Re: [Marxism] Permanent Revolution [was "Shameless self promotion"]

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

The main defect of any theory of revolution is that it's a theory.

A theory (theory of evolution; relativity theory; theory of value) ought
to be a set of propositions which carry a reasonably precise explanatory
power under a wide variety of particular conditions. But when we look at
actual revolutionary processes they exhibit the most amazing variety --
I would say messiness, extreme messiness, and attempts to bring that
mess under the umbrella of some theory seem to result _either_ in a
level of generality which makes the theory more or less tautological
(trivially so) _or_ in strait-jacket formula which only leads to damning
the latest revolutionary experience as a sell-out.

Marxism is a theory of capitalism. We're going to have to think our way
through the revolutionary process, and marxist (or leninist or
kautskyist or trotskyist or maoist or Xist) THEORY is not really going
to be much help -- and will often (as in the childish attacks on Castro,
Chavez, Morales, whoever/whatever) be positive barriers to using our
heads.

Carrol

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