Constructive Criticism: A Handbook

Colorful Classics #24

by Gracie Lyons

"Constructive Criticism is a wonderful example of the blending of valuable and powerful socialist theory with a practical, down-to-earth pragmatism. The result is an extremely useful manual for people who work together for positive social change. Putting Gracie Lyon's suggestions into practice will increase the power of people's work as well as their personal sense of well being and satisfaction."

"Want to work with a friend or a group? You have to know what your purpose is. Then you have to know how to do it. This book is a guide to working cooperatively."

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Feminism, Theory, Self Help

72 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 1988

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been concerning to me for some time now that an explosion of focus on interpersonal issues and dynamics has occurred without an accompanying study of how such issues fit into the health of collectives as a whole. There are people with an encyclopedic knowledge knowledge of the most inclusive language to use in a meeting, but who shut down in a defensive stance when encountering criticism or disagreement. This text was an extremely helpful breakdown of how to give and receive criticism most effectively, as well as an argument for why self-reflection and criticism is a crucial practice for organizations to develop collectively. It fits the practice into a historical context which is specious but not integral to the main points of the argument. It will be helpful for anyone in a democratic organization. Also, the exercise prompts are often hilarious and an interesting artifact of that time period.

[Arya · Rating 5 out of 5]

changed my life. essential reading ! i feel mentally anew !!

[kathleen]

a quick read! think some of the advice feels like common sense but i appreciated that it was for the context of political work and through the framework of dialectical materialism lol... i thought of a lot of instances where i could have (could still) apply the guidelines. some takeaways:
- asking yourself if your intentions behind criticism are to protect/educate, rather than to punish
- being concrete, having an objective observation when you give criticism, rather than a judgment (X person said they would be at these meetings, but didn't show up" vs "X person is irresponsible"
- having a dialectical view of where feelings come from <3
- you need some basis for unity to engage in struggle

i liked some of the corniness of the examples/dialogues (it was written in the 70s) and also liked that Appendix A was "a list of feeling words" while Appendix B was "criticism self-criticism in the chinese revolution" haha

this made me feel like i am really craving to read things about the emotional life around political work! (one reason that i'm always rereading n+1's "spadework")

[Ñukñu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel appreciative of this book for its urgency and practicality. Simple language and organized as a reference tool. I recommend this book to organizers for the work in their community, in their personal relationships, and for the relationship that they have with themselves.

[Spooky Socialist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic but wish it were fleshed out more into a dedicated textbook.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic primer for a conflict avoidant mf like myself

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

hat mir allein nach dem ersten lesen schon unglaublich geholfen, um meine sorge darum, kritik schlecht üben/annehmen zu können, anzugehen. denke, die schrift eignet sich gut für alle kommunist*innen und würde sie gruppen sehr empfehlen, hab da selbst (noch) keine erfahrung aber bin überzeugt dass die ausführungen und richtlinien sehr sehr hilfreich sind; spricht auch viele probleme an, die mir schon aufgefallen sind und nutzt viele gute beispiele

[AJ Howell · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10 This is a very useful handbook for utilizing constructive criticism/self-criticism with a DBT approach in light of revolutionary work. The left often has a lot of infighting and this book is a useful tool in taking that conflict from antagonization to problem-solving.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! Material is always relevant, I love the 70’s wording and turns of phrases. Will come back and reread and use these techniques with my org. I appreciated the exercises and the appendixes

[junah · Rating 5 out of 5]

changed my life — it’s free online — you can read this in two hours !!

[Luke Sheehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gracie gives a great methodology on how to give and receive ideas especially in a revolutionary setting. It is hard work to communicate effectively. She lays out how it's possible.

[ez · Rating 5 out of 5]

i had NAMES in mind reading this i feel refreshed and grounded a good good reminder of a book. “a movement that's serious about liberation needs to practice its new values—now”

[Eli Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great way to improve your interpersonal communication. teaches you how to give and receive constructive criticism.

[Osama · Rating 3 out of 5]

يتناول الكتاب مفهوم النقد الذاتي من منظور الحركة الشيوعية، مع تقديم أمثلة تطبيقية من الصين.

[crimson_valkyrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book that should be in everyone's personal library, wether they're a seasoned activist or newly radicalised leftist, will be coming back to it.

It tackles one of the issues today's leftists suffer from in their spaces (especially online), defensiveness, the inability to comprehend or accept criticism to change and resort to name calling (wether they're on the receiving of said criticism or the ones doing it) which hinders their progress and potential, the general takeaway from this book is to sit back and examine one's emotions, instincts learnt through society's conditioning (possibly trauma responses) before criticising or handling criticism.

[Alisha Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit. I read this online and immediately ordered a paperback copy because this has given me so many tools for approaching conflict as a materialist socialist. So crucial for building relationships that are strong and long-lasting.

[Joma Geneciran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is for the 2022 re-release by foreign languages press. An absolutely incredible text worth its weight in gold. Written in the 70s with foundational interpersonal skills grounded in dialectical materialism and with examples from revolutionary movements from the PAIGC (cabral) to the NLF in Vietnam to the CPC during socialist construction.

It shines in accessibility and in practical guidelines and exercises. There is even an appendix on feeling words. I have been in multiple orgs that ended up splintering due to chauvinism and gender contradictions (read: abuse) and an inability to foster a culture of criticism/self-criticism.

I would place this in the top 5 most important books for cadre.

When I was newer to the movement, I didn’t understand this at all. I thought the main point of criticism was to keep everyone feeling good and to keep things running smoothly. When more politically experienced people struggled over ideas, I nearly always thought they were being sectarian or unkind. But the more I learned about the experience of different liberation movements, the more I could see that criticism had a more profound purpose. Movements that took wrong directions were defeated or sold out. Movements that were able to learn from their mistakes were able to revolutionize their societies and change the lives of millions. So in a very real way, our ability to give useful criticism/self-criticism depends on developing ourselves politically and ideologically. This means studying the experiences of different revolutionary movements and the history of the U.S, and collectively carrying out and evaluating political work. (35)

[JC]

Read most of this book on my way back from Cuba last year. I'm more than half a year behind on book reflections here. There were lots of useful and important points, concepts, and practices for organizing in this book, but the language felt fairly dated to me, and somewhat unfamiliar. I think at one point, in a specific time and place, it perhaps made the book more accessible. I feel it now makes it a little less accessible or more distracting. My org distilled the main points from the book in a series of educational discussions which I found more helpful than directly reading this book. I think this will be different for everyone though. I feel liberal society has made CSC so unintuitive, unfamiliar, and difficult, and I'm still really bad and awkward about it, but I think it is a really important part of organizing and doing things beyond the atomistic individualistic life that western capitalism valourizes, especially in a way that does not reproduce the racism, sexism, and other forms of chauvinism that characterize the imperialist/capitalist social orders we work to dismantle.

[Katelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine, an interpersonal communication guide but with examples centered specifically around communist organizing. Ultimately some of it felt a little silly (nobody is going to talk like the examples given in real life) but the main advice is correct. I was going in hoping for a more philosophical outlook on the process of criticism as it relates to dialectics and the formation of a correct political line, as it stands it feels a little basic and like the advice you'd hear anywhere (with the one advantage being that it's centered around actual working class political examples instead of a watered-down corporate environment).

[Dash T · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is basically Nonviolent Communication but with a bunch of praise for Mao thrown in. Most of the book is how to give and receive criticism in a non-coercive way. That's good!

Fortunately none of the suggestions in this book would lead to the kind of persecution that happened during the Cultural Revolution, despite the author's credulous view of how criticism and self-criticism happened in China, but there are better treatments of this elsewhere.

Instead of this book, I would recommend "Let This Radicalize You", "Joyful Militancy", and the "In It Together" framework from Interrupting Criminalization.

[Moriarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly the kind of cut to the chase practical advice I wish more socialist texts would offer. It is very comprehensible and hands-on, yet at the same time backed up by well-founded theory.

I think all activists and organisers will profit from reading this, especially in a group setting. I'm sure I will reference this book many times.

[Camille Parrish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a succinct and helpful book for anyone organizing or hoping to. Organizing involves so much personal reflection and self analysis that quickly becomes uncomfortable and this is a helpful guide to navigate that.

[Comrade Zupa Ogórkowa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick, essential read but not sure if it’s enough. Seen entire orgs have this book as mandatory reading and still collapsing from conflict/be unable to resolve conflict. A tool in the tool box I suppose!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible theoretical and practical guide

[Dexter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. I'd love to see a new edition with additional material for neurodivergent people and people with communication issues.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading if you don’t want to be a jerk

[Harriet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent... every1 should read this

[Sarah Mock · Rating 5 out of 5]

finally finished this, and i will definitely be coming back to it/reading again as i try to implement the practices it describes!!!

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

probably need to read this 5 more times to really internalize it

[Malia Hair · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’m actually not taking criticism anymore from ppl who havnt read this