Once again on peasant socialism
by Joseph Green (from Communist Voice #11, Dec. 15, 1996)
Excerpt:
... I should mention that I use the term "democratization" simply because it is widely used, indicates that the general movement doesn't aim at socialism, and indicates an analogy to events in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. I do not advocate that the class-conscious activists will necessarily emblazon "democratization" on their chief banner, only that they have to have a realistic assessment of the coming changes in Mexico and of the bourgeois-democratic nature of the general movement against PRI's political tyranny. Another term might be used for the struggle for political freedom, or since one of the key tasks of communist work will be to mobilize as many workers and poor peasants into struggle for their own social demands, and not only general democratic demands, their banner might well take the increasing economic devastation as a key characterization of the present period.
Does this mean that the class-conscious members of the proletariat and socialist activists should ignore "democratization" and denounce it as a diversion? Not at all. It is in the interest of the proletariat and all the working masses to achieve the maximum of democratic rights, and to destroy as far as possible the system of bureaucratic tutelage that the PRI has exercised over the masses for decades. The bourgeoisie would like to see the present crisis resolved with a miserable liberalization where the main change is simply that PRI alternates in power with some other respectable bourgeois parties, like the right-wing PAN or the reformist PRD. The proletariat must instead take every opportunity to break down the system of police repression and state tutelage that today dogs the mass organizations and struggles of workers, of peasants, and of all sections of the people.
But socialist proletarians cannot restrict their outlook to the general movement against PRI's monopoly. If a socialist movement is really to develop in this period, the communist activists must look to developing independent proletarian organization that will spearhead the class struggle today and the socialist revolution tomorrow. In doing so, they will also strengthen the struggle to topple the PRI regime and other general movements. Real militancy isn't created by a thousand sugary appeals for unity (or even fiery appeals for unity) but by showing the real interests of the different classes in the movement, and by exposing the class reasons why the movement is being restricted at every turn by the reformists.
- (Introduction)
- "Bimodal" agriculture and the agrarian crisis
- Preserving bimodalism
- Eliminating bimodalism
- Class differences among the peasantry
- Distorted development
- The class basis of socialism
- The peasantry as such
- Two visions of the socialist agriculture of the future
- A measure of the progress towards socialism
- Marxism on elimination of peasantry "as peasantry"
- Peasant socialism gives a socialist coloring to democratization
- Communist program for a period of democratization
- Just be militant--a formula for subordinating the movement to the reformist wing of the bourgeoisie
- Ejido socialism
- The ejido
- From Cardenas to Echeverría
- The search for the perfect ejido reform
- Keeping the peasantry on the land
- Factories in the countryside
- Women's rights
- The reality of small-scale production
- Reorganizing the proletarian movement
- Notes