A-Infos (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
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