International Institute for Research and Education
Audio's Daniel Bensaïd
17 January 2017
In this final part of his lecture, Bensaïd discusses entryism with concrete examples from the SWP, and CP's in different countries such as America, Brazil and France. He draws conclusions and comments on the results as well as their validity today.
Bensaïd provides a chronological account of the period from WWII to the split in 52-53, the reunification process in 63, the 9th world congress, and considerations on the 11th world congress. FI started as a prognosis on the WWII and its results. Trotsky thought that this war would have the same effects as the WWI and trigger a series of revolutions. A strong internationalist revolutionary vanguard was necessary. After WWII, the perspective of Trotsky was to be maintained closely. Bensaïd gives example from the 46 Document, where a general problem of building sections in Western Europe was raised to prepare for a new wave of revolutionary movements around Europe. Bensaïd outlines general characteristics of the period from 48-49 to the 53 split: Firstly, the international reacted correctly to the one of the major outcomes of the war, which was how to interpret and understand the new revolutions that happen. It was a problem to understand these movements. Secondly, and this lead to the split, the global perspective was not changed because there was no understanding of what were the social and economical conditions after the war. With the colonial revolution and its weakening impact on imperialism, it was believed that the third world war, which would be an international civil war, would break out, and in this situation there was no time to build mass organisations or parties.
In this part of recording, Bensaïd focuses on the reunification process in 63, with concrete points from the reunification congress. He continues to discuss the context of the reunification: In Europe, the strategical framework was linked to what he calls a "strategical hypothesis", with a prospect of revolutionary crisis in the 70s. New conditions of the proletariat in Europe and new organisation building strategies came up. He provides a critical perspective of the FI's lack of analysis and failure of recognition regarding Latin America in the 1970s. He concludes with an account of 10th and 11th World Congresses, the latter being a "balance-sheet" that put forward coherent perspectives and key tasks for transforming the FI's position on Europe and Latin America.
The first part focuses on the founding of the JCR, and the process of fusion from 68 to 69 between the JCR and the PCI. The context of youth organisation and youth radicalisation around Maoist currenst and the Vietnam War are discussed as well as the organisational structures and movements.