In our class
discussions about the Holocaust, we identified racist, discriminatory, and
destructive tendencies inherent in Hitler’s Nazi ideology that made genocide a
likely and maybe even inevitable outcome. Moving on to Stalinist Russia raises
important issues in a similar vein, namely, the nature of “Communist” ideology.
Is there something inherently violent and discriminatory that, like Nazism in
Germany, created the preconditions for genocide in Russia?
To answer my own
question, I would have to say both yes and no. Marx’s Communist Manifesto does
not explicitly mention violence, but certain terminologies such as “class
warfare” and “liquidation” of social groups can certainly be (and have been)
interpreted as physically destructive. It is likely that although Marx
certainly did not intend for the Manifesto to be used as a means for mass
murder or genocide, he was not opposed to the use of violence in order to
achieve the “dictatorship of the proletariat”.
Stalinism was a
perversion of Communism; that much is obvious. However, Stalinism used Marxist
principles to justify the oppression and murder of social and ethnic groups.
For example, the Communist Manifesto calls for the “liquidation of the
bourgeoisie”, the same concept as the de-kulakization campaign of the 1930’s.
The goal of Communism was internationalism, in which the “withering away of the
state” would produce a worldwide proletariat that had no need of ethnic
delineations. Stalin justified the deportation and attempted cultural genocide
of the Chechens-Ingush and Crimean Tatars as eliminating threats to the
internationalism of Communism.
I would also like
to look back on the posts that Brooklyn and Marina made about corporate
capitalism as genocidal. I think that their arguments are very valid and apply
just as well to Communism. Although Communism and capitalism are opposing
ideologies, it would seem that they are both conducive to perpetrators of
genocide. In both cases, the ideology itself is not genocidal, but in many
cases its execution is, and that’s just as bad.
In response to your first question, "Is there something inherently violent and discriminatory that, like Nazism in Germany, created the preconditions for genocide in Russia?" I believe the answer must be yes - of course. However, locating the culprit in Marx's writing or Communist ideology/philosophy reflects the extent to which cold-war-fear still dominates the mainstream American world-view. This belief has historically driven america's regimes of political repression and terror across the globe (from the Haymarket massacre, to COINTELPRO, to the Vietnam War).
ReplyDelete"It is likely that although Marx certainly did not intend for the Manifesto to be used as a means for mass murder or genocide, he was not opposed to the use of violence in order to achieve the 'dictatorship of the proletariat.'" As she says, of course Marx didn't intend genocide; that would be an absurd interpretation of his work. In addition, the leap from 'not opposed to violence' to complicit in genocide is substantial. The five Marxist references you provide misrepresent his original concepts by 1. focusing exclusively and unduly on poor people uprising violently and unfairly; and 2. ignoring the normalized class warfare perpetrated against the proletariat by the capitalists and bourgeoisie everyday. Labor exploitation, dangerous/unhealthy living/working conditions, aggressive policing/surveillance, and mass-incarceration, and murder are several of the many types of violence which inspired and provoked the communist manifesto initially.
What confuses me, is how, after recognizing that, "Stalinism was a perversion of Communism," you conclude that, "Although Communism and capitalism are opposing ideologies , it would seem that they are both conducive to perpetrators of genocide." In other words, we have outlined the ways in which a perpetrator of genocide has managed to justify his actions in the name of Communism, rather than of how communism culminates/(ed) in genocide. I agree that Stalin's terror tactics resemble those employed for capitalist interests throughout Latin America, Africa, and the Global South. In many of these theaters, those being persecuted were communist(-socialist); not the other way around. In my mind, this should dissociate Stalin's terrorism from actual (rather than nominal) communism.
Stalin's violence was fear-based and vertical; most of his 'supporters' were complicit out of fear, alone. Conversely, The U.S.'s innumerable hit-list of covert assassinations: Patrice Lumumba in the Congo, Che Guevera in Bolivia, Salvador Allende in Argentina, and Fred Hampton & George Jackson in the U.S., exemplify the roles real communists have played in genocide of the 20th century. Many if not most of the victims of corporate-America's global genocide from Guatemala to Indonesia have died for a politics relating to communism. Rather than following Marx's words on an intellectualized, frenzied rampage, they lost their lives fighting for freedom. The Marxian vision of this freedom is a society in which all humans work as hard as each other, and everybody is entitled to the same lifestyles, peace, dignity, and respect. Revolutionary?, yes - genocidal? hardly!
In conclusion/again,
Stalin is to Communism as Bush is to Democracy//
Marx is to Stalin's Genocide(s) as Jesus is to Guantanamo Bay and the war in Iraq
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**As a public university professor with strong affiliation to the Panther Party, Angela Davis was persecuted for her communism from the very top (Pres. Reagan). I think you ask some important questions about physical violence, and the role it plays in the quest for freedom&peace. The following is an interview with Ms. Davis from within a prison cell, yes, the belly of the beast. It may help clarify the distinction between genocide and self defense
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZELXvAT_B04
Brooklyn--
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for posting that link. I don't know very much about Angela Davis, but I was truly moved by the intense emotion that made her statement about violence and self-defense very compelling. I'll definitely be watching the rest of the film as soon as I have the time.
I'd also like to respond to some of your arguments concerning my post.
I think that you misunderstood the intention of the post. My goal was to show the ways in which Stalin could use Marx's Communist rhetoric as a means to justify his own policies of terror and genocide. This is NOT to say that Marx or the Communist Manifesto were in any way responsible for Stalinist terror or genocide, but they were used as an "excuse" to commit atrocities. Your analogy of Jesus to Guantanamo/ the Iraq war is absolutely in line with this model. Both examples seem ridiculous, but both were used as rationalizations to achieve a political goal.
It is possible that the "cold-war-fear in mainstream American worldview" that you mention still persists precisely because of this confusion over the link (or lack thereof) between Marxism and Stalinism.