National Re-Launch Young Communist League - 12-14 December 2003 - Volume 3

Young Communist League South Africa
National Re-launching Congress
December 11-14, 2003, Vaal Technikon
Volume 3: Background Documents
Fight for Socialism, Crush Capitalism
YCL to the Front!

BACKGROUND DISCUSSION DOCUMENTS OF THE NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE (NSC) ON THE RE-LAUNCH PREPARATIONS OF THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE OF SOUTH AFRICA

Index of Contents

1. Concept document of the YCL
2. Probation in the YCL - which way to go
3. Theory of SA transition
4. International context of world relations and imperialism
5. Building a revolutionary YCL

DISCUSSION DOCUMENT ON THEORETICAL CONCEPT OF THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE

JOIN THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE AND FIGHT FOR SOCIALISM!

What the Young Communist League is, and how it wants to achieve its goals?The Young Communist League is an organisation of young communists. Its aims and objectives are the overthrow of capitalism and its replacement by socialism and, finally, communism. The guiding theory or doctrine of the YCL is Marxism-Leninism. The YCL recognises the South African Communist Party as the Vanguard Party of the working class in this country and thus accepts overall leadership from the Party towards realising socialism and communism. Politically and organisationally the YCL operates on the basis of Democratic-Centralism.

Marxism-Leninism

• Historical and Dialectical Materialism

Marxism as a doctrine rests on three sources or components

Like all political organisations and movements the YCL fully recognises the importance and centrality of philosophy, a conception of the world, to its political activity. Furthermore, it clearly understands that there are only two basic camps in philosophy, idealism and materialism. As a communist organisation the YCL unwaveringly adheres to materialism. Consequently, it will make all possible efforts to educate its members and the youth at large on the materialist world-outlook. Needless to say it will vigorously combat idealism in all forms as part of the struggle for socialism.

For the need to educate its members and young people generally on dialectics has never been so important and urgent as in the current period of international reaction and national setbacks in class struggle. While all bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties are doing their best in indoctrinating the masses with the ?theory? of the ?impossibility? of change, the ?natural? and ?unchangeable? nature of bourgeois rule, the YCL propagates the exact opposite. Everything is in motion, constantly changing! Beneath the appearance of tranquility, profound changes are taking place or preparations for such changes are occurring. There is nothing natural or eternal about anything in this world, including human society. Everything changes. Human society is undergoing and will always undergo change. Just like the basis for change in any phenomenon exists within that very same phenomenon, the basis for change in human society exists within human society, itself. Thus the YCL will do its best to educate its members and young people in general on dialectics and particularly dialectical materialism.

Capitalism is a particular stage in the evolution of human society. Like all other forms of societies preceding it, capitalism is based on economic exploitation resulting in class antagonisms and class struggle. Class struggle is the locomotive of history. The struggle between the two major classes constituting capitalist society, the capitalist class and the working class, is the only basis for further development of human society to a higher level.

Economic exploitation is defended and facilitated primarily through political means. Other means (e.g. culture, religion, ideology) also play an important role in legitimising and perpetuating exploitation and class domination, however, political power in the form of state is the most important instrument of securing the reign of exploiters over the exploited. Consequently, class struggle is ultimately a political struggle. Hence, all profound changes in human history, from one form of exploitative society to another (slavery, feudalism and capitalism) have always been accompanied by profound political changes - political revolutions.

Motive forces for such changes are produced by, and located within, the existing society. Thus, the capitalist class developed within feudalism, itself. Due to its economic role under feudalism, particularly at a certain stage of development of feudalism, the capitalist class was well positioned to drive and lead the political overthrow of feudalism and the establishment of capitalist society. The working class, property-less and concentrated at the heart of capitalist production, is the only consistently revolutionary class capable of overthrowing capitalism and abolishing classes and class rule. This conception of human history, a materialist conception, known as historical materialism, is the consistently scientific approach to change. It is a fundamental element of Marxism, and the YCL is duty-bound to educate its members and the broad masses of young people on this component of Marxism.

Labour theory of value"The doctrine of surplus value is the cornerstone of Marx? s economic theory".

"Where the bourgeois economists saw a relation of things (the exchange of one commodity for another), Marx revealed a relation of men (i.e. human beings ? women and men). The exchange of commodities expresses the tie by which individual producers are bound through the market. Money signifies that this tie is becoming closer and closer, inseparably binding the entire economic life of the individual producers into one whole. Capital signifies a further development of this tie: human labour power becomes a commodity. The wage-worker sells labour power to the owner of the land, factories and instruments of labour. The worker uses one part of the labour day to cover the expense of maintaining himself and his family (wages), while the other part of the day the worker toils without remuneration, creating surplus value for the capitalist, the source of profit, the source of the wealth of the capitalist class".

"By destroying small-scale production, capital leads to an increase in productivity of labour and to the creation of a monopoly position for the associations of big capitalists. Production itself becomes more and more social -hundreds of thousands and millions of workers become bound together in a systematic economic organism - but the product of the collective labour is appropriated by a handful of capitalists. The anarchy of production grows, as do crises, the furious chase after markets and the insecurity of existence of the mass of the population".

"Capitalism has triumphed all over the world, but this triumph is only the prelude to the triumph of labour over capital".

• Class struggle

Transition from capitalism to socialism

The Dictatorship of the Proletariat

The fundamental goal of the working class in its struggle against the capitalist class is to conquer political power, the state, from the capitalist class and establish its own rule, scientifically known as the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. The proletarian-socialist revolution differs from all other previous revolutions in that it is a pre-condition for the creation of socialist property relations, the only material basis for abolishing classes. Bourgeois political-revolutions occurred long after the bourgeois property relations had emerged and took definite shape within feudalism, itself. On the other hand, under capitalism, the working class owns nothing except its labour power, which it sells to its capitalist exploiters in order to make a living. It is property-less, hence, it is sometimes popularly (and correctly so!) described as a class of wage-slaves, and capitalism described as a system of wage-slavery. Therefore, the conquest of state power from the bourgeoisie is an absolute necessity. The working class absolutely needs state power in order to transform property-relations and re-organise the entire society along socialist lines.

Furthermore, since the state is an organ of class rule, the capitalist state being the executive committee for the management of the common affairs of the capitalist class, the state is the ultimate power for the defence and continuation of capitalism. It is organised violence in the hands the capitalist class against the working class. It is this ultimate power and organised violence that the working class directs its energies towards conquering, and thus depriving the capitalist class of its last form of defence, its instrument of last resort.

Moreover, the working class cannot simply utilise this capitalist instrument for its own emancipation. This instrument has arisen historically for a specific purpose, defence and perpetuation of a particular form of class rule. It does so in a particular matter befitting capitalism. For its own emancipation the working class needs its own type of state. Therefore, the working class must not only capture state power from the capitalist class. It must also smash (destroy, break-up) this capitalist state power! On the broken pieces of the capitalist state machinery, and side-by-side with it, a new type of state, a working class state, shall be created, and has to consciously created! Forward to the Dictatorship of the Proletariat! Such are the fundamental teachings of Marxism; such is the proven historical experience of all successful socialist revolutions throughout the world; such are the lessons from day-to-day experiences of the working class in each and every capitalist country, irrespective of its political system."Even Liberals recognise the class struggle? He who does not take the class struggle to its logical conclusion, the Dictatorship of the Proletariat is no Marxist" (V.I Lenin).

Proletarian Internationalism
True to its communist convictions, the YCL fully embraces working class internationalism as one of its guiding fundamental principles. Ever since capitalism became an international or world system, the class struggle between the working class and the capitalist class also became an international or world phenomenon. Thus, it follows that in the life-and-death struggle between the capitalist class and the working class in a particular country the two classes inevitably forge alliances with their counterparts elsewhere in the world.

Just like the capitalist classes throughout the world have an objective common interest, the continuation of capitalism, the working classes in every country in the world also have an objective common interest, the overthrow of capitalism and its replacement by socialism and, ultimately, communism. Moreover, socialism can only be built by the efforts of working classes of many countries. Needless to say the victory of socialism requires, in the final analysis, the victory (conquest of political power, etc.) of the working classes in the most advanced capitalist countries.

The National Democratic Revolution
Uneven and combined development is a fundamental and general law of historical development of human societies. Marxism long ago differentiated among various types of countries on the basis of their level of economic development and, consequently, the tasks facing the proletariat in each country. Such differences in tasks, particularly immediate tasks, facing working classes in different countries have become even more pronounced and clearer in the epoch of imperialism. While the road to socialism-communism will naturally and inevitably, in all countries, go through the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, the latter will also naturally and inevitably arise out of various diverse forms of struggles necessitating different kinds of alliances and types of organisations.

Capitalism has gone through two historical distinct phases, i.e., its rise (competitive, progressive, rise of nation-states) and its demise (monopolistic, imperialism, reactionary, national self-determination). The National Democratic Revolution belongs to the latter. One of the key features of the greater part of the 20th was the oppression of the vast majority of nations and/or peoples in the world by a few advanced capitalist countries. National liberation struggles to throw of the yoke of imperialism became the order of the day. National democratic revolutions became a specific strategy pursued by communists towards national independence and socialism in the colonies and semi-colonies. In South Africa, this strategy is predicated on the Party? s conceptualisation of the situation here as Colonialism of a Special Type.

The Communist International, during its first four Congresses, outlined the basic tasks of colonial and semi-colonial revolutions as follows: -

Political independence

Political democracy, including workers' rights
Agrarian question
The CI further defined the driving social forces of such revolutions, and their respective roles, as follows: -

• The national bourgeoisie - tiny minority, comprador, pro-imperialist, reactionary
• The petty-bourgeoisie - numerically strong, in some cases numerically weak, unstable, vacillating, revolutionary and reactionary tendencies
• The peasantry - vast majority, unstable, vacillating, revolutionary and reactionary tendencies
• The working class - strong minority, growing in numbers, revolutionary, the leading or soon to be leading class
• YCL and the SAC
• Problematising the South African scenari
• YCL and other youth formations

Relations with youth organisations and structures in South Africa

Relations with youth organisations and structures in other countrieReferences: -

• Three Sources and Three components of Marxism - V.I Leni
• The Manifesto of the Communist Party - K. Marx and F. Engel
• The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte - K. Marx
• The Paris Commune - K. Marx
• Origins of The Family Private Property and the State - F. Engel
• The Role of Force in History - F. Engel
• Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution - An Urgent Political Question - V.I Lenin
• State and Revolution - V.I Lenin
• The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky - V.I Lenin
• The National, Colonial and Semi-colonial Question - Theses, Resolutions and Manifestos of the Communist International

DISCUSSION DOCUMENT ON PROBATION: WHICH WAY TO GO

Young Communist League of South Africa

The constitution and other policy documents of the YCL need to give a definite answer on whether we need to have a probation or not. This question therefore needs to be theorised and discussed properly. A need for this brief discussion document emerged out of that understanding.

The paper will try to answer questions like what is probation, what were the historical basis for its origin, do those conditions apply to South Africa now, and other related issues. At the end, we want to suggest a tentative approach that YCL must adopt on probation. WHAT IS PROBATION AND HOW DOES IT WORK

Probation must be understood as a product of a broader Leninist organisational concept of a Vanguard Party Probation system emerged in the international communist movement and some liberation movement later, as a tool to serve two main purposes: to choose the best revolutionaries from ranks of the oppressed classes cadres to be members and lead a Vanguard Party. Secondly to build an organisation that has capacity to advance and defend the revolution.

This would largely happen under conditions of semi-legality or complete underground. Inevitably, different Communist Parties operating underground, semi legal or fully legal conditions would develop different probation systems. The stringency of the probation system and other organisational instruments like democratic centralism would differ from one set of conditions to the other, one communist party to the other etc. Young Communist Leagues derived almost all their organisational practices from the father/mother communist Parties.

So the fluctuations and changes in Communist Parties were almost invariably transplanted to the YCLs depending on the relative autonomy of the YCL in that country

Central to all the systems, like the current ones' running in China and Cuba, would involve the following elements:

• Theoretical & ideological clarity
• Political activism in organs of peoples power
• Ability and consistency in doing Party work
• Activism at work and in communities

Other comrades argue that in fact the probation as an organisational system predates Leninism, it is a borrowed concept. The revolutionary parties- Narodiks- of old Russia before the formation of Communist Party uses to use probation before they could allow membership, given the fact that theirs was a secret underground organisation.)The overall strategic goal of probation would be check whether an individual has developed enough political and ideological consciousness to be regarded as a good communist. Or at least has the person received enough theoretical knowledge and political practice.

So at a practical level probation system is meant to balance the broad questions of theory and theoretical knowledge of the cadre on the one hand and on the other, to look at the actual world outlook of the person/cadre as it relates to actual practice in daily life or organisational work.

The tasks of a probation committee or lower Party structures was to check: to what extend has the cadre developed enough analytical tools to critique capitalism and use these tools to guide his or her practical day to day life and organisational work. To approach life from a communis6t stand. Inevitably, a lot of these would actual imply the Party assessing a cadres personal life style etc. The personal was treated as political.

For instance probation committees would check the following: is this comrade keeping company of revolutionaries or discredited elements like criminals? Is this person always destructively attacking genuine weaknesses of the revolution, does she volunteer to help etc. On the other hand the cadre will be given tasks to read theory or local history of the Party in the area, given practical organisational work etc

Its important to note that the area of probation relating to assessment of personal life is not what YCL should necessarily concern itself with. Part of the overall critique of Probation is that in part it attempted to militarise people's personal life styles. But we bringing this out to give a total picture of what were other components of probation

A theoretical and practical debate related to the question of probation was resolved in the SACP 9th congress. This was the question of a vanguard party. The congress had to decide whether it wants to be a strict Marxist Leninist party (a Vanguard Party understood historically) that accepts only the most advance layer of worker leaders, intellectuals, militants and other progressive strata.

Adopting this would have meant the Party would remain small but influential through its quality of cadres and theoretical interventions in the unfolding NDR and struggle for socialism. So comrades argued at the time that given the fact that the Party members or potentially members are relatively new to a communist movement and its political practices, this approach might unfairly cut the Party from an important layer or sector of the working class. This would make the Party an elitist group of former underground and former exiled cadres. The rich working class organizational experience developed by worker militants who had no links with the underground would be lost to the Party.

Some comrades simply dismissed the notion of a small Leninist Party as exclusionist, narrow and irrelevant under the new conditions of legality & of re-popularizing the SACP. They argued that a strict/narrow Vanguard Party and by extension probation system was appropriate for underground and exiled conditions. The collapse of Soviet Union style of socialism has created new challenges that allow communists to experiment with new ideas and organisational techniques. The collapse has given communists a chance to renew the Party traditions and political practices.

Ultimately the congress took a resolution that takes into account a need for a vanguard party with sophisticated cadres that are rooted in theory and ideological clarity of a communist movement. Theoretical clarity and ideological firmness will still form the basis of the Party. On the other hand the Party has to be open enough to allow new blood, new experiences and new worker leaders that had no previous links with underground. More importantly the Party opened its membership to every worker or potential member, without probation.

The Party resolved to be a mass Vanguard Party. This essentially took forward the Marxist Leninist organisational traditions forward in the context of our own peculiar South African challenges and the collapse of Soviet Union. We think that the same approach would be appropriate for the probation system. We need a probation that responds to the needs of YCL in SACAPITALIST SOCIETY

A capitalist society produces and reproduces human beings that embrace and treat capitalist inequalities and logic of private property as natural. Capitalist media, advertising industry, state machinery, and education - overall superstructure- reinforces capitalist values in society.

Communists throughout the world have relied on conscious political mass work, amongst other strategies, build new consciousness free from capitalism. It?s a mammoth task to overcome influence and power of capitalism in the minds of working class and activists. It takes a well thought out battle of ideas and appropriate organisational vehicle that continuously negates and challenge capitalist logic through education and mobilisation.

In this context a probation system within the framework of a vanguard Party was developed to be able deal with this reality. Communist parties throughout the world, through the work and influence of communist international adopted Leninist organisational model.

Probation was adopted to assist with screening and sifting i.e. exclude or include people in the underground structures, particularly in a situation of armed struggle. Those invited to join would be put under probation to determine whether indeed they are reliable enough and whether they are capable to make necessary sacrifices for the survival of the underground structures.To some comrades probation is limited and equated to an underground communist, liberation movement and armed conflict, therefore probation is wholly unacceptable and inappropriate in situation of legality and bourgeois democracy. This discussion document adopts a different approach. It argues that probation is a tool available to a communist movement to use under both legal and underground, to build new consciousness and advance struggle for socialism, so long as we structure probation to respond to the needs and conditions of the time.

THE COLLAPSE OF SOVIET UNION & PROBATION

However some elements of probation were vulgarised, dogmatised and reduced to control. It was not used as a dynamic tool to measure political and ideological growth of cadres and the organisation

In the early 90s the collapse of soviet forced communists throughout the world to re-look at the experiences and aspects of the communist ideology, theoretical basis of our practice etc. This then lead to a look at organisational practices/ trends that arouse as a result of wrong ideological or theoretical conclusions.Probation like many other progressive concepts were largely found to have been correct practices but unfortunately they were vulgarised & abused. Probation was often used to retain /affirm or purge communists who are not convinced of the dominant thinking within the Party.

The Party developed strategise and tactics on how to build socialism in the context of two world systems. The Great October Revolution was the first successful revolution to establish and fight to sustain a society where exploiter classes do not exist. This been the first there was necessarily no map or ready-made answer to challenges of constructing socialism. The party in Soviet Union later communist parties in Eastern Europe developed a "correct route to socialism". In any other socialist view that differed from the adopted correct route to socialism" as either dismissed as ultra-leftist, ultra-right, deviations, imperialist-inspired scheme to defeat the socialist revolution and restore capitalism etc.

Number of administrative and organisational mechanisms was introduced to deal with such comrades, tendencies and "factions". The probation system was used as one such instrument. This indeed resulted in probation system advancing the dominant thinking in the party to the exclusion of any other socialist thinking. It was used kill creative and independent thinking amongst communists.

At two or three yearly probation's of existing members those who differed with
The line of did not sufficient support the line were purged or demoted. Or taken back To Marxist schools for rehabilitation. Some would later be re- turned to party leadership after publicly renouncing their previous theoretical errors. They would start praising the line and leadership of the Central Committee/Politburo as correct and unchangeable etc.

The probation system should not necessarily be equated with such mistakes. We think these mistakes; lessons from the collapse of Soviet Union should not be used to abandon helpful political and organisational practices that are otherwise scientifically correct and still relevant. What we need is a probation system that responds to our own needs.PROBATION FOR YCL

South Africa is a class society like any other capitalist society. Logically the superstructure and existing social relations reproduces human beings that unconsciously supports capitalism and its logic. South African youth, our main social base, is a product of this capitalist reality. Communist consciousness therefore emerges as a result of conscious ideological work amongst the masses, in case of YCL work amongst young people, reading revolutionary literature and above all actual class struggle. The reasons that historically gave rise to a need for a probation system still exists in our country.

The key strategic objective of the YCL as outlined in the draft constitution is to struggle, under the political and ideological guidance of the SACP, for Socialism. Arising out of this key strategic objective is the task of turning members of YCL, into communists. One of the possible options in achieving that task is through some form of probation. Of course this does not necessarily mean a probation of 3 months to a year necessarily turns an individual member into a communist.

Adopting probation as a system under these conditions - post collapse of Soviet Union - gives us a chance to learn from mistakes made by communist parties and YCLs in the past and equally learn from current practices in both China and Cuba.

WHAT FORM WILL PROBATION TAKE?

This is an area that needs a lot of creative thinking. This discussion document can only through few ideas that need to be further refined. The communist Parties have always had some form of induction classes for members. In other instance it would be formal political school or just Party classes through lower structures of the Party. Our own SACP advices branches to lead and convene classes to induct new members. In very few branches this works, but in most branches new members never gets a formal introduction to Marxism _Leninism. This indeed has resulted in not all-Party members sufficiently exposed to Marxism -Leninist philosophy at all. In return this shows through the quality and content of branch in puts in Local government, upper Party structures and society in general.We think an induction should be a strong component of probation.

Is induction same as probation? We think the probation we propose is slightly more than just an induction. We suggest that the Marxist classes should be a prerequisite for acceptance to be a member of the YCL. While on the other hand induction in itself does not determine whether you should be a member or not, if any it assists you to be a better-informed member. While on the other hand our probation seeks to transform or give you basic tools for you to be transformed into a communist. Its only when you have went through those classes you can be fully accepted as a fully fledged YCL member.We propose a three to six month's probation period. The probation period is a time within which a potential member is given political classes on body and thought of Marxism-Leninism, scientific tools of analysis, history and evolution SACP and international communist movement in general. In addition to that the potential member should have attended to a certain number of meetings and practical SACP campaigns. This must be prescribed by YCL constitution. Without undergoing this probation you can't be a YCL member. During the probation period you are a member but without certain rights like voting, a right to be elected leadership role.

The underlying approach should be to avoid a lot of administrative work & bureaucracy associated with committees dealing with probation. However we must accept probation as system does suggest there will some administrative and political work by YCL structures. At first the YCL province could directly deal with the probation with strong support from National Office. Perhaps we may need to develop and check list to be completed at the end of probation. This checklist can give us some basic and objective measure of whether a cadre has completed a probation period.

The cadre ship development unit of SACP can be asked to assist in developing a basic curriculum that each an every YCL member must study.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

We are not just a mass youth formation, but we a communist youth formation. We seek to recruit and turn young people into communists. We think probation is one tool we can use to achieve our objectives.

The process of managing the probation system and the model of probation system must be premised on political mature process, balancing the ideal (what we want) and reality i.e. the real level of political consciousness amongst young people.

At the end of probation each an every member should have completed a curriculum, done a number of practical assignments, attended a number of classes. This will give an objective measure. Probation is meant to facilitate a long journey that all we must travel before we can declare ourselves as good communists.

In other words we seek a probation system that will assist YCL members to have basic grasp of what it is and what it means to be a young communist. Therefore all care must be taken that Probation does not become a repellent or a tool to exclude young people. The proper balance can only be found from learning when we implement the system, between the ideal (what we want) and the reality of what can achieved by probation given the level of political consciousness amongst South African young people.

DISCUSSION DOCUMENT ON: THE THEORY AND STRATEGY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN REVOLUTION

THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE OF SOUTH AFRICA

The articulation of the theory, strategy and history of the South African revolution has to be located within development of societies. For this reason, the elaboration of the NDR and struggle for socialism must be located within the material conception of history. This approach tells us that the history and development of societies is based on class struggle.

Human beings? existence mainly depends on their ability to produce to meet their basic needs. In order to meet these basic needs, they organise production. The way people organise production is called a mode of production. This does not only include the techniques of production, but the way in which classes relate to each other in