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Title: Movements of the Past: Guiding the Present into a Liberated Future
Author: C. Fischer
Date: 10/31/2020
Language: en
Topics: History, 1800s, 1900s, leftism, anti-capitalism, social justice
Source: Self

C. Fischer

Movements of the Past: Guiding the Present into a Liberated Future

On the importance of historic struggles for freedom

As voices demanding change resound across the world invoking slogans of

past social movements and vibrant communities of self-described leftists

rapidly emerge, it becomes crucial that those working to enact positive

social change strive to understand what made the left of the previous

centuries relevant, certain ideological foundations which gave it

strength and some of the unique challenges its reemergence faces today.

Without a certain degree of historical context, which takes into account

both the successes and failures of movements past, contemporary social

movements may inadvertently take on inchoate ideologies, and unrefined

outlooks that lead to self-defeating parochialism and a general

immaturity of politics.

There are many, often suppressed, histories involving a plurality of

oppressed peoples and their struggles for liberation that hold much

importance and span the extent of recorded history. Here we will explore

some broad fundamental concepts prevalent in the specific politics which

emerged during western industrialization and the onset of modern

capitalism. This euro-centric focus is not intended to render other

people, movements, or revolutions as peripheral but rather to briefly

navigate the bedrock of certain political ideologies that are currently

experiencing a mass resurgence. Hopefully, through our engagement with

this specific period, the relevance of all prior movements for freedom

will become evident and serve as motivation to further delve into and

seek out other historic struggles— which have largely been marginalized

and diminished by conventional historical narratives. To their

detriment, some central collectivizing ideals of the historic movements

we are examining here have largely been eschewed by a number of

contemporary struggles for social progress.

From the beginning of what some refer to as the classical workers'

movement in the mid-nineteenth, to its end shortly after the Second

World War, there was an ever-present underpinning sensibility of

universalism in the voices of the left. This authentic universalism,

resulting in part from a post-enlightenment modernist perspective,

carried with it the noble goal of coalescing various groups into unified

social movements. This gave the left an ethical weight and therefore the

legitimacy to gain relevance within the ranks of many oppressed

peoples—no matter their specific placement in the complex social matrix

unique to the modern capitalist world. An unwavering outlook of hope in

the potential of achieving humanity liberated from oppression—a rational

and ethical world—was a ubiquitous theoretical prerequisite of nearly

all subsets of leftist movements. Quarrels and theoretical variance

pertained to precisely how this admirable objective should be reached,

not if it could be.

Another defining characteristic of the former political left was its

inherent and unrelenting anti-capitalist mentality. Although some milder

factions preferred revisionist tactics to reach the end goal of

socialism, (defined here as an economically equitable, socially

liberated society based on some form of collectivism—not humanistic

liberalism or State capitalism) by and large they held the same premise

as their revolutionary counterparts that capitalism was irreconcilable

thus demanding resolution. They differed insofar as pursuing its

dissolution through reform, rather than outright abolition. When

counterposed to the few contemporary popular politicians that are often

awarded the label socialist, who work with capitalism to lessen the pain

of its exploitative blows, rather than direct their incrementalism

against capitalism, we are able to clearly see just how effective the

State’s long-established campaign maligning the left has been.

It would be impossible in this short work to fully describe the details

of how the previous centuries leftists and progressives were gradually

transformed from being genuine threats to global capital and

institutional oppression into shadows of their former selves. The

persistent program of ideological repression promulgated by capitalist

States, coupled with the loss of revolutionary commitment and betrayal

of democratic values in so-called communist States, certainly played

important roles in their diminishing. The reemergence of a politics

deeply inspired by and at least ostensibly aligned with a once

internationally powerful ensemble of political traditions is certainly

nothing to be dismissed. But some constraints need recognition lest they

keep current advocates for forwarding social progress from reaching a

coherent platform unique to our time and with the ideological tools

necessary to engage the average person.

One such restraint are fundamental issues rooted in the overarching

philosophical tendencies bolstered by popular culture, which have worked

to erode our ability to envision the creation of a better world and

recognize liberatory potentialities as they presently exist. Severe

cynicism accompanied by a pervasive internalization of the capitalist

marketplace—in the form of a naturalized dictatorial outlook and a

stratifying quantitative value system—transcends the political spectrum,

socioeconomic standing and greatly limits our society's collective

ability for self-reflection.

As World War II concluded, coinciding with the end of what some refer to

as the classical workers’ movement, there was a defined change in

society’s general philosophical outlook from one of Modernism to

Postmodernism. Reduced to its basics, Modernism supported ideologies

containing metanarratives, the belief that reason leads to universal

truths, and that these truths could be used to objectively improve the

world. In contrast, Postmodernism was in essence a skeptical

counter-reaction holding the world in a subjective, relativist

light—challenging the notion that universal truths exist at all. While

absolutely a rational reaction to a series of dramatic world-changing

events and a necessary step in the evolution of critical human thought,

lingering postmodernism in the American body politic has matured into

harsh cynicism and a generalized nihilism displayed by an outlook of

hopelessness, a belief of political non-agency and turbulent

sectarianism.

The steady invasion of capitalism into the home, through ever more

encroaching advertisement-filled consumer technology, has assisted in

assimilating not only the quantitative buyer-seller value system into

the collective American psyche but also a prevalent dictatorial

mentality. It's as if each individual unconsciously functions as CEO—the

corporation being their personal life— approaching their surrounding

community as if comprised of competitors, or worse, exploitable

resources. These internalized justifications supporting attitudes of

domination over cooperation have replaced complimentary individuality

with a toxic form of anti-humanist individualism. Individuals perceiving

themselves as “free agents” of the neo-liberal economy vie for status

elevation often at the expense of harm to their community. This analysis

of our cultures' pathology and it’s philosophical and social

underpinnings is pertinent as groups and movements approaching social

progress and liberation are not immune. Attempting to achieve justice

within this framework, without the explicit understanding of

capitalism's principal role in causing global social injustice and

subsequent universalist challenge thereof, has a socially fracturing

effect and risks devolving movements into reactionary sectionalism.

Ibram X. Kendi refers to Racism and Capitalism as “conjoined twins”.

While this concept may seem somewhat abstract, when distilled into more

individualized terms it becomes less obtuse: to adequately address White

Privilege, we must also simultaneously confront Class Privilege. Whether

at best out of a lack of class consciousness, or at worst an atmosphere

of class protectionism perpetrated by those engaging in liberal

cooptation, the impactful concept that exploitation and domination take

complex forms in our society, and that social justice is intrinsically

bound to economic justice, although sometimes touched upon, is one that

has been dishearteningly underrepresented in current movements.

If our culture's general understanding of hierarchical,

institutionalized domination expands to become a more inclusive and

multifaceted insight, peeling back the layers of exploitation to

understand how they affect a plurality of oppressed groups, it may begin

to eschew parochialism which ultimately serves to uphold the existing

social order. Stepping back and critically analyzing our present

conditions, through various lenses provided by prior activists,

revolutionaries and theorists, it becomes apparent that if social

progress is approached from within the neoliberal capitalist framework,

any solutions available will be limited by the very entities which

produce the social ills we wish to address. Left unchallenged in one's

personal outlook, sensibilities or overall societal analysis, the

pervasive ideals of disunity which the current social and economic order

are predicated upon seep into social movements—having the

counterproductive effect of deteriorating social bonds rather than

building them.

To be clear, levying criticism on current movements pushing for positive

social change is not the goal of this work. Rather it is to convey the

responsibility we bear of gaining a deeper and more thorough

understanding of the relevant past and how the varied theories and

methods it contains will help us to more wholly understand, analyze and

change the conditions we now face. To apply critical analysis not only

to unjust social institutions and regressive ideologies but also to our

personal outlooks and of movements we take part in. That through

uncovering the histories of oppressed peoples’ struggles for

emancipation and self-determination, and corresponding moments of great

social change, we will learn from their sacrifices and gain crucial

insights into the current political and social landscape.

If we commit ourselves to view the histories of liberatory movements as

parts of an ever-evolving progression in which we play active roles

furthering, we can stand on the firm basis of a rich social, political

and ethical tradition. Through this self-education and individual

development, we may regain footing upon strong historical foundations

that have been systematically obscured, enabling us to relearn and

spread hope which has been replaced with cynicism, and to instill in

ourselves and others the belief that the potential for liberated

humanity not only exists but is achievable.