Sunday, November 30, 2008

The Maoist Debate in Nepal - Part 3

Part 1 of this series of entries provided back ground on why there is fear the Maoists are merely engaging in a strategic process aimed at ending parliamentarian government and creating a communist party state. At the same time it was pointed out that in the ranks of the Maoists, is another fear of a reactionary or reformist “Maoist” controlled country that leaves Nepal subjected to an elite class within the coordinates of global capitalist power. The first aspect of my opinion was that those who are rebellious have already jumped to the conclusion that they have the right to rebel and it would be better to continue vigilance at this point about whether the path being proposed by Prachanda and Bhattarai is merely a quantitative accumulation based on the collaboration with existing parliamentary power or whether it engenders a qualitative leap in its application of Marxist theory (the theme of my analysis of current events in Nepal has been developed in the context of theoretical questions, specifically with reference to the ideas of Alain Badiou on Mao’s fidelity to the communist hypothesis).

Writing Part 2 coincided with a stunning development: announcement of a unified statement by the Maoist’s that, although they are participating in the institution of a democratic republic, the question of a single party people’s republic is to remain open. I went into some articles and opinion that were quite rancorous by those opposed to the Prachanda/Bhattarai line. The synthesis of the two sides of the debate, as I discussed, seemed a resounding defeat for these opponents. At the same time it was noted that the new position may prove problematic in garnering international support. As anticipated, the present entry is to take a closer look at the positions of those advocating an immediate move to a people’s republic, and also return to my thesis: the Nepal Maoist’s application of theory in contradiction with practice may prove to be an event ushering in a novel phase of Maoism, a new phase in evolution of the communist hypothesis that might be the kind of event anticipated by Badiou’s analysis of prior periods of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist history as indicative of needing a new manifestation of fidelity .

I will proceed in Part 3 by examining a series of articles by prominent Maoists who are to lesser or greater degree suggesting a theoretical argument counter to the new government’s performance, to the theory in practice as “Prachanda Path”. Most interestingly, we will see these propositions are not actually as “hardline” as they have been portrayed by many. In fact, it may become clearer why the recent synthesis has occurred. Finally, we may see the concept of “people’s republic” itself as subjected to a radical transformation.

The article below was written by Kul Prasad KC “Sonam”. He was one of 11 Maoists released from Indian prisons in 2006 during the negotiations of the ceasefire between the Royal Army and the Maoists insurgents at that time. Subsequently he has been the CPN (M) State Committee head for regional restructuring on the basis of ethnic autonomy for the Seti-Mahakali region. Excerpts are provided:

The CPN (M) Debate: Revolution or Reform

"Nepal is still in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal state. No drastic change has occurred; there can be no change in contradiction in the political situation until there is a fundamental change in the mode of production.. still the same solutions; national and sovereign independence against semi-colonial domination.. the feudalistic mechanism still exists.. everything is taking place under the global programme of imperialism.. we should.. build an anti-imperialist front.. strengthen the concept of Coordinating Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA).. against Indian intervention and for a comprehensive front against American Imperialism.. develop the concept of struggle for national liberation.. not only.. point of view of building a united front, but also from the point of view of an ideological and political united front.. we have established the Federal Republic of Nepal. However, it is not clear whom the republic serves.. increasing role of foreign powers.. show that the contradictions are not being solved; rather they are sharpening.. have already reached the theoretical decision that the proletarian class cannot be victorious until and unless it develops the best military and ideological tactics.. debate is on ideology.. debate.. over Marxism or reformism.. forms of tactics because the previous movements of the proletarian class have.. collapsed.. when they have obtained power.. to analyze and synthesize it from the point of view of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.. does it fit with Marxism.. or has it served reformism.. continuation of the great debate between China and the USSR after the death of Stalin.. the dialectical process and method should be applied. ."

The analysis by “Sonam” is well balanced in my opinion because it does not condemn the prevailing Prachanda/Bhattarai line outright, yet it states clearly there has not as yet been a fundamental change in the mode of production. It is true, so far the contradiction is not being solved and the focus must be on this in the ideological debate and its dialectic with practice in the days to come. The first part of this series went into some detail on the nature of this dialectic according to Alain Badiou. Development of these ideas for the Nepal context is the objective of the present post. First, however, it is important to add to the context with some of the main concerns that have been voiced from among many text resources from those who, unlike “Sonam” have already concluded that the Prachanda/Bhattarai line is essentially corrupt – I summarize the points:

1. The policy of wooing support from the World Bank and other capitalist investors, including China, will ultimately go the way of many other neocolonial projects of the global elite class in many places in the rest of the world. Underdevelopment will be the result, not development: it will create the same result in Nepal – neoliberal colonization and preservation of semifeudal poverty.

2. Prachanda/Bhattarai practice is packaged as anti-feudal and in support of industrialization, but the real aim is to attract foreign investment in energy and other key sectors, only resulting in foreign, imperialist domination and exploitation rather than an anti-imperialist line.

3. Building infrastructure (roads, bridges, hydroelectric projects, etc.) will really be targeted to promote the colonial export of people, products and tourist services and to import foreign-made industrial goods to Nepal . Worse, better infrastructure will be employed militarily by imperialist powers to suppress the revolution.

4. The policies outlined in Bhattarai’s budget planning will result in the loss of revolutionary peasant advances in agrarian development initiated by their taking control of lands and property from comprador bourgeoisie and feudal landlords – a contradiction of the theory and practice demonstrated by Mao in China. Rather the new policy is about pooling domestic and foreign capital; about establishing credit-based capitalist debt and interest system that will serve instead institution of subjugated rural cooperatives.

5. These practices, Maoist in name only, will never lead to a people’s republic; they will entrench the democratic parliamentary republic of the reformist type with promotion of the purchase of foreign goods and consultancy – in short an elitist power system for the bourgeoisie class. This will be supplemented by an emphasis on technical education initiatives (though needed), but will neglect education of the proletariat about the imperialist roots of social problems.

Those points summarize pretty well I think the fears of the “hardliners”. Here is some of the kind of international press releases on which they base their condemnation:

Prachanda Seeks Mega Investment in Nepal

Prachanda: Public-Private partnership (PPP) Best Model for Economic Development

But wait. What is really interesting is if you look at what Mohan Baidya “Kiran” and Chandra Prakash Gajurel are actually saying in more detail. Kiran as you may recall is the prominent leader whose paper was synthesized with the position paper of Prachanda a few days ago – the result being a unified front which leaves open the question of an eventual people’s republic. Both Kiran and Gajurel had been pushing for an immediate move to the people’s republic rather than the continued collaboration in multi-party democratic republic development. Their leadership in this respect has fueled the “hardliner” perception and tagged them with this moniker. Further analysis shows that they do not consider themselves as “hardliners” in the sense they have been perceived. This may begin to make clear why the recent synthesis has been possible between sides of the debate.

First, consider the November 6 interview with Kiran I found published in Nepal Mountain News (excerpts provided):


Changing party tag an irrelevant issue: Mohan Baidya “Kiran”


"I feel that conspiracies are on to foil the Maoists’ established credentials.. specifically the revolutionary ideology of the Maoists is being targeted deliberately.. if one talks on ideological grounds he or she is labeled as a hardliner.. [There is a kind of competition among the Maoists and the UML in removing Maoist's name from the party tag].. As far as the UML is concerned, I personally feel that it is not even a Communist party.. However, in our case changing the party tag is irrelevant and illogical.. For us, Maoism is the party’s identity.. The political situation is such that it demands debates and discussions. That’s all.. we need to continuously rectify our mistakes as there is the concern among our supporters whether the party is deviating away from its prime ideological premises.. It is my belief that Democracy as such needs to be redefined in the Nepali context.. No compromise should be made on our ideology---this is what I believe.. [on his personal evaluation of the government performance].. It will only become a premature evaluation. We want to move ahead, yet we do not have the needed absolute majority. Old mindset prevails in the bureaucracy. Nevertheless we are determined in our set objectives."

Now consider what was said by Gajurel a week earlier. C.P. Gajurel, 59, is a politburo member and chief of the foreign affairs bureau of the CPN (Maoist) party. (excerpts):

Gajurel: on Multi-Party Democracy and Armies

"We feel that the performance of the government has not lived up to the party’s hopes. Because it is a coalition government, it hasn’t been able to work according to the policies of our party. . There is a mistaken belief that multi-party means parliament, the parliamentary system means democracy, and that no other form of democracy exists in the world.. But there are many political systems in the world that are not parliamentary but have multi-party competition.. In our multi-party system, there will be competition between parties.. It’s not necessary that, like in parliament, there has to be an opposition party and a ruling party. . In fact, there is no provision for an opposition in the interim constitution. Only after the Nepali Congress decided to stay in opposition did we decide to allow for it.. The state can’t just stop some parties from competing just because it wants to.. We haven’t deviated from our core ideology. . Our central committee took a decision to enter government.. it is true that this is a new exercise. Such an exercise hadn’t occurred in the world communist movement.. As communists, we define our party as one of unity in opposites. It is not monolithic. The different opinions in the party struggle against one another, and the party gains direction through this struggle.. The ‘Federal Democratic Republic’ line was definitely useful in bringing an end to the monarchy and establishing a republic. But do we now move forward or consolidate this form of republic?.. But has the Indian republic been able to solve its problems?.. We have to do better than that.. Now it is said that a ‘People’s Republic’ is a communist republic. But it is not communist. Neither is it socialist. It is basically a bourgeois republic, but it has many elements of socialism.. We want to move forward so that we don’t return to a feudal-type, capitalist-type of republic.. In that system not everything will be nationalized. Some elements will of course be nationalized, but private property and industry will exist.. bourgeoisie will be protected. The objective is to develop national capitalism. [on integration of the NPA and the PLA armies].. even though we had reached agreement in the past with the United Nations and other parties that integration would take place according to the Security Sector Reform (SSR) model, the Nepali Congress is bent on promoting the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Rehabilitation (DDR) model.. all verified Maoist combatants should be integrated into the Nepal Army (NA)."

Clearly, both Mohan Baidya “Kiran” and C.P. Gajurel in their recent statements demonstrate they are not Maoist “hardliners” in the sense they have been portrayed by those intent as Kiran says “to foil the Maoists’ established credentials.. specifically the revolutionary ideology of the Maoists”. Rather, as Gajurel says the Maoists lead by Prachanda “took a decision to enter government.. it is true that this is a new exercise. Such an exercise hadn’t occurred in the world communist movement.. ”. Yes, both Kirin and Gajurel are critical of the government’s performance so far, but Kirin has characterized this as nonetheless a “premature evaluation” – yet the “situation is such that it demands debates and discussions”. There is no dismissal of the fears of those who are indeed “hardliners” ready to revolt against Prachanda. As Kirin states “there is the concern among our supporters whether the party is deviating away from its prime ideological premises..”.; or Gajurel “different opinions in the party struggle against one another, and the party gains direction through this struggle..”. The real “hardliners” point to Kirin and Gajurel’s call for a “people’s republic” as soon as possible, to “move ahead” (Kirin), rather than “consolidate this [parliamentary]form of republic” (Gajurel). They are obviously thinking this call is a preservation of the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist line against Prachanda’s apparent reformism. How then are they to think of Gajurel saying the people’s republic called for “..is not communist. Neither is it socialist. It is basically a bourgeois republic, but it has many elements of socialism.. ”? Instead, this explains the capacity for the Maoist leadership to form a unified front.

The point needs to be made, I think, that as Kirin says “Maoism is the party’s identity..”, that when Gajurel says the Nepali people’s republic is not to be communist, this is a kind of hyperbole. It is not communist in the sense of communism’s prior history. It is better characterized as a novel form of communism in which as he says “there are many political systems in the world that are not parliamentary but have multi-party competition.. In our multi-party system, there will be competition between parties.. It’s not necessary that, like in parliament, there has to be an opposition party and a ruling party. .”. Is there not the idea that communism should be both egalitarian and inclusive of all people. Does it really necessarily call for the elimination of the functions of the bourgeoisie in a form that is not exploitive of others? Consider the definition of the communist hypothesis as defined by Alain Badiou that was taken up in some detail in a prior post:

"What is the communist hypothesis? In its generic sense, given in its canonic Manifesto, ‘communist’ means, first, that the logic of class—the fundamental subordination of labour to a dominant class, the arrangement that has persisted since Antiquity—is not inevitable; it can be overcome. The communist hypothesis is that a different collective organization is practicable, one that will eliminate the inequality of wealth and even the division of labour. The private appropriation of massive fortunes and their transmission by inheritance will disappear. The existence of a coercive state, separate from civil society, will no longer appear a necessity: a long process of reorganization based on a free association of producers will see it withering away."

The question remains. Will the Nepali Maoists manifest a novel form of communism in their vision of a people’s republic? There is nothing about this vision that a priori precludes the possibility of revolution against the logic of class despite the obvious dangers. We are in a completely different historical period calling not for a victory of the hypothesis as it existed and ultimately succumbed in prior phases, but as it calls for practice in the context of conflict between old and new theory in the modern context – Badiou:

"In many respects we are closer today to the questions of the 19th century than to the revolutionary history of the 20th. A wide variety of 19th-century phenomena are reappearing: vast zones of poverty, widening inequalities, politics dissolved into the ‘service of wealth’, the nihilism of large sections of the young, the servility of much of the intelligentsia; the cramped, besieged experimentalism of a few groups seeking ways to express the communist hypothesis . . . Which is no doubt why, as in the 19th century, it is not the victory of the hypothesis which is at stake today, but the conditions of its existence. This is our task, during the reactionary interlude that now prevails: through the combination of thought processes—always global, or universal, in character—and political experience, always local or singular, yet transmissible, to renew the existence of the communist hypothesis, in our consciousness and on the ground."

Blog Guide: A discussion of blog features and primary topic content may be found at the initial entry. The first few entries give a good idea of how best to use the blog, especially for the tagging and social bookmarking at my external Delicious site, and for instructions regarding the Stefandav TV widget.



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Friday, November 28, 2008

The Maoist Debate in Nepal - Part 2

This topic has opened with some background and opinion in the Part 1 entry: as for background, on the one hand are those who fear the Maoists are merely engaging in a strategic process aimed at ending parliamentarian government and creating a communist party state; while on the other hand, even in the ranks of the Maoists, is the fear of a reactionary or reformist “Maoist” controlled country that leaves Nepal subjected to an elite class within the coordinates of global capitalist power structures; as to opinion, the situation suggested by the current internal Marxist debate in Nepal, if my analysis is to be accepted, is that those who are rebellious have already jumped to the conclusion that they have the right to rebel, but wouldn’t it be better to continue vigilance at this point about whether the path being proposed by Prachanda and Bhattarai is merely a quantitative accumulation based on the collaboration with existing parliamentary power or whether it engenders a qualitative leap in its application of Marxist theory.

In just the last couple of days, the debate has to a great extent been resolved publicly:

Maoist Cadres' Conference Adopts New Strategy - November 26, 2008

"The six-day long national cadres' conference of the CPN (Maoist) ended Wednesday evening, adopting new strategy which.. is a 'synthesis' of separate policy documents presented by Prachanda and organisation department chief Mohan Baidya (Kiran).. party spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara said the conference has adopted a slogan 'people's federal democratic national republic', which pretty much sums up the immediate strategy of the party. The national conference adopted the strategy after intense brainstorming over the documents of Prachanda and Baidya( Kiran), Mahara informed claiming that the decisions taken at the conference "have brought party unity to a new height". Leaders said the new strategy seeks to institutionalise democratic republican order while keeping the option of 'gradual advancement towards people's republic' open.. cadres gave a clear thumps-up to Prachanda's document, but suggested that leadership come up with a single document by merging the two."

This is really quite stunning – the actual announcement of a unified statement by the Maoist’s that, although they are participating in the institution of a democratic republic, the question of a single party people’s republic is to remain open. It is clearly a rebuttal of the position of some number of Maoist cadre, for example consider the article by CPM Maoist Central Committee member Nitra Bikram Chand “Biplap” on just November 24, 2008 (to which following I submitted a comment online):

Biplap on Differences Among Nepali Maoists

"The main bone of contention is whether the party should advance ahead for People’s Republic or stay in the stage of democratic republic.. Prachanda put forward a program to remain in the Democratic Republic.. the necessity of the tactics of democratic republic; there is no favorable situation to advance into the People’s Republic.. the need to synthesize the ideology.. Kiran disagreed.. proposal for a People’s Republic.. We must understand.. authentic political program of our party a new People’s Democracy. According to the validity of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, the central question of the People’s War is to achieve people’s state power.. interesting aspect.. is Nepali Congress (NC) and the Unified Marxist and Leninist (UML) are more active in the operation of the state than during the period of the monarchy, when the PW began.. carried out barbaric repressions against us.. the People’s War was against even the multiparty parliamentary system."

Stefandav Comment: "Comrade Biplap has clearly stated the political differences and developed his argument on that basis. Essentially this argument is that the PW was and is contrary to parliamentarian theory. Obviously it is. How can we conclude however that Prachanda/Bhattarai have abandoned the goal of the People’s Republic simply because they are engaging a strategy of peaceful struggle vs insurrection and are presently using tactics that at this point involve multi-party negotiations. Sure, as such, these tactics are not strictly revolutionary in the historical sense, but if the goal is to thereby wither away parliamentary government and put an end to it this way, then it is also true that the tactics are not strictly speaking reformist. Has not history often shown us that it is problematic to retain the fruits of revolution without having really gained control of the socio-economic situation? Is it really not a leap of conclusion to think that Prachanda/Bhattarai, given their leadership roles from the beginning of the PW have suddenly forgotten or abandoned the goal because they want to drive a BMW and live in a palace? As we know, the NC etc. are highly suspicious they are simply engaging in a strategic process. Let’s hope so and be vigilant but not screw with that process too much. Also, let’s not forget that communism is not about division - the NC etc. has been and are mistaken but those people are still in our world and will be when stripped of their elitist class. Taking this into account is as I understand it the new phase of manifestation of the communist hypothesis as elucidated by Alain Badiou and introduced elsewhere in my blog in further detail, along with many links and references to this very important theoretical line. I don’t know, but I aim to find out if Prachanda/Bhattarai are indeed creating something novel - its important I think that the jury remain out at this point, and its certainly no time to be calling for the hangman."

So one might think I am very self-satisfied that the latest developments, wherein the Maoists have presented a united front in support of the Prachanda/Bhattarai line has occurred along with the explicit declaration that the people’s republic is still on the future agenda. Well, yes, but there remains some problematic aspects. These pertain mainly to the fact that some of the criticisms that have been levered against this development do, I think, bear consideration even though the united front was the best course of action. Additionally, the explicit retention of a vision for the people’s republic is likely to engender backlash among the other members of the multi-party coalition developing the democratic republic, as well as provide fodder to the international global capitalist power structure and related donor community for shifting support away from the Maoists.

First, on the latter problematic I have just mentioned: Prachanda has issued statements as recently as October 20 to the international community that seem obviously contradicted by the new united front of Maoist cadre:

Prachanda Advocates a New Type of People’s Republic

"Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal today repeated his party’s commitment to multi-party political system, saying that the ‘People’s Republic’ that the Maoist leaders are talking about is not similar to the system introduced by Chinese leader Mao about 70 years ago in China. Speaking to journalists at the tea reception organised by the CPN (UML) Wednesday, Dahal said his party is not against competitive politics, human rights and democracy. ‘Our effort is to ensure more active involvement of people in the state activities and empowering them to have their say in national agendas’, he added. He informed that a political committee would soon be formed to determine the future of Maoist combatants. Despite objections from other parties, including those within the coalition, Maoists have been insisting a group blanket merger between PLA and Nepal Army."

Also, Bhattarai earlier this month released a detailed budget plan. A review of the main stipulations is available from the link below point to an obvious need to integrate with and obtain international support if the plan is to be implemented. Not only is the stated vision of a people’s republic likely to hurt this process of cooperation, the fact that such close cooperation is planned gives argument for the Maoists who believe the democratic republic amounts to a sell out of the revolution:

Bhattarai: Speech on Nepal Government Planning

"The New Federal Budget from Baburam Bhatterai.. it’s a strange feeling reading the distinct analytical style of Baburam Bhattarai in an official government document, after becoming accustomed to it in underground sources. Memories from pouring over his PHD thesis in college come gushing back. Whatever ones opinion of his politics, this man is without a doubt the best intellect Nepal has to offer [included comment critical of the Prachanda/Bhattari line:] Like Prachanda, Bhattarai packages his policy as anti-feudal and in support of industrialization. But the real thrust of his and Prachanda’s policy is to attract foreign investment, such as into energy and other key sectors under the rubric of privatization labeled as “public-private partnership”. The practical consequence of this policy would be to strengthen the foreign, imperialist domination , plunder and exploitation of the Nepalese people and natural resources. It is clearly a comprador line rather than AN anti-imperialist line."

This rancor in South Asia Review begins to touch on the other problematic I mentioned above: some of the criticisms that have been levered against this development do, I think, bear consideration even though the united front was the best course of action. There are at least a couple of more articles I wish to review that give a more detailed argument from the Maoists who opposed the formation of a democratic republic. These I believe strike deeper into the theoretical differences. I will take them up in Part 3 of this series. There also I will return to the prescriptions of Alain Badiou regarding the new phase of Maoist evolution of the communist hypothesis he brings to light.

Blog Guide: A discussion of blog features and primary topic content may be found at the initial entry. The first few entries give a good idea of how best to use the blog, especially for the tagging and social bookmarking at my external Delicious site, and for instructions regarding the Stefandav TV widget.



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Monday, November 24, 2008

The Maoist Debate in Nepal – Part 1

The Maoist revolution in Nepal is perhaps the most “developed”, in a sense, of the number of Maoist revolutions currently underway on the planet. Unlike the various movements in India, the Philippines and elsewhere the period of armed conflict has come to an end, we hope. In 2005-6 when I first went to Nepal, having for some time been interested and writing about the revolution there, the Nepal Maoists finally succeeded in forming a coalition with several of the parliamentarian factions. The Royal forces, now the nationalist army, as well as the armed Maoists have stayed in cantonment, the Nepal monarchy has been dismantled and a new Nepal Federation has been established with the Maoists in majority control of the new government. A key issue remains regarding the integration of the army with the Maoists insurgents. The question in my mind then in 2005, as now, is if and whether the radical socialist policies envisioned at the onset of armed conflict can and will be implemented. On the one hand are those who fear the Maoists are merely engaging in a strategic process aimed at ending parliamentarian government and creating a communist party state; while on the other hand, even in the ranks of the Maoists, is the fear of a reactionary or reformist “Maoist” controlled country that leaves Nepal subjected to an elite class within the coordinates of global capitalist power structures.

My interest here is to give a snapshot of the current events in Nepal in the context of theoretical questions, specifically with reference to the ideas of Alain Badiou on Mao’s fidelity to the communist hypothesis. I was set in motion on this blog entry upon reading the Maoist Prime Minister and leader of the armed revolution Prachanda’s latest comments about his party’s commitment to multi-party political system. He says that the ‘People’s Republic’ that the Maoist leaders are talking about is not similar to the system introduced by Chinese leader Mao in China 70 years ago – he has consistently stated that Maoism in Nepal is a novel development in communist theory. Also, the Maoists leading intellectual and co-leader of the revolution, Baburam Bhattarai, now the Finance Minister, just published his budget proposal with his theoretical commentary. I will be going into these articles and providing links later. I will also be analyzing some commentary and opposition to the Prachanda/Bhattarai line by other prominent Nepalese Maoists. As stated, I am looking at the debate with reference to the thought of Alain Badiou.

As often happens, when one is thinking about a particular issue and spending a lot of time reading on the net what you have found before and what others are finding, something presents itself. One of the Facebook Marxists posted a translation from Badiou which I found right to the mark:

An Essential Philosophical Thesis: "It Is Right to Rebel against the Reactionaries"

The first set of key concepts (I am providing excerpts from the article) proposed by Badiou concern the interpenetration of Marxist theory and practice, which I think go to the heart of the matter in the current debate within the school of Nepal’s Maoists:

“.. This phrase[Mao: ‘It is Right to Rebel against the Reactionaries’], which appears so simple, is at the same time rather mysterious: how is it conceivable that Marx's enormous theoretical enterprise, with its ceaselessly and scrupulously reworked and recast analyses, can be concentrated in a single maxim.. And what is this maxim? Are we dealing with an observation, summarizing the Marxist analysis of objective contradictions, the ineluctable confrontation of revolution and counterrevolution? Is it a directive oriented toward the subjective mobilization of revolutionary forces? Is Marxist truth the following: one rebels, one is right? Or is it rather: one must rebel? The two, perhaps, and even more the spiraling movement from the one to the other, real rebellion (objective force) being enriched and returning on itself in the consciousness of its rightness or reason (subjective force).. every Marxist statement is—in a single, dividing movement—observation and directive. As a concentrate of real practice, it equals its movement in order to return to it. Since all that is draws its being only from its becoming, equally, theory as knowledge of what is has being only by moving toward that of which it is the theory.. Mao Zedong's sentence clearly situates rebellion as the originary place of correct ideas, and reactionaries as those whose destruction is legitimated by theory. Mao's sentence situates Marxist truth within the unity of theory and practice.."

Later, if you read the full articles I will briefly examine from the Maoist factions in Nepal, I think you will see that what is essentially at stake is the question of whether the line of “Prachanda Path” as it has come to be known is indeed an “objective force” interpenetrated with a novel theoretical development, a “subjective force” – or is the current course of action by the new government, as alleged by its internal critics, a revisionist or reformist infidelity to Maoist thought. Let’s continue with Badiou on the Marxist theory of knowledge in its historical development:

“.. There is hardly a truer and more profound statement in Hegel than the following: ‘The absolute Idea has turned out to be the identity of the theoretical Idea and the practical Idea. Each of these by itself is still one-sided’ It is the uninterrupted and divided process of being and the act. Lenin salutes this enthusiastically: ‘The unity of the theoretical idea (of knowledge) and of practice.. and this unity precisely in the theory of knowledge, for the resulting sum is the "absolute idea’ .. knowledge, as theory, is (dialectically) opposed to practice.. the inner nature of the process of knowledge is constituted by the theory/practice contradiction.. Consider Mao, ‘Where Do Correct Ideas Come From? Often, correct knowledge can be arrived at only after many repetitions of the process . . . leading from practice to knowledge and then back to practice. Such is the Marxist theory of knowledge, the dialectical materialist theory of knowledge’ ..To stabilize our vocabulary, and remain within the tradition, we will call ‘theory’ the term in the theory/practice contradiction whose overall movement will be the process of ‘knowledge’.."

Again, I am trying to apply Badiou’s thesis "It Is Right to Rebel against the Reactionaries" in examining what the theoretical debate in Nepal means. It must at least mean a process of determining whether or not the path of Prachanda is a revisionist or reformist deviation. Likewise it is a question of whether or not the critics of what they call the Prachanda-Bhattarai clique have the right to rebel. The situation suggested by the current internal Marxist debate in Nepal, if my analysis is to be accepted, is that those who are rebellious have already jumped to the conclusion that they have the right to rebel. I am asking, wouldn’t it be better to continue vigilance at this point about whether the path being proposed by Prachanda and Bhattarai is merely a quantitative accumulation based on the collaboration with existing parliamentary power or whether it engenders a qualitative leap in its application of Marxist theory. To understand what this suggestion means I conclude on Badiou:

“On this basis [Badiou’s definition of “theory” as the movement of theory/practice contradiction as a process of knowledge] we may expose the reactionary illusion entertained by those who imagine they can circumvent the strategic thesis of the primacy of practice. It is clear that whoever is not within the real revolutionary movement, whoever is not practically internal to the rebellion against the reactionaries, knows nothing, even if he theorizes.. Mao Zedong did indeed affirm that in the theory/practice contradiction—that is, in a phase of the real process—theory could temporarily play the main role: ‘The creation and advocacy of revolutionary theory plays the principal and decisive role in those times of which Lenin said, 'Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement' ‘ . Does this mean that, at that moment, theory amounts to an intrinsic revolutionary possibility, that pure "Marxist theoreticians" can and must emerge? Absolutely not. It means that, in the theory/practice contradiction that constitutes the process of knowledge, theory is the principal aspect of the contradiction; that the systematization of practical revolutionary experiences is what allows one to advance; that it is useless to continue quantitatively to accumulate these experiences, to repeat them, because what is on the agenda is the qualitative leap, the rational synthesis immediately followed by its application, that is, its verification..“

Blog Guide: A discussion of blog features and primary topic content may be found at the initial entry. The first few entries give a good idea of how best to use the blog, especially for the tagging and social bookmarking at my external Delicious site, and for instructions regarding the Stefandav TV widget.



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Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Revolution of the Mind (Adults Only)

A few words here at the beginning of the third month of this blog: on the theoretical emphasis, text resources and the nature of its content. There has been a n "interesting" development. I find from my work station in Beijing I can no longer access my site because of censorship. As a result many of my links will come to you via a proxy server and anyone living in China must be referred to my blog by proxy such as here. I wish the regime could see I am actually working for Maoist China.

I just changed the title to "Stefandav - Revolution of the Mind". This is a reference to the idea from Alain Badiou that the next phase of fidelity to the communist hypothesis, a third stage in its historical development, is taking place - "it will involve a new relation between the political movement and the level of the ideological". The initial introduction to the idea and links to text resources was provided at the entry McBama? No, the Communist Hypothesis. As this suggests, the nature of the blog content includes the use of contemporary events references as a vehicle to introduce theoretical emphasis. Likewise, Badiou text quotes and links can be found in entries concerning the current financial crisis and various contemporary revolutionary movements (most notably Chinese People: The Regime is Corrupt) . Currently much discussion among Marxists continues about the ideas in his latest book Logics of Worlds.

The other contemporary Marxist thinker prevalently featured throughout the entries is Savoj Zizek. Badiou and Zizek are closely aligned in the line of Marxism through Louis Althusser (links to his Marxist archive)and the psychoanalytic school of Jacques Lacan. While Badiou provides a theory rooted in his notion of "Event" and the required subsequent allegiance to the "Truth" revealed therein whereby a new world becomes actual from its initial virtual state (also presented in his minimalist mathematics, ontology=mathematics); Zizek, in his own way emphasizes a direction in fidelity to the communist hypothesis which seeks to recover what should not be lost - as detailed in his latest major work In Defence of Lost Causes. Zizek is an inexhaustable source of analysis of contemporary events accross many disaplines within the arts as well as within political science and philosophy and, psychoanalysis. His inimitable speaking style may be viewed in several videos embedded in the Stefandav TV widget at the sidebar ( I just added a new video interview on his just published small book, Violence.

I don't know really what specific findings in ongoing review of contemporary events and writings will inspire posts in the coming days. Besides the themes recently introduced from Badiou, on my mind are certain themes in Zizek's "Lost Causes" I read for the first time about a month ago. This includes especially his projections regarding world antagonisms that are most likely to be sources of revolutionary praxis internal and external to both society and nature: internal to society is the complex legal problems of intellectual property; external to society is the events developing in the slums juxtaposed to gated communities; internal to nature are the profound ethical issues of genetic engineering; and external to nature from the register of ecology, the world-ending threat of sustainable development.

I have not even began to digest very fully the contents of Badiou's "Logics of Worlds, only in the last year translated from the French. Also there lurking is Sam Gillespie's book on Badiou's ontology=mathematics, The Mathematics of Novelty. I mention so briefly all these ideas from Badiou and Zizek I hope to understand, and can only direct you to the wealth of text resources available through my Delicious bookmarking system linked on the sidebar. There you will also find links to many primary and secondary site resources on revolutionary events underway as well as sources of academic writings on the theories being examined. Especially useful is the link to The International Journal of Zizek Studies.

Here is a listing of entries for the first two months of the blog for an easy overview and convenient access:

Blog Guide:
A discussion of blog features and primary topic content may be found at the initial entry. The first few entries give a good idea of how best to use the blog, especially for the tagging and social bookmarking at my external Delicious site, and for instructions regarding the Stefandav TV widget.



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