Reform Communism

Abstract

Reform Communism silvio pons and michele di donato What Was "Reform Communism"? Communists never used the notion of "reform communism." From World War I, their identity was built in opposition to "revisionist" tendencies among the socialist parties. They used the term "reformism" as a negative label and a synonym of right-wing "degeneration." Right up to 1989 their political culture upheld Marxist revolutionary references as a way to differentiate themselves from social democracy. Nevertheless, the lexicon and practices of a reform approach did emerge in the communist world after the death of Stalin. In the Soviet Union and in Europe, de-Stalinization and "peaceful coexistence" implied a change that could be interpreted in different ways, but clearly leaned toward gradualism and nonviolent transformation more than revolutionary thrusts. Although far-reaching ideas of reform were rapidly shelved, prospects of peaceful change still left their trace among communists, and ideas inspired by "socialist humanism" did not simply disappear. This legacy was most evident among the Czechoslovak reformers who led the Prague Spring of 1968, which would rapidly turn into a founding myth for "socialism with a human face." Its repression after the Soviet-led intervention of August 1968 represented a lasting shock for those who held hopes of democratic renewal, leading many East European reformers to embrace dissent and oppositioneven though reformist tendencies did also survive in some establishment circles. Defeated in the East, the ideas of reform communism found new focus on the other side of the Iron Curtain. In Western and Southern Europe, Eurocommunism emerged in the mid 1970s as a movement aimed at defending the legacy of the Prague Spring, assuming human rights as a component of socialist ideals, offering

Forging socialism through democracy: a critical review survey of literature on Eurocommunism

“…The PCE's decided Eurocommunist turn took place while the party was still illegal, a status that lasted until April 1977; adhering to Eurocommunism was, in fact, part of its strategy to become a legitimate actor in the country's protracted transition to democracy. 40 The conventional definition of Eurocommunism as a communist politics for advanced industrial democracies likely accounts for why most recent studies on the topic -in addition to the obligatory Italian reference -focus on French communists, 41 widely recognised as reluctant adherents, 42 yet omit the Spanish and wider global reception altogether. As E. Treglia has stressed, French and Spanish communists were almost permanently (and publicly) at odds after 1968, with the PCE striving for ever greater autonomy from the CPSU, and the PCF reverting to close alignment as early as 1969.…”

“…The most consistent effort in this regard in the recent literature was made by Pons and Di Donato, who frame Eurocommunism as a chapter of 'reform communism' understood in the broad sense, i.e., as a link between the Prague Spring of the late 1960s and perestroika in the late-1980s USSR. 87 This view emphasises Eurocommunism's transnational entanglements with the East, linking the phenomenon with critical stances on Soviet communism from within the 'iron curtain'. 88 This framing raises fertile research questions, especially regarding the possible impact of Eurocommunism as inspiration for the Gorbachev-led efforts at reform of the USSR.…”

Partisans and academics. Looking back on the Traité marxiste d’économie politique

“…Sa stratégie se construisait, notamment, par des alliances avec les sociaux-démocrates et le renoncement à la doctrine de la révolution de type marxiste-léniniste. Il ne rompait pas avec la tradition communiste, sa posture étant plutôt celle d'un effort de récupération de « l'inspiration originelle du communisme et du marxisme 11 ». Il allait à la recherche d'une troisième voie entre capitalisme et socialisme soviétique, mais refusait de s'engager explicitement dans un chemin de révisionnisme et de changement identitaire 12 .…”