Michael Brie | Once the third stage ignites...

One rubs one's eyes in slight astonishment: working class? Socialist class politics? Communism? Concepts that the German left abandoned during the watershed year of 1989/90. And now they're returning? They're being rediscovered. At least in a publication by Michael Brie, one of the leading thinkers of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), founded during those dramatic times, and later long-time director of the Institute for Social Analysis at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, as well as chairman of its academic advisory board until 2023.

What triggered this return to classic concepts of the labor movement? One can guess. And one can understand that Brie was deeply affected by the disintegration of the Left Party and its looming disappearance from the political landscape and the parliamentary stage just over a year ago. As was the case for so many others, of course. Brie, however, was actively involved in drafting numerous programs and strategy papers for the PDS/Left Party, not only with political acumen and philosophical vision, but always with genuine passion. All of that work couldn't have been in vain.

The Left Party has rallied, achieving a remarkable increase in votes and membership in the context of the federal elections earlier this year – a fact that does not reassure the philosopher with a doctorate and experienced political scientist. His current intervention is motivated by the fear of another setback.

Brie opens his plea for a new strategic discussion with childhood memories. He was fascinated by the television news footage of launching space rockets, "rising with a roaring power into the dark sky, then, barely visible to the naked eye, jettisoning the first stage, igniting a second, and later a third stage, and continuing their ascent. Without this launch of the second and third stages, they would have gained altitude for a few more minutes, but would then inevitably have descended and finally plummeted downwards at breakneck speed." For him, this is a metaphor for the constant warning to his party, which has narrowly escaped such a catastrophe several times. "After its founding in 2005/07, it went from success to success, but internal conflicts increased." In Göttingen in 2012, it managed to prevent a split once again, but afterwards struggled to maintain its position, increasingly torn apart by unresolved conflicts, until the BSW (German Social Security Association) broke away. Then, in the 2024 European elections and the state elections in Brandenburg and Saxony, it faced the abyss of political irrelevance. The restart in the autumn and winter of 2024/25 triggered a surge in popularity. But it is fragile.

Brie briefly reflects on the founding process of the Left Party. Through the merger of the East German, socialist-oriented PDS and the West German electoral alliance WASG, a "contemporary workers' party" emerged, as Brie quotes Jochen Weichold, the long-time archivist of the PDS/Left Party. From the commitment of diverse forces within anti-globalization, ecological, and radical feminist movements, a party arose almost two decades ago that sought to overcome the division between social democratic and communist currents, between the "old" and the "new" left, and between East and West. "The labor question and the question of radical emancipation were to be reconnected. This presented an enormous opportunity." And yet, problems were also inherent.

The Left Party was constantly embroiled in internal disputes and falling apart, sometimes escalating into open personal animosity. Each side of the combatants saw itself as the guardian of the sole truth. This approach won't win supporters, voters, members, or allies. With each further self-inflicted defeat, the seeds of division sown in the public eye and in the public sphere.

Now, the Marxist Brie is of course aware that "socialist movements constantly produce 'teething problems.'" But one can try to prevent them. Successful treatment requires a clear-sighted diagnosis. "In my opinion, experience over the last 15 years shows that it was not the differences themselves, but the inability to conduct the necessary strategic learning process that fostered the ever-increasing divergence within the party," Brie writes. He then states: "Every determination of a political strategy begins with defining the situation for action, that is, the era, the key actors, and the main conflicts. Since every such situation is characterized by a high degree of complexity of contradictions, a decision must be made as to which of these contradictions is decisive for one's own actions."

Here, another term emerges, one that has long been absent from left-wing debates: the principal contradiction, which, according to classical Marxism, lies in the fundamental contradiction between wage labor and capital in capitalist society. Brie, however, does not engage with this concept. He refers to Antonio Gramsci: "Only by grasping the situation and defining the principal contradiction can positions be developed that enable 'intellectual and moral leadership' and aim at hegemony."

For Brie, the election victory of the right-wing conservative Friedrich Merz and the rise of the AfD to become the second-strongest party in Germany mark an "internal political turning point." Globally, the author states: "The currently prevailing projects of an authoritarian-leaning liberal financial market capitalism and an authoritarian fortress capitalism with liberal elements have placed the question of fascism back on the historical agenda." The son of those exiled during the Nazi era because of their political beliefs and Jewish heritage naturally welcomes, and likely considers self-evident, that antifascism is the guiding principle and hallmark of his party. Moreover: "The fight against fascist and neo-fascist tendencies, which was already a core issue for the PDS and is enshrined in the program of The Left, has become an overarching framework. The concept of antifascism is ideally suited to defining a clear antagonistic contrast to the New Right and the fascist-like groups associated with it." Antifascism, as a political battle cry, has a high mobilizing power in relevant left-wing circles and is indispensable, not least in view of the concrete threat of right-wing violence.

At the same time, Brie calls for a clear conceptual distinction between tendencies or processes of fascization and fascism in power. The author discusses and compares the liberal and the liberal-authoritarian state, the state of authoritarian statism, and the fascist state. In his opinion, Germany is not yet in immediate danger of relapsing into a fascist dictatorship. One might have wished for Brie to dismantle the nonsensical, inherently contradictory, yet frequently invoked by leftists of various stripes (and also circulating through the pages of this newspaper) term "democratic fascism." What, pray tell, is that supposed to mean?!

But now to the core strategic tasks Brie sees his party facing: a center-left alliance against the right and the prevention of a right-wing authoritarian government. Building a strong left wing is the first step. Only when this "ignites" can "strong pressure be exerted on other political forces like the SPD and the Greens to move significantly to the left themselves, without losing touch with the center. And only if this second step succeeds can a third step be taken to initiate a change of political direction that pushes back authoritarian forces and effectively combats the causes of fascism." And, moreover, heralds a socio-ecological transformation. That would be the Left's meteoric rise.

In conclusion, Brie calls for a renewal of the understanding of socialism as a unity of liberal and communist elements. For, "without a shared ideological identity among its members and leadership, The Left will once again fracture in the next crisis." The philosopher laments that the question of a distinct intellectual, political, and, above all, cultural identity as a socialist class party has not yet been addressed in the party's strategic discussions: "This could prove to be a fatal error and lead to another collapse of The Left."

Michael Brie: The Left as a Socialist Class Party. A Plea in the Strategic Debate. With a foreword by Heinz Bierbaum, Chairman of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Supplement to the journal "Socialism". VSA-Verlag, 68 pp., paperback, €7.