Stalinist Realism and Open Communism: Malignant Mirror or Free Association PDF
Preview Stalinist Realism and Open Communism: Malignant Mirror or Free Association
Stalinist Realism and Open Communism Stalinist Realism and Open Communism Malignant Mirror or Free Association Ian Parker Resistance Books Stalinism Realism and Open Communism Malignant Mirror or Free Association Ian Parker Published 2022 Resistance Books, London [email protected] www.resistancebooks.org Cover design by Adam Di Chiara ISBN: 978-0-902869-27-1 (print) ISBN: 978-0-902869-26-4 (e-book) Capitalism as a global system of rule tells us that there is no alternative, and is accompanied by its terrible twin, ‘stalinist realism’ that works its way into ideas about political camps, bodies, identity and organisation. Ian Parker provides an analysis and an alterna- tive,‘opencommunism’,whichisdemocraticand plural, and must be built now. Ian Parker is a revolutionary Marxist in Manches- ter, an activist with Anti-Capitalist Resistance, and author of Revolutionary Keywords for a New Left (2017: Zero Books), Socialisms: Revolutions Betrayed,MislaidandUnmade(2020:Resistance Books) and Radical Psychoanalysis and Anti- Capitalist Action(2022: Resistance Books). CONTENTS Introduction 1 1 Stalinism 7 2 Camps 13 3 Bodies 21 4 Identity 28 5 Organisation 35 6 Freedom 42 7 Commons 48 8 Intersections 55 | vii | CONTENTS 9 Plurality 63 10 Transitions 71 FURTHER READING 79 GLOSSARY 83 | viii | Introduction Stalinist Realism MarkFishergaveusacutting-edgeanalysisin2009 ofwhathecalled‘capitalistrealism’;theideological claim that capitalism is the only possible reality today, that there is no alternative. Mark’s analysis showed us that this kind of ‘realism’ locks us into place in capitalism, and is suffused with fantasies aboutourpassivityandtheimpossibilityofradical change.‘Realism’hereisthemantraofthosewho wanttheworldtostaythesame,ofthosewhowant exploitationtocontinueasitis,ofthosewhowant to convince us to give up struggling for another world beyond capitalism. There is an alternative, and Anti-Capitalist Resistance works alongside other revolutionary organisations here and across the world to build that alternative. Mark Fisher showed us that we need a deep analysis of the ideology of ‘capital- ist realism’ precisely so we can better challenge it. Understandingtheworld,forusrevolutionaries,is intimately connected to challenge and change, to struggleandtransformation.Thatiswhatsocialist politics is for us. But we also face another threat, one Mark understoodwell,andwhichthislittlebookfocuses on. There is a weird flip-side of capitalist realism thatpretendstoofferawayoutofglobalcapitalism butwhichlocksusallthemoretightlyintoexploi- tation and oppression. That false path, a poison- ous trap for the left, is ‘stalinist realism’ (a telling phrase we owe to comrade Ali); little s for stalin- ist here to mark it as a pervasive cultural-political phenomenon on the left. Stalinist realism is very presentintheexplicitpoliticsofsomegroupsthat saytheyarecommunistandinthepoliticsoftheir fellow travellers who are well-meaning but deeply mistaken. Stalinist realism is a kind of weird malignant mirror of global capitalism; it repeats many of the mosttoxicaspectsofcapitalismwhileposingasan alternative.Itisnotanalternative.Itispartofthe problem.Hereweexplainwhatstalinistrealismis, and why it needs to be avoided.
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