(tell jg ill send a reply to the email soon) ANYWAYS Now that I understand the underlying concepts...let me ask a question. Are we in an "open" period now? Are we entering one? Feels like it to me..
Yes - we think that there is a general revival of class struggle since 2003 or so, within a more general period in which the working class has not been decisively defeated
