"Andean Mode"

"AMP column"

forms of contemporary popular asian culture from a second generation perspective

*

http://www.haussite.net/

***

FEW: [Working_Class_News] Bolivia Gets a New Constitution 57% to 43%

a step in the right direction; at least in terms of achieving indigenous majority rule (i.e. “indigenismo”), as there is no objective difference between the status of indigenous people in bolivia and the status of black africans under south african apartheid. yet, the idea of "andean capitalism" is a chimera. the masista theorists and propagandists that came up with the idea are basing their proposal on a misinterpretation of the premises associated with the heretical marxist concept of an "andean mode of production" attributed to the incas. the inca political economy was neither primitive communist - because the incas where civilised (in the sense of having a city based society and economy) - nor was it slavery, since there where no slaves in the inca empire. the incas believed that the land belonged to the inca who was the incarnation of the sun. they worked the land collectively and shared the produce.

like the notion of an alleged "asiatic mode of production" attributed to imperial china and the Byzantines (i.e. “the bureaucratic administration of peasant labour exploitation to support a militarist ‘oriental despotism’...”), or the "bureaucratic collectivist" system in the ussr and eastern bloc; the "andean mode of production" was a historical dead end. i.e. progress towards industrial urban based socialism, in the sense that karl marx advocated, could not be achieved from that starting point. in all cases it was required that a political economy that could serve as developmental precondition for progress, in the sense described by karl marx, was introduced from the outside through conquest. specifically (and respectively): the spanish conquest introduced into the inca dominions the iberian form of european feudalism; the latin seizure of constantinople ( a precursor to the turkish conquest) introduced western feudalism to the byzantine dominion; the western penetration of china in the 19th century introduced western imperialist capitalism to east asia (the maoist revolution of 1949 replaced this mode of production with bureaucratic collectivism); British and French investment in the 19th century Russian empire attempted to introduce industrial capitalism into a society functioning on the basis of the Byzantine version of the Asiatic mode. the attempt failed, resulting in the revolution of 1905 which sought to replace the Tsar with a liberal republic (a form of the state better suited to enforce capital preservation). Subsequently - through the successful application of the theory of permanent revolution-; the revolution of 1917 replaced that initial attempt at “progress” with bureaucratic collectivism; the voluntary dissolution of the Soviet Union (the USSR never “fell”) in 1989-1991 (re-) introduced the experiment of industrial capitalism into Russia on a neo-liberal republican form. The current putin-medvedev government has modified the project of re-introduction of capitalism towards a national-corporatist basis - with Russian ethnicism (in context of multipolar enforcement) as ideology. In so far as the Russian Federation is the political-economic product of the dismantling of the bureaucratic system in favour of Industrial Capitalism, the Russian Federation is a historically progressive entity; as it is the national-corporatist RF - and not the bureaucratic collectivist USSR - which embodies the necessary Industrial Capitalist historical precursor to possible Industrial Socialism.

Etc…

so what is the likely fate of "andean capitalism" in bolivia ? at best it will become a lot like south africa after apartheid, with features of zimbabwe under mugabe. the hispanic political class and financial oligarchy in la paz will be replaced by an indigenous political class and financial oligarchy organised around the MAS; just like in south africa the afrikaner white dutch elite was replaced by a black african ruling elite organised around the ANC. - n2

ref: the orthodox "marxist" modes of production:

(heretical "marxist" modes of production -understood to be divergences- in parenthesis)

Industrial Communism
Industrial Socialism
(bureaucratic collectivism - the leninist ussr)* [Nordic mode of production? **]
Industrial Capitalism and Imperialism (with fascism as a form of capitalist government)
Mercantilist Capitalism
Feudalism
(asiatic mode - imperial china, byzantines)
Slavery
(andean mode - incas)
Primitive Communism

* p.s. those who deny "bureaucratic collectivism" fall into three cathegories: those who say the leninist ussr was "really existing socialism"; those who say it was a "bureaucratically deformed workers state"; and those who say it was "state capitalism".... – n2

[** p.s.s assuming the existence of a “nordic mode of production” in Scandinavia (perhaps, “the technocratic administration of mass consumption to facilitate capital preservation and bureaucratic despotism”); while understanding that by nature modes of production premised on bureaucratic administration are historical dead ends (as demonstrable by the fate of the asiatic mode and bureaucratic collectivist variables), and that necessary MUST be the introduction FROM THE OUTSIDE - through CONQUEST- of an alternate mode of production that could function historically as a developmental precondition for progress towards industrial socialism - in the sense karl marx advocated – I propose that a Russian Federation military conquest of Scandinavia would be historically progressive for the Scandinavian region, because it would dismantle the Nordic mode of production (a historical dead end) and would in its place establish in Scandinavia (through the annexation of Sweden and Norway into the Russian Federation) the Industrial Capitalist mode of production which would be THE necessary precondition for possible progress towards industrial socialism.]

***

Question posted at RevLeft History Discussion forum:   [October 15th, 2010]

The Inca Empire representative of an "Andean Mode of Production"

[http://www.revleft.com/vb/inca-empire-representative-t143357/index.html]

The lattest development of "Andean Marxist Thought"; a historiographical tendency within the Bolivian MAS, is the development of a "Theory of the Andean Mode of Production" to describe the functioning of the Inca polity from a Historical Materialist perspective.

The Masista historiographers are basing their proposal on the premises associated with the "heretical marxist" concept of an alleged "Asiatic Mode of Production" attributed to the Han Chinese. According to the argument proposed; the Incan political economy was neither primitive communist - because the incas where ''civilised'' (in the sense of having a city based society and economy) - nor was it slavery, since there where no slaves in the Inca empire. The incas believed that the land belonged to the incanato who was the alleged incarnation of the Sun-God. they worked the land collectively in a cooperative fashion and shared the produce; which arguably does not make their political economy an example of Feudalism.

Like the notion of an alleged "Asiatic Mode of Production" attributed to Imperial China and the Byzantines (i.e. “the bureaucratic administration of peasant labour exploitation to support a militarist ‘oriental despotism’...”), or the "bureaucratic collectivist" system in the ussr and eastern bloc (the Bolivian M.A.S. official line on the "soviet question"); the "andean mode of production" is defined by the Masista historiographers as a historical dead end. i.e. progress towards industrial urban based socialism (via political liberalism and mercantilism), in the sense that karl marx advocated, could not be achieved from that starting point. In all cases it was required that a political economy that could serve as developmental precondition for progress, in the sense described by karl marx, was introduced from the outside through conquest. specifically (and respectively): the spanish conquest introduced into the inca dominions the iberian form of european feudalism; which was objectively ''more progressive'' since it could eventually lead to the emergence of capitalism and then socialism.

Is this sound historical materialist analysis ?, or a capitulation to internalised eurocentrism derived from five hundred years of cultural domination by Spanish colonialism and USA neo-colonialism, which dovetails with the formulation of a dangerous apologetics of Pizzaro's conquest of the Inca ?

Your thoughts ?


---




(CC) Material on this Weblog is licensed by Miguel Angel Torres, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [6] license, except for links to articles that are posted with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed and credited to their author(s), inclusive Miguel Angel Torres.

How Socialism will Liberate Lesbian Womyn

According to socialist Friedrich Engel's, the function of the patriarchal nuclear family under capitalism is to ensure the reproduction of male property inheritors and to force women to provide those social services (such as childcare), that capitalism refuses to pay for. A socialist perspective on patriarchy and homophobia must proceed from a critique of the nuclear family as a capitalist institution. The homophobic ideology of ''family values'' that conservatives defend - a false consciousness - exists to legitimise the capitalist patriarchy. The Lesbian Woman is hated by the social conservative because She represents the living negation of the capitalist patriarchy. She refuses to reproduce and she refuses to be shackled by compulsory heterosexuality.

Socialism will not abolish the family per se, rather it will eliminate the socio-economic foundations of the capitalist patriarchy and the homophobia it requires to exist. Socialism will abolish the social conditions that engender homophobia by eliminating the social requirement to only engage in heterosexual relationships. In a socialist society all persons will be free to pursue the sexual and emotive relations of their choice with whom they prefer regardless of gender. In fact, codified gender roles will be transcended. Socialism will allow for the eradication of homophobia in schools, public services, and workplaces through educational campaigns; equal access; equal pay for equal work; and the strict enforcement of equality and non-discrimination rules.

Socialism will guarantee free abortion on demand to all women and provide free access to health care services specific to the needs of Lesbian Women and Transgendered persons. Childcare will be socialised, thereby freeing women to pursue educational opportunities of their choice (free of charge) and subsequently enter the workforce in any area of their choice. A democratically planned socialist economy, will remove economic need as a motive for entering emotive and sexual relations. The socio-economic basis for prostitution will be removed. No longer will working class women and boys be compelled to sell their sex to men as a commodity in the market. Under socialism human sexuality will be decommodified.


Semper Indomitus !


***

Upsurge of Struggle for LGBT Democratic Rights in Eastern Europe -by Miguel Amanda. July 24, 2006.

On Saturday July 22nd, the LGBT community in Riga, Latvia held a demonstration in favor of democratic rights in defiance of the city authorities. The government of the city of Riga had acted on July 19th to effectively ban a LGBT pride march scheduled for that day. The authorities cited “threats of terrorist attacks” as the reason for banning the march and further characterized the event as “the biggest security risk” faced by Latvia after winning independence from the Soviet Union. The request to stage the pride event had been made by Mozanka, the Latvian LGBT association. "We are shocked by the city council's decision, which we view as not only an unacceptable restriction of the freedom of assembly, but a major blow to democracy", said Mozanka board member Linda Freimane. The July 22nd demonstration was attended by activists and parliamentarians from Sweden, Germany and the UK. Although there was no overt repression on the part of the police, they where criticized for taking a passive stance while LGBT demonstrators where attacked by social-conservative and neo-Nazi counter demonstrators. One attending Swedish parliamentarian was injured in the altercations that took place. The ban and the negligence of the police were denounced by a number of international Human Rights NGOs; notably Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. This prompted Latvian president Vike-Freiberga to state that the refusal by the city of Riga to authorize the pride parade was “unacceptable in a democratic country”.

The attempt by the Riga authorities to undermine the democratic rights of LGBT communities in the city came after a series of advances made by the LGBT communities in Russia and Poland over the past few months.

On March 2 solidarity demonstrations where held in front of Russian embassies and consulates in West European capitals denouncing the ban of a planned Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender pride march in Moscow. The demonstrations where called by IDAHO (International Day against Homophobia), a Human Rights NGO based in Paris. This development points to an upsurge of awareness among those in the West concerned with the negative situation that GLBT peoples face in ’’post-soviet’’ Eastern Europe and Russia.

The support expressed by supporters of the LGBT community outside Russia inspired the Rainbow Community in Moscow to hold two spontaneous pride demonstrations in favor of democratic rights for free assembly and freedom of speech on May 27th. The demonstrations were met with repression from police and from groups of counter-demonstrators including neo-Nazi skinheads, Muslim clerics and faithful of the Orthodox Church. The Courts upheld the Moscow government ban on the gay pride demonstrations despite the fact that the Russian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and assembly; and despite the fact that a criminal complaint was filed by Moscow pride organisers against religious clerics ’’for inciting hatred towards a social group’’, which is prohibited by Article 282 of the Criminal Code of Russia. May 27th represents the national ’’comming out’’ of the LGBT community in Russia. Some have called it “the Russian Stonewall” .Gay Pride organisers in Moscow are planning to hold another march in the spring of 2007 despite the threat of a ban.

The movement for LGBT equality and human rights in Russia has inspired a similar upsurge of struggle in Poland. Despite a ban by the Warsaw city government; approximately 2,500 LGBT campaigners and supporters from Western Europe marched on the city in June.

The Warsaw Equality March was a success. Demonstrators carried placards reading: “The World is Watching” as representatives of the European media marched along to record the proceedings.

Although the police conducted a tight security operation there where no reports of violent incidents. Groups of skinheads associated with the youth wing of the “League for Polish Families” – a Roman Catholic political group – delivered verbal abuse upon the pride demonstrators but where prevented from engaging in physical violence by the police. It is a sign of cultural progress, in Roman Catholic dominated Poland, that the LGBT community can exercise its rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

According to Igor Yasin a member of Socialist Resistance (the CWI in the country); ’’Our task as socialists is to show that only by fighting capitalism and its state machine together with all the poisonous prejudices that come out of capitalism and by building a new society based on freedom and equality - a socialist society - can [the question of LGBT rights] be tackled once and for all.’’

There can be no socialism without LGBT freedom. There can be no LGBT freedom without socialism.

** An edited Swedish-language version of this article was published in July of 2006 in the Socialist newspaper ''Offensiv'' press organ of the Justice Socialist Party of Sweden; Swedish section of the Commite for a Workers International. The author is not a member of this organisation. The views expressed inthis blog are not necessarily those of CWI or the Justice Socialist Party of Sweden and vice-versa.