The famous slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” was first introduced by Marx and Engels in the “Communist Manifesto,” and it later became the central slogan of global labour movements. At the peak of labour struggles, this slogan was on the lips of all left-wing freedom seekers, and it resonated more than any other slogan in every demonstration and action. In fact, “Workers of the world, unite!” was the central slogan of any labour event and, as one of the symbols of revolutionary movements, it helped you to understand political currents more quickly and easily distinguish between left and right. Now, as we are in the decline of labour movements, this slogan is only seen in the actions and statements of communist parties, organizations, and leftist groups, and it no longer has the old appeal and effectiveness for mobilizing workers.
Political parties and labour unions that claimed to represent the working class became so corrupt, opportunistic, power-hungry, and backward that workers no longer trusted them. As a result, these mentioned political parties and movements, with each passing day, not only fail to attract more workers and other strata but also lose their mass bases and political influence one after another and shrink into small family institutions. Another reason for the decline of this famous slogan arises from a new situation that communist parties and leftist organizations have not yet properly understood. This new situation is nothing but a transition from industrial capitalism to post-industrial capitalism. In contemporary times, non-material labour has gained a more hegemonic role compared to material labour. This means that it’s not only the workers who are leading the class struggle against capitalism. A wide spectrum of precarious and invested forces, including workers, play a role in this struggle.
As the economic and social situation becomes more complex, class struggle also takes on new and more diverse dimensions. In such a scenario, dialectical reductionism cannot lead to a war against capitalism. This strategy, by uniting forces, sets the stage for suppressing the wide-ranging differences and diversities in socio-political life in the struggle against the imperial power of capital. This strategy aims to increase the power of attack in favor of creating a new political dictatorship that is not much different from capitalist state patterns. The name is from the workers, and the edge is from the Communist Party. Therefore, the slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” which has no aim other than uniting all workers to fight against capitalism, cannot only meet the needs of struggle in the era of horizontal movements — where the rigid enemy of unity politics benefits from gathering around a common cause — but also serves as a barrier against the realization of a liberating policy that is never representative and vertical. Therefore, in post-industrial capitalism based on non-material labour, the style and strategy of struggle also fundamentally change. However, communist parties and other left-wing movements have unfortunately lagged behind reality to such an extent that they still believe industrial workers are the main and predominant force of the revolution and that only by relying on this class can they achieve their desired socialist revolution. That’s why the slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” still decorates their statements, demonstrations, and other actions.
However, reality tells us something else: this slogan has lost its revolutionary essence because industrial workers no longer have the central and determinative role Marx and Engels envisioned for them. Workers can only be a part of the force that is supposed to bring about revolutionary change in society. This force cannot in any way achieve its radical goal through “unity” and “union.” The outcome of the unity of workers worldwide can be easily predicted: a severely repressive state that will, under the pretext of building socialism, squeeze the life out of workers the most. This socialism is a form of capitalism and has little to do with Marx’s revolutionary project. When you look at Chinese socialism, you can clearly understand the depths of the tragedy of wage labour and rampant exploitation. Have the workers united to have such a dismal and oppressive fate? It is time to update the slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” if that is not possible, let’s move beyond it and think about creating a new slogan.
The Catastrophic Situation of Afghan Workers
For quite some time, the extraordinary has become the ordinary. One domain proving this assertion is the dire conditions of workers in Afghanistan. Whether under the previous government or the Taliban regime, workers endure back-breaking hardships and soul-crushing difficulties. The surge in unemployment and poverty following the Taliban’s rise to power has grounded workers more than any other class. Even daily wage labour, sometimes feasible under the previous government, has now become unattainable, while the cost of food has markedly risen compared to the previous regime. Humanitarian aid from relief organizations, which reaches fewer needy people, adds to the woes as the Taliban show no more mercy here than elsewhere. What’s even more concerning is that the virus of despair and apathy has so gripped the workers’ psyche that as the catastrophe deepens in scope and severity, it elicits even lesser reactions, with protests against the current situation being almost non-existent. In fact, by silently acquiescing to the current catastrophic conditions, workers normalize their increasing suffering, which not only fails to improve their living conditions but exacerbates the tragedy.
By passively facing the crisis, workers relinquish more rights and privileges to the oppressive and corrupt regime and greedy employers every day. Both regimes of oppression and greedy employers not only fear crisis and catastrophe but also thrive on them. Oppressive regimes and greedy employers in a shocked society can more easily attain their desires than in a relatively lawful and normal society where the costs of corruption, lawlessness, coercion, and crime are higher. In the capitalist catastrophe, the more indifferent and passive citizens are, the more power they hand over to the rulers’ power and wealth, sharpening the teeth of the powerful and wealthy masters. This inertia and silence must be put to an end. The time has come to resist the onslaught of the Taliban’s catastrophe on livelihoods by withdrawing from collusion and bread at the daily rate. In a situation where women alone resist the oppressive regime and Taliban nomads if workers and other grassroots join this resistance and break free from the current soul-crushing shock, the lifespan of the Taliban regime will be shorter than imagined.
It’s undeniable that Afghan workers and other grassroots have not experienced much struggle because in the past twenty years, due to the NGO-ization of politics and the corruption-ridden democracy representation, the smallest step towards organized awareness and political mobilization of workers and other grassroots in Afghanistan has not been taken. Political parties and civil organizations were all projects and chaffy, and for this reason, with the fall of the west-backed regime, all these movements suddenly vanished. With the West’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, the leaders of political parties and managers of NGO thugs, along with their families, were taken away by them. The bankruptcy and collapse of political parties, while wasting twenty years of their members’ energy and talent, can be instructive and positive in a way. One lesson learned from the collapse of political parties is that the time has come to defend against capitalism and its surrounding regimes by organizing vertically and defending democracy and representation horizontally. With this method of struggle, the ground for the power grab of corrupt leaders and their exploitation of popular uprisings diminishes, and workers also become more confident in their rituals and capacities.
To rise against the current corrupt regime, there is no need for political parties, NGOs, external support, or B-52s. These factors have played a mostly transient, disruptive, and ultimately negative role in a fragmented and devastated society that has never experienced economic and political development in the usual and institutionalized manner and, therefore, has constantly oscillated between tradition and modernity, sometimes tilting towards one and sometimes towards the other. If these factors were properly managed and utilized, they could be constructive and beneficial. The unsuccessful experience of twenty years of American-style democratization in Afghanistan shows that political projects can only be lasting and sustainable when they are grassroots and have mass support. External support can only be effective under these circumstances.
You can read the Persian version of this analysis here: