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Umsebenzi Online, Volume 13, No. 44, 23 October 2014
Reflections on the character of the international context
Comrade Solly Mapaila, SACP Second Deputy General Secretary
The fundamental questions that we seek to resolve as a revolution are
complex. In the face of this reality it does happen at times in political
movements that instead of tackling such questions for what they are some
would rather degenerate and adopt simplistic approaches. When this slides
into narrow and factional grudges it becomes even more problematic that it
could weaken unity and cohesion within a movement, and thus, wittingly or
unwittingly, tilt the domestic balance of forces in favour of strategic
opponents. This is the departure point to defeat in the international
balance of forces which capacity to tilt is simultaneously curtailed. It is
of no use to a revolutionary, i.e. if a person is indeed one, to seek a
scapegoat within one's own movement or Alliance and polarise it as a
contribution to the answer to the complex questions that are under strategic
consideration.
Revolutionaries treat of complex questions for what they are, regardless of
the degree of sophistication this may demand. Our intervention today focuses
on the question of methodology to question of the character of the
international context. The actual analysis and clarity of the tasks we are
facing will follow in a series of instalments.
But we lay the basis as we proceed methodologically.
The analysis of the character of the international context is often reduced
to events that are taking place in, or between, other countries.
Consequently, the national sphere is not considered to be an international
platform of action. Similarly, national processes and the forces that shape
such processes in their international aspect are left out in this erroneous
analysis as is the role that we - as one of the force at play too, both as a
movement and country - can play in shaping the international context. This
further excludes an examination of the relationship between the national and
the international contexts and related balance of forces.
Our intervention today looks at the question of the character of the
international context methodologically. This we do by means of a review of
the renowned communist scholar, Antonio Gramsci's Selections from the Prison
Notebooks. We focus particularly focus on his contribution,
'Internationalism and National Policy', because we believe it has useful
elements that can help us move forward.
Let us from the onset clarify the question of the relationship between the
international and national balance of forces, i.e. whether the former
conditions or influences the latter, or vice versa. The answer cannot be
fixed for all the times; it must be as dynamic as the changes in material
conditions; neither can it, therefore, be a straightjacketed one. The
relationship between the two is a dialectical one. It is constructed in both
ways, and is itself dependent on the balance of forces between the two, i.e.
the national and international balance of forces! Our intervention must be
understood in this context.
Our selection of Gramsci's classical contribution is also based on the fact
that it not only moves from the standpoint of analytical methodology but the
struggle for change and development. He best captures the problem being
considered by posing the question:
How, according to the philosophy of praxis as it manifests itself
politically, whether formulated by Karl Marx - the founder of the
philosophy, or particularly by Vladimir Lenin - its most recent great
theoretician (i.e. at the time), the international situation should be
considered in its national aspect?
Gramsci argues that the national context of every country is the result of a
combination of original and in a certain sense unique factors. These have to
be understood both in their originality and uniqueness for an organisation
to lead and direct them.
Instead of being trapped in an abstract international sphere, Gramsci
asserts that:
"To be sure, the line of development is towards internationalism, but the
point of departure is 'national' - and it is from this point of departure
that one must begin. Yet the perspective is international and cannot be
otherwise."
This is important for the progressive and revolutionary movement to take
seriously. In other words, this movement, the majority of which is made up
by the working class, must intensify the struggle for a complete revolution
in every country, i.e. right in its home country. However, at times
conditions could - as was the case in South Africa since 1950 starting with
the banning of the Communist Party followed by that of the ANC in 1960 by
the apartheid regime - force the movement to go underground and in exile.
This did not mean that we abandoned action at the home front.
On the contrary, underground work and work in exile including mass
mobilisation and international mobilisation to isolate the apartheid regime
were a direct continuation of work in its scientific definition to reinforce
and intensify the struggle right at home. This is how all the pillars of our
struggle, including the armed struggle we were compelled to adopt, were
mutually reinforcing.
The overthrow of colonialism and apartheid and the elimination of their
underpinning social relations of production at home were, however, only a
part of, and therefore did not alone constitute, the totality of our greater
goal. Conversely, these were inextricably linked with the struggle for world
peace to which our struggle had to contribute. This struggle was at the same
time an international struggle:
World peace was, and still is, impossible to attain for so long as there is
a section of the people in any part of the world who are facing injustice
from another, regardless of whether such is from within or outside national
borders.
The struggle for world peace continues!
After all, the super-structural and structural systems of oppression and
domination, such as colonialism, neo-colonialism, capitalism and its highest
stage, imperialism, the latest form of which is neoliberalism, are world
systems. In each country, the forces behind the world systems of oppression
and domination manipulate and exploit the original and unique factors,
including the specific weaknesses, of the national context that obtains,
this as an entry point and in order to entrench.
Gramsci asserts that it is necessary to study and accurately interpret the
combination of national forces which the 'international class' has to lead
and direct. By the 'international class' he refers to the class of wage
labourers, i.e. the proletariat. This, of course, and at the same scale, is
faced with its opponent, the class of the exploiters but who, while
essentially the same in character do not necessarily share common national
interests at every moment and therefore do develop divergent perspectives on
associated questions of the day. Based on our theory of organisation and
taking into consideration all the motive forces of our revolution, let us
consider that the 'international class' in its broad definition refers to
the working class, which, all our Alliance partners agree, is the main
motive force of our revolution.
Such a force, according to Gramsci, which is international in character has
to ground itself nationally (i.e. to "nationalise" itself), inasmuch as it
guides various social strata; some of these strata might as well be narrowly
national in their outlook but nevertheless necessary to marshal in an
internationalist direction. This sense, he contents, is not a very narrow
one either, since before the conditions can be created for an economy that
has a world plan, it is necessary to pass through multiple phases in which
regional economic integration of groups of nations may assume various forms
of organisation. In addition, this has to be understood in the context of
the balance of forces nationally and internationally at different levels,
i.e. regional, continental and world scales.
Gramsci's conclusion is even more important for us:
".it must never be forgotten that historical development follows the laws of
necessity until the initiative has decisively passed over to those forces
which tend towards construction in accordance with a plan of peaceful and
solidary division of labour (by this he also discusses the socialist
forces).
As such:
"That non-national concepts (i.e. ones that cannot be referred to each
individual country) are erroneous can be seen ab absurdo: they have led to
passivity and inertia in two quite distinct phases:
1. in the first phase, nobody believed that they ought to make a start -
that is to say, they believed that by making a start they would find
themselves isolated; they waited for everybody to move together, and nobody
in the meantime moved or organised the movement;
2. the second phase is perhaps worse, because what is being awaited is an
anachronistic and anti-natural form of "Napoleonism" (since not all
historical phases repeat themselves in the same form).
These two errors must be seen also as the direct results of an analysis that
starts and ends with the international context that is seen narrowly as
constituted by the "external world". In addition, the same approach leaves
out of sight the national sphere of action as part of the international
terrain itself.
It would be fatalistic and amount to the desertion of the revolution to be
part of those who do not believe that they "ought to make a start" from
which others must also take their cue.
Most importantly, it is from the standpoint of 'philosophical materialism',
based on a historical and dialectical perspective that we can best develop a
scientific understanding of the international context (as it is with the
national context). This methodological approach does not start and end with
an analysis of events in their appearance only or in isolation from, but
moves deeper into, their essential content, material basis and structural
forces. In this way we will examine the most influential and ultimate
decisive factor, the economy, appreciating that it is at the centre of those
developments and the configuration of the forces behind them. It is from
this very same point of view that the national content of international
policy and the international content of national policy must be framed,
articulated and elaborated.
Second Deputy General Secretary, Comrade Solly Mapaila, Tshwane, 18 October
2014
_____
Also in this Issue:
* Financial sector in need of radical overhaul to improve the economy
<http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=4535#redpen> (posted 18 October 2014)
* The Struggle for the release of the Cuban Five and an end to
economic blockade on Cuba: A class struggle
<http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=4535#two> (below)
* Congratulations to SADTU
<http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=4535#three> (posted separately)
_____
The Struggle for the release of the Cuban Five and an end to economic
blockade on Cuba: A class struggle
By Comrade Benson Ngqentsu
There are two crucial events that took place recently that should have
dominated media head-lines internationally. These are the deployment of a
sizeable number of medical practitioners to the West Africa in the fight
against the Ebola epidemic and the 10th Colloquium on the Cuban Five. But
because these crucial developments pose a serious threat to the barbaric and
inhuman system of capitalism and its headquarters, the United States, and
are indeed neither in favour of the current ruling imperialist class, they
were not covered by the media, print or electronic. This confirms the
analysis by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels that the dominant ideas and
institutions in a class divided society are the ideas and institutions of
the ruling class.
Having attended and participated at the recent 10th Colloquium for the
release of the Five Cuban Heroes, hosted in Havana on 11th-12th September
2014, I observed and appreciated the unity of communists and non-communists
from around the world on this question. These internationalists were firm on
their demand for the Release of the Five Cuban heroes, Gerardo Hernandez,
Ramon Labonino, Antonio Guerreo, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez who
were falsely accused by the U.S. government of committing espionage and
conspiracy against the United States. These are unjustly imprisoned in the
United States after being arrested by the FBI on 12th September 1998 and
convicted in U.S. federal court in Miami in 2001 in a political prosecution
by the U.S. government.
The unity for the call of the release of the Cuban Five is also inextricably
linked to the struggle against imperialism as the highest stage of
capitalism - which is fundamentally responsible for global inequality,
unemployment and poverty.
Very importantly, progressive forces internationally have the responsibility
to correctly locate the arrest of the heroic Cuban Five as a renewed
imperialist offensive targeting the revolutionary Cuba as the entry point of
an attack on alternatives following the collapse of the Soviet Union in
1990. The arrest of these heroes who were engaged in seeking a peaceful
world order followed their publicly acknowledged mission to keep the Cuban
government informed about the terrorist attacks on Cuba carried out by
counter revolutionary forces sponsored by the U.S. government. The U.S.
imperialist regime knew of the bombings carried out on Cuba, notably in
Havana, that brutally killed many innocent people.
As many progressive authors probed this question, Martin Koppel concluded
that not only had Washington done nothing to prevent the attacks, but it had
given these counter-revolutionary groups a green light throughout more than
five decades of U.S. diplomatic, economic and military aggression against
the Cuban Revolution.
The current imperialist offensive against the revolutionary Cuba including
the arrest and detention of the Five Cuban heroes predates 1959 triumph of
the socialist revolution in Cuba, a country just ninety miles away from the
U.S. shores. The U.S. has backed the dictatorship that was overthrown by the
revolution.
The campaign for the release of Cuban Five and against the imperialist's
economic embargo on Cuba forms part of a bigger class struggle against the
inhuman capitalist order. It is time for progressive forces in SA and
internationally to intensify international solidarity with Cuba. In the
course of the movement, we must see to it that this campaign has a practical
meaning to the working class internationally, as well as an impact on
Washington.
This has to be articulated in a manner that every conscious worker anywhere
in the world, knows and understands the internationalist character of our
struggle and the plight of the people of Cuba, and appreciates that this is
the struggle against economic exploitation. Every worker must know about
the cause the Cuban Five are persecuted for and clearly articulate the
demand for their unconditional released. Their release is part of our
broader revolutionary task against the greedy, corrupt system, imperialism,
which continues to oppress the people of the world.
The struggle for the release of the Cuban Five and an end to the economic
blockade on Cuba is a necessary struggle to free humanity from the bondages
of imperialist dominance. It is a significant advance towards an
international socialist order - the only system in which the world will no
longer be ruled with the barrel of a gun in a struggle to conquer other
nations.
SA's solidarity work with the revolutionary Cuba has to be undertaken within
a particular political context. Cuba is rejected and despised by the
"Democratic Alliance", a key tool of racist conservatism and imperialism in
our country. In advancing its cause, imperialism heavily finances the DA and
the like minded South African media to adopt a very hostile stance to Cuba.
This is reflected on the DA's blockade of the SA-Cuban government programme
for training our youth in medicine free of charge. In an a well-directed
offensive the DA decided to disallow the youth in the Western Cape not to
participate in this good gesture due to its permanent commitment to the
imperialist agenda.
This position from the defenders of white privilege and the servants of
imperialism in SA is mainly based on their historical memories that Cuba
played a pivotal in Southern Africa to dislodge apartheid and imperialism.
We, for our part and that of humanity as a whole, will remain indebted on
the selfless contribution Cubans made in our struggle to against apartheid
and its invasion of Angola at Cuito Cuanavale. Their role immensely
contributed in forcing the apartheid regime to realise that minority rule
was over and that negotiations were inevitable. The history of our
liberation struggle in particular and in Africa in general is incomplete
without recognising the contribution by the Cuban people.
Progressives in SA, particularly our government too, should take our
solidarity beyond motions at congresses and in Parliament. As the ANC
recently pronounced itself against the atrocities committed by the U.S.
puppet, Israel, the same policy stance should be taken against U.S.
imperialism in general. SA's academic fraternity, churches and their
congregations, and student bodies, must join the demand of the release of
the Cuban Five in recognition of Cuba's solidarity work that made our
democracy possible.
Our class enemy, imperialism, with the U.S. as its headquarters, relies on
terrorist acts and suppression for their continued international dominance.
As Thomas Sankara once observed: "he who feeds you controls you". We see how
desperate is the international capitalist media to under-report if ever at
all the inhuman and unjust acts by the U.S., which has the highest
percentage of a population that is behind bars compared to any country in
the world. This its necessary pre-condition for dominance both at home and
abroad. We are aware that the Cuban Five are amongst the 2.2 million men and
women who are languishing in U.S. prison cells. The U.S. also has the
highest citizens of other countries in its prisons including human rights
violations at Guantanamo Bay.
The international campaign has achieved the release of two of the Cuban Five
- Rene Gonzalez and Fernando Gonzalez. We must now build consistent mass
action throughout the world to demand the unconditional release of the
remaining three. Because Rene and Fernando will never be really free until
their three comrades are free too, we must intensify the demand: 'Release
the Five Cuban heroes; end the illegal economic blockade on revolutionary
Cuba!'
Benson Ngqentsu, is SACP Brian Bunting District Secretary, NUM Western Cape
Regional Organiser, and writes in his personal capacity.
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