Here is a special english version of the bulletin of our internal fraction of the ICC. We gathered texts of our bulletin 25 and 26, french and spanish versions, in this same "double issue" on paper. We decided to do so since we haven't the forces to translate all our texts into english. By the way any help (including english corrections) would be welcome.
The bulletin 25 is dedicated to the organizational matters and to the crisis of the ICC. We've decided to translate into english the short denunciation we've made of the Historical falsifications of the International Review 117 in the article Marxism at the roots of the concept of capitalism's decomposition. Again, and increasingly, the new ICC alters history, whether it's its own or the workers movement one, or the present historical situation, it doesn't matter. Things, facts and events must "enter" at any price into its absolute and dogmatic frameworks. Here it distorts quotations and consciously ignores others of its historical and "organic" roots such as Internationalisme of the 1940 and 1950's - despite it carries on claiming the political continuity -, as well as the Bulletin de discussion de RI of the 1970's, or the International Review of the 1980's. The aim of those tricks and lies is there, in this case, to make pass the idea that the concept of decomposition, such as it's understood, defended and put forwards today, is in continuity with the former ICC and with the French Communist Left.
Then we present into english our statement on the report made in Revolution internationale 347 and World Revolution 276 about the 16th congress of the french section of the ICC. From this written report, on the basis on what it exactly says - we argue with exact quotations of the text - we clear up the real political significance of this congress, in particular in regards with the general orientations on the present historical situation, and in regards with the triumphant declamations about the internal situation... that, as we show it, the article itself denies.
Finally on this organizational matter, we publish the Epilogue, the last chapter, of our History of the IS with a presentation explaining why we do so and giving explanations to help its understanding. The english reader will see and will verify the reality, the concrete reality, the unquestionable reality, that the today ICC don't even try to refute. It prefers the insults and the slanders in the name of the struggle against our supposed "parasitism". The reader'll see, concretly, the beginning of the betrayal of the ICC organizational rules and principles and, thus, why and how we had to build up an organized minority.
Unfortunately, we can't, al least for the moment, translate comrade's Olivier contribution "Against the vision of cliques and clans within the revolutionary organizations". Here is the position of our fraction, today, on the question of the clan that we express in the presentation of this text (bulletin 25) :
"The fraction shares comrade's
Olivier concern in regards with :
- the imperative need for the communist
organization to deal with the political question at the political
level ;
- the political significance for an
organization to favour the questions of person, of psychological
characteristics, etc. to the detriment of the political problems and
disagreements ;
- the rejection of the notion of clans and cliques as basic
explanation of the difficulties known by the organization at the
level of its functioning ;
- if, in a communist organization, more or less
formal regroupments tend to crystallize on political questions, it
surely means that the organization don't succeed (or refuses) to
openly discuss the questions which gives birth to these regroupments.
Once this has been said, and giving the fact
comrade Olivier's text is above all a rich contribution for
reflection for all, the fraction doesn't fully agree with some
affirmations and it doesn't claim some aspects of the comrade's
reflection. In particular when he goes up to a total rejection of any
possibility of existence of clique or clanish regroupment within an
genuine communist organization. The point of our reflection that
we've reached, and without foreseeing our future evolution, is that
this kind of "regroupment" can unfortunately appear in a
political organization of the proletariat. But it's a signe of :
- the influence of the ennemy class (from an
ideological point of view but also through the infiltration and the
action of "dubious" elements) in its own ranks ;
- the own weaknesses of this organization which
enable the influence of the ennemy class to exert".
The bulletin 26 is more "regular". From it, we decided to publish its presentation and our last statement on the international situation. We call the reader to our previous texts on the international situation translated into english in our bulletins 4, 23 and 24 (of course he can refer to our other texts on the international situation in french and spanish). The presentation of the bulletin we reproduce here, wants to focuse on the link with the past experience and lessons of the workers movement and today revolutionaries in regards with the present historical situation. This one speeds up very quickly. The international proletariat is increasingly confronted, at the same time, through the same "unity", with the questions of imperialist war, of the economical crisis and attacks against the working class, and of the need for struggle for its class interest, need which has already expressed and will necesarily express more and more in the years and even months to come. The simultaneity of the imperialist war, of the economical crisis and of the revival of workers struggels, contains and raises the revolutionary perspective and the communist alternative to this more and more bloody and miserable capitalist world. Useless to insist here on the crucial role and responsibilities communist organizations already have and will have in the future. No doubt in the close one.
July 2004
Internal Fraction of ICC -- Bulletin 25