Leftism

En el presente trabajo nos acercaremos desde la historia cultural de forma sucinta al poco conocido
folleto gráfico Reconstruyendo nuestro cerebro publicado por el hijo de uno de los más importantes
ideólogos del indianismo latinoamericano, Fausto Reinaga, Ramiro “Wankar” Reinaga en 1979, con el fin
de problematizar sobre el concepto de “indianización”, usado por Wankar en el texto, y que da razón de
una forma de aculturación del indio moderno y urbano a través del influjo de la cultura de masas.
Nuestra intención problematizante está entonces inspirada por la peculiaridad de esta propuesta desde
el indianismo, que dialoga fundamentalmente con la producción literaria, musical y cinematográfica de
su época así como con ideologías modernas como las derivadas del izquierdismo latinoamericano y la
contracultura.

Since 2016, a culture of participatory leftism has emerged on Facebook that has yet to be substantially documented. Scholars have established ideographic criticism of memes as a critical/cultural tool for analysis. However, there is little to no work on broader, systems-based analyses of alternative social media platforms, and the role they play in the creation and maintenance of political identities. These socially mediated communities, alternatively known as Leftbook (or Left Facebook), advertise themselves as places to learn about Marx, socialism, and philosophies centered on labor, revolution, and worker freedom. Research from traditional online group pages suggest there is a distinct split between neutral observers and harsh critics of Leftbook. According to Karlsson (2017)

A growing complaint in the Leftbook space that almost every group…like to joke about throwing people in labor camps. There was a period of 6-7 months where you couldn’t avoid seeing at least one ‘lol you go to gulag’, joke. (para. 7).

These online spaces often result in odd, hilarious, and peculiar behaviors that the untrained eye is quick to brush off as meaningless Internet drivel. However, humor and satire have long been used tactfully by counterculture organizations/movements to communicate the absurdity of the status quo. For instance, Waisanen (2009) argued that unlikely sources of comedic rhetorical criticism creatively influences and critically reframes political discourse; guiding audiences toward new possibilities of insight and democratic civil discourse.

Using Johnson's (2007) explanations of memetics as a guiding theory, I discuss Burke’s various work on human paradox, identification, Dramatism, and the comic frame to provide insight on notions of: identity performance, “slacktivism”, and burgeoning political resonance within this digital environment. I code preliminary themes of the post content of one Leftbook page, Sassy Socialist Memes, over the course of a month. My guiding research questions are, “As platforms such as Leftbook become environmental, how do they contribute to a mode of socio-political identity construction for members of the Left?” and “As extensions of political identity, how does the Sassy Social Memes page impact experiences of political organizing and engagement?”

Given the above questions, media ecology provides important conceptual resources for analysis given its focus on the broader systemic changes introduced by media as they become environmental. Thus, this paper blends insights from both rhetorical criticism, in its study of ideology and identity, with media ecological perspectives concerning media-as-environments. This paper will establish both content and medium characterization of Leftbook, and will make an argument for the importance of studying Leftbook digital spaces to gain further insight into alternative modes of sociopolitical identity construction. This analysis contributes to our understanding of Sassy Socialist Memes, and begins an argument that this digital environment has potential to function as a space of socio-political identity construction for members of the Left. The implications of these findings lean toward a burgeoning resonance of anti-capitalist solidarity, class struggle, and resentment of the late capitalist American two-party system.

Termin „lewactwo” jest jednym z najbardziej popularnych epitetów języka polskiej polityki po 1989 r., chociaż od przynajmniej dekady rodzima lewica pogrążona jest w głębokim kryzysie. Książka przedstawia cechy tego pojęcia oraz historię jego powstania. Autor kreśli dzieje radykalnej lewicy w oczach jej krytyków na przestrzeni od II RP po współczesną Polskę. Przygląda się ich biografiom, zwracając szczególną uwagę na krytyków „lewactwa” w okresie PRL związanych z ówczesnymi władzami, po transformacji nawróconymi częstokroć na antykomunizm, a także przedstawia analogie w obrazach obecnych w stanowiskach międzywojennych stalinistów, powojennych „komunoendeków” i dzisiejszych prawicowców. „Lewactwo”, początkowo epitet określający frakcyjnych wrogów w łonie ruchu komunistycznego, później paranaukowy termin realno-socjalistycznej politologii, współcześnie wykorzystywany jest głównie przez ekstremistyczną, polską prawicę, zarówno w odniesieniu do lewicowych radykałów, jak i osób niemających z lewicowością nic wspólnego.

The essay (ostensibly a book review) is a critique.  It relates Noam Chomsky's Cartesian philosophy of language to his affirmation of an objective, universally binding morality and to his derivative affirmation of the objective moral reality of human rights.  It is also a critique of Chomsky's version of anarchism, which is found to have only a minimal basis in classical anarchist theory, and which is in an antagonistic relation to most contemporary anarchism, especially post-left anarchism.  Also criticized are Chomsky's views on political and industrial democracy.

This is a review of a book by former Professor Ward Churchill, who writes, in a very polemical way, about Native Americans.  The main focus is to evaluate the accuracy of his review of books about the Sand Creek massacre of Indians in 1864.  It is found to be inaccurate and incomplete as to the massacre itself.  This was used because it shows white Americans at their worst in relations with the Indians, and it should have been easiest for Churchill to promote his political line, but he performed poorly at that.  There is then wider consideration of Churchill's supposed scholarship and his controversial academic career, which ended when, although he was tenured, he was dismissed from the University of Colorado for "serious academic misconduct."  His dismissal has been upheld in the courts.  The article also addresses some of Churchill's other excursions into American history and international law.

Les quatre textes suivants tentent de répondre aux hypothèses avancées par Emilio Quadrelli dans
un article publié par la revue britannique Mute. On peut le trouver en anglais sur Internet:
http: //www.metamute.org/en/Grassroots-political-militants-Banlieusards-and-politics
Intitulé «Les banlieusards, les militants de base et la politique», ce texte de Quadrelli se fonde sur
plusieurs interviews de «guérilleras noires (1)» suite aux émeutes de novembre 2005, interviews
publiées dans le journal Il Manifesto, en Italie. Les questions discutées dans cet article sont
complexes et devraient être maniées avec prudence et méthode. La passion et la haine nourrissent
la lutte de classe, ce qui n’a rien d’étonnant vu que le capitalisme est un système social sans pitié qui
doit être détruit par la violence. Mais si l’on souhaite présenter une analyse politique globale, on
doit dépasser sa révulsion et sa haine pour ce système et étudier sérieusement comment il
fonctionne et comment il pourrait être, éventuellement, abattu.
Il nous a semblé utile de critiquer les idées que défend cet anthropologue radical et surtout les
mythes qu’il propage à travers ses interviews, car ils sont dangereux pour ceux qui les prendraient au
sérieux.
«Emeutes et contes de fées pour radicaux» s’attache aux erreurs, aux exagérations, aux
déformations contenues dans l’article de Quadrelli comme dans les propos des personnes
interviewées dont les noms sont indiqués par des initiales (MT, MB, etc). Une bonne partie de ces
erreurs auraient pu être évitées si notre anthropologue radical avait consulté d’autres sources pour
mettre en perspective les analyses de ses interlocuteurs, ou s’il n’avait pas seulement cherché à
confirmer ses propres rêves ou fantasmes. Mais après tout, il n’est pas le seul à refuser de faire
«l’analyse concrète d’une situation concrète».
Dans son article, Quadrelli règle ses comptes avec certains intellos féministes, altermondialistes,
proches de Toni Negri ou de la gauche caviar, qu’il ne cite même pas nommément. Quadrelli aurait
été mieux inspiré, et son travail plus utile, s’il s’était intéressé à tous ces spécialistes des sciences
sociales, qu’ils se prétendent neutres ou objectifs, altermondialistes, proches du PS ou du PCF, qui
ont mené une véritable «émeute de papier» (l’expression est de l’un d’eux, Gérard Mauger, qui
connaît bien ce milieu puisque c’est le sien), qui ont multiplié les colloques, les livres collectifs et les
articles et qui ont surtout proposé leurs services et leurs bons conseils à l’Etat pour une «police de
proximité», une «meilleure» justice, une politique urbaine plus «sociale» et plus de «diversité» dans
les élites politico-médiatiques.
Notons enfin que la révérence de Quadrelli vis-à-vis de la «lucidité» de Michel Foucault, référence
actuelle de nombreux militants libertaires ou anti-autoritaires, est plutôt amusante. En effet,
Foucault a successivement eu des illusions sur le parti stalinien français (PCF), les maospontanéistes
(2) des années 70, la révolution islamique de Khomeiny, la CFDT (tout comme, pour
ce qui concerne ce syndicat, Cornelius Castoriadis). Foucault pensait que le Parti socialiste ne se
montrait pas suffisamment radical à cause de son alliance avec le PCF (ce qui souligne l’étendue de
ses illusions sur la social-démocratie) et il déclara qu’il aurait donné des conseils au gouvernement
socialiste si ce dernier lui avait demandé son opinion sur des questions comme les prisons ! Ce qui
est plutôt comique lorsque l’on sait que Foucault passe aujourd’hui pour LE penseur antiautoritaire.
Si sa participation courageuse à la lutte contre le système pénitentiaire français dans le
cadre du GIP (Groupe d’information sur les prisons) doit être saluée, et si certaines de ses analyses
peuvent être utiles pour comprendre quelques aspects des institutions étatiques modernes (asiles,
prisons, Ecole), on peut se permettre d’éprouver quelques doutes sur sa «lucidité» politique.
«Forces de répression et guérilla urbaine» s’attache à décrire sommairement les forces de
police en France, parce qu’un «guérillero urbain doit avoir une grande capacité d’observation. Il doit
être bien informé sur tout, en particulier sur les mouvements de l’ennemi (3)» a écrit un Brésilien
«blanc» qui pratiqua la lutte armée sur le terrain, et pas dans le monde virtuel.
«Quelques hypothèses sur la lutte armée et la guérilla» esquisse de façon très sommaire et
schématique quelques pistes pour un bilan des différentes formes de lutte armée dans l’ex-monde
colonial et les métropoles impérialistes.
«La racialisation des questions sociales mène à une impasse» tente de répondre à l’usage
(hypocrite ou délibéré) de pseudo-concepts liés aux vieilles notions imaginaires des «races» dans le
discours politique de la gauche et de l’extrême gauche.
Malgré la virulence des critiques ici formulées, il est évident que l’essentiel du travail reste à faire,
tant sur le plan pratique que théorique. Mais il serait catastrophique que les jeunes révolutionnaires
d’aujourd’hui répètent les mêmes erreurs que celles commises dans les années 60 et 70 – comme
semblent le souhaiter Quadrelli et ses «guérilleras noires».
Y.C.

Review of Leftism in India, 1917–1947 by Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri (New Delhi: Macmillan Publishers), 2011; pp xiv + 254; Rs 375 (hardback).

International Edition: Leftism in India 1917-1947 by Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri (New York: Palgrave Macmillan), 2007.

This is the transcript of a panel discussion held on November 5, 2009 at the University of Chicago's International House to mark the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. I was joined on the panel by Maziar Behrooz, Associate Professor of History at San Francisco State University and the author of Rebels with a Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran; Kaveh Ehsani, (now) an assistant professor of International Studies at DePaul University and a contributing editor of the Middle East Report (MERIP); and Chris Cutrone of the Platypus Affiliated Society, which organized the forum.

This is a final draft. Please cite only the published  in Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker and Michael J. Thompson, Radical Intellectuals and the Subversion of Progressive Politics: The Betrayal of Politics (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), pp. 211-236.

Dans cet article j'analyse le vice politique du gauchisme et du droitisme. A cause de cette maladie infantile de la politique, gauche et droite sont aujourd'hui ridiculisées au point qu'il n'est plus permis de se référer à nos institutions sans recevoir un rire méprisant.

Je définis le gauchisme/droitisme à l'aide de trois conditions nécessaires et suffisantes: 1) son hyper-sensibilités à certaines valeurs qui cause son grand engagement politique; 2) sa double naïveté (manque de maîtrise des raisons pour lesquelles il milite; manque de maîtrise des outils pour répondre aux problèmes qu'il croit percevoir); 3) son attachement exclusif à la valeur paradigmatique de la gauche (l'égalité) ou de la droite (la liberté).

2016. An essay revolving around the ideological legacy of the Indian Marxist revolutionary martyr- Bhagat Singh and his comrades. An essay to project the true ideological character of these revolutionaries.
This article has been published in the website of 'Socialist Fight: Liaison Committee for the Fourth International'- https://socialistfight.com/2016/09/03/bhagat-singh-terrorist-or-a-communist/.
This article has also been published in Socialist Fight's official magazine no. 23 - https://www.scribd.com/document/325749178/Socialist-Fight-No-23

The aim of this paper is to present Gilbert Keith Chesterton as, politically, man of the Left rather than Right – and thus at
least open a debate about the possible re-interpretation of his political heritage as a publicist. Firstly, the subject is generally
introduced, with the characteristically “rightist” tendencies of chestertonology (and one votum separatum) outlined.
Secondly, the right wing-left wing differentiation is briefly explained, basing on Letter on Independence by Jacques Maritain.
Thirdly, Chesterton’s political writings are examined according to the logical structure provided by the Letter… that is: in
reference to personal temperament, general political ideas and the practical elements of political program, with the attempt
of demonstrating that Chesterton, in all these three areas, displayed a distinct leaning towards the Left, with even the most
right-winged elements of his political ideas being interpreted by him, in fact, in a “leftist” context. The text ends with a set of
more practical conclusions, concerned chiefly with the future of chestertonological research.

The article describes a case of a marginal political movement from the past, its presence on YouTube and its vlog commentary from the perspective of culture studies and political science. It is about a Polish national communist Bohdan Poręba’s movement called Patriotic Alliance “Grunwald”, which combined in its philosophy expressive nationalism, Germanophobia and anti-Semitism with approval of real socialism. After the Polish transition the “Grunwald’s” leaders lost their political status and have started trying to find a new political area in the internet. Poręba who was also a famous film director began working on a patriotic film funded through crowdfunding. It turned out that even his filmmaker’s knowledge was not enough to break such barriers of social network as technology and work features. It proved the characteristic of YouTube as the most democratic medium which gives a possibility of publication for niche authors, however does not enable breaking a monopoly of mainstream’s representatives. Appearance on YouTube is not an impulse for political movement’s renewal. It only supports bonding of a shrinking nationalcommunists’s community.

A critical review of the 2007 Catalog of AK Press.  Although AK Press is an ostensibly anarchist publisher, much of the material its publishes, and a higher proportion of what it distributes, is not anarchist by any definition.  The material is mainly identity politics, Third World nationalist, authoritarian feminist, workerist, or generic leftist.  AK showcases Murray Bookchin (despite his repudiation of anarchism); Noam Chomsky, who mistakenly supposes he is an anarchist (see my "Chomsky on the Nod"); and Ward Churchill, an academic fraud who accurately states that he is no anarchist.  At a historical moment when, with the collapse of European Communism, anarchists were poised to assume a central role in anti-state, anti-capitalist struggles, AK Press energetically propagandized for thinly disguised Leninisms and Maoisms, labeled anarchism.  The occasional reprint of an anarchist classic does not offset the way the gravitational pull of this near-hegemonic anarchist publisher distorts anarchist writing in a conservative direction.  (This is a slightly updated version of the review originally published by Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed.)

Resumen (castellano):

La Transición en Asturias vio una confluencia entre el regionalismo y los partidos minoritarios de la izquierda.  A través de conexiones personales e ideológicas, los regionalistas extendieron su influencia sobre los partidos del ámbito intelectual: La Democracia Socialista Asturiana, el Movimiento Comunista de Asturias, y el Partido Socialista Popular de Asturias.

Aunque nunca tuvieron éxito en las urnas, el entorno regionalista consiguió influir tanto la definición de democracia en Asturias como el proceso autonómica, a través de su campaña y la integración del bloque regionalista del PSPA en el PSOE.  A partir de 1977, el PSOE emergió dominante, pero lo hizo parcialmente por la incorporación y cooptación de otras corrientes de la izquierda.

No podemos entender la Transición sólo enfocándonos en los vencedores, sino es necesario prestar atención al ambiente político de la época y a la colección de grupos que contribuyeron a la articulación del nuevo concepto democrático.


Abstract (English):

The Transition in Asturias saw an intersection between regionalism and the minority parties of the left.  Through personal and ideological connections, the regionalists extended their influence over the parties of the intelligentsia: Asturian Socialist Democracy, the Communist Movement of Asturias, and the Popular Socialist Party of Asturias.

Although they never were successful at the polls, the regionalist world managed to influence both the definition of the new democracy in Asturias and process of Autonomy, through their election campaign and the integration of the PSPA’s regionalist bloc in the PSOE.  After 1977, the PSOE emerged dominant but did so partially through the incorporation and cooption of other leftist trends.

We cannot understand the Transition if we only focus on the winners; rather it is necessary to pay attention to the political environment of the time and the collection of groups that contributed to the articulation of the new concept of democracy.

http://www.legitgov.org/Inauguration-Trump-and-Early-Opposition-Trumpism

I have been asked what I think about the protests and marches against the inauguration of Donald Trump, as well as what to say in response to liberals, leftists, women, feminists, trans* persons and others participating in them. This essay represents an answer to the question. Let me explain: those asking are generally unsure of their position and balance in today's political landscape. While the ascension of Trump strikes many as quite ominous, those asking this are also very uncomfortable about the Trump opposition. That opposition seems coincidentally aligned with particular ruling interests and agencies, including the intelligence community, the political elite and their billionaire donors, and the corporatocracy – that is, many of the essential structural components of US worldwide dominance and domestic rule. The fact is – despite the honest motives and real political objectives of participants – the contemporary left-liberal movement, inclusive of the Women's March on Washington, is being promoted and supported, financially and otherwise, by particular sectors of the ruling class – in particular the financial sectors inclusive of Wall Street and the banks, the dominant political sector, and the intelligence sector. These sectors are currently struggling to regain hegemony after a recent loss to the sectors that support Trump, which include the military and industrial bases. The prior sectors control most of the mainstream media and sponsored the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Most of the mainstream media are promulgating dissent and agitation against the recent realignments. And the mainstream media operate under the authority and direction of the same corporate and political masters who backed Clinton.

The principals of what I call Big Digital—the purveyors of mega-data services, media, cable, and internet services, social media plat­forms, Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents, apps, and the develop­ing Internet of Things (or Things of the Internet, as I describe the relation in what follows) are not only monopolies or would-be monopolies but also will either continue to be incorporated by the state, or become elements of a new corporate state power.

The very political title of Goli Taraqqi’s first collection of short stories, "Man ham Che Guevara hastam" (1969) is ironically juxtaposed to the non-political content of the narratives included in the volume. This paradox foregrounds the significance of the title in relation to both the content of the stories as well as the literary context in which the work has been produced. Unlike Che Guevara, Taraqqi’s characters in "Man ham Che Guevara hastam" are depicted as individuals who struggle to bring about a change in a personal realm rather than a social one. Stuck in certain circumstances (married life, chaotic households, philosophical obsessions, etc.), they strive desperately, but also persistently, to pull themselves out of the background they are carved in. In this sense, they endeavor against two interrelated conditions: against space and stability. Accordingly, this paper, drawing upon Stuart Hall and Zygmunt Bauman, will be engaged with the depiction of disoriented identities in two of the stories published in the volume. The main discussion of the paper will focus on the clash between the demands of a communal life and the self’s desire of individuation in modern times; and will, thereby, elaborate on the interrelation among the concepts of identity, space and mobility as depicted in the narratological structures of the stories.