Module 4 - Strategy and Tactics, the Science of Class Struggle
How did those who fought before us navigate the conditions confronting them? What strategies and tactics did they use to construct a path forward from colonial and imperialist domination? How did they assess and engage political, social, and economic conditions to prepare for a new organization of society? Across the world, the tools for struggle took on various forms, animated by the dynamic debates about class, race, gender, organization forms, and modes of struggle..
Module 4 Reading
Tactics of National Liberation
Thurs. April 4 at 6:30 PM ET
Instructor: Vijay Prashad
The success of the October Revolution in Russia and the overthrow of the Tsarist Empire forever changed the world. Lenin and the Bolsheviks achieved a socialist revolution and were now tasked with developing a socialist state with significant hostilities emerging from the Western capitalist powers. Russia, which would become the USSR, represented a social force that, if replicated, could upend the capitalist world order in favor of workers worldwide. What was achieved in this moment became a model for workers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America who are forging their own national liberation struggles. As a result, the utility of Marxism, more specifically, Marxism-Leninism begins to spread worldwide.
China’s Long March
Tues. April 9 at 6:30 PM ET
Instructor: Ken Hammond
In 1934, after a careful assessment of the situation and the advance of the Nationalist forces, Mao Zedong and the First Red Army evacuated their Jiangxi base, strategically breaking through the weakest point of their encirclement. They began their journey westward, embarking on an arduous 6,000-mile trek across numerous mountain ranges and rivers. By 1935, depleted and scarred by losses, the Red Army, with a fraction of its original strength, reached the Yan’an province. There, they regrouped, recovered and bolstered their strength, took on Japanese imperialist aggression, and ultimately, brought about revolution in 1949. This pivotal retreat became known as the Long March, and marked a critical juncture in China’s revolutionary history, a key moment which established Mao as the leader of the Communist party, and shaped the nature of the Red Army as a people’s army.
Black Belt and Black Liberation
Wed. April 10 at 6:30 PM ET
Instructor: Eugene Puryear
Throughout American history, Black liberation in the U.S. has taken many forms. The Black Belt Thesis adopted by the Comintern and the Communist Party USA in 1928 was foundational to Black liberation consciousness and the Black Liberation movement more broadly, particularly in the USA in the heart of the empire. Marked by debates on national identity, nationhood, race, and the role of the Communist Party, the Black Belt Thesis is critical to understanding the development of a socialist revolution in the United States.
Additional Class Materials
Preface to The Black Belt Thesis: A Reader written by Eugene Puryear
A Weapon Against Radicalism: Debunking the Myth of the Conservative Black Voter by Eugene Puryear
The Anti-Patriarchal Front
Thurs. April 11 at 6:30 PM ET
Instructor: Mikaela Erskog
The struggle against patriarchy is central to the struggle against national oppression. Recognizing that patriarchy is exacerbated by capitalism and imperialism, many national liberation movements took up the anti-patriarchal front as central, and not just in symbolic representation, but through active engagement and participation- women organized, mobilized their communities, took up arms, and fought for the liberation of their country and the transformation of their society. Women’s liberation is indispensable for the realization of a new, democratic, liberated society, and only through deliberate and principled resistance against both national oppression and patriarchy can this transformation be achieved.