Editor's note: Tetsuzo Bubu served as the leader of the Japanese Communist Party for a long time and devoted himself to the study of Marxism. Especially since the turn of the century, he has re-read the expositions of marxist classic writers on the future society and put forward some of his own views on relevant issues. Tetsuzo Bubu advocated calling the future society a socialist communist society; advocated the socialization of the means of production as the defining criterion; and on the path to the realization of the future society, he changed his previous view of moving towards a socialist communist society through various channels, emphasizing the promotion of socialist change in advanced capitalist countries. Correspondingly, he also changed his view of actual socialism. Tetsuzo's views had an important impact on the Japanese Communist Party, prompting it to make some theoretical and policy adjustments.
Tetsuzo Bubu is a famous Marxist theorist, political activist, and leader of the Japanese Communist Party, who has long devoted himself to the study of Marxism, especially the research of classic writers on the theory of future society, and has published a series of opinions and propositions, which have had an important impact on the theory and policy of the Japanese Communist Party.
First, do not break the time period and characteristics of Zhesan's future social exploration
Tetsuzo's study of the future society after capitalism is roughly divided into two periods. The first period was from the turn of the century to 2004. After the end of the Cold War, the world socialist movement was at a low ebb, and the "final conclusion of history" was popular, as if socialism had failed, let alone communist society. However, at a time when this rhetoric was prevalent, the West began to enter a period of economic crisis, and Western countries were generally mired in economic recession, spiritual confusion and social unrest. Thus, under the general slogan of "reflection on modernity", the exposure of the destructive and anti-human nature of capitalism has become the mainstream trend of thought in the West. Where the world is going has become another question of reflection before the world. It is in this context that Tetsuzo Bubu keenly sees this fundamental issue involving global development, and thus cuts in and launches his new theoretical thinking.
Tetsuzo Bubu believes that Marxism is a theoretical tool to answer the question of where the world is going, and he calls on Marxists in the world to face up to and study this issue of the times. But in his view, it was this, which he thought was the most worthy of grasping, that became the "most lagging field" in the study of scientific socialism in the 20th century[1]. To this end, Tetsuzo Bubu began to rethink future social issues roughly from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the upheavals in Eastern Europe, publishing a series of articles "Lenin and Capital" from October 1998 to May 2001; from 2003 to 2004, he led the relevant institutions of the Japanese Communist Party to carry out collective discussions, and his relevant research results were incorporated into the new program of the Japanese Communist Party revised in 2004.
After the revision of the party program by the Japanese Communist Party, Tetsuzo's research on the future society entered the second period. At this stage, in 2004, he published his research and exposition works "Classic Studies: Marx's Future Social Theory" and "Reading the Program of the New Japanese Communist Party"; in 2015, he published "Breakthrough Points in the Theory of the Party Program" and "Marx's Exploration, Tracking and Exploration of Capital"; since May 2018, he has published three consecutive serialized articles entitled "Reading the Future Social Theory in the Party Program" in the "Study" magazine sponsored by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Japan; since October of the same year, He also published four consecutive articles entitled "Theory of Future Society in Capital" in the journal "Avant-Garde", a central organ of the CpIM, and published the above articles in March 2019. One of the themes of Tetsuzo's writings above is the future society. Through these treatises, Tetsuzo Budi tried to re-expound Marxist theory of the future society in a new way, and put forward his own views on the issues of the times of "where the world is going" and "where mankind is going", reflecting the spirit of perseverance in theoretical pursuit and social responsibility.
One of the characteristics of Tetsuzo's thinking on the future society is that, in the face of theoretical problems, he returns to the original texts of Marx and Engels, and puts forward his own views through careful re-reading of the original texts and in combination with the new world situation. He believes that science reveals the characteristics and principles of the next society that replaces capitalist society, which runs through Capital. Therefore, he took "Capital" as the theoretical basis for his research, conducted in-depth combing and study, and strived to explore theoretical basis, ideological resources and practical inspiration in "returning to the original". In order to achieve a precise grasp of the text, he even led the Institute of Social Sciences affiliated to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Japan to supervise the publication of a new edition of Capital, with a total design volume of 12 volumes, which will be issued from September 2019 and is expected to be completed by 2021.
Second, do not break the main points of exploration of the future society of Zhe San
In general, Tetsuzo's views on the future society are mainly reflected in the following aspects.
First, about the characteristics of the future society. Tetsuzo Bubu believes that for many years people have defined the characteristics of communist society in terms of distribution, but such a definition ignores the background and purpose of Marx's critique of the Gotha Program. He said that Marx's purpose at that time was to criticize the Distributive Determinism of the Lassalles, and it was in this particular context that the "first stage of communist society" was mainly based on "calculation and supervision". Through a reinterpretation of the Critique of the Gotha Program, Tetsuzo Bu points out that the two-stage theory of dividing the stages of society by the criterion of distribution is inaccurate: the premise of distribution is material abundance, but material abundance should not be the core criterion for measuring the "present history" of human society. [2]
Second, on the criteria for the future social division. According to Marx's exposition in Capital, Marx's criterion for defining the future society is "the socialization of the means of production." Tetsuzo bubu believes that the theoretical skeleton and core clue of Capital are precisely the theory of future society. Marx's rich and complex academic and ideological processes are all aimed at proving the inevitability of future society and its basic principles. For this reason, Marx, like the study of the natural sciences, gave not only the process of argumentation, but also the scientific answer. In order to prevent this answer from being overwhelmed by the complicated process of argumentation and ignored by people's excessive attention to the process of argumentation, Marx also specially hooked up this scientific answer. The various manuscripts of Capital, from the published official texts, highlight the central conceptual significance of the "socialization of the means of production". Only by taking the "socialization of the means of production" as the criterion can we scientifically divide the stage of social development. Tetsuzo Bubu believes that the foundation of the future society is the "socialization of the means of production", and the ultimate goal is to achieve the free and comprehensive development of human beings. The so-called socialization of the means of production means means that the ownership, management and use of the main means of production are all handed over to society, and the main body of socialization must be united laborers. [3]
Third, about the way to the future society. Tetsuzo Bu believes that whether it is the 20th century or the 21st century, it is an era in which the two systems of capitalism and socialism coexist, and the era will test the advantages and disadvantages of these two systems and determine their survival; the 21st century is an era of questioning the survival of the capitalist system and an era of global institutional change. In the 21st century, there will be countries at different stages of development that will move towards a socialist communist society through different paths. He divides the world into four parts, namely, the advanced capitalist countries, the countries seeking socialism, the Asian, African and Latin American countries, and the Eastern European countries of the Soviet Union after the collapse of the old system, pointing out that these four types of countries are likely to undergo social changes in the 21st century. [4] But there are mainly two categories of countries and two pathways. One is China, Vietnam and other countries. Tetsuzo Futakata believes that these countries have never built a democratic political system of popular sovereignty in history, so they can only embark on the revolutionary road through violent revolution or civil war, which has a huge impact on the post-revolutionary political system. [5] The other category is the advanced capitalist countries. However, Tetsuzo believes that the realization of socialism in the advanced capitalist countries has been a difficult problem from the beginning. When Marx, Engels and Lenin discussed the question of revolution in the developed capitalist countries, they all prematurely concluded that the objective conditions of revolution were ripe. [6]
Fourthly, with regard to the transition period. He believed that there would be a long transition period from entering the future society to the eventual realization of a socialist communist society, which he called the "new society." He argues that the degree of socialization of the means of production is not necessarily exactly the same during the transitional and completion periods, but the nature of socialization is the same. He argued that to achieve this goal in the advanced capitalist countries, it was necessary to free the means of production from the capitalists and transfer them to the individual community. After entering the transitional period, the socialization of the means of production will gradually eliminate exploitation, eliminate poverty, improve the quality of life of all people, fundamentally shorten the working hours, create a basis for the development of all members of society, fundamentally change the nature of labor, and the producer will become the protagonist of society, thus fundamentally changing the way of life of man. Driven by the above-mentioned fundamental changes, the driving force of production and economy will also shift from the profit-seeking behavior of capital to the promotion of the material and spiritual life development of society and members of society, through the implementation of planned management of the economy, the elimination of cyclical economic crises, the effective control of environmental damage, the widening of social disparities and other issues, so that the free development of human beings has become the main purpose of economic development, and finally to create conditions for the realization of a new leap in the development of the material productive forces that support the operation of human society. Thus began the real (present) phase of human history.
In Tetsuzo's view, in the transitional period, there are three criteria for judging whether a country is "a country that has broken away from the capitalist system through revolution": in the economic system, the main body of the socialization of the means of production must be the "united laborer"; in the political system, democracy is practised; and in international relations, equal relations are established. If in the past, Tetsuzo did not emphasize the importance of "countries that are detached from the capitalist system", such as China, Vietnam, Cuba, etc., in the transition to the future society, in the past two years, Tetsuzo bubu has emphasized more on the feasibility of socialist reform in advanced capitalist countries like Japan.
Fifth, on the question of Japan's move toward socialism. As a Japanese communist, Tetsuzo is not concerned about the future of the development of socialism in the world, but he is more concerned about the prospects of the development of socialism in Japan. Tetsuzo Bubu looked forward to starting socialist changes in Japan in the early 21st century. He believes that compared with Countries such as China and Vietnam, the nature of Japanese society is completely different. In Japan, there is a so-called democratic political system that relies on the will of the majority of the people to determine the political direction, so there are realistic conditions for "fundamental" socialist changes. These conditions are properly prepared within the framework of the system of advanced capitalism. [7] The transition from a developed capitalist country to a socialist communist society can be achieved by adhering to the revolutionary line, which is endorsed by the parliamentary majority, and advancing in stages. [8]
Obviously, what Tetsuzo insists on is still the idea of peaceful growth into socialism. Although Tetsuzo showed firm revolutionary conviction and high revolutionary fighting spirit, his understanding of the reactionary nature and stubbornness of the bourgeois ruling clique was inevitably too optimistic. He believes that, on the one hand, social change in the advanced capitalist countries is a "new world history topic of the 21st century" that has never existed in the 20th century[9]; on the other hand, the problems faced by social change movements in highly developed capitalist countries such as Japan are completely different from those of countries that have embarked on the socialist road before, that is, there are difficulties of a different nature from the difficulties that countries with socialist goals in reality have experienced or are experiencing. [10] Therefore, it is necessary to "strive for the smooth implementation of the various reform issues necessary for all stages of Japanese society, as stipulated in the current Party Program, and strive to create a common society free from exploitation and oppression, and strive to build the 21st century into a century of historic progress for mankind." [11]
Third, do not break the impact of the future social exploration of Zhe San on the Japanese Communist Party
As mentioned earlier, Tetsuzo Futakata has long served as the leader and important theorist of the Japanese Communist Party, and his future social research has had a theoretically important impact on the Japanese Communist Party.
Specifically, the most important influence of Tetsuzo's future social research was that the Cpusta absorbed its research results and revised the party program. In 2004, under the leadership of Tetsuzo Bubu, the Japanese Communist Party revised its party program under the leadership of "the socialization of the means of production." Chapter 5 of the New Party Program uses "socialist communist society" to express the future society after transcending capitalism, juxtaposing and synonymously using "socialism" and "communism", rather than dividing the future society into two stages; it is clearly pointed out that the key to judging this historical stage is "the socialization of the means of production". Tetsuzo Bubu believes that this is "one of the most important contents of the revision of the party program," and its significance lies in the new "positioning" of "the future of the worldwide movement." [12] Others in the CJP also believe that this could theoretically "revive" and "develop" Marx's vision of a future society, and that it could be more adapted in practice to the situation in Japan and the world in the 21st century. Chapter 5, Section 15 of the 2004 CPP Program, revised under his leadership, discussed "the next stage of Japan's social development", arguing that the task of the next stage of Japanese social development is to transcend capitalism, implement socialist changes, and strive to move towards a socialist communist society.
On November 5, 2019, the Eighth Plenary Session of the 27th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Japan passed a partial revision of the Party Program, which intends to add the following to the Party Program revised again at the 28th National Congress held in 2020: "So far, the world has not yet had the experience of truly carrying out socialist changes on the basis of the high economic and social achievements of the capitalist era. Attempts to move toward socialism and communism in advanced capitalist countries are a new topic of world history in the 21st century. "Socialist change in the advanced capitalist countries is particularly difficult, but at the same time a cause with a wealth of powerful possibilities. The realization of this change will be based on the socialization of the means of production, inheriting and developing the highly developed productive forces created by capitalism, the mode of operation of social regulation and management of the economy, the rules for safeguarding the life and rights of the people, the various liberal and democratic systems and the historical experience of the national struggle, and the rich personality of the human being. Social change in the advanced capitalist countries is the road to socialism and communism. The role that the Japanese Communist Party should play is of great world significance. [13] It is clear that the revision of the party program fully absorbs the research results of Tetsuzo bumizo from spirit to expression. The revision of the part of the party program clearly shows that the Japanese Communist Party advocates building socialism on the basis of the highly developed productive forces of capitalism, making effective use of the market economy, obtaining a parliamentary majority within the framework of capitalism to carry out democratic reforms, and ultimately promoting the transformation of capitalism into social construction, thus creating conditions for the real realization of socialism.
In summary, Tetsuzo Bubu is actually trying to answer the question of how advanced capitalist countries such as the United States, Western European countries, and Japan can move toward and realize communism. To this end, he explores the difficulties, conditions, and possible paths for these countries to achieve communism. On the whole, he firmly believes that communism is the inevitable return of the future of mankind, and that capitalism reserves conditions for productive forces and many other aspects to achieve this future goal of mankind, but there are still many difficulties that need to be answered theoretically to achieve this goal.
At present, the influence of Tetsuzo's theoretical exploration of the future society is mainly reflected within the Japanese Communist Party, and has not yet produced a major international impact in the world. However, judging from the overall situation of the international communist movement, his theoretical exploration undoubtedly deserves attention and discussion on the basis of Marxism. This is because, in the 21 st century, both for the developed capitalist countries and for the developing countries, the goals of their social development will undoubtedly produce tremendous changes that have never been experienced in history, and it is the responsibility of Marxist theoretical workers to predict and answer this.
exegesis:
[1] [Japanese] Tetsuzo Bubu: "On the Breakthrough Point in the Theory of the Party Program", Publication Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Japan, 2005 edition, p. 109.
[2] [Japanese] Tetsuzo Bu bao: "On the Future Society of Reading the Party Program", Study, No. 5, 2018.
[3] [Japanese] Tetsuzo Bu bao: "Reading the Future Social Theory of the Party Program", Study, No. 7, 2018.
[4] [Japanese] "Marxism and the World of the 21st Century", Marxist Studies, No. 9, 2006.
[5] [Japanese] Tetsuzo No.3: "Reading the Future Social Theory of the Party Program", Study, No. 5, 2018.
[6] Zheng Ping, "The Research Method of the Japanese Communist Party on Scientific Socialism: A Visit to former Chairman of the Japanese Communist Party, Tetsuzo Bubutsu," China Social Science Daily, June 10, 2010.
[7] [Japanese] Tetsuzo Bu bao: "On the Future Society of Reading the Party Program", Study, No. 5, 2018.
[8] [Japanese] Tetsuzo Bu: "Reading the Future Social Theory of the Party Program", Study, No. 7, 2018.
[9] [Japanese] Tetsuzo Bu bao: "On the Future Society of Reading the Party Program", Study, No. 5, 2018.
[10] [Japanese] Tetsuzo Bu bao: "TheOry of The Future Society of Reading the Party Program", Study, No. 5, 2018.
[11] Editor-in-Chief of Yu Keping Series and Editor-in-Chief of Zhu Yansheng Fascicle: Documents on the Rules and Regulations of Major Political Parties in the World: Japan, Central Compilation and Publishing House, 2016, p. 439.
[12] [Japanese] Tetsuzo Bu bao: "TheOry of the Future Society of Reading the Party Program", Study, No. 5, 2018.
[13] Revised part of the program of the Japanese Communist Party, Red Flag Daily, November 6, 2019, http://www.jcp.or.jp/akahata/aik19/2019-11-06/2019110614_01_0.html.
(Author: Zheng Ping, Associate Researcher, Institute of Marxism, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Source: World Socialist Studies, No. 12, 2019)