.jpg)
A review I once posted on a certain site, dealing with the French Trotskyist group Lutte Ouvrière and their US co-thinkers The Spark. Also mentions the Spartacist League. (The photo above is from the annual LO fête outside Paris.)
The Spartacist League is a small but ill-reputed left-wing group in the
United States. Claiming to be Trotskyists, their politics are rather a
combination of weird stunts and something looking more like
"Stalinism". I'm somewhat surprised that this vendor carries a wide assortment
of old Spartacist pamphlets. Did they raid some stash left behind by the Yuri
Andropov Brigade?
The Spartacist League and their international co-thinkers in the so-called International Communist League spend most of their time verbally abusing other left-wing groups, some of which are even smaller than themselves. Which brings me to the publication under review.
"Lutte Ouvriere and Spark: Workerism and national narrowness" deals with the French Trotskyist group Lutte Ouvriere (LO). In contrast to other Spartacist adversaries, the LO is actually quite large and even stand in French presidential elections. The party is notorious for its tight security policy. The pamphlet also mentions Spark, a small and almost unknown American group with roughly the same politics. Apparently, the leader of Spark once belonged to the Spartacist League.
Spartacist pamphlets attacking left-wing opponents are usually very gung-ho, accusing the enemy of being scabs, cop-lovers, agent provocateurs, and what not. The Spart vocabulary of exotic invectives has made me reach for my English dictionary more than once. "Workerism and national narrowness", by contrast, is almost bland by comparison. The Lutte Ouvriere and the Spartacist League are so dissimilar, that the latter can find few obvious points of attack. It seems to be a general law in politics, that it's easier to attack groups broadly similar to yourself! I don't think the Spartacist League even understands the LO, a dogmatic and doctrinaire Marxist group which attempts to recruit industrial workers using very old fashioned techniques, including "factory bulletins" and party cells. This is about as far as you can get from the frivolous stunts and bizarre political sloganeering of the Sparts. But sure, they do try to score some points.
LO's populistic presidential campaigns, minimalist factory bulletins and quasi-underground cell work at a plant or hospital near *you*, are all up for criticism. Occasionally, the pamphlet resorts to sheer gossip: apparently, LO members are forbidden to be gay, and female supporters can't wear make-up, since that's petty-bourgeois. The bad, bad LO never calls party congresses, prohibits factions, and have a leadership so secretive that the rank-and-file members don't even know who the leaders are! I've heard from reputable sources that most of these rumours are plain wrong. The pamphlet accuses the LO of supporting genocide - apparently, they once wrote that all Whites in South Africa deserved to be killed, and the same goes for Whites in the French Carribean. Although the pamphlet gives direct quotes from LO's magazine, I strongly suspect that this, too, is made up or distorted. (Spark supports Black nationalism, but LO doesn't.)
I don't think "Workerism and national narrowness" gives any sensational insights into the secrets of Lutte Ouvriere. However, it might tell us a thing or two about the Spartacist League!
Perhaps you wonder why on earth I'm reviewing an extremely obscure publication like this one. Well, if you check my other reviews, you'll know that I have a stash of my own, a stash filled with...guess what, obscure publications. I admit, though, that this vendor´s assortment is much wider than my own...
I'm jealous.
The Spartacist League and their international co-thinkers in the so-called International Communist League spend most of their time verbally abusing other left-wing groups, some of which are even smaller than themselves. Which brings me to the publication under review.
"Lutte Ouvriere and Spark: Workerism and national narrowness" deals with the French Trotskyist group Lutte Ouvriere (LO). In contrast to other Spartacist adversaries, the LO is actually quite large and even stand in French presidential elections. The party is notorious for its tight security policy. The pamphlet also mentions Spark, a small and almost unknown American group with roughly the same politics. Apparently, the leader of Spark once belonged to the Spartacist League.
Spartacist pamphlets attacking left-wing opponents are usually very gung-ho, accusing the enemy of being scabs, cop-lovers, agent provocateurs, and what not. The Spart vocabulary of exotic invectives has made me reach for my English dictionary more than once. "Workerism and national narrowness", by contrast, is almost bland by comparison. The Lutte Ouvriere and the Spartacist League are so dissimilar, that the latter can find few obvious points of attack. It seems to be a general law in politics, that it's easier to attack groups broadly similar to yourself! I don't think the Spartacist League even understands the LO, a dogmatic and doctrinaire Marxist group which attempts to recruit industrial workers using very old fashioned techniques, including "factory bulletins" and party cells. This is about as far as you can get from the frivolous stunts and bizarre political sloganeering of the Sparts. But sure, they do try to score some points.
LO's populistic presidential campaigns, minimalist factory bulletins and quasi-underground cell work at a plant or hospital near *you*, are all up for criticism. Occasionally, the pamphlet resorts to sheer gossip: apparently, LO members are forbidden to be gay, and female supporters can't wear make-up, since that's petty-bourgeois. The bad, bad LO never calls party congresses, prohibits factions, and have a leadership so secretive that the rank-and-file members don't even know who the leaders are! I've heard from reputable sources that most of these rumours are plain wrong. The pamphlet accuses the LO of supporting genocide - apparently, they once wrote that all Whites in South Africa deserved to be killed, and the same goes for Whites in the French Carribean. Although the pamphlet gives direct quotes from LO's magazine, I strongly suspect that this, too, is made up or distorted. (Spark supports Black nationalism, but LO doesn't.)
I don't think "Workerism and national narrowness" gives any sensational insights into the secrets of Lutte Ouvriere. However, it might tell us a thing or two about the Spartacist League!
Perhaps you wonder why on earth I'm reviewing an extremely obscure publication like this one. Well, if you check my other reviews, you'll know that I have a stash of my own, a stash filled with...guess what, obscure publications. I admit, though, that this vendor´s assortment is much wider than my own...
I'm jealous.
Well, if one discuss the character of the Spartacist League, it is worth mentioning their openly pro-pedophile positions. They are for repealing all age of consent laws and they support NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association).
ReplyDeleteThey often (verbally) have mede aggressive attacks on "survivors" (that is, people who tell that they v have been sexually abused in childhood) and said that survivors are a tool for the extreme right.
To be sure, there are a lot of weird sects on the fringes on the extrema left but SL:s pro-pedophle positions are almost unique. I only know of one other leftwing sect with such a position (also in US) , but I have forgotten its name. You probably remember it.
Revolutionary Workers League (not to be confused with the "Oehlerite" RWL, which is long defunct). The modern RWL still exists, but have changed their name to BAMN (By Any Means Necessary). They were even more pro-NAMBLA than the Sparts, actually *joining* NAMBLA. According to a RWL leader I once met, NAMBLA´s main organizer in Northern California was a member of the RWL, so their entryism was a succesful one.
ReplyDelete