I have recently been interested in organizing more (outside of animal rights and anti-racism) and was looking to join a communist org. Unfortunately the choice for these kind of movements is incredibly limited where I live. I found a trot org that is linked to IMT near me and was willing to give them a chance as choice is limited.
After reading their manifesto, I think I won’t bother… Here’s a translation of some paragraphs.
Our position is very simple: in every struggle, we always take the side of the oppressed against the oppressors. But this general position is not precise enough. We must add that our position is essentially negative. This means that we are opposed to all forms of oppression and discrimination - whether they target women, people of color, homosexuals, transgender people or any other minority.
However, we firmly and categorically reject “identity” politics which, under the pretext of defending the rights of this or that group, play a reactionary role, dividing the working class, weakening its unity and providing invaluable aid to the ruling class.
The labor movement has been contaminated by a whole series of ideas that were alien to it. Postmodernism, identity politics, “political correctness” and other oddities have been smuggled in from the universities by the “left” petty bourgeoisie, who act as a conveyor belt for reactionary ideas alien to the working class.
Stemming from “postmodernism”, identity politics have confused the brains of many students. But these ideas have also been introduced into the workers’ movement, where they are used as weapons by the bureaucracy to combat the most resolute militants.
They have a whole FAQ section dedicated to how inclusive writing is wrong because it divides the working class ffs.
That’s exactly how I felt reading it lmao!
I was going to ask why these groups hate post-modernism so much but then the answer occurred to me: Leadership isn’t serious about helping the working class, and it’s easier to keep the grift going if people don’t command the language needed to hold them accountable for it.
e: That’s maybe a contentious opinion… I’ll explain my perspective.
I’m not talking about the CIA’s strategy to export post-modern art in an attempt to destabilize rivals; I’m talking about adopting multiple lenses to analyze a situation, remaining open to the idea that your logical conclusions don’t always lead to the most effective solutions, understanding that others aren’t seeing things from the same shoes as you, using tools to facilitate intercultural and otherwise intersectional conversations and organizing.
These two concepts have to be acknowledged but also separated imo. Capitalists will also weaponize food but that doesn’t mean food is bad. Post-modernism has made major philosophical and cultural contributions toward anti-colonialism and other anti-hegemonic movements. And we’ve seen how effective it can be when abused, as with propaganda and modern advertising. There is a conversation to be had here imo and it is more than just “post-modernism bad.”
If you ever have a good org local to you, be sure to give it proper appreciation. You’ll miss them if your situation ever changes.