We are happy to offer this pamphlet as a starting block for the practice of criticism in communist organisations. One of the things we discover when talking with comrades across the movement and across the world is that organisations struggle to practise criticism and self-criticism, for a whole host of reasons. That makes sense, because it is very hard Criticism and self-criticism is a vital practice of dialectical materialism that all Marxists struggle to master.
We have provided several things in this pamphlet:
1. Our analysis, put in as plain terms as possible, of how criticism and self-criticism should work.
2. Exercises that you can practise in your organisation which will help you work out together the character of criticism and self-criticism.
3. Exercises that you can practise in your organisation which are themselves ways of doing criticism and self-criticism (these are in an appendix).
4. A reader, made of excerpts from texts that we find particularly informative on criticism and self-criticism.
The most important things are 2 and 3. We cannot emphasise this enough. If we could thump our fist on the table or jump up and down to emphasise it more, we would do it. But we are communicating to you through writing, so you will just have to imagine us thumping and jumping. There is no point having a good understanding of the theory of criticism unless you have a method by which to practise it. There is no point practising criticism if you are simply following instructions and if each member of the organisation is not conscious of what they are doing. So please, do not read the theory and leave the exercises to one side.
If you would like to get in touch with us, please write to questions@schoolofmanyquestions.com - these are our members in Chicago, and they will put you in touch with CCTE.
If you have read about an exercise or technique and want help to understand it, we are more than happy to talk you through it.