[Marxism] Britains Muslim communities and Respect

[Joaquin Bustelo]

Mike writes: "I note that Joaquins comment totally omits the category of
class from his analysis. I would suggest that if Britains Muslim communities
- not a nationally oppressed group but a series of communities united by a
shared religious identity - are abandoning the major parties, in fact this
boils down to abandoning the Labour Party, they are more often than not
simply moving to another bourgeois party. In many ares this has meant moving
to the Liberal Democrats and in only a minority of cases has it meant
Respect.

"Such a move on the part of some of Britains Muslim communities is not in
advance of the majority white working class as Joaquin suggests given that
large layers of that ethnic group have already abandoned labour for apathy."

If I understand the argument, Muslims voting for a righteously antiwar and
anti-neoliberal party like Respect aren't ahead of "the white working class"
because OTHER Muslims have ALSO given up on Labour, some for other bourgeois
parties, some for abstention. 

Muslims may not be a single "nationally oppressed group" but they do
nevertheless suffer national oppression. That's why I spoke of "nationally
oppressed communities." I know some people try to split hairs between
religious discrimination, racism based on skin color, denial of language
rights, etc., but I view all those and much else besides as different
aspects of national oppression.

That Respect hasn't yet succeeded in attracting the bulk of disaffection
with Labour among Muslims in Britain is not that important. I think what's
important is that in some areas it seems to have done so to a very
significant, mass degree despite being a tiny, brand-new party. 

Now, as to WHY Muslims are abandoning the Labour Party, I suspect it's not
entirely unrelated to the fact that Labour signed on to Bush's "war on
terror," as they call their anti-Muslim crusade, and this inevitably
translates into all sorts of attacks against people of color (e.g., the de
Menezes case). 

Contrary to Mike's supposition, I do not totally omit the category of
"class" from the analysis the was behind my post. Quite the contrary. 

I believe that what Engels said in 1883 about "the white working class" --to
use Mike's expression-- in England is applicable today: 

"Do not on any account whatever let yourself be deluded into thinking there
is a real proletarian movement going on here. I know Liebknecht tries to
delude himself and all the world about this, but it is not the case. The
elements at present active may become important since they have accepted our
theoretical programme and so acquired a basis, but only if a spontaneous
movement breaks out here among the workers and they succeed in getting
control of it. Till then they will remain individual minds, with a
hotch-potch of confused sects, remnants of the great movement of the
'forties, standing behind them and nothing more. And--apart from the
unexpected--a really general workers' movement will only come into existence
here when the workers are made to feel the fact that England's world
monopoly is broken.

"Participation in the domination of the world market was and is the basis of
the political nullity of the English workers. The tail of the bourgeoisie in
the economic exploitation of this monopoly but nevertheless sharing in its
advantages, politically they are naturally the tail of the "great Liberal
Party," which for its part pays them small attentions, recognises trade
unions and strikes as legitimate factors, has relinquished the fight for an
unlimited working day and has given the mass of better placed workers the
vote."

The mechanics of the privileged position of the English working class are
different today, as it can hardly be said that England has a world monopoly
in anything, not even in colonial brutality, having been surpassed long ago
by the colonial-settler state England implanted in North America. But
updating the language a little bit, I think it is true that "Participation
in the imperialist domination of the world was and is the basis of the
political nullity of the English workers."

To what degree this may have begun to break down I'm not in a position to
say. But my very strong impression is that this has been the dominant
tendency in the English working class over the past few decades, as I
believe it has been generally in the main imperialist countries, and
undoubtedly so in the United States.

Joaquín