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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Has socialism failed? |
Author: | Slovo, J. |
Year: | 1989 |
Periodical: | South African Labour Bulletin |
Volume: | 14 |
Issue: | 6 |
Pages: | 11-28 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | communist parties communism South African Communist Party |
Abstract: | In responding to the present crisis of existing socialism, communists must guard against sticking to Stalinism, blaming Gorbachev, abandoning the ideological contest and losing faith in the socialist objective. Among the concepts which have come under fire in the post-perestroika polemics are the role of the working class, the meaning of socialist relations of production, and the goal of a communist, classless society. In order to show that the fault does not lie with socialism as such, the author considers the issue of socialism and democracy, paying attention to four related areas, the dictatorship of the proletariat, elected bodies and mass organizations, the party and the single-party State, and the related question of social and economic alienation, which occurs not only under capitalism, but also in the overcentralized economies of the socialist world. The bureaucratic approaches which took root during Stalin's time still affect communist parties throughout the world. In South Africa the Communist Party has always recognized the independence of the political expressions of other social forces. This spirit of democracy will continue to play a role in the Party's approach to the political framework of a post-liberation South Africa. Notes, ref. |