Activism, analysis, agency : Paper presented to the ‘Beyond activism?’ panel of the ‘Beyond the Neo-con men: alternatives after Howard’ conference ...

Abstract

At the core of social movements are distinctive collective behaviours—direct action such as demonstrations, meetings, strikes, marches, picket lines—that repeatedly mobilise large numbers of people in efforts to change the world. Radicals, as opposed to liberals, regard the activism of these kinds of struggles as crucial for fundamental social change, which can only come from below. The capitalist state is the main obstacle to the ultimate success of challenges to exploitation as well as racial, gender and other oppressions, all grounded in class relations. Marxists identify the working class as the only social agent with the capacity to destroy that obstacle. They seek to link social movements that challenge aspects of the capitalist order with each other and particularly with the workers’ movement. This project requires a kind of organisation distinct from movements and also from parties and associations whose focus is on conventional politics. Such a party of activists, whose purpose is to intervene in and build social struggles does not currently exist in Australia, but steps towards building it can be taken today.