It might come as a surprise to people on the Left, the Right, and the media commentariat but orthodox Marxists have traditionally disliked urban riots. Why? Well, it’s complicated. But it essentially boils down to the need for discipline and organisation to achieve a revolution. Spontaneity, no matter what inspires it, gives many Marxists the shivers.
That’s not to say that they would avoid a riot. In fact, Marxists have been prepared to intervene in these situations but only to recruit the ‘best elements’ and redirect them into activity that orthodox Marxism views as more productive.
So, let’s try and make sense of this.
Rioting as a cry of the oppressed
Urban riots are usually viewed as a symptom of capitalist crisis but not the solution to moving forward. In fact, all forms of direct action are seen as a politically immature form of protest in the early stages of a revolutionary situation.
The youth and students in particular gravitate towards this kind of violence but, in the orthodox Marxist view, it’s hopefully just a noisy prelude to the activation of the industrial proletariat and a move towards strikes and other forms of workplace-based action.
For Lenin – the ultimate Marxist control freak – rioting expressed anger but lacked a coherent program, leadership, and the political apparatus for seizing power. Put another way, rioters just want to let off steam but don’t really believe they can fundamentally change society.
Paris shopkeepers are not the enemy
Another problem with rioting is that the wrong targets are selected. In the recent turbulence in Paris, social media carried very disturbing footage of shops being incinerated and shopkeepers under attack. To the orthodox Marxist, this alienates the petit-bourgeoisie from the revolutionary party and simply destroys much needed community-based infrastructure in working-class areas. In short, it’s incredibly dumb and self-destructive.
The scenes of looting and criminality wouldn’t have surprised Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They identified a section of society mired in poverty but outside the working class, dubbing it contemptuously as the ‘lumpenproletariat’. Marx even referred to them as “social scum”.
These are desperate people – beggars and vagrants in Marx’s time – who not only might riot and commit criminal violence but, more dangerously, could be mobilised (at the right price) against the working class. Being poor didn’t make them radical. They could end up as hired thugs for fascists and reactionaries.
Looting might be characterised as a form of wealth distribution by anarchists but to an orthodox Marxist, this is small scale redistribution at the very margins of society that leaves property relations unchanged. Ownership of the means of production stays the same. Marx would not have viewed the illegal sale of stolen luxury goods on Vinted (which that platform put a stop to) as a revolutionary act. Far from it.
Some Marxists have departed from orthodoxy asserting, for example, that rioting and looting represents a rejection of consumer society. However, the opposite is more likely true. A rioter smashing their way into Galeries Lafayette in Paris wants the consumer goodies more than anybody – but simply can’t afford them. They’re not rejecting consumerism – they want in.
Consciousness over spontaneity
While anarchists and political romantics might glorify the spontaneous nature of rioting, Lenin wanted to see radicalised workers and youth developing a mature class consciousness. Something moulded by a combination of struggle with political education – by the party.
The danger with rioting is that it could be diverted into reactionary goals. In the recent upheavals, the extreme Right has attempted to re-define the anger as fury at waves of immigration, especially from non-white countries.
The other key problem is that riots give the state all the reasons needed to introduce new repressive measures that can then be used against the kinds of protest favoured by orthodox Marxists. Beefing up law enforcement and curbing the right to protest can be transferred from rioting youth to striking workers.
Categories: Politics
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