Into the mainstream: The decline of Australian communism

by Tom O'Lincoln

Genres: History, Australia

202 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1985

About the author

Tom O'Lincoln (August 27, 1947 − October 12, 2023) was an American Marxist historian, author and one of the founders of the International Socialist Tendency in Australia.

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good polemic on the CPA from its founding to 1985. The key theme is the marginalisation of the party (which would’ve been true with or without its Stalinism in my opinion) and it’s relationship to mainstream Australian politics. The attempt to chart a path away from Stalinism from the 1960s onwards led to a theoretical justification for liquidationism from the leadership. Overall, very sharply argued but I was disappointed that it wasn’t updated with the rerelease - even a victory lap with regard to the predictions of the failures of the ‘New Left Party’ and SEARCH would’ve been better than nothing. Also interested in whether the scholarship has have been altered in light of Stuart Macintyre’s work, as it relies primarily on first hand accounts within the movement.

[Clément · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

O'Lincoln presents what seems, to a layman's eyes, a very complete overview of the history of the Communist Party of Australia, from its formation in 1920 to its effective dissolution in 1984, after years of its members and cadres moving to the right (of Marxism, that is, not the centre) and being absorbed into the mainstream western liberal democratic politics of the country. His frustration at this situation is evident, and the tone is that of calling out the fall of the party into regular bourgeois politics. The author's views and sympathies are made clear. Nonetheless, the portrait he draws of the Party is not biased, and both the virtues, the vices, the successes and the failures of the CPA over the decades are highlighted. The fact that the different currents of thought that CPA members shared, the different factions that existed within what could have easily been presented as a monolith is to the author's credit.

However, this is also an awfully hard book to read on account of the fact that O'Lincoln did not seem interested in making it the least bit enjoyable for the reader. Maybe this comes from a mind more accustomed to pop history, but it seems that any shred of excitement has been removed from the manuscript. The prose is average at best, and drones on and on so that one is easily distracted and prone to skipping a page without realising it much. Surely putting more effort into making it readable would have been a great improvement.

Finally, towards the very last chapters, the author focuses on the (then) contemporary strand of feminism, which eschews any mentions or affiliations with socialism and revolutionary politics, disengaging the women's struggle for liberation and the broader socialist movement. While this seems indeed short-sighted, and the frustration of O'Lincoln with this development is understandable, it does seem like this gives way to what sounds like a veiled attack on the feminists of his time; not a great look either.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not the book I thought it would be. Which isn't the book's fault, but does affect how I think about it.

I thought I was getting a ... straightforward history of the Communist Party of Australia. And that's certainly a significant part of this book. But what the book is ultimately focussed on is the way Communism, and Marxist ideas, has often been done badly in Australia. O'Lincoln is very upfront about the fact that he is very unimpressed by most of the leadership of the CPA, especially from the 1970s onwards. Of note: the book was published in this format in 2009 but was actually written in 1985, which itself definitely and necessarily has an impact.

The other problem is that the book presupposes quite a lot of knowledge - both philosophical and historical - that I don't really have. Again, that's partly a factor of it having been written 30 years ago, so the intended audience would have had more immediate knowledge of things that I just don't. But there's also no interest in defining "left" and "right", assuming that the reader will have a shared understanding of what that means - and I have to tell you, reading about a Communist party veering to the right is always weird (yes, I do understand how that works). There's no attempt here at leading the reader into understanding the various issues (like the difference between socialism and communism, and why you would regard liberal reformism as bad) - because the reader is assumed to already be on O'Lincoln's wavelength. Again, not necessarily bad, but does suggest a very specific audience.

Worth reading? If you're interested in the development of the CPA over time, probably yes. But prepare yourself for some pretty heavy philosophical lifting.

[taramaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I practically finished this ages ago. Long review ahead:

Tom O’Lincoln pens a SCATHING history of ‘The Party’ and convincingly argues the failures of the CPA from its inception in 1920 till the mid 1980s. O’Lincoln laments on the failures of what I like to call, ‘Marxist-Lennist-Aaronism’ and argues this well.

Despite this, the CPA was also a unique case in itself. This was a Party that had so much promise and perhaps too much idealism. At least there was a genuine re-attempt and effort in establishing a road far from Stalinism in the late 60s and 70s, yet that failed too.

Still, there were genuine some revolutionaries in the CPA, but a lack of theoretical understanding in dialectical thought only soured what could’ve been a radical turn to the left from ‘74 onwards. As O’Lincoln rightly points out, the Party’s capitulation towards the Right dampened the soil of a ground work that could’ve flourished.

No doubt the CPA fought the good fight on many issues, but revolutionaries should learn from what went wrong and what we want the next chapter in our history to be. Food for thought.