The balance of forces

Scan page 13

•fighting in the Labour movement for lesbian To join or affiliate, write to Chris Richardson, 21 Devonshire Promenade, Lenton, Nottingham NG7 12DS. £5 for individuals, or for affiliated organi tions, per 1,000 members. £2 for low-waged individuals. £1 for unwaged. Add 50p if you want the -special issue of Gay Socialist. Campaign IN SO 152 Alan Thornett argued that the outcome of the South Atlantic war was a decisive shift in the 'world balance of forces' to the advantage of imperialism. but surely the collapse of the military regime in Argentina shows that this judgement is too simplistic.

To see the world simply in terms of 'imperialism' on one side and 'the masses' on the other means that we fade out powerful and important forces - like the Argentine bourgeoisie - which complicate the picture.

The Argentine ruling class was weakened by the outcome of the war. Alan Thornett discounts this fact with the comment that a military comeback is still a threat: but this is no more sensible than trying to deny the boost that the war gave to the Tories by saying that a working class comeback is them.

Since the war, military regimes have hit severe crises not only in Argentina but also in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. This weakening of the position of imperialist interests and the local ruling classes was not necessarily caused by the war -other chains of cause-and-effect are in operation, too - but there is certainly no factual basis for saying that the powers-that-be are stronger in South America as a result of the war.

"But" - to quote the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci "the most important observation to be made about every concrete analysis of relations of forces is this: that such analyses cannot and must not be ends in themselves they only acquire significance if they serve to justify practical activity, an initiative of will..

* The decisive element in every situation is the force, permanently organised and preordered over a long period, which can be advanced when one judges that the situation is favourable . . . therefore the essential task is that of paying systematic and patient attention to forming and developing this Develop The balance of forces' in Argentina depends entirely on the development of the socialist working class movement - and on its ability to focus ruthlessly on its own class interests and programme, rather than subordinating those to the 'balance of furces' between camps in world power polities.

FOSTER Islington

Scan page 14

Socialist Organiser no.155 November 17 1983 Page 14 gets