The Myth of the National and Progressive Bourgeoisie
Supplement to the 2nd pamphlet
Plan for pamphlets 1 to 5
The following preliminary plan of the course of the pamphlets of "The Myth of the National and Progressive Bourgeoisie" was published within the group at the end of last summer, and now with certain modifications, we place it at the disposal of other comrades:
FIRST PAMPHLET:
A general look at the correct method of presenting the question of dependence / the political significance of this question from the point of view of drawing up independent workers' policy in the present democratic revolution / a summary of the current interpretations and deviations and the general framework of these deviations: the non-Marxist-Leninist understanding of capital, capitalism and imperialism / the category of "national" bourgeoisie as the concrete meeting point of these deviations. (Has been published)
SECOND PAMPHLET:
Capital and capitalism from the viewpoint of Marxism / the aim of this section (and the one after) is mainly to make theoretical tools and to remind the undeniable gains of Marxism, for the purpose of analysing the concrete conditions of Iran/ the general framework of the deviations of the current views is examined more precisely, and mainly the question of how the populist views dominant in the communist movement, in the elucidation of the question of dependence and the struggle of the main classes of society, have prepared their theoretical categories and concepts in isolation from Marxism and in complete alienation to it, is emphasised;
a: "capital as the unity of the labour process and the process of producing surplus value" / the essence and appearance of capital in the sphere of production and circulation / the basic categories which must provide the materials of our cognition of the essence of capital / the confrontation of wage-labour and capital / the division of capital into constant and variable capitals / the production of surplus-value and the production of commodities / surplus-value, the degree of exploitation, rate of profit, organic composition, etc. / the two formula of capital: the general formula of Money-Commodity-Money and the formula of capital as the relation of surplus-value production: constant capital + variable capital + surplus-value = the total value of the produced commodities/ the point of departure of the supporters of national bourgeoisie and our point of departure.
b: The historic presuppositions and the contemporary conditions of capitalist production.
1) The Historic Presuppositions: the separation of the immediate producers (the subjective factor of production) from the means of production (the objective factor)/ labour power becoming a commodity / commodity production and capitalist production / the historical and the analytical distinction of these two modes of production / capitalism as generalized commodity production / the definite juncture of the establishment of the capitalist system / the question of expropriation and the historical arising of the antagonism of labour and capital from the heart of the feudal system / a critical view on the lack of cognition-of the significance of this category / a consideration of the stereotyping carried out by the supporters of the Semi-Feudal Semi Colonial thesis /how Marx provides precise tools for the cognition of the prevailing mode of production in our society. (The present pamphlet)
2) The Contemporary Conditions of Capitalist Production (The Main Points and Basic Categories): The domination of "capital relation" over social production /the independent laws of movement of capital (the general laws of movement and accumulation of capital) / the antagonism of labour and capital and surplus-value production / the conditions of production and reproduction of the total social capital / accumulation, increase of organic composition, reserve army of labour, intensification of the degree of exploitation, tendency of the rate of profit to fall /
c: The contemporary conditions of capitalist production. (the expansion of the categories):
1) Capital in general / Marx's point of departure in the analysis of capitalism / Marx's method of movement from the general to the specific.
2) The total social capital as an objective and real abstraction and the social-material reflection of the category of capital as such / total social capital as the relation of labour and capital in the whole economy.
d: The total social capital and the different strata of capital
The relation of the different strata of capital to the total social capital / the total social capital as the unity of the different strata of capital / the operation of the different strata of capital as the objective substratum for the domination of the total social capital over production / the fundamental stratifications of the total social capital: the capital of the department of means of production and the department of means of consumption (essential and luxurious) / the question of realization and market / productive capital and unproductive capital / the merchant's, usurer's and industrial capitals (surplus-value: industrial profit, merchant's profit, interest and rent) / the laws prevailing over the relations of these strata of capital / separation of capital at the level of appearance of capital: ownership of money-capital, commodity-capital, the different spheres of production, technological level, the magnitude of capital / division of capital on the basis of organic composition and the degree of centralization / division of capital according to the turn-over period/ division on the basis of national dependence/ a look at the bourgeois classification in the current interpretations / do the essence of capital and the total social capital form the point of departure of these interpretations? Or do they start from the appearance of capital and its legal and technical forms/ which is the correct point of departure?
e: The total social capital and the question of competition: Competition or "antagonism"? / the competition of the different strata of capital (the external confrontation of the components of the total social capital with each other) as the mechanism of objectification of the internal laws of movement of the total social capital / single laws and the different concrete manifestations resulting from these laws (the anarchy of production and the laws of capitalism) / competition as the material substratum and the necessary condition for the objectification of the inner laws of movement of the total social capital / the current views' mechanical perception of the category of competition and Marx's dialectical understanding of it / competition and the "antagonism" of the different strata of capital is the material basis for the preservation of the internal coherence and unity of the total social capital and ensures the fixation of its laws of movement over social production.
f: Classes as the human reflection of economic relations.
The bourgeoisie and the total social capital / the laws of movement of the total social capital condition and specify the movement of the whole of the capitalist class / the different strata of the bourgeoisie and the different strata of capital/ the limitation of the consciousness of the capitalist - and of bourgeois economic science - to the sphere of competition / the consciousness of the capitalist and the objectivity of the laws of movement of capital/ class struggle and the antagonism of labour and capital, on the one hand, and bourgeois politics and the laws of the sphere of competition, on the other / populist outlook is expressive of the domination of bourgeois consciousness over the communist movement - "competition" forms the point of departure of the populist economic analyses on the material bases of the movement of the bourgeoisie.
g: State as the organ of the unity of interests of the whole capitalist class against the whole working class:
A critique of the non-Marxist views and interpretations on the state / the character of the state (for example naked dictatorship or bourgeois democracy) is determined in relation with the class struggle and not the competition within the bourgeoisie.
h: Some points about the utopia of "national, independent and democratic bourgeoisie":
In the light of the above discussions/ summing-up of the theoretical weak points of the supporters of national bourgeoisie / summing-up of the theoretical tools which Marx has prepared.
THIRD PAMPHLET:
Imperialism from Lenin's viewpoint: The fundamental characteristics of the epoch of imperialism / the supra-historical theory of "plunder" against Lenin's theory of imperialism / the export of capital and the development of capitalism in the dominated country / export of commodities and export of capital / imperialism and the division of the world / imperialism as the practical movement of capital towards the neutralisation of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall / the relation of Lenin's "imperialism" with Marx's "Capital"; the imperialist conditions of the production and reproduction of capital / the precise definition of dependent capitalism as "capitalism in the country dominated by imperialism" / domestic market in the dominated country and the question of division of labour / dominated country as the sphere for the production of super-profits.
Imperialism and class struggle / the different manifestations of the antagonism of labour and capital in the metropolitan and dominated countries from the economic and political aspect / imperialism and dictatorship / imperialism and the democratic revolution / imperialism and the split in socialism / revisionism, reformism and liberalism in the dominated country / a critique of the mechanical views on imperialism / a look at the points of the previous two pamphlets in connection with the discussions of this pamphlet / summing-up of the theoretical tools, explanations about the concrete operation of monopoly capital in the concrete conditions of every country.
FOURTH PAMPHLET:
A consideration of the process of realization of the historic presuppositions of capitalism in Iran:
The question of expropriation and its conclusion in Iran / correct analysis of the nature and function of the land reforms of the '60s in Iran and the critique of the current eclectic and romantic viewpoints/ the significance of the land reforms in the establishment of the domination of "capital-relation" over social production in Iran / the peculiarity of this process in Iran and its difference with the classical case /the question of the lack of an agricultural revolution and the liberation of the factors of variable capital in the countryside / the causes for the decline of agriculture / the imperialist character of the expropriation process in Iran and the non-requirement of monopoly capital to develop the agricultural sector in the country / the decline of agriculture as the consequent result of expropriation and creation of urban proletariat / total social capital and the sector of agriculture /expropriation as the definite historical juncture for the domination of capital over social production in the country and the end of the "national" character of a section of the bourgeoisie in Iran / a refutation of the policy of agricultural self-sufficiency which our communist movement has arbitrarily inserted into the economic programme of the "national bourgeoisie"/ expropriation and the agrarian question from the viewpoint of the development of capital-ism in the country / expropriation and the peasant question / the necessity of making a distinction between the agrarian question from the viewpoint of peasants (the peasant question) and the agrarian question from the viewpoint of the development of capital-ism / the place of the agrarian question in our revolution / the peasants' demands in the programme of the communists / formulation of Lenin's attitude to the agrarian question in Iran / the correspondence of the method of analysis and the difference between the concrete conditions.
(Parts of the above topics have already been published in the book "Communists and the Peasant Movement, After the Imperialist Solution of the Agrarian Question in Iran", March 1980.)
FIFTH PAMPHLET:
The contemporary conditions of the production and reproduction of the total social capital in Iran: The laws of movement of the capitalism of the epoch of imperialism and their operation in the dominated country:
a- The production and reproduction of the imperialistic conditions of exploitation and production / production and reproduction of constant and variable capital / the question of domestic market and the world division of labour / the conditions for the maintenance and intensification of the degree of exploitation and for the fixation of the rate of profit from the economic and political standpoints / the question of production of relative surplus-value / credit and the role of the banking system / the political and economic role of the state in Iranian capitalism / the question of the foundation of the total social capital and the expenditures of the different strata of capital / the economic position of the oil industry / the economic bases of dictatorship in Iran.
b- The total social capital and the different strata of capital / the concrete divisions of the Iranian bourgeoisie both historically and analytically / the question of competition and the myth of a national, progressive and democratic bourgeoisie / the bases of bourgeois liberalism before and after the land reforms / competition and liberalism, the antagonism of labour and capital and democratism.
c- A critique of the eclectic positions of some of the communist forces in connection with the above discussions.
d- The economic grounds of the present revolution / the motive forces of the revolution / revolution and counter-revolution / the economic content of the victory of the revolution / the question of the minimum programme.
e- Consideration of the bourgeois theories of the "Three Worlds" and the "Non-capitalist way of development".
THE THEORETICAL SOURCES OF PAMPHLETS 1 TO 3:
1- Capital (1, 2, 3), Marx; also, "The Results of the Immediate Process of Production" Supplement to Vol.1, Penguin.
2- Grundrisse
3- Pre-Capitalist Economic Formations, Marx
4- Sections of the Theories of Surplus-value, Marx, in particular "Productive or unproductive Labour"
5- German Ideology (parts relating to state, classes and class struggle)
6- The Development of Capitalism in Russia, Lenin
7- A Characterisation of Economic Romanticism, Lenin
8- Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Lenin
9- Imperialism and the Split in Socialism, Lenin
10- A Caricature of Marxism and Imperialist Economism, Lenin
11- The Minutes of the Second Congress of the Comintern (the Third international) on the National and Colonial Questions.
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