130
PARTISAN REVIEW
Written before the death of both Brezhnev and Andropov,
there are only two brief references to the current leader, Chernenko,
neither suggesting his possible rise to power.
The translation often does not do justice to the rich substance
of this study; as some of the quotes also show, the style is often
awkward and unpolished.
The Forward March
of
Labour Halted?"
is an uneven collection of
scholarly and political commentaries over the failure of the English
working class and the Labor Party to transform society along puta–
tively socialist lines. Of the twenty contributors, three are academics,
two journalists, and the rest assorted political and union activists
and functionaries; the best known among the latter group is Tony
Benn, leader of the left wing of the Labor Party. The volume is or–
ganized around the title essay by Eric Hobsbawm, which is discussed
by other contributors who also include several functionaries of the
British Communist Party. An air of left wing-popular front attitudes
hangs over these writings, often colored by the agitprop jargon of
olden times which evidently survives in these circles. For instance,
thus writes Mike Le Cornu, identified as a shop steward at Heathrow
airport:
I believe we should face up to the possibility that it is the failure
of our party and the left consciously to inject the necessary
political content into the struggle which has largely contributed to
the "forward march oflabour" having halted, though I agree with
Kevin Halpin that to describe the movement as having "halted"
appears to be a negation of the Marxist concept of constant
change.
The same author chastises another contributor for lacking "that deep
analytical content based on a scientific approach to the problem." A
key and recurring idea of the volume, and especially of Hobsbawm's
piece, is "the period of world crisis for capitalism." The authors take
many things for granted. Thus the question is hardly raised, let
alone answered: Where precisely would labor march forward, or
what exactly would socialism in Britain seek to achieve, and what if
any lessons have been learned from existing systems which claim to
4. The Forward March of Labour Halted?
By
Eric Hobsbawm. Blackwell Press
Ltd .
£8.50.
