Is Socialism a dead term or is it still relevant in the 21st century? Is capitalism the end state of civilization or is there any evolution possible to a different and more evolved system? Well if we read Marx , he clearly shows that the path of historical development from primitive tribes to slavery, from slavery to feudalism, feudalism to capitalism, capitalism to socialism and socialism to communism is how history unfolds.
So what Marx predicts is that economic and political systems also evolve over time, just like Darwin had predicted for biological species. Is Socialism now what Marx had predicted in the 19th century, or is what Lenin and Bolsheviks tried to build in the 20th century still relevant? Of course not. And all those, who still dream of building the erstwhile Soviet model, in my view, are not Marxists, as Marxism is the “concrete analysis of concrete conditions”.
Even the Chinese Communist party recognizes this and has acknowledged that China is in the ‘primary stage of socialism’ and needs to build the productive forces with its vision of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Hence, these are the real Marxists, who try to understand the new changes in capitalism and globalization, and don’t just rant old slogans like some other communist parties do in the world.
What is the vision for 21st Century Socialism ?
So how is any vision of the 21st Century socialism going to be different from 20th-century socialism? Well, in a broad sense, socialism is collective ownership of means of production by the working class, instead of the monopoly control by top corporates. So, is this possible today in the world of globalized finance capital and an aggressive IMF and World Bank, and the US as the hegemonic powerhouse behind this?
Well, if there is any party which has a certain vision of a post-capitalist world, it needs to offer some alternatives to this framework. So, the first aspect which any Left party needs to answer is, do they believe in the theory of imperialism today? If they do, what is the alternative? We have seen the example of Syriza, which was a radical Left party in Greece, which won the polls on the plank of renegotiating Greece’s debt with European Union, but failed to do so due to enormous pressure of Euro banks, and had to accept a new deal, else the only other option they had was moving out of Eurozone. So, this is an example of the power that international banks hold and the monopoly of finance capital. Same holds true for any country which wants to embark on an alternate journey.
So, What Is The Option For 21st Century Socialism?
Well, to begin with, the party which is truly committed to 21st-century socialism will need to work on a 3 fold strategy.
1) First, embark on the welfare state model within the framework of global capitalism, like the social democratic parties of Europe did in the 20th century. Social democracy is vital for any Left politics to grow. The growth of the right wing and fascist tendencies will only further lead to marginalisation of the Left. Hence, we need Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour in UK or Indian National Congress to get back in power and embark on social democratic measures. This is itself will not bring in Socialism, but will put pressure on Capitalism to concede more to the working class, thus strengthening the Left and working classes. Hence, the Communist need to form an alliance with social democrats.
2) We need a new socialist/Leftist international, which has a good network of communist/radical left/democratic socialist parties worldwide which believe in some kind of post-capitalistic framework. This will enable the development of new theories and an alternative economic framework. The Left need to finally bury their differences between, say Marxist-Leninist or Trotskyist or Democratic Socialist theories. The biggest enemy of the Left has been the infighting in the Left from the time of Marx . And the Communist Party of China ( CPC) will has played the lead in this, which surprisingly has been missing from the Chinese, after the fall of Soviet Union.
3) Once the above is in place, there will be solidarity between Left-leaning parties worldwide. And then if a Syriza wants to break away from Eurozone, it will have the economic and political support of China or Russia or India. Similarly, in Venezuela, the Capitalist order is of International nature and cannot be fought by without an International Left .
Future Of Left In India – What Should Be The Roadmap?
The CPI(M), the biggest Left party in India is facing an existential crisis in Bengal and Tripura. In Bengal, the party is desperately trying to stay relevant with Mamata’s hegemony on one end and the rise of an aggressive BJP on the other hand. With the demise and ill-health of the old guard, there is no popular face of the Left which can take on Mamata.
Surjya Kanta Mishra and Mohd Salim are top leaders who need to put in a lot of hard work to ensure Left revives in Bengal. But eventually it will be back in Bengal and Tripura, thanks to the excellent organization built over decades. The recent Brigade rally has given a lot of hope for CPIM supporters in Bengal, and is an example of this. In Kerala they already quite engaged with the masses, and are in power, and are thus in a much better shape.
So what should their tactics be to bring 21st century socialism in India? The Left Front needs to accept that both Congress and BJP cannot be kept at the same distance. Congress is the biggest pan Indian secular party with a vision of Social Democracy and Welfare state model . Hence the Left Front needs to build strategic partnerships with Congress to help build an alternative. If Left is with Congress, it pushes Congress policies to the Left as the Congress too has a lot of left leaning politicians starting firstly from the Gandhi family like Sonia Gandhi. Sonia has been a Social Democrat and this was very much visible in first 5 years of UPA with the establishment of NAC and push for pro-poor policies and schemes like MNREGA, RTI, Forest’s Act. What was accomplished in the UPA-I was tremendous despite pro- market resistance in INC led by the PM Dr Manmohan Singh itself. But as long as Gandhi family is firmly in helm of affairs of Congress, the party is committed to Social Democracy. This was proved by Rahul Gandhi’s recent announcement of Minimum wage guarantee program in consultation with famous Left leaning economists like Piketty, if Congress comes to power.
Hence the hardliners in CPIM need to weeded out and pragmatists like Sitaram Yechury need to take charge of the party so that no more “historic blunders” are committed . The “Congress – Left Front- Janata/Socialist parties (like SP,BSP,RJD,JD(S) etc.)” Alliance is imperative to keep the BJP away from power and ensure India moves to a welfare state model . If this is achieved over the next 10-20 years, then this will automatically pave the way for 21st Century Socialism where they will be in position to challenge IMF and World Bank and introduce an alternate policy direction in India. !!!