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Communization theory (orcommunisation theory inBritish English) refers to a tendency on theultra-left that understandscommunism as a process that, in asocial revolution, immediately begins to replace allcapitalistsocial relations with communist ones, rejecting transitional stages.[1] Thus it rejects the role of thedictatorship of the proletariat, which it sees as reproducing capitalism. There exist two broad trends within communization theory: a 'Marxist' one (exemplified byGilles Dauvé, Théorie Communiste, and later, Endnotes) and an 'Anarchist' one (represented byTiqqun,The Invisible Committee, and Hostis).[2][3]
The term "communization" in this context was coined by Dauvé, following the uprising ofMay 68, in an attempt to explain its failure. Dauvé's theory synthesised thecouncil communist emphasis onproletarian self-emancipation and rejection of theparty-form with Italian communistAmadeo Bordiga's critique of what he saw as capitalism in theSoviet Union, which stressed the importance of the content of communism.[4] He was additionally influenced by theSituationists' rejection of work (at least in words) and focus on the revolutionary transformation of everyday life.[5]
In his 1843Code de la Communauté, the Neo-BabouvistThéodore Dézamy called for an immediate move fromcapitalism tocommunism. Instead of a transitional stage between the two, he envisioned the gradualabolition of the state and the "communisation ofsocial relations" through the direct cessation of commerce.[6]
InThe Conquest of Bread, anarcho-communistPeter Kropotkin called for the immediate expropriation of all property, for the purposes of ensuring well-being for all, following an insurrectionary period.[7] He also proposed the immediate communisation of social relations,[8] which would integrate both agricultural and industrial workers into the process by each fulfilling the needs of the other.[9] But anarcho-communists came to disagree on what form communisation would take. Some came to see that it was insurrectionists themselves, rather than the organised working class, that would be the real agent of asocial revolution. Criticising the labour movement asreformist, thisanti-organisational tendency came to favour agitating theunemployed, expropriating food and carrying outpropaganda of the deed.[10]
Although the English socialistWilliam Morris was critical of thisindividualist anarchist tendency, regarding both its theory and practice as "reactionary", in his 1893Manifesto of English Socialists, Morris also called on socialists to dedicate themselves to immediately bringing about the "complete communization of industry for which the economic forms are ready and the minds of the people are almost prepared."[11]
In the wake of theprotests of 1968, the French communistGilles Dauvé coined the modern concept of communization, building on the earlier works ofKarl Marx andPeter Kropotkin which had identified elements of communism that already existed within society.[12] Dauvé rejected the conception of communism as a political platform that would be implemented after seizing power, as previous movements that had done so did not actually implement communism after their revolutions.[13] Instead Dauvé called for a "communization" that would "break all separations":[14] circulating goods without money; occupying workplaces and bringing them undersocial ownership; closing any workplaces that couldn't function without causingalienation; abolishingspecialized education; and breaking upsingle-family households.[15]
After a wave of unemployment protests in France during the late 1990s, theTiqqun collective was established, drawing their ideology from a mix ofinsurrectionary anarchism,post-structuralism andpost-Marxism, while drawing its stylistic influences from the Frenchavant-garde.[16] The collective came to characterise theiranti-authoritarian form ofcommunism by the term "communization", referring to an insurrectionary period that would lead to structural changes in society.[17] Tiqqun rejected seizing state power, which they considered would make those that took power into a new ruling class, but instead as called for a "revolution rooted in the transformation of every day life."[18]
