Left communism
Left communism is a type of communism advocated by left-wing communists. It is not a single movement, but many different movements. What these movements have in common is criticism for the ideas of Marxism-Leninism and social democracy and other communists. Left communists say that their beliefs are more true to Karl Marx and Marxism than Marxism-Leninism or other communist ideologies.
There are two main forms of left communism since World War I. These forms are called the Italian left[source?] and the Dutch-German left. These two movements split over their thoughts on Vladimir Lenin and his ideology, Leninism. The Italian left approves of Lenin but doesn't approve of Joseph Stalin and the ideology he formulated, Marxism-Leninism. They believe that they uphold ideals that are closer to Lenin than Marxism-Leninism. The Dutch-German left opposes Lenin. They disapprove of his vanguardism - which is an idea for a political party to lead the working class to communism. They instead believe that workers councils, or soviets, should lead the workers. The Italian left was originally represented in the Italian Socialist Party and the Italian Communist Party. Today, it is represented by the Internationalist Communist Party of Italy, the International Communist Party, and the International Communist Current. The Dutch-German left was historically represented by the Communist Workers' Party of Germany, the General Workers' Union of Germany, and the Communist Workers' International.
Left communists believe that communists should not participate in elections. They call this idea electoralism and believe that it hurts the cause of communism more than it helps. Some left communists also oppose participating in trade unions for the same reasons why left communists oppose electoralism.
Rosa Luxemburg was killed in 1919 before left communism became something unique in communism, but she influenced many left communists both before and after her death. Some famous proponents of left communism include Herman Gorter, Antonie Pannekoek, Otto Rühle, Karl Korsch, Amadeo Bordiga, Paul Mattick, Onorato Damen, Jacques Camatte, and Sylvia Pankhurst. Sometimes other radical forms of communism overlap with left communism, like Antonio Negri's autonomism.
Early history[change | change source]
The origins of left communism come from World War I. Most left communists support the October Revolution, but criticize its development. Some in the Dutch-German movement would later say that the October revolution was not a proletarian, or socialist revolution at all.
Left communism became a movement different than other communist movements around 1918. Its most important features were that communists needed to make a communist party or a workers' council that was separate from reformism - communists or socialists who believed communism or socialism could be made through reforms - and centrists - who called for reform now but for a revolution in the future. These left communists believed that they should not participate in elections, except for a few exceptions, and they emphasized militancy. Aside from these views, the Italian left and the Dutch-German left did not have much in common. The Italian left's opposition to participating in elections caused Vladimir Lenin to write his work, "Left-Wing" Communism An Infantile Disorder.
The origins of left communism come from World War I. Most left communists support the October Revolution, but criticize its development. Some in the Dutch-German movement would later say that the October revolution was not a proletarian, or socialist revolution at all.
Left communism became a movement different than other communist movements around 1918. Its most important features were that communists needed to make a communist party or a workers' council that was separate from reformism - communists or socialists who believed communism or socialism could be made through reforms - and centrists - who called for reform now but for a revolution in the future. These left communists believed that they should not participate in elections, except for a few exceptions, and they emphasized militancy. Aside from these views, the Italian left and the Dutch-German left did not have much in common. The Italian left's opposition to participating in elections caused Vladimir Lenin to write his work, "Left-Wing" Communism An Infantile Disorder.
Russian left communism[change | change source]
The Vpered group, led by Alexander Bogdanov, formed in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (later the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) in 1907. This faction rejected what they saw as Vladimir Lenin's authoritarianism and his support for parliamentary politics, which they rejected. The Left Bolsheviks as they were called, believed that Lenin participating in elections was wrong and that they were promoting liberal democracy.
This group mostly died out by the end of 1918. Most of its leaders accepted that most of what they believed was not possible under the conditions of the Russian Civil War. The Military Opposition and the Workers' Opposition would later have some of the same views and members of the Left Bolsheviks, as did the Workers Group of the Russian Communist Party. Most Left Bolsheviks joined Trotsky's Left Opposition in the 1920s. When Stalin took control of the Communist Party in the late 1920s, they were forced to leave the party and later killed during the Great Purge.
Italian left communism[change | change source]
There are two unique movements in the Italian left communist movements of today. These are, in colloquial (everyday, ordinary) names, Bordigism and Damenism. They are named after Amadeo Bordiga and Onorato Damen, but it should be said that these two did not think these ideologies by themselves.
Both Bordiga and Damen were members of the Italian Socialist Party. They, along with the 'left' of the party, disagreed with the reformism that leaders of the Socialist Party and the trade unions supported. The 'Left' faction of the Italian Socialist Party would go on to form the Communist Party of Italy, later known as the Italian Communist Party. Bordiga came to be an early leader of the Italian Communist movement, but he and many other communist leaders were imprisoned and they were voted out of power. The new leadership purged the Left faction in the communist party, leading to many, including Bordiga and Damen, to be expelled.
In 1943, the Internationalist Communist Party was founded by Onorato Damen and Bruno Maffi, and was joined by the International Communist Left. During the Italian Civil War, the ICP opposed anti-fascism and the Italian resistance movement, while also calling for workers' councils to be formed. Disagreements in the party resulted in it breaking apart, with a faction led by Amadeo Bordiga making their own faction.
The Italian Communist Party and the Internationalist Communist Party are both active. The Internationalist Communist Party of Italy is a member of the Internationalist Communist Tendency along with several other left communist groups.
Differences between factions of the Italian left[change | change source]
Disagreements between members resulted in Italian left communism mostly breaking between two lines: followers of Onorato Damen's Internationalist Communist Party, and followers of Amadeo Bordiga's splinter International Communist Party. Bordiga split from the party out of disagreement with many of the opinions of the International Communist Party. Damenists supported participation in elections (to an extent) and democratic centralism. Bordigists, however, did not support participating in elections and supported organic centralism. Damenists believed that it was not possible to take over unions anymore and opposed any support for national liberation, while Bordiga still believed that the former was possible and that the latter should be supported. Bordigism is closer to Leninism, while Damenism differs from Lenin on many fronts.
Opposition to anti-fascism[change | change source]
The Italian left are well-known for their rejection of anti-fascism, or 'democratic anti-fascism'. They opposed the anti-fascist movement in Italy. This has resulted in them being opposed by many more 'mainstream' socialists and communists, and accusations of being funded by the fascist movement or Nazis. Proponents of 'anti-anti-fascism' believe that anti-fascism is not actually antifascist. They believe that fascism is not actually separate from capitalism, but is simply a manifestation of it. They believe that by forming 'popular fronts' and other organizations which include the bourgeoisie that are opposed to fascism that fascism is actually made stronger. These anti-anti-fascists believe that communists and workers should oppose both capitalism and fascism, and that they should not temporarily ally with capitalists to oppose fascism, because they believe that those capitalists will later become fascists and that the cycle will repeat itself indefinitely until both capital and fascism are opposed at once.