Ph. Bourrinet: The Workers’ Councils, in the Theory of the German-Dutch Communist Left

“[This study] traces the political struggles born within the Second International to understand the nature of the emergence of this new form of organization that appeared in the struggle of the proletariat at the hinge between the 19^th and 20^th Centuries, a hinge that saw a capitalist system that had reached maturity with a numerically important and concentrated working class beginning to pose the question of revolution by bringing about the emergence of these unitary organs that were both economic and political… “the form finally found of the dictatorship of the proletariat” as Lenin will state during the revolution in Russia 1917. It also details the evolution of the understanding that this political current has released, while pointing out its strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, it sheds valuable light on the place assigned to the Workers’ Councils, both in the revolutionary phase and during the transitional period and the future society, formulating in passing, and to our knowledge, one of the best presentations and criticisms of the work of one of its eminent representatives – Jan Appel – on the organization of the future society: Fundamental Principles of Communist Production and Distribution. (¹) It also exhumes – and this is precious – some elements not often underlined in Marx on this subject. Finally, it closes by posing a whole series of relevant political questions that still need to be deepened in order not to fall back into the ruts of the past and to pose future questions in the clearest possible terms.” (Controverses, January 27, 2023)

The following English translation is published as a work in progress. The finished chapters can be accessed via the Table of Contents.

1 Read, on this site: ‘Fundamental Principles of Communist Production and Distribution’ (G.I.C.,1935), on the completed version in Dutch of 1935, and its first German and English translations; and: The G.I.C. and the Economy of the Transition Period – Introductory Article – situating the G.I.C.’s main work and the difficulties of its reception within the milieus of the communist Left. (Editor’s note)

Guy Sabatier (1947 – 2023), Tribute to an Internationalist

In the following we publish the obituary of Guy Sabatier, written by a companion of his, which has been published in French, Italian and English on the ICT’s website. It relates his lifetime engagement as an internationalist in the milieu(s) of the communist Left since the end of the 1960s in France. We have accompanied this by a provisional list of titles from his works that tries to demonstrate their scope, versatility and depth.

We have become acquainted with Guy through his participation in the Forum for the internationalist communist Left (Controverses), and express our condolences to his family members, close friends and companions for the loss of this remarkable person and militant.

Henry Cinnamon, January 14, 2023.

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Russia’s Annexations in Ukraine are Another Step Towards Global Imperialist War

Statement of the Internationalist Communist Tendency
(October 21, 2022).

We resume this publication by adopting the latest statement issued by the ICT (International Communist Tendency) on the threat of a more generalized war, including the use of nuclear weapons, apropos of the recent exacerbation of the armed conflict in Ukraine, and on the development of the working class alternative to capitalism, its crises and war, which has also recently announced itself through a tendency towards massive strikes.

In addition, we draw the attention of ours readers to the progress in the constitution of “No War but the Class War” committees, defending proletarian internationalism against all sides in the inter-imperialist conflict, which has been initiated by the ICT, and which has recently taken shape through the constitution of such committees in Turkiye (April 28), Italy (August 5) and Canada (Toronto and the Pacific North-West Committee, September 2022; Montreal, October 2022).

The Editor, October 23, 2022.

Critique: The Erring Ways of the ICC on Inter-Imperialist Relations

«The war in Ukraine has the “merit” of delimiting well the internationalists from all those who take the cause of one of the two camps in presence. By its positions on this conflict, the International Communist Current (ICC) is part of this “third camp” as Pierre Lanneret called it in his review of the revolutionary positions during the Second World War. (¹) But this conflict has still another “merit”: that of testing the theoretical foundations of the analyses in presence. Now, on this plan, the war in Ukraine illustrates the gaping incoherences of the “analyses” of this organization of which it tries in vain to put back together the pieces in a “framework” article entitled The significance and impact of the war in Ukraine.» (²)

In pursuit of his critique of the foundation of the ICC’s theories and analyses, C.Mcl. has advanced a brief synthesis of his previous critiques, focusing on a central question regarding the present exacerbation of inter-imperialist tensions and confrontations in and over Ukraine: whether it constitutes a step in the reconstitution of antagonistic imperialist blocs and alliances in view of a renewed drive towards a worldwide war (as many within the internationalist camp estimate), or whether the conclusion of such a dynamic is, as it where, effectively precluded by a supposedly dominant tendency of “everyone for himself” (as the ICC tirelessly defends).

In anticipation of an integral, verified translation, we present the conclusion of this critique, which we find most important for its global analysis and estimation of the present war and the dire perspective it opens up to humanity.

The Editor, July 9, 2022.

Topic: Has Capitalism entered its Decadence since 1914? (VI)

New Discussion Contributions

We present the reply to “In Defense of Historical Materialism” by Aníbal (Forum Inter-Rev, Spain) in our supplemented translation. It sets forth what the latter regards as his main difference with C.Mcl. – whether capitalism has started its entry into decadence at the beginning of this century (as C.Mcl. argues) or it has arrived at its historical apogee (which Aníbal holds); it further proposes a series of topics and questions for further discussion, and finally points out some more objections and criticism.

The editor, May 31, 2022.

On the text by C.Mcl. “In Defense of Historical Materialism”

Aníbal, January 26, 2022 (Revised and supplemented version of May 28)

Two Internationalist Statements for May 1st

Hereafter we present two internationalist statements that have been released or circulated at the occasion of this year’s May 1^st:

1. War, Poverty, Crisis and Disease: The True Face of the Capitalist System

by ‘No War but the Class War’ Liverpool. Dating from the end of March, this leaflet has again been brought to attention at the occasion of May 1st, documenting the approach by the internationalist action committees that, among others, have been called for by the ICT. In addition, the setup of these committees is explained by “What Are We Fighting For?”

2. Russia, Ukraine, NATO: Pimps of Death

is an anonymous leaflet that attempts to situate the war in Ukraine, denouncing all imperialist rivals who clash in and over Ukraine and highlighting the latest evolution – the current exacerbation of the barbarism of this war.

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Topic: Capitalism, Crisis and War – What is to be done?

This section presents discussion contributions on the topicality of Capitalism, Crisis and War vs. the proletarian alternative, and notably on what initiatives to take apropos of the current exacerbation of military barbarism in and with regards to the war in Ukraine.

It starts with ‘War of Imperialist Capitalism: What to Do and What not to Do’ by the animator of the Inter-rev Forum (Spain), one of the protagonists of a “third call“, alternative to the ‘joint statement’ by the ICC and others, and to the ‘call for action’ of the ICT respectively.

We continue with a “comment” by the initiators of the aforementioned initiative on our blog article The ICT’s Call for Action – Two Kinds of Criticism, and our reply to it.

This section will be updated to include further contributions and references on the topic. We invite our readers to send in their propositions by e-mail, whether written by themselves or signalling contributions of interest written by others (Please consult the Colophon for the modalities).

The editor, May 1, 2022.

Capitalism, Crisis and War – What is to be done? Discussion Contributions

The War in Ukraine is just a Chapter of the Permanent Imperialist War

Introduction Article of I Quaderni dell’Istituto Onorato Damen Nº 1 (April 2022)

“A new dramatic front of the permanent imperialist war has opened in the heart of Europe. At the dawn of February 24, 2022, the Russian armed forces have unleashed their firepower against Ukraine, bombing the main cities of the country and invading the Ukrainian territory from several fronts with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. A war that in the plans of the Russians probably had to last only a few days, given the disparity of the forces in the field, whose prolongation [however] dangerously risks to widen, dragging the whole of Europe into the vortex of the conflict. This is the future that the capitalist system envisages for us, a future made of wars, generalized misery and increasingly precarious living and working conditions.”

The ICT’s Call for Action – Two Kinds of Criticism

On April 6, two different initiatives have been launched by groups claiming to defend proletarian internationalism from a left communist perspective: A “Joint statement” about the war in Ukraine by the ICC, I.O.D. and two other groups, and a “Call for action” by the ICT with the slogan “No war but the class war” respectively. Very rapidly both have been rejected in an “unwelcome response” on the ‘Left-Wing communism’ site, which alternatively proposes to organize a debate themselves.

As a project aiming to contribute to open discussions among internationalists ‘A Free Retriever’s Digest’ does not support any attempt to circumvent an open discussion about criteria of adherence (for instance by asking for the adoption of a list of – apparently certified – internationalist groups, organizations, forums, etc.). Moreover, it does not support confining such a call to adherents of the historical communist left, thereby excluding groups from different backgrounds like for instance KRAS-IWA (Russia) and Internationalist Perspective (USA, Canada), in spite of their internationalist stance on the war in Ukraine. Instead, we are of the opinion that the latter provides a sufficient criterion to take up contact for an open debate in the spirit of the Zimmerwald movement.

We consider the call by the ICT as currently best approximating an initiative to gather proletarian internationalists in a broad sense, notwithstanding differences of approach and analysis, as for instance on a certain activism that appears in its main slogan. The following exchange at Pantopolis between what we’d term a position of critical support versus one of rejecting the ICT’s initiative virtually out of hand seems of interest to us for showing the reasons involved in these two very different attitudes.

The editor, April 22, 2022.

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‘Controverses’: Internationalist Positions on the War in Ukraine

The following statement of the Forum for the Internationalist Communist Left is completed by an updated review list of internationalist statements and analyses produced both by political groups and individuals from diverse backgrounds and tongues. We recommend readers with a mastery of foreign languages, especially of Spanish and/or French, to consult it, as it provides a somewhat broader scope than the selection we present on this site in English. We also would like to encourage readers with language capabilities to contribute crafting proper English translations of the most interesting texts, that may appear both at Controverses and here.

The editor