Flag of the Party of German Socialism (PDS), the largest communist party to adhere to Marxism-Leninism-Luxemburgism (MLL).
The official ideology of the Party of German Socialism, and thus of the German Democratic Republic, is Marxism-Leninism-Luxemburgism (MLL). As described by PDS spokesperson Ulla Jelpke, it is "an authentic evolution of the vision of Marx, galvanizing us for the future, without being led astray into revisionism."
Background[]
Rosa Luxemburg[]
Rosa Luxemburg was a Polish-German Marxist, philosopher, economist, anti-war activist and revolutionary socialist, who has become revered as a foundational figure of MLL. Luxemburg is credited with the concepts of revolutionary spontaneity and specific democracy by MLL adherents.
Spontaneous Revolution[]
The Spontaneous Revolution began on the morning of May 5th, 2001, with protests against the Auflockerung policies of SED General Secretary Gregor Gysi and his planned transition to a full democracy in German Democratic Republic. Following a coup by Defence Minister Hans Keßler, the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) was dissolved and replaced with the Party of German Socialism, which adopted the name of Marxism-Leninism-Luxemburgism as their founding ideology.
Key Tenets[]
Revolutionary Spontaneity[]
Revolutionary spontaneity is the idea that the social revolution as envisioned by Karl Marx can and should occur spontaneously from the proletariat directly, without the aid or guidance of a vanguard party. Rosa Luxemburg, the most prominent German Communist theorist in the generation after Marx, argued for this idea, in her work Mass Strike, writing:
"In every phase and every aspect of the struggle the total sum of the available power of the proletariat that has already been unleashed should be mobilized and it should be expressed in the fighting stance of the Party. The tactics of Social Democracy should always be more resolute and vigorous than required by the existing power relations, and never less."
In this revolutionary learning process, spontaneity and the organization of the working class push each other forward. For Luxemburg, these were mutually dependent, inseparable "moments" of the same process.
Revolutionary Alienation[]
Marx's theory of alienation describes the estrangement (Entfremdung) of people from aspects of their Gattungswesen ("species-essence") as a consequence of living in a society of stratified social classes. The alienation from the self is a consequence of being a mechanistic part of a social class, the condition of which estranges a person from their humanity. Alienation, in this way, is the process whereby people become foreign to the world they are living in.
The MLL concept of revolutionary alienation takes this concept and applies it on the level of nations and in the arena of international relations; for a movement to truly be revolutionary, a country and its people must find itself subject to alienation from the capitalist world.
Role of the Vanguard Party[]
As envisioned by Vladimir Lenin the most class-conscious and politically advanced sections of the working class, would be the revolutionary vanguard, which would serve to organize and exercise proletarian political power. Once so organized, the vanguard party would establish a dictatorship of the proletariat - the rule of the working class - making the development of true socialism possible.
Adherents of Marxism-Leninism-Luxemburgism believe that in order for the vanguard party to avoid disintegrating or alienating themselves from their proletariat roots, the vanguard party must be properly vulcanized and maintain its revolutionary character. The party must also take responsibility for the education of the masses and the cultivation of proper class consciousness.
Role of the Rearguard Parties[]
Prior to the Spontaneous Revolution, the ruling SED pursued a policy of Bündnispolitik, or the Alliance Policy. The four legally recognized parties were known as "alliance parties" and were fully subordinate to the SED, with no opportunity for any independent political action.
Under Marxism-Leninism-Luxemburgism, the role of the alliance parties are expanded, being given greater autonomy, in a system known as "democratic collaboration." While the vanguard party's function and role is to organize the working class and maintain class consciousness, the alliance parties - parties known as rearguard parties (Nachhutpartien) - would support the vanguard party by observing where the vanguard may have weakened and forcing the vanguard party to remain true to its function. They would necessarily have to remain loyal to the working class and the vanguard, but would be able to protect the vanguard from ideological retreat or complacency.
Historically, in the Communist lexicon, the term “anti-revisionism” has been used to describe opposition to attempts to revise, modify or abandon the fundamentals of revolutionary theory and practice in a manner that was perceived to represent concessions to Communism’s adversaries. The leadership of the Party of German Socialism - by far the largest MLL communist party - maintain their stance as anti-revisionist while supporting the existence of rearguard parties that are equally committed to the socialist cause.
Within the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), there are seven legally recognized rearguard parties, which compete in elections for two-fifths of legislative seats. The leader of the party with the most seats won is, by convention, appointed Minister for Democratic Affairs.
Sahra Wagenknecht Tendency[]
The Sahra Wagenknecht Tendency (Richtung) is a political theory derived from the PDS General Secretary Sahra Wagenknecht. The Richtung, at its most basic level, consists of a 10-point basic policy as follows:
- Ensuring PDS leadership and guidance over all forms of work in the DDR
- The Party of German Socialism, must be galvanized by democratic collaboration with the rearguard parties to maintain its place at the vanguard
- The PDS should take a people-centric approach for the public interest, and against the bourgeois, capitalists, and those suffering from a "false consciousness"
- Maintaining self-sufficiency while promoting scientific achievement and cultural development
- Allow for revolutionary alienation, but avoid isolationism
- Develop a scientific, German-based socialism best suited for the DDR
- Develop relationships with other Marxist parties around the world
- Maintain and streamline the Marxist-first immigration policy
- Practice environmental stewardship and resource management
- Strengthen national security and cohesion
Criticism[]
East German dissidents and scholars Eckhard Jesse and Jürgen P. Lang have termed the Party of German Socialism as "smart extremism" - presenting itself as more democratic and open, taking advantage of democratic norms around the world; Marxism-Leninism-Luxemburgism is therefore less of a cohesive ideology and more of a rebranding effort of the same authoritarianism that has existed in East Germany since its establishment in 1949.
MLL Outside East Germany[]
East Germany is the only country that holds Marxism-Leninism-Luxemburgism as its driving ideology, MLL parties have parliamentary representation in West Germany, Austria, Denmark, Poland, and Luxembourg.