Tailism: Difference between revisions
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'''Tailism''' (also known as '''khvostism''') is a [[opportunist#Right opportunism|right-opportunist]] theory within [[Marxism]]. It abandons the idea of the revolutionary [[vanguard]] leading the struggle against [[capitalism]], and instead, panders to the most backwards and least class-conscious sections of the [[working class]]; hence, instead of leading at the vanguard of the working-class movement, tailists "tail" at the rearguard.<ref>''Socialist Voice'' (February 2, 2020) [https://socialistvoice.ie/2020/02/combating-tailism-and-economism/ Combating tailism and economism] Retrieved May 4, 2025</ref><ref><br><blockquote>"From the very beginning of the mass working-class movement in Russia, i.e., approximately for the past ten years, profound differences have existed among Social-Democrats on questions of tactics. As we know, it was differences of this kind that gave rise, in the late nineties, to the trend of Economism, which led to the split into an opportunist (Rabocheye Dyelo) wing and into a revolutionary (old-Iskra) wing of the Party. Russian Social-Democratic opportunism, however, differed from that of Western Europe in certain peculiar features. It strikingly reflected the point of view, or rather the absence of any independent point of view, of the intellectualist wing of the Party, which was carried away both by the current catchwords of Bernsteinism and by the forms and immediate results of the pure-and-simple labour movement. This infatuation led to wholesale treachery on the part of the legal Marxists, who went over to liberalism, and to the creation by Social-Democrats of the famous “tactics-as-process” theory, which firmly attached to our opportunists the label of “tail-enders”. They trailed helplessly behind events, plunged from one extreme to another, and in all cases reduced the scope of activity of the revolutionary proletariat and its faith in its own strength, all of which was usually done on the pretext of raising the independent activity of the proletariat. Strange, but true. No one talked so much about the independent activity of the workers, and no one did so much by his propaganda to narrow, curtail, and diminish that activity as did the Rabocheye Dyelo-ists."<br>— [[Lenin]]; ''Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution'' (1905)</blockquote></ref> | '''Tailism''' (also known as '''khvostism''') is a [[opportunist#Right opportunism|right-opportunist]] theory within [[Marxism]]. It abandons the idea of the revolutionary [[vanguard]] leading the struggle against [[capitalism]], and instead, panders to the most backwards and least class-conscious sections of the [[working class]]; hence, instead of leading at the vanguard of the working-class movement, tailists "tail" at the rearguard.<ref>''Socialist Voice'' (February 2, 2020) [https://socialistvoice.ie/2020/02/combating-tailism-and-economism/ Combating tailism and economism] Retrieved May 4, 2025</ref><ref><br><blockquote>"From the very beginning of the mass working-class movement in Russia, i.e., approximately for the past ten years, profound differences have existed among Social-Democrats on questions of tactics. As we know, it was differences of this kind that gave rise, in the late nineties, to the trend of Economism, which led to the split into an opportunist (Rabocheye Dyelo) wing and into a revolutionary (old-Iskra) wing of the Party. Russian Social-Democratic opportunism, however, differed from that of Western Europe in certain peculiar features. It strikingly reflected the point of view, or rather the absence of any independent point of view, of the intellectualist wing of the Party, which was carried away both by the current catchwords of Bernsteinism and by the forms and immediate results of the pure-and-simple labour movement. This infatuation led to wholesale treachery on the part of the legal Marxists, who went over to liberalism, and to the creation by Social-Democrats of the famous “tactics-as-process” theory, which firmly attached to our opportunists the label of “tail-enders”. They trailed helplessly behind events, plunged from one extreme to another, and in all cases reduced the scope of activity of the revolutionary proletariat and its faith in its own strength, all of which was usually done on the pretext of raising the independent activity of the proletariat. Strange, but true. No one talked so much about the independent activity of the workers, and no one did so much by his propaganda to narrow, curtail, and diminish that activity as did the Rabocheye Dyelo-ists."<br>— [[Lenin]]; ''Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution'' (1905)</blockquote></ref> | ||
Modern examples of tailism include [[MAGA Communism]] (as practiced by [[patriotic socialism|patriotic socialist]] parties such as the [[American Communist Party (2024)| | Modern examples of tailism include [[MAGA Communism]] (as practiced by [[patriotic socialism|patriotic socialist]] parties such as the [[American Communist Party (2024)|ACP]], [[Party of Communists USA|PCUSA]], and the [[Center for Political Innovation|CPI]]) and the [[Midwestern Marx]] Institute. Historical examples of tailism include the [[Economists]]. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist}} | {{Reflist}} | ||
[[Category:Theory]] | [[Category:Theory]] | ||
Latest revision as of 02:28, 5 May 2025
Tailism (also known as khvostism) is a right-opportunist theory within Marxism. It abandons the idea of the revolutionary vanguard leading the struggle against capitalism, and instead, panders to the most backwards and least class-conscious sections of the working class; hence, instead of leading at the vanguard of the working-class movement, tailists "tail" at the rearguard.[1][2]
Modern examples of tailism include MAGA Communism (as practiced by patriotic socialist parties such as the ACP, PCUSA, and the CPI) and the Midwestern Marx Institute. Historical examples of tailism include the Economists.
References
- ↑ Socialist Voice (February 2, 2020) Combating tailism and economism Retrieved May 4, 2025
- ↑
"From the very beginning of the mass working-class movement in Russia, i.e., approximately for the past ten years, profound differences have existed among Social-Democrats on questions of tactics. As we know, it was differences of this kind that gave rise, in the late nineties, to the trend of Economism, which led to the split into an opportunist (Rabocheye Dyelo) wing and into a revolutionary (old-Iskra) wing of the Party. Russian Social-Democratic opportunism, however, differed from that of Western Europe in certain peculiar features. It strikingly reflected the point of view, or rather the absence of any independent point of view, of the intellectualist wing of the Party, which was carried away both by the current catchwords of Bernsteinism and by the forms and immediate results of the pure-and-simple labour movement. This infatuation led to wholesale treachery on the part of the legal Marxists, who went over to liberalism, and to the creation by Social-Democrats of the famous “tactics-as-process” theory, which firmly attached to our opportunists the label of “tail-enders”. They trailed helplessly behind events, plunged from one extreme to another, and in all cases reduced the scope of activity of the revolutionary proletariat and its faith in its own strength, all of which was usually done on the pretext of raising the independent activity of the proletariat. Strange, but true. No one talked so much about the independent activity of the workers, and no one did so much by his propaganda to narrow, curtail, and diminish that activity as did the Rabocheye Dyelo-ists."
— Lenin; Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution (1905)