The pre-war SPD was the German working class for itself. The SFIO was the French working class for itself.
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Late 19th Century Militancy
It's generally accepted that class struggle fluctuates on a national level according to the nature of class struggle internationally. In turn it is possible to point to eras of militancy and intensified struggle, such as;
- Post WW1 (Russian Revolution, German Revolution, Biennio Rosso)
- Late 1960s/1970s (May 68, Winter of Discontent, Hot Autumn)
Note: I know these are very Eurocentric example, I'm confident there were strike waves and proto-revolutionary situations outside of Europe in this time period... I just don't know what they wereAs a side note some of these examples would be great...
However what I really wanted to talk about was the late 19th Century, 1870s/1880s and so forth. Obviously this is the time period in which the First International is born (and subsequently dies) and of course features the Paris Commune, I also know it was when there was a series of mass strikes across the United States. That being said I'm wondering if anyone knows of heightened class struggle in this time period taking place in any other places?
Cheers.
I'm bound to stay
Where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk
That invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
The pre-war SPD was the German working class for itself. The SFIO was the French working class for itself.
"A new centrist project does not have to repeat these mistakes. Nobody in this topic is advocating a carbon copy of the Second International (which again was only partly centrist)." (Tjis, class-struggle anarchist)
"A centrist strategy is based on patience, and building a movement or party or party-movement through deploying various instruments, which I think should include: workplace organising, housing struggles [...] and social services [...] and a range of other activities such as sports and culture. These are recruitment and retention tools that allow for a platform for political education." (Tim Cornelis, left-communist)
Ahem, that's not really what I was after.
I'm bound to stay
Where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk
That invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
A ghost party. Huge membership, insanely low number of activists. Plus, they were very "speak revolution, act reformist." If anything, they only provided a sub-culture of entertainment (picnics, choirs/bands/orchestras, festivals, etc.) It's surprising people like Luxemburg stuck with them as long as she did and provided teaching in their schools.
I saw millions of people working.
Not for themselves but for someone else.
I saw millions of people doing.
Not what they themselves want to do.
But what someone else wants them to do.
- One-Eyed God Prophecy
I'm pretty sure their party bureaucracy was much bigger than "insanely low," unless you don't count the full-time, paid officials as "activists."
I've contested this stereotypical portrayal before.
"A new centrist project does not have to repeat these mistakes. Nobody in this topic is advocating a carbon copy of the Second International (which again was only partly centrist)." (Tjis, class-struggle anarchist)
"A centrist strategy is based on patience, and building a movement or party or party-movement through deploying various instruments, which I think should include: workplace organising, housing struggles [...] and social services [...] and a range of other activities such as sports and culture. These are recruitment and retention tools that allow for a platform for political education." (Tim Cornelis, left-communist)
