In spite of the wanton destruction which the working class and oppressed peoples are subjected to by the structural crisis within the capitalist-imperialist system, the absence of an international organisation of the proletariat and oppressed is generally ignored or not taken up as an urgent matter when discussing the reasons for the inability to make revolutionary advances. By the same token, popular uprisings which carry within themselves serious revolutionary potential (such as the “Arab Spring”) and revolutionary uprisings (such as Rojava, Donetsk, Lugansk, etc.), one of the primary reasons for the serious crises in seeking alliances for crucial moments or certain stages of their development is the lack of a communist international. Thus, Comintern as a discussion confined to a specific historical moment should rather constitute one of the fundamental points of contemporary revolutionary aspiration. Because the Communist International was the last fighting international organisation of the working class.
The 1st International, established by Marx and Engels following the Paris Commune, was eventually closed after Marx and Engels moved it to the US. The 2nd International, established on essentially Marxist foundations, in spite of standing on the ground prepared by large mass socialist parties, itself fell into social chauvinism following the outbreak of the 1st Inter-Imperialist War in 1914. Of the parties in the 2nd International, only the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolshevik) remained untainted by this treason and in doing so carried the proletarian revolution in their own country forward to victory.
Against such a historical backdrop, the foundational congress of the 3rd International which met from the 2nd to the 6th of March 1919 in Moscow was the realisation of the birth of a new international organisation of the working class. From taking up the banner of proletarian revolution in 1919, until its abolition in 1943, with its good and its bad, its wrong and its right, its victories and defeats, the experiment of Comintern proffers to us countless lessons. The global crisis of capitalism which broke out in the US in 2008 has provoked an ongoing global stagnation, the ever more violent class conflicts in all countries, these bring forth the need for Comintern as a historical reference for all the world’s communists.
Considering the burning importance of the subject, the low level in quantity and quality of sources available in the Turkish literature––outside of a few translated pieces with similar content and a few pieces taking up the question of relations between the Communist Party of Turkey and Comintern––is noteworthy. Both to fill this gap and to greet the 100th anniversary of Comintern, we have set out to publish a dossier on Comintern.
We look forward to your contributions to our 6th Dossier, whether under the topics suggested by the headings listed below, or by any topics on which you feel you might be able to deepen the discourse on this subject.
- The historical conditions of the establishment of Comintern,
- The organisational structure of Comintern,
- Comintern’s conception of world revolution,
- Comintern’s appeal to oppressed peoples,
- Women leaders in Comintern, Comintern and the struggle for women’s liberation
- The Congress of the Peoples of the East held in Baku,
- Comintern in the Spanish Civil War,
- Comintern’s Latin American and African policy,
- Comintern’s China policy,
- Comintern’s anti-fascist strategy, tactics, and practice,
- The contributions of Comintern sections to artistic, political, scientific, and athletic organisations, international organisations of peasants and trade unions, and International Red Aid.
- The background, rationales, and results of the 1943 decision to abolish Comintern
- Comintern’s relations with the Communist Party of Turkey
- The necessity and possibilities of a new International
Deadline for submissions: July 15th for Turkish pieces.
July 1st for pieces to be translated into Turkish.
Dossier date of publication: August 1st, 2019.
Dossier editors: Fırat Sözeri – Emel Akal.
The articles should make use of references following the citation rules and editorial policy of the Abstrakt Journal (http://www.abstraktdergi.net/yazarlara/).
We kindly request your contribution.
e-mail: posta@abstraktdergi.net