A new book tells the story of American communism as an integral part of 20th-century US history, with Communists “as social critics and agents of much-needed social change.”
While recruiting members with the attractive prospect of being part of an international movement for human liberation, the party’s grueling antidemocratic internal culture produced burnouts, resentful defectors and expellees, and petty authoritarians. And despite the party leadership’s supposed mastery of Marxist analysis, it repeatedly engaged in a series of tragicomic strategic miscalculations, which limited its appeal at every turn.
From the article:
While recruiting members with the attractive prospect of being part of an international movement for human liberation, the party’s grueling antidemocratic internal culture produced burnouts, resentful defectors and expellees, and petty authoritarians. And despite the party leadership’s supposed mastery of Marxist analysis, it repeatedly engaged in a series of tragicomic strategic miscalculations, which limited its appeal at every turn.