France's communist dissidents May sees the presidential elections in France. One of the seven candidates is a dissident communist, Pierre Juquin. Juquin is the best known figure of a current called the 'renovateurs' (renewers), whose leaders have been expelled from the French Communist Party (PCF). His candidacy has created a great deal of interest on the left because he stands for a kind of politics quite different from the PCF — against French nuclear weapons, for women's rights, against racism and for socialist democracy. But in what direction are the 'renovateurs' — most of whom are now outside the PCF — going? Are they a real revolutionary force? DAVID CAMERON looks at their prospects. lised into an organised force, without of the 'renovateurs', as revealed by sureither disintegrating or being swallowed up by the Socialist Party.
So who are the 'renovateurs', and
Luite Juvriere veys of their supporters. A typical supporter is between 35 and 50 years old and joined the Communist Party in the 1960s or early 1970s. Many of them, probably a majority, were 17
members of either the national or local leaderships of the PCF, some at the level of the central committee or its commissions. Many had leadership positions in the trade union federation which the CP supports, the CGT. There are some older members, veterans of the resistance to the nazis during the war, and youth. But mainly they are militants with between 15 and 25 years political experience in the French workers' move-
Their experience therefore generally covers May '68 and its aftermath; the formation of the union of the left between the communists and socialists in the early 1970s; the break up of the union of the left, with the CP's sectarian turn in 1977; the electoral defeat of the
1978; the CP's sectarian course until 1981, and the electoral victory of the left in that year; and the participation of the PCF ministers in the Mitterrand government from 1981-84.
These have been years of turmoil and growing crisis for the PCF. The 'renova18 teur' militants have in general lived
through the abandonment of the dictatorship of the proleteriat by the communists in 1976, not to mention the
given by Georges Marchais, the PCF leader, to Soviet action in Afghanistan and the Jaruzelski coup in Poland. Each and every one of these political turns has lost members.
The PCF, for many years the most fiercely pro-Moscow of the west European CPs, has suffered harshly from the international crisis of stalinism.
The key to the strength of the French communists has been the 30,000 or so 'cadres' who make up the apparatus of the party itself, the apparatus of the CGT workers in the communist-controlled local councils. The communists traditionally have a great deal of strength in local government. These militants have remained loyal through all the twists and turns, until comparatively recently. But now the 'renovateurs' have started to
It is possible to date the origin of the
quite precisely. In the
June 1984 Europcan elections, when the PCF had been in the government for three years, the party's share of the vote fell to 11.5 per cent. This was a drastic decline from 15 per cent in 1981 and more than 20 per cent in 1978. Voters in traditional communist bastions, even the 'red belt' suburbs around Paris, had begun to turn away from the PCF.
It was at the central committee following the disastrous 1984 electoral showing that the critics of the leadership opened up. The most vocal of them was Pierre Juquin.
In the months that followed, some of the critics got back into line. But others continued to express their criticism up to the party's 25th congress in February 1985. They started out by criticising the lack of democracy of the party and the party's increasingly incoherent political line. They began to search for an alternative to the PCF's violent swings between uncritical alliance with the Socialist Party, and sudden and violent sectarian denunciation of it.
Pierre Juquin, longtime public spo-
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK noó March/April 1988
kesperson of the PCF, had a reputation as one of the most sincere and dedicated of the party's 'Eurocommunists'. of this, and because the previous small split associated with Henri Fizbin ended up in the Socialist Party, many suspected Juqin's opposition of being essentially right wing. But the reality was more complex and more positive.
At the 25th congress the renovateurs' did not manage to present a unified and coherent alternative to the leadership But they did make history in a small way. Three of them were elected to the central committee, despite their public opposition to the majority line.
When the PCF's vote fell to 9.5 per cent at the March 1986 elections the 'renovateurs' went onto the offensive, circulating a petition calling for an emergency conference, signed by thousands of party members. The first groups acting independently of the leadership appeared, leading to the setting up of a co-ordinating committee which began to make public statements.
They supported the student moveSOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 6 March/April 1988
FRANCE André Lajoinie, today's official CP candidate (left), and Pierre Juquin, leader of the 'renovateurs', pictured together in October 1982 ment and the rail strike in late 1986 and incoherence over the crisis of state instiearly 1987, and refused to accept the official party line that French society was "drifting to the right'. In February 1987 they published a resolution entitled The revolution, comrades!
By June 1987 'renovateur' groups existed in scores of cities, and there was already talk of Juquin standing for president. The announcement of his candidacy in October 1987 brought a trail of expulsions and resignations from the PCF.
How can we characterise the 'renovateurs' politically? They proclaim that they are communist and revolutionary, that they want to create a movement which is neither social, democratic nor stalinist. They have a correct position of support for working class struggles, antiracism and the rights of immigrants, the women's movement, and anti-imperialism — notably the right of independence for New Caledonia and other French colonies.
They have a line for working class unity, which is very important in country like France, where division inE side the unions and between contending o mass political parties of the working class have wreaked such havoc. They support the self-organisation of the workers in struggles today and they support the idea of a socialist society with workers' self-managment.
In general terms, therefore, we can characterise the 'renovateurs' as anticapitalist, anti-imperialist and anti-stalinist. This in itself represents a great step forward; but it does not add up to a revolutionary line. The fact is that the 'renovateurs' are still an extremely heterogeneous and politically undefined movement.
Among them are some quite right wing 'realist' political positions, particularly on economic and social questions. Although there is a strong anti-capitalist and 'class struggle' consciousness, there is also still considerable confusion about revolutionary strategy - what might constitute a viable revolutionary strategy for the conquest of workers power and socialist democracy
More precisely, the 'renovateurs' are very weak on anything to do with the state. Indeed, one of their leaders, Jean Villanova, talked in the French trotskyist weekly Rouge of their 'lack of competence to make a serious analysis of the state, which is only equalled by their
tutions'
Another big weakness is confusion over workers' self-management: many of them in fact have co-management, workers' participation, positions.
On international questions, the 'renovateurs' tend to be uncritical of Gorbachev, a position which flows from an incomprehension of stalinism and the concept of bureaucracy, rather than any hesitations over socialist democracy, workers' rights or political pluralism.
Today the 'renovateur' current is engaged in a debate over the question of organisation. Should they form a new party, a federation or just a 'movement'? And how should they relate to other political forces on the left who do not come out of the PCF?
Certain 'anti-party' prejudices which exist in the Juquin campaign don't help the situation. But Jean Villanova has expressed his 'impatience' with
the 'fashionable campaign against parties' and speaks of creating a 'great revolutionary party' which will have 'a privileged relationship with the working class, in the widest sense of the term, be progressive and democratic, and have respect for theory'
Another leader, Patrick Tort, even referred to the positive example of the French trotskyist organisation, the Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire (LCR), to defend the idea of democratic centralist parties.
On all the major questions facing the "renovateurs' a debate continues and the positions are certainly not frozen.
In a certain sense the 'renovateurs' are the tip of the iceberg of the PCF's crisis. There are many who share all or some of their political positions still in the PCF. Some probably think it is just better to remain in the party from a tactical point of view. A lot will depend on the relative electoral performances of the official CP candidate Andre Lajoinie and Pierre Juquin for the 'renovateurs'.
If Lajoinie does better than expected, the PCF leadership will gain a breathing space - but not much more. But if he does badly, there could be a further exodus to strengthen the 'renovateur' current. Paradoxically that could lead to the emergence of a force which is stronger, more rooted inside the working class — but also perhaps less advanced on the road to a break with stalinism and reformism o 19
Detainees imprisoned by immigration officials protest outside Harmondsworth deter
THIS BILL manifests the hypocrisy and cynıcısm of the Tories as so-called 'defenders' of the family. Previously the government has expounded the view that many black family relationships are falsified in the attempt to gain entry into Britain. But this has been invalidated by the embarrassingly high numbers of black families who have proved the veracity of their claims through genetic testing and other means.
The bill, therefore, dispenses with excuses. The message is unmistakable: black people in this country have no automatic right to be with their families. Men resident here will have to prove their ability to accommodate and support their families without 'recourse to public funds'.
This requirement will affect mainly wives and children from the Indian subcontinent, some of whom have been waiting for over five years. These number altogether no more than 8500.
For the Tories, despite their propa-
'black people in this country
have no automatic right to be
with their families' ganda, the numbers game is totally irrelevant. This bill, like its predecessors, is much more to do with the question of black people already settled here.
In particular, the bill attempts to further erode state provision for black people, as part of the overall assault on the welfare state. Spending cuts in the inner cities, reform of the education system, privatisation of public services; all have shown that black people are consistently in the front line of the Tories' attempt to construct a 'free market' economy, based on the fullest possible exploitation of the working class. The new bill is yet another facet of this onslaught.
The bill highlights the state's acute understanding of the way that racism can be used to cloud undertakings designed to further its capitalist objectives.
The government's play on the need for increased and ever more stringent controls on immigration disguises the fact that black immigration into the country has virtually ceased.
The rules to be introduced by this bill are, in effect, the thin end of a most dangerous wedge which will enable the creation of a transient, casily removable pool of workers, similar to the situation which exists in Germany and other European countries.
The new rules will make 'overstaying' 20 a criminal offence. This will increase the
The new immigration bill Time The labour movement's response to the new immigration bill has been conspicuous by its absence. Although this may not seem and even collaboration in the establishment of present-day expected a greater outcry than has been forthcoming. AI MEUN LIM writes. onus on many institutions to 'monitor' another major avenue by which the police can maintain the harassment of the black community. When you consider that the bill also seeks to further restrict the right to appeal against deportation, it is clear that the bill will greatly increase the capacity of the state to control black people. All this points to an implicit strategy of fostering greater numbers of 'illegal' migrant workers, whether they be workers who have already been resident in Britain for many years or wishing to enter. These workers will find it very diffi- cult to bring their families over and even if they do, the state will bear no costs for either the worker or the family's health, housing, education or social security needs. Instead this pool of labour will be easily disposed of, either when demand falls, or when the workers are no longer
40820 lime to challenge Te black people in this country have no automatic right to be with their families altogether surprising, given the movement's long history of inaction immigration controls, there are several reasons why one would have able or willing to produce at the econ- black people. It will officially sanction omic levels required by their employers. monitoring procedures and 'presence tests' will therefore enable a black per- son's social status to be linked to her/his immigration status; and the likelihood of deportation will rest solely on these ma- terial circumstances. 'the government's play on the need for controls disguises the fact that black immigration has virtually ceased' If the bill is passed, it will only be a short step to a situation whereby large sections of the black population will be treated as guest-workers, deprived of democratic, civil or social rights, and forced to sell their labour at minimal rates. The consequences of such a situa- tion would be to severely undermine the SOCIALIST OUTLOOK noó March/April 1988
ory racism tention centre, October 1987: strength of the entire working class and to weaken significantly the organised labour movement.
In the short term, trade unions will be thrust into the ring as the implementation of immigration controls is extended by the bill to include many public sector workers.
It is surely no coincidence that the new social security act, which comes into force in April, will be redefining the welfare state in its relationship to black people. This means eligibility tests in the form of passport checks, interrogations, cross-referencing with the home office and other methods of investigation into a person's immigration status.
Although this should only apply to claimants who have been resident for less than five years, it is not difficult to see that no black person would be exempt from such investigations.
The new social security act will require DHSS officers to officially "police' the black community, a role which they and their unions must surely resist.
Nor is it a problem solely for the civil service unions. It is only a matter of time before immigration legislation roots this role in the functioning of other institutions, including the health service, law courts, schools and possibly even banks and employment agencies unless unions refuse to comply.
All this points to the fact that, so well placed are the trade unions, and so SOCIALIST OUTLOOK nod March/April 1988
RACISM a fight, certainly if it is to secure and demands include: expand its bargaining power.
Within this context of high stakes, the fight will not, of course, be an easy one. However, reformist solutions to these attacks, such as those proposed by the recent article 'Race to exclusion (Marxism Today, January 1988) must not be • Asylum for all refugees. left unchallenged. 'that so little headway has been made in for a non-racist, non-sexist policy that interlocked. starts from the reality today'
It is clear that the authors have failed to grasp the class basis for immigration controls and for their implementation on black people.
These controls, today and always, function to propogate racism, and in so doing, to expropriate maximum profits from black labour, to the detriment of the working class as a whole. Deflection of the present struggle towards attempts to define a (non-racist?) immigration and nationality policy simply plays into the hands of the enemy. It perpetuates the myth that Britain continues to be plagued by large numbers of 'foreigners' wishing to enter the country.
In tact, over two million people living outsıde britain have British citizenshin and most EEC nationals have easy access to live and work in Britain.
Tit is impossible to treat immigration controls in
isolation from the overall
Tissues of state racism'
No matter what the terms of reference, immigration controls can only be seen to regard black people as the problem. Concentrating on the formulation of policies for restricting the growth of the population quite simply sells out on the real issues. In particular, the repression of black people already resident in the country, as a direct result of this and past immigration laws is ignored or down-played. In their pursuit of 'firm but fair' immigration legislation, would the authors care to suggest a policy of 'non-racist' internal controls?
Contrary to the article's accusation of utopianism, the demands which the black left have been making are those which relate directly to the repression
serious are the effects of the bill, the experienced by black people at its most entire labour movement cannot but put up basic point of implementation. These • No more deportations. • Opposition to this bill and previous immigration acts. • An end to all presence tests. • Full and equal civil and democratic rights for all. • No collaboration by trade unions in In the article, Dave Cook et al write, the implementation of internal controls. The proposal that we drop these de- the arguments over immigration owes a mands to campaign instead for a return great deal to the strength of British to the 1948 nationality act does not racism, but it also stems from the left's challenge racism. It is impossible to treat anachronistic frame of reference on the immigration controls in isolation from issue. The task now is not to try and the overall issues of state racism, with reverse history, but to outline principles which immigration controls are in fact The article goes on to say, 'some trade unions, notably NALGO, have organised demonstrations to resist the deportation of their members. What is particularly about these is the support they have won from white people. This has been done by focussing on the im- pact of racist laws on individual human beings ….. By sticking to their own terms, by keeping the issue prominent, these campaigners have sometimes gathered broad support and won some remark- able victories' These statements appear to suggest that the agenda of resistance to this and other (racist) immigration rules, be set by the white community in order attract the support of the political right and centre. We cannot go along with this. There is no doubt that some trade unions have clearly demonstrated an ability to campaign against cases of threatened deportation. But it is impor- tant to recognise that this has much to do with the level of organisation of, and pressure exerted by, their black mem- bership. The success or failure of any trade union campaign to defeat this bill will rest on its ability to overcome divisions caused by racism. Above all, this means responding effectively to the demands of black members. The support of white members and the wider white community is of course crucial, and this bill should also be of concern to civil and human rights groups, welfare rights pressure groups, anti-racist campaigns, police monitoring groups and so forth. However, the principled basis of all support must be a desire to confront the racism and imperialism entrenched within all immigration legislation. The united front against the bill can then be assured of a good start o 21
GAYRIGHTS Behind clause 29: