[Marxism] Workerism

[Michael Briguglio]

Workerism leads to an reductionist and essentialist approach that is 
ultimately dogmatic and politically unsustainable. In political terms, one's 
class position is more important than one's class background, and class 
isn't the only factor which should be taken into consideration. Ultimately 
we are characterised by criss-crossing identities, e.g. one worker may be 
conservative and believe in one religion, another may be progressive and may 
believe in another religion, etc.. etc..

On the other hand, though, one has to be careful not to succumb to the 
opposite direction, whereby speaking in terms of the working-class would 
become akin to anathema. It is easy and cheap to label one a 'workerist' (or 
as being 'old fashioned') just because one gives importance to workers' 
struggles.  In this regard, back in the days when I was a member of the 
national executive of Malta's Greens, their Chairman had labelled me a 
'workerist' just because I thought that Malta's Greens should support the 
trade-union that represented dockyard workers when the Government was 
downsizing this industry. This is a strategy that is used by the right.

Michael Briguglio
www.michaelbriguglio.com


> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2007 07:17:48 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
> From: Walter Lippmann <walterlx at earthlink.net>
> Subject: [Marxism] Workerism
> To: marxmail <marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu>
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> <4117541.1189347468970.JavaMail.root at elwamui-little.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
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> "Workerism" is the idea and practice that only members
> of the working class, narrowly-construed to mean the
> industrial sector of the working class, can perform a
> progressive political function, or should be designated
> to lead any specific struggle.
>
> In the Socialist Workers Party at a certain point when
> it was pressurizing most of its members to change jobs
> and obtain employment in arbitrarily-selected and what
> they called "targetted" industries, it insisted that
> virtually political work be carried out through and by
> those members who were employed in those industries.
>
> All such work which had previously been appreciated and
> approved was thereafter to be degraded in importance,
> and every activity which took place in and around the
> designated workplace was to highlighted or given an
> exaggerated importance. Plant gate sales of the party
> newspaper, however few, were considered more important
> than campus or community sales, however many.
>
> In the SWP we were told that our industrial worker
> members, who had little or no connection to their jobs,
> having not been there very long, and not knowing many
> people, would be leading the party's political campaigns,
> and those who could carry out such work were generally
> discouraged from doing so. As a social worker in an
> industry which was not "targeted", the same work which
> had been saluted as terrific in the past was now seen
> as unimportant, or far less-important.
>
> I could go on and on, but workerism means an exaggerated
> estimate of the value and significance of activity which
> was conducted by party members with such employment, or
> by non-party members who happened to have jobs in those
> arbitrarily-selected industries.
>
> In general, the term "workerism" can and should be seen
> to mean the exaggerated appreciation of the value or the
> significance of issues and struggles at industrial work
> sites, and is generally understood as counter-posed to the
> struggles against discrimination and injustice which are
> rooted in gender, race, sex, national and other forms
> which are seen as "less central", "peripheral" and other
> denigrative designations. We had many laughably silly
> discussions of this in the SWP, but probably other groups
> who did the same kinds of industrial terms had the same
> kinds of discussions. In the SWP we laughed at the very
> exaggerated workerist attitudes of other groups, until
> our group decided to do the same thing.
>
> Camejo's discussion of how this worked out in the case of
> the Socialist Workers Party is one which I find helpful,
> though Peter, also, as we all did in those days, framed
> his discussion in terms of the validity of this idea of
> "colonizing" "targeted industries", an idea which was
> largely invented in offices by people who didn't work
> in such places.
>
> The most important political position for an individual
> to have is their analysis of the society politically.
> Where they are employed is a less important factor than
> what they think about this society and what should be
> done to bring socialism, or any social progress, about.
>
> Peter's essay:
> http://www.walterlippmann.com/camejo-against-sectarianism.html
>
>
> Walter Lippmann
>
>
> ================================
> WALTER LIPPMANN
> Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
> writer - photographer - activist
> http://www.walterlippmann.com
> ================================
>
>
>