RK is short for the Revolutionary Communist League. We are not a party, but a pre-party organization that works to build the Communist Party in Norway.
What is the Communist Party?
First, we need to say a little about what a party is. In everyday language, a party is an organization with a political program that runs for election. When we talk about “party” in this context, we mean the political organization of a particular class or stratum within a class, which enables the class to act politically in line with its own interests. Parties are organizations that take sides in the class struggle.
Norway is a class society, where the working class makes up the majority of the population, while the ruling class, the bourgeoisie, constitutes a minority. The bourgeoisie exercises its interests through, among other things, the openly bourgeois parties (Høyre, Venstre, FrP), business organizations (NHO, Rederiforbundet) and the state apparatus.
The goal of the Communist Party is not to win positions within the capitalist system or to act on behalf of the working class, but to be a tool for the working class’s struggle to liberate itself and end all oppression and exploitation.
For the Party to be truly communist, it must have the following characteristics:
- The party represents the common interests of the entire working class, as opposed to short-term group interests.
- The party works in a way that strengthens the political independence of the working class and fights against all ideas that bind the working class to the capitalists and state power.
- The party works to establish workers’ rule, i.e. the unrestricted political power of the working class in all areas of society.
- The party’s policy actually contributes to strengthening the leadership of the working class and driving society towards communism.
Of course, the Communist Party cannot be founded overnight, and the RK is nowhere near being the Communist Party in Norway.
If we are to found the Communist Party, we must first unite with the sections of the working class that are most oppressed and most ready for revolutionary struggle, and significant sections of the class must be willing to constitute themselves as a political party.
Why don’t you run for election?
We are not in principle opposed to standing for election in every case, but we do not see this as useful for developing the revolutionary movement today.
Our most important task is to promote the independent organization of the working class outside the bourgeois political system, and in opposition to all of capitalist society. When communists participate in elections, in a culture where people are already used to “the politicians will take care of us”, it contributes to promoting political passivity.
Furthermore, organizations that participate in elections tend to adapt to the bourgeois system and become “responsible” administrators of the capitalist state – see, for example, how Rødt and SV have in practice dropped their opposition to NATO. Last but not least, standing for election is extremely resource-intensive and takes away energy from other tasks that are more important in the short term.
Nor do we believe that reforms within the framework of the bourgeois state can lead to socialism. We do not recognize the bourgeois state, and expect no recognition in return. Secondly, the socialist revolution necessitates that the working class acts actively and independently to seize social power. Our task is to develop an awareness that working people can and must seize power themselves; that it is the masses themselves who create history, not politicians who “fix it for them”.
Are you against democracy, then?
No, on the contrary! But we are against the current capitalist system and bourgeois “democracy”, where people go to the polls every four years to choose which bourgeois politicians will administer the capitalist state. We are in favor of workers’ rule, a social order where the working class has power over all areas of society. Workers’ rule enables far broader and more active democratic participation than is possible today, for example:
- The artificial distinction between economy and politics is abolished. The economy is subject to a common plan, which is democratically controlled in line with human needs, not profit.
- Bureaucrats are replaced by elected officials, who can be recalled at any time by those who elected them.
- The large press corporations are dissolved. The capitalists lose their monopoly on the press, and freedom of expression becomes more real.
- The distinction between legislative and executive power is abolished; those who have made a decision are themselves responsible for putting it into practice. Those responsible for implementing a decision are the same people who made the decision.
- No civil servant shall earn more than the average worker.
- The general arming of the population, instead of a standing army separated from the rest of society.
Under capitalism, we will fight to defend the democratic freedoms won by the working class: freedom to strike, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, etc., but we recognize that these freedoms cannot be fully realized within bourgeois society. The struggle to defend democratic rights in bourgeois society is not an end in itself, but part of the struggle for a new society where the working class has power in all areas, and where individuals collectively have real control over their own lives.
What does the RK believe?
The RK’s positions are gathered on this page. The basic document of the RK is the “Standpoint of the Revolutionary Communist League”, which is the platform of the League.
The Standpoint document is only temporary. We are in the process of creating a new and improved platform, and we want input and criticism in connection with this.
What does it mean that RK is Maoist?
That we are Maoists means that:
- We have a positive assessment of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and believe that this single event is still an important source of lessons for the international communist movement. The Cultural Revolution was an attempt to solve the problems of the Soviet model of socialist construction, and it moved China further towards communism than any other country before.
- We believe that Mao, and his followers on the left of the Chinese Communist Party, stood for a political line that was essentially correct. We also believe that revolutionaries in Norway have a lot to learn from the Chinese revolution, even if not everything can be directly transferred. We recognize that both Mao and the left wing of the CCP made mistakes. Our criticism of Mao is a comradely criticism, aimed at solving the challenges of the communist tradition, so that we can go further in the future.
- We see the socialist revolution as an uninterrupted process, which in no way ends once the working class has seized power, but which continues in new forms right up to the communist society.
- We believe that the communist party is full of contradictions, and that this is not a dangerous thing, but natural and a prerequisite for development. This also means that the party cannot be based on purges or a culture of obedience, as was the tendency in the Comintern parties. Unity must be based on democratic dialogue and a goal of consensus.
- We recognize that our own knowledge is limited, while at the same time it is “the masses who are the real heroes”. It is not intellectuals, politicians, “great men” or even communists who change the world, but the determined struggle of the people. Our task is not to “think for the people” or to “rule over the people”, but to struggle with the people, to think with them and to summarize both victories and defeats in the light of Marxism, so that both we and the rest of the working class learn more about what needs to be done to lead the revolution to victory.
Being Maoists also means that we support the Maoist people’s wars going on in several countries, including India and the Philippines.
How can I join the RK?
Write to us by email and we’ll put you in touch with an activist near where you live.
I’m not completely convinced, but I’m interested in learning more. So what do I do?
The best thing is to join a study circle! We have active study groups in several cities, and organize online study circles for those who don’t live near an active study group. If you’re interested, contact us by email and we’ll get you in touch.