By Lucio Magri
Twenty years have passed since the Italian Communists' last Congress in 1991, in which the death of their party was decreed. It was a deliberate death, accelerated by the desire for a “new beginning.” That new beginning never came. in its place is the loss of one of the world's most complex political, organizational and theoretical heritages.
In this detailed and probing work, Lucio Magri, one of the towering intellectual figures of the Italian Left, assesses the causes for the demise of what was once one of the most powerful and vibrant communist parties of the West. The PCI marked almost a century of Italian history, from its founding in 1921 to the partisan resistance, the turning point of Salerno in 1944 to the de-Stalinization of 1956, the long '68 to the historic compromise, and to the opportunity—missed forever—of democratic transformation.
With rigor and passion, The Tailor of Ulm merges an original and enlightening interpretation of Italian communism with the experience of a militant “heretic” into a riveting read-capable of broadening our insights into contemporary Italy, and the twentieth-century communist experience.
In this detailed and probing work, Lucio Magri, one of the towering intellectual figures of the Italian Left, assesses the causes for the demise of what was once one of the most powerful and vibrant communist parties of the West. The PCI marked almost a century of Italian history, from its founding in 1921 to the partisan resistance, the turning point of Salerno in 1944 to the de-Stalinization of 1956, the long '68 to the historic compromise, and to the opportunity—missed forever—of democratic transformation.
With rigor and passion, The Tailor of Ulm merges an original and enlightening interpretation of Italian communism with the experience of a militant “heretic” into a riveting read-capable of broadening our insights into contemporary Italy, and the twentieth-century communist experience.
The Tailor of Ulm
Hardback, 432 pages
ISBN: 9781844676989
November 2011
$59.95 / $75.00CAN
Reviews
- “How should the Left think about the Communist experience today? A founding theorist of Il manifesto reflects on the need for critical examination of the past-and the lessons to be drawn for the future from the Italian Communist Party's trajectory.”
- “The decline and fall [of Italian Communism] is the subject of Magri's extremely shrewd and despondent book ... the final cry of someone whose life belongs to a world that has gone for ever.” – Eric Hobsbawm, London Review of Books
Morning Star
This is one of the most significant and important books I've read on the history of communism during the 20th century.
29 November 2011
The book's title is taken from Brecht's poem about a German tailor in the 18th century who proclaimed that he could fly.
Jumping off the local church spire, he failed with tragic consequences.
Brecht's point is that even if we fail at something once, history can make it possible in the long term.
Magri, pictured below, is a journalist and was a long-standing member of the PCI and later founder of the critical journal Il Manifesto.
After the dissolution of the PCI he became, for a short time, a member of the Communist Refoundation Party.
In this book he successfully intertwines the history and experience of the Italian Communist Party with the international communist movement and the wider history of the 20th century.
But even a read of the introduction and final chapter provides ample reward.
Magri's assessments and ideas are not only fascinating for those who are themselves Marxists or communists but would be invaluable to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of our recent history and for ways of overcoming the present global and systemic crisis.
Even though the author develops his perspectives from his experience within the Italian communist party (CPI), they have much wider implications and significance.
He emphasises the role of Gramsci's thought on the PCI and how his ideas, even though often only sketched, can still offer a vital source of creative Marxist praxis - the realisation of theory in practice.
He reminds us that the CPI was the largest in Western Europe, with two million members at its highpoint.
It consistently won nearly a third of the vote in national elections and governed in a number of local and regional administrations for lengthy periods. Why such a successful party dissolved itself in 1991 is still very much a puzzle.
Magri offers a penetrating and highly illuminating re-evaluation of this period from a critical Marxist perspective.
He can boast extensive knowledge and experience and offers the best arguments I have read for refuting the mainstream interpretation of 20th century history that has become a quasi-catechism.
That catechism posits the "two totalitarianisms" of communism and fascism as the twin evils that were defeated by the "democracies," the arguments used throughout the cold war that the Soviet Union posed a real military threat to the West - despite the country's almost total devastation by the nazis - and the idea that communism/socialism was a tyrannical system that can now be pigeon-holed as an unfortunate aberration of history.
In the present crisis, the ideas of Marx and the ideal of communism are again being discussed. Magri argues that a proper assessment and re-evaluation of the communist experience is vital if we wish to confront monopoly capitalism meaningfully and successfully.
Carrying out such an assessment must involve a fact-based critique of mainstream historical narratives, the use of counterfactual arguments and an honest self-criticism on the part of all on the left.
He takes us back to the first world war and points out that it not only laid waste to large swathes of Western Europe, destroying the lives of many millions and redrawing the maps, but also stymied a burgeoning socialist and internationalist workers' movement that appeared to be on the cusp of gaining power in several countries.
It destroyed social democracy as a real political force, transforming social democratic parties into liberal democratic ones which sought modest reforms of capitalism rather than its overthrow.
Magri argues convincingly that the second world war could have been easily avoided if the ruling classes in western Europe had not banked on nazi Germany and the Soviet Union destroying each other.
While in no sense being an apologist for Stalin, he also notes that Stalin made all possible overtures to the West in order to forge an anti-fascist alliance as Hitler's inexorable rise and intentions became increasingly clear, but he was rebuffed.
The world could have been a very different place today if serious mistakes and misjudgements had not been made by the left, primarily the communist parties, Magri suggests.
Yet he is not out to shift the burden of blame entirely on those parties.
He also argues that the visceral hatred of communism by the ruling elites worldwide created the conditions and circumstances in which such errors were almost unavoidable.
Communists were forced to work and struggle in extremely hostile environments and were harassed, persecuted and vilified.
Not unlike the early Christians, they never had the luxury of being able to debate openly and at length or take considered and balanced decisions.
The very siege situation they found themselves in led to the formation of centralist structures and military-style decision-making processes and thus made it easier for autocrats like Stalin to gain the upper hand.
More importantly perhaps, Magri analyses the significance of the recent immense transformations that our societies have undergone politically, socially and economically and argues that new forms of organisation and struggle are essential if the dangerous concentration of power within a narrow and unaccountable ruling elite is to be overcome and humanity saved from barbarism.
This book is by no means a light read but it is well worth the effort of persevering.
History is seen in a very different light after reading Magri's learned and insightful discourse.
Jumping off the local church spire, he failed with tragic consequences.
Brecht's point is that even if we fail at something once, history can make it possible in the long term.
Magri, pictured below, is a journalist and was a long-standing member of the PCI and later founder of the critical journal Il Manifesto.
After the dissolution of the PCI he became, for a short time, a member of the Communist Refoundation Party.
In this book he successfully intertwines the history and experience of the Italian Communist Party with the international communist movement and the wider history of the 20th century.
But even a read of the introduction and final chapter provides ample reward.
Magri's assessments and ideas are not only fascinating for those who are themselves Marxists or communists but would be invaluable to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of our recent history and for ways of overcoming the present global and systemic crisis.
Even though the author develops his perspectives from his experience within the Italian communist party (CPI), they have much wider implications and significance.
He emphasises the role of Gramsci's thought on the PCI and how his ideas, even though often only sketched, can still offer a vital source of creative Marxist praxis - the realisation of theory in practice.
He reminds us that the CPI was the largest in Western Europe, with two million members at its highpoint.
It consistently won nearly a third of the vote in national elections and governed in a number of local and regional administrations for lengthy periods. Why such a successful party dissolved itself in 1991 is still very much a puzzle.
 |
| Togliatti |
He can boast extensive knowledge and experience and offers the best arguments I have read for refuting the mainstream interpretation of 20th century history that has become a quasi-catechism.
That catechism posits the "two totalitarianisms" of communism and fascism as the twin evils that were defeated by the "democracies," the arguments used throughout the cold war that the Soviet Union posed a real military threat to the West - despite the country's almost total devastation by the nazis - and the idea that communism/socialism was a tyrannical system that can now be pigeon-holed as an unfortunate aberration of history.
In the present crisis, the ideas of Marx and the ideal of communism are again being discussed. Magri argues that a proper assessment and re-evaluation of the communist experience is vital if we wish to confront monopoly capitalism meaningfully and successfully.
Carrying out such an assessment must involve a fact-based critique of mainstream historical narratives, the use of counterfactual arguments and an honest self-criticism on the part of all on the left.
He takes us back to the first world war and points out that it not only laid waste to large swathes of Western Europe, destroying the lives of many millions and redrawing the maps, but also stymied a burgeoning socialist and internationalist workers' movement that appeared to be on the cusp of gaining power in several countries.
It destroyed social democracy as a real political force, transforming social democratic parties into liberal democratic ones which sought modest reforms of capitalism rather than its overthrow.
 |
| Magri |
While in no sense being an apologist for Stalin, he also notes that Stalin made all possible overtures to the West in order to forge an anti-fascist alliance as Hitler's inexorable rise and intentions became increasingly clear, but he was rebuffed.
The world could have been a very different place today if serious mistakes and misjudgements had not been made by the left, primarily the communist parties, Magri suggests.
Yet he is not out to shift the burden of blame entirely on those parties.
He also argues that the visceral hatred of communism by the ruling elites worldwide created the conditions and circumstances in which such errors were almost unavoidable.
Communists were forced to work and struggle in extremely hostile environments and were harassed, persecuted and vilified.
Not unlike the early Christians, they never had the luxury of being able to debate openly and at length or take considered and balanced decisions.
The very siege situation they found themselves in led to the formation of centralist structures and military-style decision-making processes and thus made it easier for autocrats like Stalin to gain the upper hand.
 |
| Lucio Magri |
This book is by no means a light read but it is well worth the effort of persevering.
History is seen in a very different light after reading Magri's learned and insightful discourse.
 |
| The funeral of Togliatti Click to enlarge |
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