Tag: imperialism

Study Circle 23 of 2019: The Concrete Analysis of the Concrete Situation

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Dear comrades and friends,

DYFI CUC organised the twenty third study circle of this year yesterday. We read the Chapter 4 – Imperialism: World War and Civil War of Lenin: A Study on the Unity of his Thought by Georg Lukacs.

The chapter talks about what Lenin was able to do with the theory of imperialism – not so much groundbreaking economic work, but groundbreaking analysis of what imperialism meant for action. Lenin was the only one at the time who was able to give a guideline for concrete action, in the backdrop of imperialism, because his was a theory of the class forces active under imperialism. As Lukacs says:

For Marxists the concrete analysis of the concrete situation is not the opposite of ‘pure’ theory; on the contrary, it is the culmination of all genuine theory, its consummation, the point where it therefore breaks into practice.

The chapter then talks about two flawed ways of assessing bourgeois and proletarian revolutions: one, to think that if a revolution is a bourgeois revolution, the only task of the proletariat is to support that revolution; two, to assume that all revolutions in an imperialist age will be proletarian revolutions. Both these approaches mechanistically divide bourgeois and proletarian revolutions, and ignore revolutionary elements in both. 

The chapter also briefly talks about what revisionism means in the context of war and civil war. We discussed the nature of the revolution in Nepal. Next week, we will read Chapter 5.

Revolutionary Greetings,

Central Unit Committee,

Democratic Youth Federation of India – Delhi 

Study Circle 5 of 2019 – Class Struggle

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DYFI-CUC organised the fifth study circle of the year today, and contentious discussions were had. We read Chapter 5 of What is Marxism? by Emile Burns – Class Struggles in Modern Times.


The chapter is about class and class struggle, and the basis of class struggle. It answers the question of which class leads revolutions, what the nature of the state is, representative democracy, what a dictatorship of the proletariat implies, and how the proletarian movement is a true majoritarian movement.


We discussed the difference between wealth and class: class is determined by your role in production. We talked about the concept of what is called a “middle class”, and whether it fits into Marxist class analysis. The discussion around the state was comprehensive: we talked of specific examples of how the state is an instrument of class rule, such as the bankruptcy code, suppression of land struggles, land acquisition, corporate subsidies, and so on. A question about the involvement of capitalist farmers in the All India Kisan Sabha led to an explanation of ethics under Marxism and alliances between classes. 


The second strand of discussion we had was a detailed one on Venezuela, Chavez, hoarding within Venezuela, how US imperialism functions, and the strategies available now for progressive sections in developing countries. We planned another solidarity visit to the Venezuelan embassy.


In the next study circle we will read about the life and work of Chandrashekhar Azad, as his death anniversary is on 27th February. Azad, as we know, was Bhagat Singh’s comrade and instrumental in the transformation of the Hindustan Republican Association to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. 


A new member brought us lovely bookmarks from the May Day Bookstore:

We would love to hear your opinions about Chapter 5, and suggestions for readings on Azad. We have also planned a study circle on Kashmir, to be organised in the coming weeks, in order that we may develop an understanding of the Kashmir crisis, a first step to any resolution of it.


Revolutionary greetings,

Central Unit Committee

Democratic Youth Federation of India, Delhi

Study Circle 4 of 2019 – Imperialism

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DYFI-CUC organised the fourth study circle of the year – an emotional one, because we heard Salvador Allende’s last speech before he was killed by a CIA-led military coup. He addresses the women, workers and farmers of Chile and denounces imperialism and foreign capital. In the final seconds of the recording you can hear explosions, and then, silence. Not a happy video to watch, but as Allende said: social processes can be arrested neither by crime nor force. History is ours, and people make history. 


Appropriately, we read the fourth chapter of Emile Burns’s What Is Marxism?: The Imperialist Stage of Capitalism. 


The chapter is about Lenin’s explanation of the development of capitalism since the death of Marx: the imperialist stage is characterised by the export of monopoly finance capital and the dividing up of the world among finance capital groups.


We discussed concentration of economic power in Indian finance capital, the role of bank nationalisation in helping capitalism progress, attempts in Europe to reject austerity and why they failed, and the imperialist aggression against Venezuela.
Speaking of Venezuela, CUC members visited the Venezuelan embassy on Friday to attend a solidarity meeting against US imperialism. If you are in Delhi, we urge you to visit the embassy and sign the solidarity statement.


Next Sunday, we will read Chapter 5: Class Struggles in Modern Times. If you would like to come for the next study circle, please try to read the first four chapters. If you cannot, we will be happy to answer doubts and queries.

Revolutionary Greetings,

Central Unit Committee

Democratic Youth Federation of India, Delhi