250 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
250 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
EXPOSICION.... Translated version of Frank Harrison's
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article on the Ex-USSR
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FREEDOM INTERNATIONAL SECTION 84B, WHITECHAPEL HIGH ST.
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LONDON E1
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The Disintegration of the State - Russian Perspectives
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(Frank Harrison)
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In order to speak of politics in the modern era - an era
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which began with the French Revolution - one must consider
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the supremacy of the bureaucratic state. This era has seen
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how all previous political unions have been replaced by the
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state. The city dweller has become the base of all social
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analysis. It is taken for granted that patriotism is a good
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thing and the capacity of governments to mobilise their
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citizens and resources has become the measure of their
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efficiency, legitimacy and a form of self-justification.
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Such a model is to be found equally in the East as in the
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West. Soviet and North American patriotism have become the
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choice of their respective political elites. Kropotkin
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pointed out that the new economic forms of political
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organisation would become associated with a new economic
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order brought into being by the industrial revolution.
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This Statist view has come to dominate the modern mind. This
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naked and little questioned power - accepted as the norm -
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is responsible for the crimes of colonialism, the domination
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of the third world by the developed world. However, there is
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some resistance to recognising this model of the State.
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Inequality, class struggle, regional and linguistic
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conflicts and indifference threaten the legitimacy of this
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political sphere. Pluralism doesn't always function
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smoothly, that is to say, when pluralism doesn't function
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neither does the sate. The authority of the State is
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rejected: Catholics in Northern Ireland, Kurds in Turkey,
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Serbs in Bosnia etc. are starting to grasp for a new
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political reality. This is the current crisis of the State.
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The State is seen as the enemy in the ghettos of the USA, in
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the Sik temples in India, on a Catholic street in Belfast
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and when it appears in any place in the former Russian
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Federation.
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Each State requires certain conditions to be fulfilled in
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order to sustain its authority, these are:
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- a culture of obedience - a recognised source of authority
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- Corporatism and a sense of commitment in the Civil and
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Armed Services. - an ability to give privilege to the
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interrelated elites (political, cultural, economic,
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military...) - quasi governmental organisations who co-
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ordinate necessities and expectations in such a way so that
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the government can act as intermediary - an ability to
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generate state interests which supersede local conflicts
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(relating to, for example, religious/linguistic conflicts
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and/or standard of living expectations)
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All these mechanisms taken together lay the foundations of
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the psychological and organisational adhesion of any given
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State. In the former USSR it was the Communist Party which
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formed the nucleus of these integrated mechanisms until it
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collapsed (over the last three years).
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The first question which arises for those who are pleased to
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see the collapse of a State should be: Out of the Russian
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Federation will there be formed a new federation of States
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or is a new Russian imperialism a possibility? Will there be
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a return to centralism in Russia or are there other options?
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The collapse of the State should be a cause of celebration
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since we have been 'brainwashed' with the concept of the
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State to the point that Yeltsin, having declared himself the
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new Russian dictator, the West applauds and is pleased that
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Russia is back on the road towards reunification.
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Fortunately they are mistaken.
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Previous speakers have shown an interest/concern with
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nationalism. I find myself in agreement with someone who in
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the 1930s who was asked if he would betray the State or his
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friend answered, 'I hope I would betray the State' because I
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would never betray my friend. For me nationalism is the same
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as tribalism. In my written work I claim that the modern
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State is the product of the French Revolution. Kropotkin
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wrote that the factor which characterised the dehumanisation
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of society was the technical structure. However,. the State
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dominates our consciousness, it is the 'norm' it is accepted
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as the natural state of things. But the State exists by the
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skin of its teeth. Wherever you will find a state you will
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find it owing its existence to the lies of political
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propaganda and the powers of its police. When the lying ends
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the state collapses as it has done in Russia. It collapsed
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in the former USSR but it has also collapsed in the Russia
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of today; today Russia is neither a government nor a nation;
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today it is made up of 89 governments. The capacity for
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integration lies only in the Communist party. When the
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Communist Party lost its legitimacy so did the State. Does
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the Russian State have the power to reintegrate itself if it
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doesn't exist? My answer is NO. The Russian State as the
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Soviet State no longer exist and will not exist again.
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However, the dominant factor is the remaining reunificatory
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capacity within the old Soviet Union within contemporary
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Russia. In this I feel we can see an example of the failure
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of the modern State. I think and I hope that the elites of
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all states are trembling.
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This cannot be seen as a victory for anarchism but rather
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the end of the capacity of such politics to promote
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integration.
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When we look towards Russia we see total institutional
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confusion, Moscow and its politics are pure theatre; the
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Supreme Court, the Presidency, Yeltsin etc... are mere
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actors. They entertain us because they have no power. But
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what of the future? I suggest five possibilities.
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The first is 'Military Fascism'; the military could come to
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represent an active force for reunification, I don't think
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this will happen. Today there are more officers that
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soldiers in the armed forces and the youth are voting with
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their feet. They will not enlist. Moreover the military are
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very divided. Nor does the economy give them money for
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equipment. Today these forces have neither the personnel,
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the material nor the unity/solidarity that they need. Today
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Military Fascism is not possible.
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Secondly 'Capitalism' as a system of recuperation didn't
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work, doesn't work and will not work in Russia. It is not a
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question of accepting or rejecting the capitalist ideology
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which has indeed been culturally rejected. The 'free
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enterprise economy' can only survive and grow if two
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conditions are fulfilled: 1) Give the workers higher levels
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of employment and remuneration 2) Have some comparative
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advantage vis a vis the rest of the world - an advantage
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used by the State to generate investment in the country and
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sell outside of its frontiers within the framework of
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monetary stability.
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But when the state industries are being shut down,
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unemployment is reaching 20 million and savings are
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annihilated by hyper inflation running at 1 000% pa economic
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dislocation is the outcome and we come to realise that
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capitalism is not the means for bringing about Russian
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reunification.
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Thirdly 'Constitutional Federalism'; the fragmentation
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caused in part by the economic decline has favoured the
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appearance of an initiative aiming at a 'constitutional
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solution' which consists in producing a document which
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defines the sharing of power in equal parts between the
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Centre and the Regions/Republics and also a Justice System
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which would have the power to resolve the various disputes
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between the factions and parties which make up the
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organisation of the State. On the 12 July 93 the delegates
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to the Constitutional Assembly gave their consent to such a
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document and gave the President the power to dissolve
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parliament and call elections. The Federal law took priority
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over the laws of the various Republics and the vice-
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presidency was abolished. However, the evidence suggests
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that the Regions and the Republics have no intention to
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subordinate themselves to Moscow; the leaders of the
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Republics have rejected the priority of the federal law.
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There was a tendency for the Republics to declare themselves
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independent. Amur, Vologda, Sverdlovsk, St. Petersburg and
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Primorsky Krai this summer.
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But there is no tradition of independence of this kind in
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Russia and the conflict between Yeltsin and the
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Constitutional tribunal is a part of the 'theatre' which the
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national Russian government is a part of today.
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Russia has collapsed and the new documents will not bring
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back the old system nor will they bring into being a new
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one.
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The political analysts indicate that Russia is in a pre-
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party state. There do not exist national political groupings
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and without these the state cannot resuscitate itself.
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In order for Yeltsin to win enough power he will have to
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draw on institutions and persons and move towards a form of
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power that we can call 'Civil Fascism' which is the fourth
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possibility. When I wrote this (July 93) I suggested that
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Yeltsin might attempt a 'coup d'etat', a constitutional
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seizure of power calling on the forces of democracy in
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Russia, but that this also would fail because such a
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constitutional fascism was based on the belief that only a
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minority was democratic. I believe that this plan is also
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destined to fail due to the fact that local organisations in
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Russia are not keen to collaborate with the 'actors' in
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Moscow. There will be no massive mobilisation of support for
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Yeltsin who, moreover, has never enjoyed majority support.
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In the April referendum only 6 out of 10 voted and of these
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only 6 out of 10 voted for Yeltsin. We are speaking of a man
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whose popularity in April was not that of the majority and
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whose popularity is currently in decline.
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The political logic of the old regime put the Communist
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Party in a position of 'infallible doctrine' to justify
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social and political authoritarianism. With the
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disappearance of this not only is there a political vacuum
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but also a distrust of secular ideologies. There is now the
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possibility of a call to the myths of nationalism, race,
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religion and blood especially if the situation deteriorates;
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crime rises and life expectancy falls.
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Fascism could come about in Russia due to the absence of
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politics.
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My conclusion as an anarchist is a positive one. I look
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towards the fifth possibility which will be as envisaged by
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Proudhon 'Decentralised Federalism'. Russia has this
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capacity which could serve as an example to other states. I
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am no expert on Spanish matters, but I understand that there
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was a strong federal tradition in this country before the
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dictatorship. The federalist capacity which exists in every
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state also exists in Russia but there is no guarantee that
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it will be successful.
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When a central regime admits its inability to control local
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authorities the development of a federalist system could
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prove the best solution for Russia in these times. The
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system is characterised by a multiplicity of local
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authorities and constant change in the political sphere at a
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local level. Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic
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concluded that in this post-Leninist situation there exists
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the remains of an 'evil' in a moral sense reflected in
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racism, nationalism, aggression and crime. Havel is
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confident that once this 'evil' is eliminated a new social
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integration will come into being, I concur. I conclusion
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when I think of the possibilities which inspire me I think,
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not of Havel but of Bakunin and Proudhon.
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I suggest that we continue to focus on the ideals of the
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French Revolution properly speaking that is to say liberty,
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equality and fraternity.
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Bakunin said that he would not consider himself to be free
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as long as one single person did not enjoy liberty: 'if
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there is one person who is not free I am not free'.
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Perhaps we can say that the end of communism in Europe marks
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the beginning of history.
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There exists the possibility of outcomes other than those
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which prevail in Bosnia: an indication of the renovation of
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the anarchist solution understood in the Proudhonian sense
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of 'order without authority'.
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