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Communists' Autobiographies
| Article
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12660 |
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Section : |
Modern Thought
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| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1987 |
3,838 Words |
| Author
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Harvey Klehr
Harvey Klehr is Candler Dobbs professor of politics at Emory
University. His most recent book, Far Left of Center: The
American Radical Left today, was recently published by
Transaction Books. |
There appears to be no letup in the recent explosion of academic interest in American communism. Books, articles, and dissertations continue to appear, subjecting more and more obscure people and events in party history to detailed examination. The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) may soon achieve the distinction of being the only American political movement having more bibliographic references than members.
In a recent series of attacks on many of the new historians of American communism, Theodore Draper, the acknowledged dean of such studies, has charged that they were frustrated New Leftists who have turned to the CPUSA's history to avoid confronting their own political pasts directly. The resulting controversy has been loud and acrimonious.
Many of the "new historians" have offered a favorable image of American communism, suggesting that, particularly during the "Popular Front" years of the 1930s and 1940s, it became a quasi-independent, democratic movement that mobilized the energy and spirit of decent Americans. Whatever its flaws, they argue, the CPUSA was a positive force in American life.
While scholars have been arguing about "the way we were," nearly everyone has ignored the present-day Communist Party. Despite their often positive assessments of the CPUSA's activities thirty or forty years ago, virtually all of the new historians of American communism evince little but scorn for the CPUSA today. Few pay attention to party activities or pronouncements.
While the Communist Party today is small--probably no more than 15,000 members--it has been growing steadily for the last several years. Moreover, like all CPs, its influence and importance far outweigh its bare membership figures. Not only does it have sympathizers who, for a variety of reasons, are not formally party members, but a host of front groups enable party members to influence larger audiences.
Present-day communists have not appreciated the distinction some scholars have made between their past and present. Communists have complained that the party has not changed and have suggested that its values and positions today are only a continuation of those espoused in the past. In fact, they are right. Aside from its smaller numbers, the CPUSA today is no different than the CPUSA of the 1930s. Its members still profess their commitment to democratic values and noble goals. They still remain committed to regimes that make a mockery of such
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