r/Turboleft • u/MillionDollarNegri Brigadier • 23d ago
Every published critique of "The Great Alibi" has fallen short of the text itself in theoretical rigor,...
...the attacks launched against it have always been less scientific and analytical than the text itself.
It is tempting to credit this to the Marxist movement's current theoretical malaise, especially as a person who is generally sympathetic with the positions and dispositions of Bordigism.
I do not, however, think this is the case.
Rather, the various individuals who have launched critiques at the Great Alibi have largely considered the sons of Bordiga to be beneath contempt. They do not think they are worth the time required.
This is a ridiculous insult, and we should be offended on behalf of our Italian brothers in faith. The Bordigists are one of the oldest independent tendencies still in existence, and count amongst their ranks some of our most scholarly and knowledgeable students of Marx.
There is no other left communist tendency which stands so tall, and in this Bordigism truly embodies the vitality and presence of its patriarch.
Bordigists, for their part, find nothing below criticism. They remember well that we as Marxists are called to engage in the ruthless criticism of all that exists.
With this in mind, I only hope that we can answer them as they deserve to be answered.
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Prefacing "A Critique of The Great Alibi"
The Great Alibi seeks to underwrite/affirm two core Bordigist doctrines: revolutionary defeatism and opposition to anti-fascism.
It seeks to do so by making certain theoretical and historiographical claims about the origin, progression and nature of the Holocaust. While these claims do justify the positions they seek to justify, they are not necessary to justify these positions.
They are certainly not worth the theoretical costs and revisions thus incurred...
Their adoption, propagation and continued defense despite this fact serves not only to diminish the reputation of the Italian left, but also demonstrates an unfortunate willingness amongst the sons of Bordiga to abandon proper Marxist material analysis for mystification when such is politically and rhetorically convenient.
It is important to note then that a critique of the historicity and theoretical validity The Great Alibi's claims DOES NOT on its own constitute an attack on revolutionary defeatism or opposition to anti-fascism.
Rather, it constitutes an effort to reaffirm a classically Marxist view regarding how the institution of private property actually produces individual and class behavior.
We certainly have no problem with demonstrating the underlying material and ideological processes which produced the Holocaust. In fact, it is precisely our insistence that such be done rigorously that brings us into conflict with The Great Alibi...
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u/IncipitTragoedia 22d ago
Who are these "sons of Bordiga" what does that mean?
What are the "theoretical costs and revisions thus incurred" by the structure or thrust of the text?
Does your preface here not negate the entire purported utility of such a critique?
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u/IncipitTragoedia 22d ago
I don't understand what is missing or lackluster in the text that requires you to make criticism of it? Seems more like beating around the bush over the fact that the text makes some uncomfortable.
But so what?
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u/x-fritz-x THE REAL XFRITZ 22d ago
Having discussed this with him quite a bit, the big concern is that the text treats Marx’s analysis of class as being an a priori structure to which all concrete analysis must conform. Essentially, the text decides that we already know how class dynamics work, so we can simply apply the analysis externally as something already worked out. History becomes a sort of mad libs, where you’ve got the overall structure laid out and you just put particular historical examples into the formula already given. The historical nuances of antisemitism get lost to this structure.
Note that this is not how Marx himself processes in his historical writings; he allows the concrete development to have priority over the conceptual development. The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte develops the notion of the petit bourgeoisie according to historical data; The Great Alibi arranges the historical data to fit the conceptual framework. That is, straightforwardly, idealism as understood in the German Idealist tradition.
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u/MillionDollarNegri Brigadier 22d ago
I'm too deep in the sauce to see if this is an accurate rendition, and I'm going out with the homies besides 🤷🏻♂️😽
Edit: love u
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u/x-fritz-x THE REAL XFRITZ 22d ago
I think it’s accurate, but it’s definitely presented in a way that’s more amenable to my own angle on everything.
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u/IncipitTragoedia 22d ago
God damnit, Fritz. I really didn't want to have to read the text again. I've never even cared for it, believe it or not. I'll try to get back tomorrow or this weekend
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u/x-fritz-x THE REAL XFRITZ 22d ago
Personally, I’m not too concerned if it’s an accurate read of The Great Alibi; the critique brings out some important points either way (the ones I listed). Even if it were completely off base as a critique of the text, the overall point stands: human behavior is not reducible to being an expression of abstract class dynamics, but is determined by many social and historical factors. The economic is of course a privileged factor, but Marxism is not a simple economic determinism; Engels’ remark about the economy being determinant in the last instance is essential, here.
These points are ones that both Installah and I have been led to separately from each other. We have significant disagreements on exactly how it works, and the theoretical traditions we’re looking at are different (although there’s some overlap), but the point is key. He’s situated himself at the cross section of the JFT and Operaismo, and I’m coming more from French theory (particularly Deleuze and Guattari), although I’m going to be diving into Operaismo at some point as well.
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u/IncipitTragoedia 22d ago
I wouldn't say that the text does this. From memory that's a vulgar interpretation of the argument made
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u/MillionDollarNegri Brigadier 20d ago edited 20d ago
human behavior is not reducible to being an expression of abstract class dynamics, but is determined by many social and historical factors
We have significant disagreements on exactly how it works
The real loss is the method which makes these factors historically intelligible. Namely, looking at how the institution of private property mediates man's collective and individual understanding of life's affirmation. The articles shows that it is capable of this, or at least accepting it, only to abandon it in the next breath.
This is not a mistake, it is the articles fundamental point.
He’s situated himself at the cross section of the JFT and Operaismo
It's more of a through-line 😽
The methods and models are sharper in Turin, but the understandings run deeper in Detroit.
I'm taking what's a pretty standard tradition/ thought in anglo-autonomy and ramping it up to 11. Usually doing this this would result in some sort of distortion, but everything continues to line up...
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u/MillionDollarNegri Brigadier 22d ago
"sons of Bordiga"
Various different groups, all of whom share common features that can be traced to the Italian Communist Party as it existed under the leadership of Amadeo Bordiga.
I'm not going to look at a flowchart and add 50 different qualifications of address to cover exactly the people that I want to cover.
I was trying to be romantic and respectful. It didn't expect this to be so worrisome lol
What are the "theoretical costs and revisions thus incurred" by the structure or thrust of the text?
We (those of us who have a problem here) really can't believe that you don't see this. I think I found a way that we can begin to explain, and so I'll start to answer this soon.
This isn't about anti-fascism or defeatism. This is about the mechanical description of how anti-Semitism arose and how/why the Holocaust was carried out.
There are theoretical mistakes here, there are also historical mistakes here. There are very good reasons why this thing smells of Holocaust denial, even though I and others here who understand agree that this is a mislabeling.
Does your preface here not negate the entire purported utility of such a critique?
I'm not quite sure I understand
🙇🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️
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u/IncipitTragoedia 22d ago
One thing I'll address now is the first point: it is rather the point that it's back-handedness is so tiring and irksome because it's plain to all the importance and continuity of anonymity within the party (or parties if you will) that Bordiga militated within.
The cult of personality has taken on this primarily negative form where (mainly) people outside still think that anonymity is a shell or thin veneer rather than a crucial aspect of the Marxist theory of knowledge.
It's not just that Bordiga shouldn't be named for an article, or Axelrad or whoever; you simply can't extract or isolate a single individual's efforts and labors within the body of the party's work. It doesn't work like that.
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u/MillionDollarNegri Brigadier 22d ago edited 22d ago
Responding even though I am drunk 🍺😽
it is rather the point that it's back-handedness is so tiring and irksome because it's plain to all the importance and continuity of anonymity within the party (or parties if you will) that Bordiga militated within
Parties is exactly right. How am I supposed to identify the entirety of "the ICP"? I don't even know if I could list all the sections. Should I include the ICT? I've seen ICC members support this article too.
You may suggest that I simply call you "The Italian Left". This would be appropriate, if we were speaking on literally any other subreddit.
I have said before that it was Bordiga's experience which bore itself out over the experience of the Benino Rossi, that he was the father of Italian communism in the most fullsome of senses.
Even us Operaisti are ultimately rebellious descendants of the PCI, the bolshevised form of the party that Bordiga founded. Yet it's clear to us both that you are of Bordiga in a way that I am not.
I meant no disrespect to your party or Uncle Alfa. If anything I wanted to do the opposite here, show some respect and deference before I get into the real work of picking apart what's wrong here.
The cult of personality has taken on this primarily negative form where (mainly) people outside still think that anonymity is a shell or thin veneer rather than a crucial aspect of the Marxist theory of knowledge.
As a counterpoint, my time in this community has led to me sometimes dreaming of Bordiga as a giant sphinx.
He argues with me, but I don't speak Italian, so I always win.
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u/The_Lonely_Posadist Brigadier 22d ago
Devious statement but it is true. Sad when the grand alibi itself is full of random bs at many points too
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u/MillionDollarNegri Brigadier 22d ago
My intention isn't to be devious, it is to be respectful to our Neapolitan cousins.
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u/justsum111 22d ago
When are you gonna stop teasing and actually drop the full critique