On 2010-12-02, at 9:06 AM, Alan Rudy wrote:
> Third, Somebody's position - and, to my surprise, Marv's - appears to me to
> conflate theoretical understanding and real world practice. Its not an
> internal criticism of a political program to say that its pragmatic
> activities in a world within which it is not hegemonic ends up being
> "impure". In real world practice real world political organizations have to
> make problematic and/or contradictory coalitions and/or are only able to
> grow by means of impurity. Much of this conversation seems to ignore the
> relationship between theory, practice and struggle under changing
> conditions.
Not sure what to make of your criticism, Alan. I accept that union-based reform parties have to take into account the relationship of forces and the electoral and other institutional constraints under which they operate. As the social and political weight of their trade union base has shrunk in the developed countries, so have the possibilities for reform and the distance between them and the conservative parties representing the propertied classes.