Revolutionary democracy

revolutionary Démocratie is a current internal policy with LCR and JCR.

Its secretariat is composed of Yvan Lemaître, Galia Trépère, Jean-François Cabral, Catthy Billard, Valmy and Val.

This current is resulting from Voix of the Workers, tendency excluded from Workers' struggle (LO) in March 1997.

March 1997: the exclusion of Workers' struggle

At the end of March 1997, the direction of Workers' struggle organized the exclusion of 10% of its militants, at the time of a general meeting. Was voted the exclusion of the militants of the sections of Bordeaux and Rouen, but also of all those which had been solidarized with them. Four months front, at the time of its annual convention at the beginning of December, the direction of LO had drawn aside from the executive committee Yvan Lemaitre and Samuel Holder as well as central committee Valerie Héas and Gerard Barthélemy. Only the militants of the Fraction, the minority of LO, opposed exclusion as some isolated militants who themselves were excluded. This collective exclusion, a first in the history of Workers' struggle, founds the origin of the current of LCR, Démocratie revolutionary.

The stake of the debate in LO implied to finish some with the judged methods “hypercentralized, selective and élitistes” to engage the organization in a policy opening it largely towards the work world and youth in order to give to the call of 95 for a new party of the workers “concrete contents, alive, dynamic”.

According to these militants, increase of the fights of 1995, the assertion of famous “All together! ”, the collapse of the old directions of the Labor movement and electoral successes of the Révolutionnaires returned this idea of a new party impossible to circumvent. This project again party for the work world was then developed the shortly after exclusion in the booklet “False reasons of an exclusion, true reasons of a rupture, our prospects” (March 1997). The militants affirmed: “We want to contribute to create the framework necessary to the collaboration of all those which want to take part in the construction of the party which the working class needs”.

The potential of 1995 involved a crisis in the Extreme left, placed in front of new responsibilities. The majority of the LCR continued to try out her policy of alliance in the “Gauche of the left”: she had invited for the presidential one to vote indifferently for Robert Hue, Dominique Voynet and Arlette Laguiller, putting them on the same plan.

Workers' struggle, because it had known to keep a policy independent of the left governmental, had allowed that expresses itself in the ballot boxes on the name of Arlette Laguiller, the disavowal of this one. Arlette Laguiller had obtained 5,3% of the voices. At the conclusion of the first turn, she wrote in the leading article of Workers' struggle: “We will endeavor to meet the possible maximum of those which voted for my candidature… to consider the conditions of a much greater party than ours, placing itself resolutely, and only, on the ground of the political defense of exploited. Such a party will be the only means of gaining the third social turn which will not fail to take place because, now, the fights must leave the ballot boxes and not to be locked up there”. This call to a new party opened a new prospect, answering the needs for the moment whereas combined the end of the year Mitterrand and the collapse of the ex- the USSR opening new possibilities for the militants of the labor movement.

The militants gathered around this tendency within Workers' struggle judged that this call was not finally, on behalf of the direction of LO, that an answer given full details to the score carried out by Arlette and not a true policy of construction of a new party. The irruption of the movement from November-December 95 reinforced the convictions of the militants of Voice of the Workers as what a new party Anticapitaliste for the labor movement was necessary. Hardy on the other hand, the principal leader of LO, justified the fold of the organization while writing at the time of the congress of 1996: “It is only one score much higher, at least the double, which could have made it possible to have the hope that is concretized on the militant ground. ”

And at the end of March 1997, the exclusion of this tendency of the organization arrived. Thus the debate within Workers' struggle was closed.

1997-2000: Voice of the workers

Excluded from Workers' struggle, there was no question for them of building one énième organization. It was a question of holding good to work with the regrouping of the forces Révolutionnaires. While waiting, the militants were given like name Voix of the Workers.

To hold and develop, their principal tool was a working newspaper of revolutionary, weekly agitation, directed resolutely towards the workers and youth. The first number left one month after exclusion. The meetings of Voice of the Workers were largely open, while proposing with all the sympathizers to fully take their place in the tendency. To the legislative elections of June 97, Voix of the Workers presented, there it could it, its own candidates.

Their policy was to seek and cause systematically meetings, debates, collaborations with the other revolutionary currents (fraction of LO, tendency R! LCR, LCR, Square red, revolutionary Left, LST, etc), to bind militant activity and general problems of the Labor movement, to seek convergences in order to organize itself in the same structure. One of the strong moments of this policy was the organization with the tendency R! league and the minority of LO, the Fraction, working Meetings, in January 1998, which were a real success. Just as the open discussion organized within the framework of the work of drafting of a program project, with many local assemblies and main roads. The current published, also, several booklets (6), result of its permanent concern falling under the debates having course in the Extreme left.

Locally, on Bordeaux and Rouen, of the contacts summers taken with the local groups of the LCR have to organize common initiatives (meetings, festivals). On Rouen, they presented joint lists to the regional elections with the LCR, the revolutionary left, ART, Alternative libertarian.

The policy of unit towards a pole of the revolutionists took shape, breaking with the routines of vault, taking a small step with fusion with the LST (today Avanti in the LCR), and especially with the discussion started with the LCR to create the conditions of an fusion-integration. The militants of this current were given for task “to hustle the routines of thought, the even sectarian preserving reflexes of car-assertion to discuss and, by the discussion, to formulate a policy for the whole of the revolutionary labor movement. To exceed divisions, to go towards a pole gathering all the revolutionists”.

June 2000: fusion integration with the LCR - revolutionary birth of Democracy

This policy led to fusion-integration in June 2000 with LCR, after months of discussions, preliminary common work.

They made the choice be constituted in tendency within the LCR to make there live their ideas. The selected name was revolutionary Démocratie. Was also taken the decision to publish an electronic letter of current entitled militant Débat .

Within their new organization, the LCR, the militants of this tendency, forts of the working traditions resulting from Workers' struggle, very largely contributed to the starting of a political intervention in the factories, within the working class. Thus was started again the “sheets of boxes”, the working National conference of the LCR which impels and coordinates always the political activity of the LCR within the companies, and the beginning of a conscious political intervention, coordinated within the Syndicats. Without forgetting the construction of cells of companies everywhere or that was possible.

On Bordeaux and Rouen, they were the militants of revolutionary Democracy who animated (and animate always) scores of cells of companies. Tasks of these cells being to even organize “the workers of the row” on the work place, in order to work out on the ground even company a policy closest to the workers, answering their daily preoccupations, in the middle same of the Class struggle.

Local elections of 2001 and presidential of 2002: for the unit of the revolutionists

It is with the French municipal elections of 2001 that for the first time, the electoral policy defended by revolutionary Démocratie started to be implemented more largely by LCR. It was a true construction campaign of lists associating with the workers of the row beyond the framework of the LCR, in all independence with respect to the parties of the left. For the majority of the lists presented by the organization, the old instruction of 2nd turn “to beat the line” was also abandoned.

Revolutionary democracy made the report once more that it was never question for the organizations Révolutionnaires of exceeding themselves to go towards a new party, whereas they defended the same program. The battle thus continued for these militants.

The presidential campaign of 2002 represented a decisive stage for the LCR as for the revolutionary Démocratie current. It made it possible to involve the LCR in a work of mass political behind a candidature of class, unit, revolutionary, around an emergency plan Anticapitaliste. During preparatory discussions, the militants of revolutionary Democracy defended the idea of a common candidature of the revolutionists, that of Arlette Laguiller and Olivier Besancenot, until the refusal of LO.

However, once this refusal act, the militants of the current engaged fully in the construction industry of the first electoral campaign of the post-office employee Olivier Besancenot, then 28 years old. However, the militants of this current strongly dissociated call launched by the LCR to vote Jacques Chirac against Jean-Marie Le Pen. According to them, it was completely possible to fully take its place in the mobilization against Le Pen without to invite to vote Chirac, the man of employers, the “noise and odor” and other turpitudes reactionaries.

2003-2004, gone up fights and unit of the revolutionists, a double failure

The sequence 2003-2004 is that of a double failure for the current. The failure of the movement of 2003 against the breakage of the retirements of the government of the time (Law Fillon) was the first, as a failure of the whole of the Labor movement, and thus inevitably, of this current also. But it was also the failure of the unit of the Révolutionnaires. The unit LO - LCR for the regional elections and European of 2003-2004 remained without prospect, whereas the militants of revolutionary Democracy continued to carry the idea of a regrouping of LO and LCR within the same party.

Yielding to the hostile tendencies to LO, the majority of the LCR adopts the unit for the elections, but reaffirms her old policy certainly to build a new force, but without any delimitation programming science, leaving open the possibility of building a new party on the basis of program, radical reformist, with currents not inevitably Anticapitalistes. With a hand, it was combined with revolutionary Démocratie to conclude the agreement with LO, other it was combined to the militants who form today the essence of the minority of the LCR. This minority known as of “unit opposition” of the LCR which preaches a gathering, a recombining of the “left of the left”, associating with this step currents Socialist party, French Communist party, forces around Jose Bove, etc

The Congress of the LCR of 2003 was the 1st congress in which the militants of revolutionary Democracy took part fully, the precedent being that of their integration. Some broke, others joined them. Gradually, this current was released from its origins to widen it, and to grow rich by the collective experiment of new contributions.

In 2004, the majority of the LCR will again pay ambiguities of her policy by undergoing an offensive in rule of the hostile tendencies to project party anticapitalist: “the failure” of the countryside with LO is stigmatized (5% with the regional elections), from the point of view… of a less electoral score compared to 2002! The failure is however elsewhere affirm the militants of revolutionary Democracy: it is that the revolutionists did not represent a militant prospect for those which confirmed their rupture - of course with respect to the line - but also with respect to the left reformist, institutional, capitularde vis-a-vis employers. It had anything else proposed there to only vote for the lists anticapitalists during these elections! And especially, the revolutionary organizations underwent the consequences of the failure of the movement of 2003.

A strong pressure is thus exerted to reconsider to the old orientation of the organization, of recombining of the “left of the left” fuzzy bases. Revolutionary democracy and part of the majority of the LCR makes block. But the militants of revolutionary Democracy will remain alone to formulate continuity policy 2002-2004 around the emergency plan of the LCR, the policy of construction of a party of the workers for the fights, and the unit of the revolutionists.

This said, the failure of the agreement with LO closes the period during this current formulated its strategy of construction of a party of the workers primarily in term of unit LCR-LO. The principal responsibility in cost with LO even if the League did not know nor not wanted to take the initiative. The way in which the direction of LO forced that of the League to limit the agreement for the regional ones and the European ones to a simple electoral agreement, then the insulation in which was locked up LO in spite of the requests of the League, indicated that this orientation of unit “by in top” was to yield the step to a policy of regrouping, of construction carried out in direction of all those which - at the base - were recognized in the ideas defended as well by LO as the LCR. It is since the militants of this current carry out battle so that this construction takes the form of meetings and discussions in the companies, the factories, the popular quarters, the colleges and the universities. To see with the medium and the sympathizers of the revolutionary organizations how they even want to build this new party, which they want to see it making.

2005: single policy of face or alignment on the antilibéraux ones, in the middle of contradiction

Since the exclusion of LO, this current formulated the problem of the articulation between construction independent of the political organization and the single face for the fights. This discussion is necessarily in the middle of the remark of the Révolutionnaires. Fights of 2003 and 2004, with the installation of the interprofessional collectives, then defense collectives of the Social security, then the countryside against the the Treaty of Rome of 2004 (also called TCE), concretely pose the problem of the unit in the fights, but also the necessary political independence of the revolutionists compared to the currents reformists (in particular the Socialist party).

The problem arising in 2005 by this current at the time of the referendum successful against the European Constitutional treaty (TCE) was to follow a single policy of face, without aligning itself on the PCF and part of the alter-mondialists, full with illusions on the democratic virtues of the referendum and the Antilibéralisme. For this current, it was a question of taking part fully in the unit movement against the TCE, in all independence, by affirming our own revolutionary prospects and internationalists. What, moreover, was essentially the policy of the organization.

The difficulty, even the refusal for some, to make live this independence, to fully affirm the program Anticapitaliste of the LCR vis-a-vis that of the antilibéraux reformists, maintained many confusions on the unit possibilities with the movement antilibéral, especially the shortly after the victory of not. They is there that the wire of a recent crisis were tied, with part of l organization wanting to carry out a common electoral campaign with currents reformists.

The interest of this political victory against the TCE was, according to this current, to make use of it of fulcrum to trace the prospect for the true change for power struggle, social, by the class struggle, which requires a clear political project, that of the anticapitalism.

In fact, during this program, the organization by the intermediary in particular of its spokesperson had conducted his own campaign within the framework of a single face. And it is after the victory of not that contradiction reconsidered the front of the scene, the direction of the League leaving itself for a share instrumentaliser by the antilibéraux ones, the PC in particular, which wanted to integrate the collectives in their policy to return to the capacity in a new left majority.

2007: second candidature of Olivier Besancenot

The militants of revolutionary Democracy as for them, carried out hard battle to launch a candidature of Olivier Besancenot, on the basis of emergency program Anticapitaliste and Révolutionnaire of LCR. This battle was gained. This current weighed, accompanied the evolutions, of the organization to have a candidature for the workers' struggles and popular, on the basis of social and democratic emergency plan, to gather the anticapitalists. The militants of revolutionary Democracy conducted this campaign to involve the organization to be built in the companies, youth, the popular quarters. It was besides a real success, the essence of the electorate of Olivier Besancenot and candidates of the LCR resulting from the working and popular mediums.

Today

The policy defended by this current in fact was taken again mainly by the majority of LCR. Revolutionary democracy will present a common platform with the current majority of the LCR (with which it Co-directed already the LCR within the framework of the “Platform has”). This platform affirms once more, the need for advancing in the construction of a new party anticapitalist.

Right now, several tens of meetings were organized and the construction campaign of this new party indeed started on the ground.

The ambition in 2007 of the militants of this current is same as that who animated them at the beginning of the history of this current, richer, stronger: to take part in the revival of the Labor movement and revolutionist while turning the back on the cliquishness inherited after sixty-eight while contributing to a broad project regrouping in the same party the anticapitalists, by offering a political framework to the militants Syndicaux who become aware of the limits of the only union action, with the militants who break with the PC and his ambiguities, to all those which want to give to the Antilibéralisme consequent contents, that of the class struggle and Anticapitalisme, and in first with youth.

Source

“ten years ago, at the origins of revolutionary Democracy”

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