[Marxism] The DSP's fresh approach to applying democratic, centralism

[Peter Boyle]

Richard Fidler wrote:

> I know the DSP comrades
> sometimes talk about building a revolutionary party -- a task they see as
> objectively, historically posed before the working class, as do we -- but in
> practice their activities are of a much more mundane, propagandistic nature,
> taking advantage of whatever opportunities there are for agitation among and
> joint work with union militants, solidarity activists, environmentalists, in
> the women's movement, etc., etc.

This is the DSP's approach to party-building as supported by 75% 
majority at our January 2006 congress:

Our party-building /strategy/ is to build a mass revolutionary vanguard 
party of the working class. All our party building tactics should 
advance that strategy. We know that the vanguard status of such a party 
has to won in struggle. We know that no party can decree itself a 
vanguard – such status can only be won through struggle, and we 
certainly can’t say that the DSP is now that vanguard, or will 
necessarily be the form that such a vanguard will take. So we do not see 
our party-building strategy as building the DSP, full stop.

We also know we want to build a mass party of revolutionaries who are 
united around a program and prepared to act in a disciplined way, but 
that the unity and discipline is based on the political authority and 
respect that has to be won through successful leadership in actual 
struggle. That is the political point in the famous clowning and 
phrase-mongering quote from /Left-wing Communism. /

Lenin’s argument was that the discipline and unity required of a party 
that can lead a revolution is only built up politically through the 
class consciousness of the vanguard of the working class, its ability to 
link up with the broadest masses and ability to exercise political 
leadership over the masses. He said: “Without these conditions all 
attempts to establish discipline inevitably fall flat and end up in 
phrase-mongering and clowning. On the other hand these conditions cannot 
emerge at once. They are created only by prolonged effort and hard-won 
experience.”

From: http://www.dsp.org.au/site/?q=node/16