The Battle of the Classes

A presentation by the People’s University as a part of its Summer Organizer School

People’s University

Organizer School

People’s University

Organizer School

From Last Time…

The Motor Force of History

Strategy & Tactics

People’s University

Organizer School

From Last Time…

Scientific Socialism,

the science of (proletarian) class struggle

Political Economy,

the science of commodity production

Ideological Superstructure

Relations of Production

Forces of Production

Society

Material Economic Base

or Mode of Production

The State

*the conscious aspect

*the unconscious aspect

~Classes & Struggle~

• Class: a social group, defined by its relation to production. Classes exist in antagonistic pairs, with one exploiting the other (i.e., appropriating surplus value).
• Class struggle: the conflict between opposite classes; the motor force of history.
• State: an instrument for the political rule of one class by another.

People’s University

Organizer School

People’s University

Investigation

Analysis

“... all science would be superfluous if the outward appearance and the essence of things directly coincided.”

Karl Marx, Capital Vol. 3

Organizer School

People’s University

Investigation

Analysis

“... all science would be superfluous if the outward appearance and the essence of things directly coincided.”

Social

Class

Karl Marx, Capital Vol. 3

Organizer School

People’s University

When we say class analysis, we mean an analysis that attempts to:

1. identify the different classes and class forces that are operating in a given social formation;
2. elaborate that formation's class structure (i.e., the size, strength and hierarchy of the classes) and the roles of the various classes in that formation;
3. determine the material interests of the various classes;
4. assess the arenas and forms, the intensity and sharpness, the stage and progress of the struggle between the classes;
5. assess the class character of their ideas and activity outside of the social production process as well as their self-consciousness as a class.

Analysis

Class

Ideology

Politics

Organization

An ideology is a system of ideas that is meant to be internally consistent.

A politic is a set of demands.

An organization is a group of people that are united in their goal and divided in their tasks.

Proletariat vs. Bourgeoisie

Correct vs. Incorrect

Advanced vs. Backward

People’s University

May 19, 2025

Organizer School

The Motor Force of History

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.

Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.

In the earlier epochs of history, we find almost everywhere a complicated arrangement of society into various orders, a manifold gradation of social rank. In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves; in the Middle Ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild-masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs; in almost all of these classes, again, subordinate gradations.

The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones.

Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinct feature: it has simplified class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other — Bourgeoisie and Proletariat (emphasis added).

Put on Your Classes Glasses

People’s University

Organizer School

Group Activity

​

Class Analysis

May 19, 2025

Organizer School

People’s University

When we say class analysis, we mean an analysis that attempts to:

1. identify the different classes and class forces that are operating in a given social formation;
2. elaborate that formation's class structure (i.e., the size, strength and hierarchy of the classes) and the roles of the various classes in that formation;
3. determine the material interests of the various classes;
4. assess the arenas and forms, the intensity and sharpness, the stage and progress of the struggle between the classes;
5. assess the class character of their ideas and activity outside of the social production process as well as their self-consciousness as a class.

Analysis

Class

~Reading Review~

Discussion Questions:

• What were your takeaways from the “Long March” article?
• How did they make use of a class analysis in the article?
• Which is the better approach strategic industries or the hard core of the proletariat?

People’s University

March 30, 2025

People’s University

Organizer School

Strategy & Tactics

Ideology

Politics

Organization

An ideology is a system of ideas that is meant to be internally consistent.

A politic is a set of demands.

An organization is a group of people that are united in their goal and divided in their tasks.

Tactics

Organization

tasks

Ideology

ideas

Politics

demands

Strategy

~Aspects of Social Movements~

~What is Strategy?~

Strategy is the determination of the main blow of the positive (i.e. revolutionary, progressive, etc.) forces at a given stage in the political struggle against the negative (i.e. counter-revolutionary, regressive, etc.) forces; and to that end, the elaboration of a plan for the disposition of the positive forces, both the main and secondary forces. It is a reflection of a movement’s ideological character and longer-term political objectives in that the strategy is produced on the basis of some kind of analysis with the aim of realizing a specific program.

People’s University

Key Ideas:

• Main blow at the current stage (longer period)
• Arrangement of forces to carry out the main blow

~What are Tactics?~

Tactics are the determination of the line of conduct of progressive forces in the relatively short period (within a given stage) of flow or ebb in the movement i.e. the rise or decline of the movement as a whole; and further, the fight to carry out this line by adapting the forms of struggle and organization to present conditions. Tactics are a reflection of a movement’s shorter-term political objectives and organizational structure in that the tactics are determined on the basis of aligning the political content of the struggle with the appropriate organizational form.

People’s University

Key Ideas:

• Line of conduct, i.e., tactical objectives (shorter period)
• Adapting forms of struggle & organization to present conditions

Strategy & Tactics

Centralized

Decentralized

*not disharmonious!!

Tactics

Organization

tasks

Ideology

ideas

Politics

demands

Method

~Aspects of Social Movements~

Strategy

Assessments of Our Work

People’s University

Organizer School

Group Activity

​

Analysis of Our Previous Work

Tactics

Organization

tasks

Ideology

ideas

Politics

demands

Method

Strategy

~The Importance of Assessment

Victory & Defeat

Defeat ≠ Failure

The necessity of summation in evaluating our tactics and being flexible with respect to their evolution (and to a lesser extent our strategy).

People’s University

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work”

Thomas Edison

An Assessment of Movement Work at SFU

Movement Problems:

• Emphasis on mobilization over organization
• Relatively abstract political enemies (e.g., Board of Governors, the Senate, etc.)
• Emphasis on identity over demands with respect to political leadership

People’s University