WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE FRANCE - news journal UPDATE - (en) France, UCL AL #364 - Culture - Read Olivier Besancenot and Michael Löwy, Marxists and Libertarians (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Libertalia Publishing has just reissued a book by Olivier Besancenot and

Michael Löwy, Revolutionary Affinities, originally published by Mille et
Une Nuits in 2014. The book called for a libertarian Marxism. A debate
that challenges us! It's an opportunity to take stock eleven years later
and ask a question: what's new in the sky of red, black, and two-tone
stars? Reading both versions of the book, we discover a nearly identical
text, including the foreword and conclusion. On the cover, the phrase
"for solidarity between Marxists and libertarians" has disappeared. A
shame. The only notable change: the publisher has added references to
the often excellent books it has published about the people or events
mentioned throughout the pages. But we won't know if the authors have
read them in the meantime. You may therefore wish to reread the articles
written in AL in October 2014[1]before proceeding further.

Divergent Analyses
The entire book is full of ambiguities and vagueness. For example, the
authors explain that the differences between Marx and Bakunin led to the
"transfer" of the headquarters of the International Working Men's
Association (IWA) to New York in 1872 and to the creation by the
anarchists of their own international, retaining the name IWA. This
fails to understand that this gesture by Marx founded an authoritarian
conception of political organization. Marx preferred to sabotage the
International rather than lose control of it, while "anti-authoritarian"
currents were becoming the majority and were legitimately entitled to
uphold the legacy of the IWA.

A founding gesture of the functioning of Leninist organizations in their
Stalinist, Trotskyist, or Maoist variants, one of whose apexes is found
in Trotsky's 1938 Transitional Program: "the historical crisis of
humanity is reduced to the crisis of its revolutionary leadership."
Indeed, if the role of the party is to lead the revolution, the conquest
of party leadership is decisive. Here we touch on a central point of our
differences between authoritarian Marxists and libertarian Marxists on
the self-organization of the masses, the role and functioning of
political organization, and the question of the state. Should the state
be conquered by the party to put it at the service of the proletariat,
or should it be destroyed so that it is not used against the proletariat?

Which anarchists does the book discuss?
Throughout the pages, the good points and the bad points are cheerfully
mixed without any serious basis. What are the differences between
libertarian currents? What differences exist between Marxist movements?
This is an essential prerequisite. It is written that the IWA continues
to unite "anarchists." What a joke! Especially without mentioning the
existence of the international network of the Anarchist Federation (IFA)
or that of Anarkismo (the UCL's international network). Is this a
complete ignorance of the subject or a desire to confuse the issue?
Because, in fact, libertarian Marxists already exist in France and are
found mainly in the UCL.

And now, what should we do?
The authors also caricature our positions on elections, but nevertheless
claim this divergence is minor. Elections are simply an opportunity to
engage in revolutionary propaganda. This is true for LO. But not for the
NPA, which regularly seeks alliances with reformist organizations. This
observation is not anathema, but a serious divergence for anyone who
would call themselves a "libertarian Marxist."

So, since the 2014 publication, nothing has changed. We maintain normal,
united relations between the UCL and the NPA, as with other political
forces. By dismissing the book review in L'Anticapitaliste (the NPA
newspaper) in a few lines written by a former member of the AL, the NPA
demonstrates its lack of interest in this debate. We remain ready and
willing to explore it further at any time.

Jean-Yves (UCL Limousin)

Olivier Besancenot and Michael Löwy. Marxists and Libertarians,
Libertalia, 2025, 224 pages, EUR10.

Validate

[1]"Around the book by Olivier Besancenot and Michael Löwy: Libertarian
Communists vs. Authoritarian Communists," Alternative Libertaire No.
243, October 2014.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Olivier-Besancenot-et-Michael-Lowy-Marxistes-et-libertaires
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca