Lotta Comunista: Towards the Strategy-Party — 1953–1965 Guido La Barbera Preface 9 Useful dates 17 Chapter One:THE ENIGMAS OF THE ‘COLD WAR’ 23 The weakness of the USSR 26 The myth of imminent war 27 The German question 28 Towards the 1957 “Theses” 29 «Approximations» for political autonomy 30 The end of a confrontation 31 Political militants 32 Illusions and reality about the anarchists 33 «A phase ends» 34 Signs of the crisis of Stalinism 35 Masini and Damen 36 The Third Conference in Livorno 37 «Peripheral crises» and the world cycle 38 The relationship with the French 39 A meeting in Milan 41 The Parisotto tragedy 42 Chapter Two:TRAVELS AROUND ITALY 45 Internationalist militants 47 «A round of co-ordinating visits» 48 The time of a professional revolutionary 49 «What I’ve learnt from intellectuals is only to despise them» 50 North and South 51 Chapter Three:THE CRISIS OF STALINISM 71 The Stalin succession 74 Contacts in Ivrea 75 «They’re still Stalinites at heart» 76 Sterile personal dispute 77 The «key issues» of the contention 78 The Pisa Conference 82 Chapter Four:THE 1956 WATERSHED 85 Cervetto in the minority 88 An initial mistake 89 Milan, «the liveliest spot» 91 Bruno Fortichiari 92 «The Azione Comunista lot don’t understand» 92 Garibaldianism 93 Towards the Sixth Conference 95 Don’t underestimate theory 96 Anchoring oneself in Bordiga 97 «The human material for the class party» 98 The limits of maximalism 99 Election confusion 101 Attrition and crisis in Milan 102 The example of Bakunin and the Mazzinians 104 The end of the Milan experiment 105 Clash over the party 108 «A Movement that is a party and yet isn’t» 111 Budapest and Suez 113 The 1956 «partial crises» 114 The revolutionary position 115 A second mistake 118 At the «Cinema Dante» 119 Chapter Five:THE BATTLE OVER THE 1957 “THESES” 125 The crisis of Stalinism and social-democratisation 128 Always Milan 134 The GAAP-Azione Comunista merger 135 A GAAP balance sheet 136 A new prospect 138 «Every effort to avoid creating another maximalist party» 140 An attempt at sharing out the tasks 140 The election question is back on the agenda 141 An unrealistic plan 142 The reply from Genoa 143 The political transformation of imperialism 144 A foretaste of «strategic abstentionism» 145 The ideology of the ruling class 145 Political passivity 146 An incontestable argument 147 Genoa and Rome 148 Masini and the PSI 150 European imperialism 150 The Livorno Conference and the “Theses” 151 Chapter Six:THE “THESES” IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 155 The strategic forecast of development 157 The areas of the world market 159 Political cycle and social-democratisation 161 The political cycle of state capitalism 163 The new strategic phase 166 Sixty years after the “Theses” 169 The “Theses” and the inter-power struggle 172 Chapter Seven:THE AMBIGUITIES OF SOCIALIST UNITY 177 The Ligurian and Roman Committees 179 A trade-union mistake 181 Masini comes out into the open 182 Towards the end 184 «We have to learn not to trust anybody» 185 The ambiguities of the «Third Force» 187 From Stalinism to «socialist unity» 193 Two editions of the History of the PCI 197 Chapter Eight:THE STUDY YEARS 201 «Few hours a day, but devoted to study» 203 China and the new powers 206 A theory for the «colonial question» 208 30 June 1960 212 Russia and Europe 214 Vaccination against the Third-Worldist myths 217 Chapter Nine:CLASS STRUGGLES AND THE METHOD OF CAPITAL 221 «Revolutionary opposition to the centre-left» 223 The «American script» 225 The question of the workers’ spontaneity 229 «Leninism is the militancy of theory» 231 Class Struggles and the Revolutionary Party 233 Our theory of Capital 236 «Socio-economic formation» and «historical bloc» 238 Strategic abstentionism 242 Chapter Ten:CHINA: THE FINAL RIFT 245 «A split would be inevitable» 248 The newspaper in Genoa 250 Political assassination 252 The final split 254 At last, Lotta Comunista 256 «To struggle against all» 258 Chapter Eleven:TOWARDS THE STRATEGY-PARTY 263 Lenin’s battles for the party 265 The battles for organisation 267 Defining moments 271 Our unprecedented task 273 Class Struggles, What Is to Be Done? and Asia 278 CONCLUSIONS 281 Bibliography Notes 287 List of Acronyms 301 Index of Personal Names 305 Biographical Profiles 311
Guido La Barbera Preface 9 Useful dates 17 Chapter One:THE ENIGMAS OF THE ‘COLD WAR’ 23 The weakness of the USSR 26 The myth of imminent war 27 The German question 28 Towards the 1957 “Theses” 29 «Approximations» for political autonomy 30 The end of a confrontation 31 Political militants 32 Illusions and reality about the anarchists 33 «A phase ends» 34 Signs of the crisis of Stalinism 35 Masini and Damen 36 The Third Conference in Livorno 37 «Peripheral crises» and the world cycle 38 The relationship with the French 39 A meeting in Milan 41 The Parisotto tragedy 42 Chapter Two:TRAVELS AROUND ITALY 45 Internationalist militants 47 «A round of co-ordinating visits» 48 The time of a professional revolutionary 49 «What I’ve learnt from intellectuals is only to despise them» 50 North and South 51 Chapter Three:THE CRISIS OF STALINISM 71 The Stalin succession 74 Contacts in Ivrea 75 «They’re still Stalinites at heart» 76 Sterile personal dispute 77 The «key issues» of the contention 78 The Pisa Conference 82 Chapter Four:THE 1956 WATERSHED 85 Cervetto in the minority 88 An initial mistake 89 Milan, «the liveliest spot» 91 Bruno Fortichiari 92 «The Azione Comunista lot don’t understand» 92 Garibaldianism 93 Towards the Sixth Conference 95 Don’t underestimate theory 96 Anchoring oneself in Bordiga 97 «The human material for the class party» 98 The limits of maximalism 99 Election confusion 101 Attrition and crisis in Milan 102 The example of Bakunin and the Mazzinians 104 The end of the Milan experiment 105 Clash over the party 108 «A Movement that is a party and yet isn’t» 111 Budapest and Suez 113 The 1956 «partial crises» 114 The revolutionary position 115 A second mistake 118 At the «Cinema Dante» 119 Chapter Five:THE BATTLE OVER THE 1957 “THESES” 125 The crisis of Stalinism and social-democratisation 128 Always Milan 134 The GAAP-Azione Comunista merger 135 A GAAP balance sheet 136 A new prospect 138 «Every effort to avoid creating another maximalist party» 140 An attempt at sharing out the tasks 140 The election question is back on the agenda 141 An unrealistic plan 142 The reply from Genoa 143 The political transformation of imperialism 144 A foretaste of «strategic abstentionism» 145 The ideology of the ruling class 145 Political passivity 146 An incontestable argument 147 Genoa and Rome 148 Masini and the PSI 150 European imperialism 150 The Livorno Conference and the “Theses” 151 Chapter Six:THE “THESES” IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 155 The strategic forecast of development 157 The areas of the world market 159 Political cycle and social-democratisation 161 The political cycle of state capitalism 163 The new strategic phase 166 Sixty years after the “Theses” 169 The “Theses” and the inter-power struggle 172 Chapter Seven:THE AMBIGUITIES OF SOCIALIST UNITY 177 The Ligurian and Roman Committees 179 A trade-union mistake 181 Masini comes out into the open 182 Towards the end 184 «We have to learn not to trust anybody» 185 The ambiguities of the «Third Force» 187 From Stalinism to «socialist unity» 193 Two editions of the History of the PCI 197 Chapter Eight:THE STUDY YEARS 201 «Few hours a day, but devoted to study» 203 China and the new powers 206 A theory for the «colonial question» 208 30 June 1960 212 Russia and Europe 214 Vaccination against the Third-Worldist myths 217 Chapter Nine:CLASS STRUGGLES AND THE METHOD OF CAPITAL 221 «Revolutionary opposition to the centre-left» 223 The «American script» 225 The question of the workers’ spontaneity 229 «Leninism is the militancy of theory» 231 Class Struggles and the Revolutionary Party 233 Our theory of Capital 236 «Socio-economic formation» and «historical bloc» 238 Strategic abstentionism 242 Chapter Ten:CHINA: THE FINAL RIFT 245 «A split would be inevitable» 248 The newspaper in Genoa 250 Political assassination 252 The final split 254 At last, Lotta Comunista 256 «To struggle against all» 258 Chapter Eleven:TOWARDS THE STRATEGY-PARTY 263 Lenin’s battles for the party 265 The battles for organisation 267 Defining moments 271 Our unprecedented task 273 Class Struggles, What Is to Be Done? and Asia 278 CONCLUSIONS 281 Bibliography Notes 287 List of Acronyms 301 Index of Personal Names 305 Biographical Profiles 311
