Class conflict in Chinese socialism,by Richard Curt Kraus. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981, $22.50

Abstract

One notion of a bureaucratic class in a socialist society has been put forward by Milovan Djilas. According to Djilas, although under socialism there is no longer private ownership of the means of production, a small group of people in the government bureaucracy exercise effective economic control and can use this control to extract a surplus. The bureaucracy which gains control of society's economic surplus maintains the alienated condition of the working class and becomes a ruling class in Marxian terms. In Class Conflict in Chinese Socialism, Richard Kraus’ thesis is that Mao Zedong was aware of, and actively opposed, the beginnings of such a class in modem China. Kraus traces the evolution of Mao's theory of class to show the richness of Mao's theory and to document the influence which that theory had on post-1949 China. Kraus does not adhere strictly to Djilas’ definition of a bureaucratic class, however, nor does he explicitly develop one of his own. Rather, he lacks rigor in his use of such terms as “class” and “class struggle,” making his analysis unclear and the evidence for his thesis weak.     

Singapore's National Day Rally speech: A site of ideological negotiation

This article analyses the inaugural National Day Rally speeches of three Singapore prime ministers. It locates these speeches in the continuous ideological work that the People's Action Party (PAP) government has to do in order to maintain consensus and forge new alliances among classes and social forces that are being transformed by globalisation. Increasingly, these speeches have had to deal with the contradictions between nation-building and the tensions between the liberal and reactionary tendencies of the global city. It is argued that such a situation has made it futile for the government to attempt a straightforward ideological mobilisation of the people into a relatively homogeneous national community. The PAP government's ideological struggle to forge consensus has been balanced by a strategy of divide-and-rule. Ironically, the rally speeches have been as much about dividing as they have been about uniting.     

Scholars and Radicals: Writing and Re-thinking Class Structure in Australian History

We wrote Class Structure in Australian History in a period of heightened social struggle. It grew out of collaborative research projects at Sydney's Free U in the late 1960s. The book was distinctive in both emphasising the socialist tradition of class analysis and trying to find new paths for it. Its first edition was ignored by mass media, and often mis-interpreted in professional journals. Nevertheless it circulated widely and has continued to be a point of reference for progressive scholarship. Its method tried to carry forward the Free U project of democratic knowledge making, linking documents with analysis and inviting shared interpretation. Its theory emphasised the reality of classes as historical formations, and the importance of understanding class structure as a whole, on both points reacting against influential frameworks of the time. Looking back, CSAH appears uncertain in its approach to race and gender, and inadequate in its handling of coloniality; it was written in isolation from similar projects in other parts of the postcolonial world. Yet its approach still has value in understanding the changing dynamics of class on a world scale, the class relations of the neoliberal era in Australia, and the current configuration of power in Australia.     

Ubuntu. The missing link in the rights discourse in post-apartheid transformation in South Africa

ABSTRACT

A human rights discourse has been central to both the anti-apartheid struggle of South Africa and the country's post-apartheid transformation. But in the drive to extend constitutionally mandated social and economic rights to all South Africans, the approach has had shortcomings. The current neo-liberal economic policy framework constrains policy choices and, in some instances, restricts fair adjudication of rights by the courts. The revival of notions of African Renaissance and indigenous ethnophilosophies, notably ubuntu, which shares the primacy of human dignity of a rights discourse, offers new perspectives. This article looks at the limitations of the human rights discourse and at how ubuntu, as a principled basis for judicial decision making, can contribute to the evolution of the rights discourse in South Africa and lead towards greater realisation of constitutional rights for all.     

Social Struggles in Present Day Argentina

Since the mid 1970s, Argentine society has gone through a period characterised as counterrevolutionary. The conservative social forces, led by the financial oligarchy, seized power and government by means of the coup d'état of 1976, and imposed an economic and social policy towards the working class, based on wage cuts and a lengthening of the working day. When the military governments were replaced by civilian ones, physical coercion was replaced by economic coercion, through market laws with unemployment and wage cuts reaching unprecedented levels. Although the popular forces were weakened by the unfavourable development of social struggles since the mid–1970s, during the 1990s government policies were confronted by the people through different forms of struggle.
This article presents the results of research on the different forms of social struggle carried out by the working class and other popular classes since the end of the 1980s until today. It aims to conceptualise the forms of rebellion (foot riot, riot, strikes and roadblocks), to determine the different moments of social struggle and the likely trends of its development.     

Mustafa Shu‘a‘iyan and Fada'iyan-i Khalq: Frontal Politics,Stalinism, and the Role of Intellectuals in Iran

This paper presents a glance into the life and times of the forgotten Iranian revolutionary and political theorist, Mustafa Shu‘a‘iyan, and his engagement with the orthodox and militant Iranian Left of the 1970s. A brief biographical sketch situates Shu‘a‘iyan in the context of the leftist groups of his time. In particular, the paper shows how upon his agonizing organizational relationship with the People's Fada'i Guerrillas, he set himself the unenviable task of launching the pathology of Stalinism that dominated the Iranian Left for decades. In this context, his bitter debate with the Fada'i Guerrillas on the role of the intellectuals in revolutionary struggle appears as a step toward unravelling the plagues that have won the Iranian Left its ill repute of being ideologically and organizationally undemocratic.     

The Guest Labor System in Taiwan

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, Taiwan's manufacturing and construction employers have pressured the state to increase substantially guest worker intakes in order to reduce labor shortages, to expand the supply of cheap accessible labor, and to weaken upward pressures on wage costs. This article describes the origins and development of the guest labor system and analyzes the effects it has had on Taiwan's economy and on workers both guest and local. The author analyzes the economic dimensions of migrant labor in the context of state efforts to promote employers' interests within a framework of class compromises and examines the response of Tai-wan's labor unions to the growing availability of cheaper foreign labor. Opposition to the mandatory food and accommodation fees imposed on guest workers led the state to encourage employers to recruit guest workers directly from the countries of origin in order to eliminate brokers' fees, the greatest source of migrant hardship. The author shows, however, that direct hiring has failed due to kickback arrangements involving employers, brokers, and state officials. This has brought the class basis of Taiwan's guest worker policy into sharp focus and engendered an intense struggle by guest workers.     

American grand strategy and the assassination of the third world

Peter Gowan's brilliant analysis of U.S. primacy provokes this discussion on the role of the Third World since the 1940s. One cannot think of the cold war epoch without the constant pressure from the Third World on the two major camps, and one cannot conceive of the post-cold war alignment by sections of the Third World without a class assessment of the regimes and programs in the darker nations. This essay attempts to supplement Gowan's framework with the addition of the Third World, at the same time as it offers a synoptic study of India's relationship with the United States as an example.     

African modernities and the critical reappropriation of indigenous knowledges: Towards a polycentric global epistemology

ABSTRACT

While the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development (AU/NEPAD) strives for both plurilateralism and regionalism, there are ideological and practical conditions that challenge the feasibility of a fully fledged regional integration institution in Africa. This article examines the AU/NEPAD in relation to Africa's ideological back-loading, while it explores how the programme reconciles Western-dominated economic plurilateralism with Africa's developmental regionalism. It highlights the ideological changes that helped with the modernisation of Western countries and how these developments become a challenge to Africa's economic development efforts. Africa has always been an ideological back-loader and a delayed integrator into global interdependence. During the mid-20^th century, at the time Western countries (in particular Western European countries) were adopting regionalism, Africa was engaged in the same phenomenon for political and economic independence. While the economic crisis of the mid-20^th century following the Second World War (WW2) enabled the industrialised countries to adopt embedded liberalism for socioeconomic development, at decolonisation Africa sought to espouse what turned out to be the dependency paradigm as the economic development strategy for Africa. In the 21st century, developed regions are transcending regionalism and gearing towards plurilateralism while most African leaders remain fixated in traditional regional integration on the continent. As the neoliberal ideology dominates the contemporary international political economy of the 21^st century, albeit questionably, Africa's politico-socioeconomic realities are also premised on the same embedded liberalism. However, economic plurilateralism by industrialised countries with Africa challenges efforts towards regional integration on the continent. It would seem that the AU/NEPAD provides a viable compromise between developmental regionalism and economic plurilateralism on the continent.     

The Struggle to Save the National Symbol: Jaffa Port from the Arab Revolt Until the Twilight of the British Mandate

The outbreak of the Arab revolt marked the start of the continuous economic decline of Jaffa, which hitherto had been known as an outstanding and flourishing economic centre. The decisive factor that highlighted above all others the city's economic deterioration was the decline of its port. This carried notable moral implication for the Arab public, as Jaffa port, the city's symbol and legacy, was deemed a national emblem and a foundation stone of the Palestinian Arab economy. Its decline from 1936 onwards instigated a bitter struggle to restore it to its halcyon days. The article examines the measures taken by the local Arab leadership bodies and by the Arab Higher Committee to resurrect the port and its status, from the outbreak of the 1936 disturbances until the war that broke out in 1947.     

The ideological disposition of Koreans

This article empirically examines the features of Koreans' ideological disposition and its changes based on national surveys conducted in 2002 and 2004. This study provides an in-depth analysis of South Korea's current ideological polarisation at the level of voter attitudes, and thus is able to explain the current ideological stand-off in Korean society more intuitively than was possible previously. Analysis of ideological disposition on ten policy issues revealed that economic factors are statistically significant in examining ideological differences by age and occupation, contrary to the existing analysis that ideological conflict in South Korea is affected more by political factors. In addition, this study has found that there are several fundamental ideological dimensions that affect policy issues. They are categorised as Cold War authoritarianism, neo-liberalism, egalitarianism and post-materialistic values.     

Transnational Migrants,Globalization Processes,and Regimes of Power and Knowledge

This article situates the Bush administration's new strategy in the historical context of the international capitalist order established by the United States at the end of the 1940s and argues that this order, though extraordinarily successful for some decades, is now in crisis. The unique capitalist international community that the United States established under its primacy revived international capitalism while preventing geopolitical rivalries between the main capitalist centers. The leading sectors of U.S. business have become dependent on the preservation of the unipolar primacy order for its own economic security and expansion while the American domestic political economy has failed to revive as an industrial economy meeting the rules of international economics, exhibiting growing problems with current account deficits and rising levels of debt. To manage the resulting tensions between the orientation of American transnational sectors and problems in the domestic American political economy, the United States has developed an international monetary and financial regime that is destabilizing and dependent upon the preservation of American political primacy over the capitalist world. But the Soviet collapse has destabilized the primacy system, while the dominant sections of American capitalism are committed to rebuilding it. The Bush administration is seeking to rebuild U.S. primacy, using U.S. military dominance. But this carries very high risks.     

The limits of feminist political intervention in Singapore

This article uncovers the strongly ideological quality in Singapore's theory and practice of pragmatism. It also points to a strongly pragmatic quality in the ideological negotiations that play out within the dynamics of hegemony. In this complex relationship, the combination of ideological and pragmatic manoeuvring over the decades has resulted in the historic political dominance of the People's Action Party (PAP) government in partnership with global capital. But in an evolving, diversifying and globalising society, this manoeuvring has also engendered a number of mismatched expectations. It has also seen a greater sensitivity and attention to the inherent ideological contradictions and socio-economic inequalities that may erode what has been a relatively stable partnership between state and capital. This article argues that Singapore's one-party dominant state is the result of continuous ideological work that deploys the rhetoric of pragmatism to link the notion of Singapore's impressive success and future prospects to its ability to attract global capital. In turn, this relies on maintaining a stable political system dominated by an experienced, meritocratic and technocratic PAP government. While this Singaporean conventional wisdom has supported the political and economic interests of the state and global capital in a period of neo-liberal globalisation, its internal contradictions and external pressures have also begun to challenge its hegemonic pre-eminence.     

Pre-capitalist Reproduction on the Nepal Tarai: Semi-feudal Agriculture in an Era of Globalisation

This article highlights the continued significance of pre-capitalist formations in shaping the trajectory of economic transition in peripheral regions, even in an era of neo-liberal globalisation. There is a tendency for Marxist scholars to assume the inevitable “dominance” of capitalism over older modes of production. Using a case study from Nepal's far eastern Tarai, this paper seeks to understand the reproduction of feudal social relations in a region which is both accessible and integrated into regional and global markets. The paper traces the early subordination of indigenous groups to feudalism from the eighteenth century onwards, and the political and ideological processes through which these social relations were reinforced. Through examining the historical role of feudal-colonial alliances, however, the paper notes that pre-capitalist reproduction in Nepal is a dynamic process, actively negotiated and reinforced by the external imperatives of capitalist expansion itself as well as through the entrenched political power of landed classes. Today feudal and capitalist formations co-exist and articulate, with surplus divided between landlords and non-farm employers. Understanding the complex dynamics of feudal or “semi-feudal” reproduction in an era of globalisation is crucial if one is to identify avenues for collective mobilisation against inequitable pre-capitalist and capitalist class relations.     

Enduring Class Struggle in Tunisia: The Fight for Identity beyond Political Islam

This article examines the emergence of Salafism and the post-Ben Ali process of institution-building through the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion that have their origin in the Bourguibian period. While Al-Nahda compromised with opposition secular parties accomplishing the integration of a moderate Islamist middle-class excluded from power since independence, continuous political mobilisation and urban revolt in parallel with the liberalisation of the public space gave birth to a new radical Islamic subject, Ansar al-Sharia, which represents disenfranchised lower classes that remain excluded from enjoying the benefits of the revolution. The article highlights how this exclusion is in continuity with Tunisia's modern history, where the threat of radical Islamism has often been deployed to mystify social class exclusion.     

Hobson's Theory of Imperialism and its Indebtedness to Socialism: A Challenge to Conventional Narratives of early International Relations

Traditionally, the origins of International Relations as a stand‐alone academic discipline have been traced to the inspiration of a generation of so‐called liberal idealist thinkers. 1 1 This article uses an IR understanding of the terms (liberal) idealism or utopianism, usually treated as synonyms in the discipline. While in political theory socialism and Marxism are often described as idealist/utopian, this paper does not consider them as such. Rather than idealist, Marxism actually claims to be materialistic. Ideas might be important, but the material basis of production and social relations throughout history are the basis for the methodology of Marxism (historical materialism). This article uses (and challenges) an IR understanding of the concept of utopianism/idealism as a liberal approach which traditionally overestimated the power of morality, cooperation and reason, and supposedly paid little attention to facts and power. See, Peter Wilson, The International Theory of Leonard Woolf: A Study in Twentieth‐Century Idealism (New York, 2003), p.15; Lucian Ashworth, “Did the Realist‐Idealist Great Debate Really Happen? A Revisionist History of International Relations”, International Relations, Vol. 16, 1 (2002), p.34.
Since the late 1990s, however, a growing revisionist literature has challenged this assumption. Important studies have been conducted to show that prominent early IR scholars, such as Leonard Woolf and David Mitrany, hardly share the characteristics of so‐named IR's idealism. 2 2 See Lucian Ashworth, “Where are the Idealists in Interwar International Relations?”, Review of International Studies, Vol. 32, 2 (2006), pp.291, 301.
The case of J.A. Hobson has also been part of revisionist efforts. Paradoxically, however, he has been at times placed in alignment with “idealist” values. This article aims to employ Hobson to challenge IR orthodox narratives. Through an analysis of Hobson's writings on imperialism, the article aims to reveal a little acknowledged and yet significant underlying theoretical socialist influence on his international theory.     

From tragedy to comedy: Political reform in Thailand

Thailand's democracy has been profoundly influenced by mass struggle and tragic bloodshed. The political freedom now exercised by Thai citizens ia a direct result of continuous mass struggle against dictatorship, the high points of which were the 14th October 1973 and the May 1992 popular uprisings. Yet, at the same time, this freedom has also had its limits defined by the brutal crushing of Thailand's socialist movement on the 6th October 1976. This has meant that the present day parliamentary system is devoid of any element of class politics. It is this, more than anything else, which is responsible for the corruption and vote-buying in the electoral system. Recent attempts at political reform, culminating in the drafting of the 1997 Constitution, results from the work of a coalition between two separate and conflicting class factions in Thai society. On the one hand, “the People's Organisations” (N.G.O.s, campaigns for democracy, peasant and labour groups) demanded more rights and participation in decision-making. On the other hand, “the modernist liberal wing of the ruling elite” wished to see more efficient and stable government. The contradictions between these two political currents can be seen throughout the reform process and in Thai politics today. Attempts to cleanse Thai politics using a reformed Constitution, new election laws and newly established “independent bodies,” such as the Election Commission and Constitutional Court, are unlikely to succeed, since they fail to address the real basis of money politics in Thailand and rely on a narrow structuralist approach. A more realistic route to political reform would rely on the mobilisation of social groups on a class basis. Only when such groups organise to push for more social equality and justice inside and outside the confines of the present structures can there be true progress.     

THE POWERS OF XI JINPING

Since becoming head of the Communist Party in China in late 2012, Xi Jinping has accrued an impressive raft of titles. He has been compared to the founder of the regime, Mao Zedong, and is seen by some as sitting at the centre of a network of different power sources. But is power as personalised as this model makes out in contemporary China, with all its complexity and diversity? And can one person really rule the continental sized country in this paternalistic way? This article argues that Xi's powers are intrinsically linked with the organisation that he leads and which his power is sourced in – the Party itself. Far from him being the emperor of modern China, it is the Communist Party which acts as the all-seeing, all-powerful ruler. In this model, Xi is its servant, not its master.     

“We will never forget 1964!” Shopfloor Organisation and the Class Politics of Trade Union Officials at General Motors‐Holden

The article outlines the theory of contingent bureaucratic conservatism of trade union officials, which contends that elected officials represent a conservative stratum in the class struggle. The article also examines arguments made by those who oppose it, partly on the basis that it does not stand up to rigorous empirical analysis. The article tests the theory in the context of the important dispute at General Motors‐Holden's in Australia in October 1964. The events which emerged in the strike demonstrated the unwillingness of the union officials, conservative, moderate and Left alike, to support the strikers at General Motors‐Holden's during the final stages of the dispute, and validates the theory of contingent bureaucratic conservatism of union officials.     

Fatima's Revolutionary Image in Fadak fi al-Ta'rikh (1955): The Inception of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr's Activism

This article examines Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr's first publication, Fadak fi al-Ta'rikh, contextualising the historiographical depiction of the dispute that ensued between Abu Bakr and Fatima over the Fadak land. Informed by traditional Shi‘i approaches to this episode of early Islamic history, the study locates the text's themes within various Iraqi contexts, including the struggle for the ideological orientation of the state, the quest for a unified Iraqi Civil Code and the place of Shi‘is in the new Iraqi state. The main contention of this study is that through his engagement with contours of Iraqi oppositional discourse, Sadr transforms the traditional image of Fatima from a weak and abused victim of injustice to a revolutionary heroine who fought for Shi‘i political and legal rights. His innovative portrayal of Fatima's claim to the Fadak marks one of the earliest efforts to reinterpret Shi‘i parables in an activist spirit. Sadr is among the first to promote the shift from passive eschatological expectations for redress to temporal confrontation with forces of injustice and to convey the message that protest is desirable irrespective of its chances of success.