Nepal and Thailand Revolution Postponed

Nepal and Thailand: revolution
postponed?
The uprisings in Nepal and Thailand have

radicalised millions in both countries, but unless
social and economic questions are raised, their
potential will be lost.
Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

Sign up for the Counterfire bulletin at www.counterfire.org
Phoca PDF
postponed?
The recent political upheavals in Nepal and Thailand have been historic
events in those countries. They have been heroic struggles, and they have
started to open up class divisions. Yet they have failed to achieve
fundamental change.
The specifics of these cases are different, but both have been characterised
by mass movements on the streets, which have created temporary paralysis
in society, and both have concentrated on democratic demands.
They join a long list of popular mass movements since 1989 that have
caught the imagination of workers and the poor—from Indonesia to South
Africa to much of Eastern Europe—but which have not delivered on their
promises. None have been able to address the problems of poverty and
inequality.
Not only have the aspirations for fundamental social change that
precipitated these movements remain unfulfilled, but the movements have
often fallen far short of the democracy they have been fighting for. They
have been met either with severe repression, or accommodated through
partial settlement.
These post-1989 revolutions have taken place in the context of undisputedly

significant working class populations. The majority of the world’s population
now lives in cities, and the working class has a decisive social weight almost
everywhere. The project of globalisation has intensified relations of
exploitation and communication.
So why have these uprisings failed to bring about radical social

transformation for the vast majority?
There is no doubt that the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the decline
and degeneration of communist parties the world over, combined with a
series of working class defeats in the 1970s and 80s, have dealt blows to
working class confidence and to the project of socialist transformation.

Phoca PDF
postponed?
But the crises of capitalism—the inherent problem of capital accumulation

but also the more immediate global banking crisis—have led to more
favourable circumstances for challenging the system. For the poor, mass
mobilisation not only seems reasonable, but often the only logical response.
The underlying problem appears to be that much of the left internationally is
undecided about what kind of change is possible in the current global crisis.
In Nepal, following a mass protest in the capital on May Day over the
looming constitutional deadline, the Maoists led a six-day general strike.
They then withdrew the strike when the middle classes came out in the
streets to oppose it. While the immediate goal of the Maoist leadership was
to force the Prime Minister to resign in order to facilitate the writing of a
people’s constitution under Maoist leadership, a significant section of Maoist
cadre wanted to force the situation far beyond this goal.
In Thailand, the struggle of the Red Shirt movement was directed against an
unelected government that took power following a military coup in 2006.
Immediate demands were the resignation of the Prime Minister and fresh
elections. But after two months of street battles and the occupation of the
commercial district by the Red Shirts, when the army was brought in and
killed 90 demonstrators, the Red Shirt leadership withdrew and conceded
temporary defeat.
The Nepali Maoists: first capitalism, then socialism
The first people’s movement for democracy in 1990 marked the beginning of
the modern democratic revolution in Nepal.[1] Ten years of the people’s war,
led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) beginning in 1996, followed by
the second people’s movement for democracy in 2006 and the abolition of
the monarchy in 2008, completed the democratic revolution.
But while the transition from monarchy to republic was a momentous step
forward, fundamental change has scarcely been felt amongst the poorest in
Nepal.

Phoca PDF
postponed?
Maoists enter the mainstream

The Maoists’ entry into the mainstream in 2006 following the people’s
movement was arguably the most significant political event in recent Nepali
history. Fearful of being swept away altogether after taking power in a royal
coup in February 2005, just over a year later the king was forced to
capitulate to an alliance of the Maoists and the parliamentary parties, with
the calculated backing of India.
The second people’s movement in April 2006 called for an end to the
monarchy and had the support of millions across the country.
The movement was as much a reflection of the discontent over social and
economic inequality as it was about reinstating a democratic framework.
Expectations for change amongst the poorest were high, and it was thought
that the Maoists, having taken up arms in a class war, could deliver this
change. Elections to a Constituent Assembly were then held in 2008, in
which the Maoists gained an overwhelming majority. The Assembly voted to
abolish the monarchy altogether.
But the Maoists’ nine-month stint in government in 2008/09 exposed a

contradictory set of politics.[2] Baburam Bhattarai, in the post of finance
minister, said at the time, “we want to attract more investment in the
industrial sector so that jobs are created within the country and the
productivity of labour becomes high.
That will lead to double digit growth within the next three years—that is our
goal. For that the private sector has to play a leading role.” He went on to
say that “both the management and workers have a common interest now,
for the development of the economy” and that therefore workers must not
resort to strikes.[3]
A few years earlier, in 2005, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, one of the

spokespeople of the party, made the Maoists’ thinking on revolution

Phoca PDF
postponed?
unambiguous: “If we are to forge an alliance with the other parties we have
to be flexible. We envisage a two-step revolution—first a multi-party
democratic republic. If it was a genuine democracy, then we would work for
the peaceful transformation of the state.”[4] The Maoists envisioned
socialism as the ultimate goal, which could only be realised after the
development of national capital, and after Nepal had created an industrial
economy with a bigger working class.
This a version of Stalin’s two-stage theory of revolution, which held that the
working class would have to subordinate socialist aspirations to a broad
alliance aimed at achieving a democratic revolution. Only later could
socialist demands be raised.
This theory still has much currency throughout South Asia, but it is precisely
what has militated against any moves to secure social and economic change
beyond the democratic revolution. The insistence of the democratic
revolution as the first stage—in direct opposition to the Leninist approach of
the simultaneity of the democratic and socialist revolutions—means that the
working class does not play the leading role, since the democratic revolution
can be achieved by a cross-class alliance of progressive forces based on
nationalist lines.
Revolutionary prospects
That was the approach taken in 2006 during the second people’s movement
for democracy. Although the Maoists instigated and led the movement in
Kathmandu, the mainstream political parties and civil society activists also
played a leadership role.
They were accepted as co-leaders of the movement, but had no real hand in
creating the conditions for it to emerge. Mainstream politicians went to the
villages and district headquarters to spread the message of “peace and
democracy” but it was the Maoists who mobilised the mass movement from
below. And while it was important for the Kathmandu intelligentsia to be
involved, the trouble was that the Maoists—with the weight of the masses

Phoca PDF
postponed?
behind them—were no longer in control.
They allowed the middle classes to dominate and even define the aims of
the movement, and thereby strip it of any class element. It thus became a
nationalist project, embodying “the drive for industrialisation, for capital
accumulation, for national resurgence”[5] rather than a movement that
could crystallise class demands. This was a consequence of the “peaceful
transformation” approach adopted as part of the two-stage theory.
While the alliance between the Maoists and the middle classes succeeded in
abolishing the monarchy, the limitations of this approach were seen in the
recent indefinite general strike called by the Maoists following a massive
May Day rally in the centre of Kathmandu.
The strike began on 2nd May 2010 over the inability of the parties to come
to a consensus on drafting the new constitution. Tens of thousands of Maoist
cadre were brought to the city to show political rivals the strength of the
party, demonstrate the Maoists’ peaceful and disciplined resolve, and
enforce the strike. The Maoists were the sole force behind this movement.
They had stirred up the cadre by declaring the strike to be the “last battle to
capture state power” and tens of thousands of enthusiastic and committed
cadre believed this was the aim of coming all the way to Kathmandu.[6] But
this was never the goal.
The immediate tactical aim of the strike was to force Prime Minister Madhav
Kumar Nepal to resign in order to make way for a Maoist-led coalition
government. This upheaval—what some had termed the third people’s
movement—was led by socialists, but without a revolutionary perspective.
The general strike was withdrawn on the sixth day not because it was
crushed by the army or the police, but because the middle classes came out
in the streets in their thousands and asked the Maoists to withdraw it. This
situation had forced a deep and explicit polarisation in the streets along

Phoca PDF
postponed?
class lines as never before in Nepal.
A significant section of Maoist cadre later expressed their anger and

frustration at the withdrawal. One cadre said, “we cannot leave this agitation
in the middle of nowhere and quit,” while another questioned how he could
return home to his village “empty-handed.”[7] The radicalisation of tens of
thousands amidst a general strike, with much support in the rural areas,
meant that the opportunities were immense.
But unlike in 2006 when middle class leaders limited the movement to the
kind of political structure which dominates Western powers, this time it was
the Maoists that limited themselves to democratic demands. And when the
middle classes came out, the Maoists felt they had no choice but to
surrender. They even apologised.[8] The problem lay with the political
programme they had adopted.
The revolution postponed

The preceding decades of liberalisation had caused rising levels of economic
inequality in Nepal, and did virtually nothing to alleviate the misery of the
vast majority of the population.[9] This inequality created the basis for
political instability. The Maoists recognised this more than any other political
party in Nepal’s history, and tried to reflect it.
But they failed to grasp its theoretical implications. Although they initially
raised issues of social and economic equality,[10] the Maoists had no
comprehensive theory as to how to combine the struggle for social demands
with the struggle for democracy. This theoretical oversight about the limits
of revolutionary possibility led them to an ambiguous attitude to the working
class. They saw the unions as both defending working class interests, and as
obstacles to economic development.[11]
What was said of the ANC in South Africa in some respects is also true of the
Nepali Maoists. Getting into alliances with the bourgeoisie and having “a
broad commitment to a national democratic revolution made for a wide

Phoca PDF
postponed?
range of rhetoric and activity—from appeals for insurrection to demands for

compliance—and an equally variable series of tactics—spanning guerrilla
struggle and peace negotiation.”[12] This accurately describes the history of
the Maoists.
One argument used to defend this approach is that the Nepali working class
is too small to lead a successful struggle for socialist revolution. Exactly the
same argument was used to oppose revolution in Russia in 1917 and in
China in 1927. Lenin and Trotsky’s counterargument in 1917 was that the
Russian revolution would help detonate struggles across Europe.
Revolutionary strategy in Nepal must be conceived in the context of the
series of crises in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and elsewhere in South Asia. A
deepening of the revolution in Nepal could generate powerful solidarity
movements in the massive working class centres of Delhi, Kolkata, Karachi,
Lahore, Dhaka and beyond.
The Maoists have also used the excuse that the “consciousness” of both
workers and peasants is too low to go beyond democratic demands. But this
neglects that fact that in the course of a revolutionary upheaval,
consciousness develops in leaps and bounds.
The plan to develop national capitalism, on the other hand, would only mean
strengthening a crisis-prone, anti-welfare, monopoly-dominated system. The
Maoists would not be able to revive industry in a way that benefits the
poorest. Neighbouring India and China would prove impossible to compete
with in terms of production, nor would they allow brazen attempts at
nationalisation. Even a “state capitalism” could not deliver for the poor. The
stages theory not only postpones socialism but social and economic
demands, therefore weakening the movement in the present.
The danger is that the Maoists’ policy will reduce the fight to one about how
power will be divided in parliament. There is increasing ethnic tension
outside the capital. It remains to be seen how long the Maoists can sustain
themselves as the most popular party when they have failed to present a

Phoca PDF
postponed?
serious challenge to capitalism and the fragile and corrupt parliamentary

system. It also remains to be seen whether they can keep in touch with their
base. Or whether their base will start raising economic and social demands
independently of them.
The Red Shirts in Thailand
The military coup in September 2006 that ousted elected Prime Minster
Thaksin Shinawatra deepened a growing polarisation in Thai society along
class lines, with the monarchy as the focal point.[13] The People’s Alliance
for Democracy (PAD) brought together an anti-Thaksin alliance comprised of
royalists, conservative bureaucrats, businesses, NGOs, Buddhists and
assorted ultra-nationalists.
The Red Shirts, formed in response to the coup under the banner of the
United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), largely represent
the rural masses and urban poor. But corrupt, populist politicians like
Thaksin have only managed to articulate and focus the aspirations of the
poor because of a leadership vacuum on the left.
The coup and class war

Winning two successive general elections in 2001 and 2005 before being
overthrown, Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party had the support of the
Red Shirts because he led a number of pro-poor reforms, for example,
universal healthcare and village funds, which benefited millions of people.
His populism was as a response to the demands of the poor that were the
result of decades of capitalist development.
Attempts by Thaksin to reform the economy following the financial crisis of

1997 ultimately resulted in deep divisions within the ruling class itself.
Capitalists like himself who wanted financial and bureaucratic reforms in
Thailand in order to make it more competitive, but who were never against
the monarchy, and conservative royalists who thought that any reforms
could lead to the end of the monarchy altogether.

Phoca PDF
postponed?
Thaksin’s corruption perhaps matched the corruption of the military, but he

was modernising, and upheld the more progressive 1997 constitution
containing Article 65 which allowed for peaceful demonstrations against
unconstitutional attempts to seize power.
The coup, however, could never have happened without the support of
hundreds of thousands of PAD supporters, the so-called Yellow Shirts, who
effectively came to be dominated by an elite that wanted not only the status
quo to be protected, but for the monarchy to regain its former explicitly
absolutist role in the country.
Following the 2006 coup, the 1997 constitution was replaced by a new
constitution drafted by the military, in which a number of democratic
reforms were rolled back, including that the elected Senate was now to be
partially appointed.
Highly conservative, nationalist and royalist propaganda was ramped up.

One of the most farcical tactics was the implementation of the king’s
“sufficiency economy theory” which states that everyone must live within
their means, and become moderate and self-dependent.
In practical terms, it was used to impose a number of neoliberal policies that

previous governments were unable to, including the privatisation of national
enterprises and the establishment of internal security mechanisms to
protect these policies.[14] But it was also an ideological project meant to
reinforce class division, where the poor must know their place and give up
trying to challenge the existing order.
There is a large and growing section of the Red Shirts that has few illusions
in Thaksin. Beginning on 14th March 2010, the Red Shirts led the biggest
street protests Thailand has ever witnessed. The trigger was the Supreme
Court’s verdict on corruption charges against Thaksin.

Phoca PDF
postponed?
But it led to an uprising that called for the resignation of Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is backed by the military junta, and fresh elections.
These were legitimate demands in themselves, but they were also critical
because elections are exactly what the unelected government wanted to
avoid.
When the military started a crackdown and began firing at protestors, the
Red Shirts called for a ceasefire and offered talks. The government refused
to talk until the demonstrations were called off. Wildly disproportionate
tactics were used to disperse the Red Shirts, including snipers and
assassination squads, and draconian censorship laws. They arrested activists
for insulting the monarchy and declared a state of emergency on 8th April.
Local mediation efforts failed over whether to dissolve parliament and when
elections would be called.
Now, thousands of Red Shirts have been arrested and some have been
threatened with death sentences. There are rumours that some Red Shirt
activists are being held in an army prison camp. The government has
extended the emergency and as a result, a section of the Red Shirts have
gone underground vowing to fight a guerrilla war against the junta.
The leftwing of the movement

The Red Shirts are a genuine grassroots democracy movement, with all the
contradictions and uneven consciousness this entails. Giles Ungpakorn, one
of the leaders of the left in Thailand who is now exiled in Britain, wrote that
“the movement politicised and activated millions of citizens and many
people became more radical than the initial leaders” in the TRT.[15]
Though radical left groups subsequently became part of the movement,

arguing with leadership for revolutionary demands, they have not been able
to shape and lead it.
The rise of Thaksin and subsequent polarisation—both within the ruling class
and between the ruling class and the poor—created the possibility for class

Phoca PDF
postponed?
demands to be raised. Indeed the Red Shirt leadership started to use the
language of class struggle during the occupation of central Bangkok.
But class demands were not raised in a way that linked the Red Shirt
movement directly with workers. Though a number of unions did support the
Red Shirt protests there were no serious calls for a general strike, which
would have added enormous power to the movement and could have
generated social and economic demands. Instead, the central demands
remained democratic, and not combined with real pressure for social and
economic change.
Growing republicanism may ignite further protests, but there is no viable

working class party that can rival Thaksin’s party, now the People’s Power
Party, which was formed out of the dissolution of Thai Rak Thai in 2007 by
the government that overthrew him.
Radical consciousness is deepening as a result of the experience of

sustained street protests. In order to deepen its roots, the growing left in
Thailand needs to prioritise social and economic demands, in addition to
democratic demands. It needs to raise the question of economic crisis,
private property, and of socialism.
Bourgeois revolution and workers’ revolution
The classical bourgeois revolutions that began in England in 1640, America

in 1776 and France in 1789, led to fundamental social transformations. The
effect of the bourgeoisie taking power was to accelerate capital
accumulation. The poor were often mobilised but they were peasants,
artisans and labourers working in small workshops, incapable of organising
on an independent class basis.
This made it impossible for them to effectively press for more radical

Phoca PDF
postponed?
demands, or to challenge capital accumulation for a minority. More

far-reaching movements “necessarily failed, owing to the then undeveloped
state of the proletariat, as well as to the absence of the economic conditions
for its emancipation.”[16] But by 1848 these objective circumstances were
no longer a barrier.
For Marx and Engels the significance of the 1848 revolutions was that the
era of bourgeois revolutions, in which the bourgeoisie was a revolutionary
force, had come to an end. This was because the level of industrialisation, at
least in Western Europe, had developed to such an extent that it had
strengthened the working class.
However young and relatively unorganised this working class was, it still
posed more of a threat to the bourgeoisie and capitalist interests than the
aristocracy above them, because in attempting to realise the democratic
goals of the bourgeois revolution, the working class had the potential to
challenge the exploitative and fundamentally undemocratic foundation of
the bourgeois ruling class. In other words it had the potential to fight for
democracy in both the political and economic realms.
The second Russian revolution in October 1917 made this “spectre of

communism” real. In February 1917 workers had forced a situation of dual
power by creating parallel and distinctive organs of power through workers’
councils. The councils organised opposition amongst wide layers of the
working class and peasantry, from below, and when the revolutionaries won
the majority in the soviets, they organised that power to remove the
provisional government and begin the process of securing fundamental
social and economic change for the masses.
The soviet government had made progress on a number of social and

economic policies until the defeat of the workers’ revolutions in Germany
and elsewhere in Europe. At the same time they argued that unless the
socialist revolution spread beyond relatively underdeveloped Russia, the
new workers’ regime could not hold out against imperialist forces

Phoca PDF
postponed?
indefinitely.
Permanent revolution
The theory of permanent revolution was developed by Trotsky after the

experiences of the 1905 revolution in Russia, then a relatively
underdeveloped country. He built on the idea that the bourgeoisie is
incapable of providing a revolutionary solution to the problems of feudalism
and imperialism, and that therefore this role would necessarily fall to the
working class, however small. This idea was first suggested by Marx and
Engels in the Communist Manifesto:
“The modern labourer, on the contrary, instead of rising with the progress of
industry, sinks deeper and deeper below the conditions of existence of his
own class. He becomes a pauper, and pauperism develops more rapidly than
population and wealth. And here it becomes evident, that the bourgeoisie is
unfit any longer to be the ruling class in society, and to impose its conditions
of existence upon society as an over-riding law. It is unfit to rule because it is
incompetent to assure an existence to its slave within his slavery, because it
cannot help letting him sink into such a state, that is has to feed him,
instead of being fed by him. Society can no longer live under this
bourgeoisie, in other words, its existence is no longer compatible with
society.” [17]
There are three elements of the theory that are particularly instructive for
understanding what happened in Nepal and Thailand. Firstly, unlike what
most Marxists believed at the time, Trotsky argued that socialist revolutions
can happen in countries that are not advanced industrially. That is, the
revolution does not depend on the size of the working class. Rather:
“…the day and hour when the power passes into the hands of the proletariat
depend directly not upon the state of the productive forces, but upon the

Phoca PDF
postponed?
conditions of the class struggle, upon the international situation, finally upon
a series of subjective factors: tradition, initiative, readiness for struggle…”
[18]
The experience of Russia in 1917 showed that the proletariat could come to
power in a developing country, and that political obstacles were far greater
threats to the development of the socialist revolution than technological
backwardness.
Secondly, he argued that if the democratic revolution was led by the working
class, it would grow over into socialist revolution or it would fail. It could not
stop at political, democratic demands, but would have to raise
socio-economic issues. This is precisely what Lenin argued in the April
Theses when he called for a second socialist revolution upon his return to
Russia at the Finland Station in 1917.
The peasantry cannot develop a programme for systematic social

transformation because they are too atomised and divided. The fact that
they own individual plots of land and are therefore still attached to the idea
of private property prevents them from developing a perspective that is fully
independent of the bourgeoisie. One of the limitations of the movements in
Nepal and Thailand is precisely that they are based on the peasantry and the
marginalised urban poor.
The final element of Trotsky’s theory is that the completion of the socialist
revolution is unthinkable within national boundaries. This is especially the
case in countries with small working classes. The revolution must spread to
other countries, or it would degenerate and crumble.
This is exactly what happened in Russia after the defeat of the working class
revolution in Germany. The rhetoric of “socialism in one country” hid a
profound shift away from revolutionary politics and towards the
reintroduction of capital accumulation. It was a shift that led to untold
suffering for the Russian working class and peasantry.

Phoca PDF
postponed?
Large sections of those participating in the mass movements in Nepal and

Thailand, as a direct result of their experiences, gained a consciousness that
surpassed the leadership, and wanted to force the situation further. More
than anything it was the leaderships’ attachment to a perspective of a
revolution in two stages and a refusal to raise class demands that served to
disorientate activists and weaken the movements themselves.
In Nepal this has meant a deferral of even modest democratic reforms, while
in Thailand it has resulted in repression and increased isolation of the Red
Shirts. There are now debates raging in both countries about the lessons of
these upheavals and the way forward. Hopefully the outcome will be a
strategy that puts the needs of the working class and the poor first.
Notes
1. Nepal went through a short-lived experiment in democracy for the first

time in 1950, until King Mahendra staged a royal coup in 1959 instituting the
party-less panchayat system until 1989.
2. There were a number of forces in Nepal that were quick to reinforce the
Maoists’ entry into the mainstream. The NGOs for example, through the
donors, offered the Maoists lucrative opportunities in the NGO sector.
Although they refused a number of big contracts, they began facilitating the
work of NGOs at national and local levels. This is clear in Rolpa, one of the
original Maoist base areas in the mid-western hills. During the war the
Maoists were doing more development than the NGOs, and they were
against the presence of NGOs. But since 2006, there has been a veritable
explosion of NGOs in the district. Yet people say not much has changed in
terms of poverty.
3. Adhikari, A. (20 January 2009) Dr Bhattarai facing the challenges of
government. [Online] baburambhattarai.com. Available:
http://www.baburambhattarai.com/en.detail.php?article_id=200000029&cat_

Phoca PDF
postponed?
id=19
[Accessed 5 July 2010].
4. Hilton, I. (14 May 2005) The King and Mao. [Online] Financial Times.
Available:
http://search.ft.com/search?queryText=king+and+mao&ftsearchType=type_
news [Accessed 5 July 2010].
5. Cliff, T. (1963) Deflected Permanent Revolution, London: SWP, p.20.
6. 26 April 2010. Maoists for indefinite strike in no national government.
[Online] My Republica. Available:
http://173.201.29.101/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=1794
2 [Accessed 5 July 2010].
7. Rauniyar, I. (8 May 2010) Maoist cadres seethe at strike recall. [Online]
The Kathmandu Post. Available:
http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2010/05/08/nation/maoist-ca
dres-seethe-at-strike-recall/208055/
8. Koirala, K. (12 May 2010) Prachanda apologises for remarks; urges civil
society to push PM Nepal to quit. [Online] The Kathmandu Post. Available:
http://www.ekantipur.com/2010/05/12/headlines/Prachanda-apologises-for-K
hullamanch-remarks-urges-civil-society-to-push-PM-Nepal-to-quit/314169/
9. Wagle, U. (2007) Are Economic Liberalization and Equality Compatible?
Evidence from South Asia, [Online] World Development, 35(11),
pp.1836-1857.
10. The 40-point demand issued by the Maoists to the government in 1996
before launching the war underscored poverty, unemployment and the
growing gap between rich and poor as justifications for taking up arms.
11. Trade unions affiliated to the Maoists are still the most popular amongst
workers, and workers were successful in achieving a number of demands
through the unions, including higher wages, contracts and job security. Yet
this contradicts the idea that once the Maoists are in government, it would
be better for workers to stop striking.
12. Rees, J. (1999) The socialist revolution and the democratic revolution,
International Socialism, 83, p.55.

Phoca PDF
postponed?
13. The 1976 military coup also took place at a time of deep divisions
between right and left, and where the military and police, as well as groups
of right-wing thugs, went on the offensive, forcing many to seek refuge in
the Communist Party of Thailand.
14. Connors, M. and K. Hewison (2008) Introduction: Thailand and the “Good
Coup”, [Online] Journal of Contemporary Asia, 38(1), p.7.
15. Ungpakorn, G. (2010) Thailand’s Crisis and the Fight for Democracy.
Oxford: WDPress, p.18.
16. Marx, K. and F. Engels (1848) Manifesto of the Communist Party. [Online]
Available:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/
17. Marx, K. and F. Engels (1848) Manifesto of the Communist Party. [Online]
Available:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/
18. Cliff, T. (1963) Deflected Permanent Revolution, London: SWP, p.9.

Phoca PDF

Nepal and Thailand Revolution Postponed

Transféré par

Informations du document

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Nepal and Thailand Revolution Postponed

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Nepal and Thailand: revolution

The uprisings in Nepal and Thailand have

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

These post-1989 revolutions have taken place in the context of undisputedly

So why have these uprisings failed to bring about radical social

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

But the crises of capitalism—the inherent problem of capital accumulation

The Nepali Maoists: first capitalism, then socialism

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

Maoists enter the mainstream

But the Maoists’ nine-month stint in government in 2008/09 exposed a

A few years earlier, in 2005, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, one of the

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

behind them—were no longer in control.

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

class lines as never before in Nepal.

A significant section of Maoist cadre later expressed their anger and

The revolution postponed

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

range of rhetoric and activity—from appeals for insurrection to demands for

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

serious challenge to capitalism and the fragile and corrupt parliamentary

The Red Shirts in Thailand

The coup and class war

Attempts by Thaksin to reform the economy following the financial crisis of

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

Thaksin’s corruption perhaps matched the corruption of the military, but he

Highly conservative, nationalist and royalist propaganda was ramped up.

In practical terms, it was used to impose a number of neoliberal policies that

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

The leftwing of the movement

Though radical left groups subsequently became part of the movement,

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

Growing republicanism may ignite further protests, but there is no viable

Radical consciousness is deepening as a result of the experience of

Bourgeois revolution and workers’ revolution

The classical bourgeois revolutions that began in England in 1640, America

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

demands, or to challenge capital accumulation for a minority. More

The second Russian revolution in October 1917 made this “spectre of

The soviet government had made progress on a number of social and

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

The theory of permanent revolution was developed by Trotsky after the

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

The peasantry cannot develop a programme for systematic social

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

Large sections of those participating in the mass movements in Nepal and

1. Nepal went through a short-lived experiment in democracy for the first

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

Send news, reports, events, photos or videos to content@counterfire.org |

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi