Luke Evans has written an article examining the role of “intellectuals” within a revolutionary organisation, and drawing on Gramsci’s notion of an organic intellectual.
In the end, it is not what distinguishes the intellectual from the worker, or the Party member from the movement, that makes the difference. Rather, what matters is the bonds of solidarity forged in the struggle for liberation from the disfiguring and alienating effects of capitalism… By sharing these aspects and products of intellectual work we undermine the idea of the intellectual as a type of person and turn theoretical work into a function of all members of the Party.
► Read “In defence of intellectuals” here.
Note: This piece was published before rs21 was established as an independent organisation in January 2014. rs21 was founded by a group of people who had been in the opposition within the SWP and who left in response to its persistent mishandling of rape and sexual harassment allegations against a leading member.
