NationMaster - Encyclopedia: New Communist Movement

The New Communist Movement (NCM) was a communist political movement of the 1970s and 1980s in the United States. The term refers to a specific trend in the U.S. New Left which sought inspiration in the experience of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Chinese Revolution, and the Cuban Revolution, but wanted to do so independently of already-existing U.S. communist parties. Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... The New Left is a term used in political discourse to refer to radical left-wing movements from the 1960s onwards. ... The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political events in Russia, which, after the elimination of the Russian autocracy system, and the Provisional Government (Duma), resulted in the establishment of the Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. ... Survivors of the Long March coalesce Mao declares the Peoples Republic of China The Chinese Revolution or Chinese Revolution of 1949 refers to the final stage of fighting (1946â€“1950) in the Chinese Civil War. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ...

1 Origins
2 Developments in the 1970s and 1980s
3 See also
4 External links
5 Further reading

Origins

In the 1960s student radicals gathered into the Students for a Democratic Society. The SDS grew to over 100,000 members before dissolving in 1969. The AFL-CIO leadership supported the Vietnam War and sought to avoid strikes, but union workers saw through this and independently organized a series of wildcat strikes. Radical Marxist and other African-American auto workers subsequently formed the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM), which later became the Detroit Revolutionary Union Movement. For a few years DRUM acted as a dual union, with black leadership, within the United Auto Workers. Students occupying Sheffield town hall over the introduction of higher education fees Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. ... SDS Button Logo The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a student activist movement in the United States founded in 1959. ... The AFL-CIO is the largest labor union federation in the United States. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand the Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 1,250,000+ US dead: 58,226 US wounded... Strike action (or simply strike) describes collective action undertaken by groups of workers in the form of a refusal to perform work. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... An African American (also Afro-American or Black American, or black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... The Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement was an organization of African-American workers formed in May 1968 in the Chrysler Corporations Hamtramck Assembly plant, formerly Dodge Main, Detroit, Michigan. ... The Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement was an organization of African-American workers formed in May 1968 in the Chrysler Corporations Hamtramck Assembly plant, formerly Dodge Main, Detroit, Michigan. ... The United Auto Workers (UAW), officially the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union, is one of the largest labor unions in North America, with more than 700,000 members in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico organized into approximately 950 union locals. ...

Developments in the 1970s and 1980s

As one if its last iniatives, SDS had begun to leave its campus base and organize in working class neighborhoods. Some former members subsequently developed local organizations that continued the trend, and they attempted to find theoretical backing for their work in the writings of Lenin, Mao and Stalin. Maoism was then highly regarded as being more actively revolutionary than the brand of communism supported by the post-Stalin Soviet Union (see the definition of the American version of the New Left for more on this). As a result, most NCM organizations referred to themselves as Maoist. The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ( Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) ( April 22 (April 10 ( O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a Russian revolutionary, the leader of the Bolshevik party, the first Premier of the Soviet Union, and the founder of the ideology of Leninism. ... Mao could refer to: Mao Zedong, (Mao Tse-Tung in Wade-Giles) leader of the Communist Party of China from 1935 to 1976. ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი; see Other names section) (December 21, 1879[1] – March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: æ¯›æ³½ä¸œæ€æƒ³, pinyin: MÃ¡o ZÃ©dÅng SÄ«xiÇŽng), is a variant of Marxism-Leninism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893â€“1976). ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛澤東思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), also called Marxism-Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM), is a variant of communism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–1976). ...

Similar to the New Left's general direction in the late 1960s, these new organizations rejected the post-1956 Communist Party USA as revisionist, or anti-revolutionary, and also rejected Trotskyism and the Socialist Workers Party for its theoretical opposition to Maoism. 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) is one of several Marxist-Leninist groups in the United States. ... Revisionism is a word which has several meanings. ... Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. ... The Socialist Workers Party is a socialist political party in the United States. ...

The groups, formed of ex-students, attempted to establish links with the working class through finding work in factories and heavy industry, but they also supported National Liberation Fronts of various kinds, including the Black Panther Party (which was by then on the decline due to COINTELPRO tactics) the Cuban Revolution, and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam. The New Communist Movement organizations supported national self-determination for most ethnic groups, especially blacks and those of latino origin, in the United States. These organizations addressed problems of sexism and racism, partly by voicing adamant support for self-determination and identity politics, and felt that they were dealing with problems they were of the opinion had not been addressed in the groups of the 1960s. However, different NCM groups came to this similar conclusion via quite different routes. National Liberation Front is a common name for guerrilla organisations fighting to free their country from foreign rule, or at least claiming to be such an organisation. ... Logo of the Black Panther Party. ... COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) is a program of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at investigating and disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Viet Cong (NLF) flag The Viet Cong, also known as the National Front for the Liberation of Southern Vietnam (Vietnamese Máº·t Tráºn DÃ¢n Tá»™c Giáº£i PhÃ³ng Miá»n Nam), (VC), or the National Liberation Front (NLF), was the primary insurgent (partisan) organization fighting the... Self-determination is a principle in international law that a people ought to be able to determine their own governmental forms and structure free from outside influence. ... The sign of the headquarters of the National Association Opposed To Woman Suffrage Sexism is commonly considered to be discrimination against people based on their sex rather than their individual merits, but can also refer to any and all differentiations based on sex. ... It has been suggested that Racism in Mass Media be merged into this article or section. ... Identity politics is the political activity of various social movements for self-determination. ...

In its early years, NCM organisations formed a loose-knit tendency in United States leftist politics, but never coalesced into a single organization. As time went on, the organizations became extremely competitive and increasingly dennounced one another. Points of distiction were frequently founded on the attitude taken toward the successors of Mao and international disputes between the Soviet Union and China regarding such developments as the Angolan Civil War. The Revolutionary Union declared itself to be the Revolutionary Communist Party USA in 1975. The other national organizations swiftly formed themselves into party organizations — the October League became the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist), and nearly all other such groupings, no matter how small, began calling themselves "party", adopting manifestos and programmes, and electing Central Committees. In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... The Gang of Four on trial The Gang of Four (Chinese: 四人帮; pinyin: ) was a group of Communist Party leaders in the Peoples Republic of China who were arrested and removed from their positions in 1976, following the death of Mao Zedong, and were blamed for the events of... Map of Angola Following the end of Portuguese colonial rule in April 1974, newly-independent Angola descended into a devasting civil war which became Africas longest running conflict. ... The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (RCP, USA), known originally as the Revolutionary Union, is a revolutionary Maoist organization that was formed in 1975. ... The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (RCP, USA), known originally as the Revolutionary Union, is a revolutionary Maoist organization that was formed in 1975. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... ... In modern usage, a communist party is a political party which promotes communism, the sociopolitical philosophy based on Marxism. ... A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. ... Program or Programme can refer to: a computer program a radio program, a television program a collection of managed projects a 12-step program one of the short films in The Animatrix series. ... 16th Central Committee meeting of the Communist Party of China Central Committee most commonly refers to the central executive unit of a communist party, whether ruling or non-ruling. ...

The New Communist Movement as a whole became increasingly isolated in the 1980s. Some organizations dissolved; others merged. The Revolutionary Communist Party USA remains as an original product of the New Left. Many smaller organisations combined to form the Freedom Road Socialist Organization during the 1980s. Subsequently, FRSO split into two organizations, both of which continue to use the same name. The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (RCP, USA), known originally as the Revolutionary Union, is a revolutionary Maoist organization that was formed in 1975. ... FRSO(ML) As many of the Maoist-oriented groups formed in the United States New Communist Movement of the 1970s were shrinking or collapsing, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization was formed in 1985 to try to consolidate these forces into a single political organization that would have some longevity. ...

In 2003 Max Elbaum, a former member of the organization Line of March published Revolution in the Air a history of the New Communist Movement.

External links

Articles

Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn To Lenin, Mao and Che by Max Elbaum
An interview with Max Elbaum by Chris Crass. Onward: Magazine of Anarchist News, Opinion, Theory and Strategy of Today. Fall 2002
American Leninism in the 1970s. by Jim O’Brien. Radical America 11 &12, no. 1&6 (1977-78). Pages 27 - 64. Direct link to large PDF document of article. Accessed September 17, 2005.

Organizations

Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Freedom Road)

FRSO's NCM Timeline and articles

Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Fight Back)
League of Revolutionaries for a New America
Revolutionary Worker/Obrero Revolucionario Paper of the Revolutionary Communist Party

Contents

Origins

Developments in the 1970s and 1980s

See also

Predecessors

NCM Organizations of the 1970s and 1980s

Current Organizations Decended from NCM

External links

Archives

Articles

Organizations

Further reading

Contents

Origins GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Developments in the 1970s and 1980s

See also

Predecessors

NCM Organizations of the 1970s and 1980s

Current Organizations Decended from NCM

External links

Archives

Articles

Organizations

Further reading

Origins