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DEMOCRATIC MARXISM SERIES
Series Editor: Vishwas Satgar
The crisis of Marxism in the late twentieth century was the crisis of orthodox and vanguardist Marxism associated mainly with hierarchical communist parties, and which was imposed ― even as state ideology ― as the ‘correct’ Marxism. The Stalinisation of the Soviet Union and its eventual collapse exposed the inherent weaknesses and authoritarian mould of vanguardist Marxism. More fundamentally, vanguardist Marxism was rendered obsolete but for its residual existence in a few parts of the world, including authoritarian national liberation movements in Africa and in China.
With the deepening crises of capitalism, a new democratic Marxism (or democratic historical materialism) is coming to the fore. Such a democratic Marxism is characterised in the following ways:
Its sources span non-vanguardist grassroots movements, unions, political fronts, mass parties, radical intellectuals, transnational activist networks and the progressive academy;
It seeks to ensure that the inherent categories of Marxism are theorised within constantly changing historical conditions to find meaning;
Marxism is understood as a body of social thought that is unfinished and hence challenged by the need to explain the dynamics of a globalising capitalism and the futures of social change;
It is open to other forms of anti-capitalist thought and practice, including currents within radical ecology, feminism, emancipatory utopianism and indigenous thought;
It does not seek to be a monolithic and singular school of thought but engenders contending perspectives;
Democracy, as part of the heritage of people’s struggles, is understood as the basis for articulating alternatives to capitalism and as the primary means for constituting a transformative subject of historical change.
This series seeks to elaborate the social theorising and politics of democratic Marxism.
CAPITALISM’S CRISES
CLASS STRUGGLES IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD
Editor: Vishwas Satgar
Published in South Africa by:
Wits University Press
1 Jan Smuts Avenue
Johannesburg, 2001
Compilation © Vishwas Satgar 2015
Chapters © Individual contributors 2015
Published edition © Wits University Press 2015
First published 2015
978-1-86814-920-9 (print)
978-1-86814-926-1 (PDF)
978-1-86814-924-7 (digital)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher, except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act, Act 98 of 1978.
Edited by Liz Mackenzie and Mark Ronan
Proofread by Lee Smith
Index by Clifford Perusset
Cover design by Farm Design
Book Design by Hothouse South Africa
Book layout and typesetting by Farm Design
Printed and bound by Creda Communications
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This volume owes a special debt to the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Without their support it would have been impossible to hold a contributors’ workshop in South Africa and to ensure that the manuscript was developed sufficiently for publication. We are also grateful to the support given by Athish Satgoor and Andrew Bennie, organisers at the Cooperative and Policy Alternative Centre (COPAC), who played a central role in organising the workshop convened with contributors and activists from various social movements, including worker leaders involved in building the National Union of Metalworkers-led United Front. Special thanks also goes to Kathryn Joynt who assisted with a language and citation edit and Professor Michelle Williams who gave feedback on the manuscript. Finally, special thanks to the team at Wits University Press, particularly Veronica Klipp, Roshan Cader and Corina van der Spoel for supporting this volume and the Democratic Marxism Series.
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ANC African National Congress
ARVs anti-retrovirals
BJP Bharatiya Janata Party
BNDES Brazilian Development Bank
BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
CALS Centre for Applied Legal Studies
COPAC Cooperative and Policy Alternative Center
Cosatu Congress of South African Trade Unions
CRID Research and Information Centre for Development
DAWN Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era
DGB Confederation of German Trade Unions
DPD domestic public debt
ECB European Central Bank
ECB external commercial borrowings
ECI European Citizens’ Initiative
EE Equal Education
EFF Economic Freedom Fighters
EMF European Metalworkers’ Federation
EMU Economic and Monetary Union
EPSU European Federation of Public Service Unions
ETUC European Trade Union Confederation
EU European Union
FDI foreign direct investment
FII foreign indirect investment
GDP gross domestic product
GLC Greater London Council
ICT information and communications
