Basically, reform as tactics (tools), revolution as strategy (goal). Economic and Political Strikes is a short text that touches on this. This is why effective ML parties nowadays (like KKE) participate in the spontaneous struggles for reforms, while never losing sight of the revolution.
Applying this to Mamdani, his government could be a great moment to push for reforms from the left by organising, and intensify class conflict whenever his reforms get pushback from the ruling classes. That is, use the struggle for reforms (in housing, childcare, “Israel” relations, migration) as a tool to exercise the political power of the working class, which eventually might grow to be able to topple the regime.
So yeah, revolutionaries shouldn’t shun reforms, they just shouldn’t be reformists and treat them as the end all be all.
Edit: also, and this could be controversial here, but I believe communists should get ready to critically support Mamdani when necessary against reaction, rather than throwing out the baby with the bathwater. It’s a tough balancing act.
Applying this to Mamdani, his government could be a great moment to push for reforms from the left by organising, and intensify class conflict whenever his reforms get pushback from the ruling classes.
The key to this is supporting Mamdani’s more radical reforms (i.e. those that genuinely help the working class) while not supporting the Democratic party and its institutions. Support “Mamdani the Radical Reformer” and “Mamdani the Agitator”, not “Mamdani the Democrat”.
As communists we must maintain our own independent political organizations that are unapologetically led by the working class and for the working class, and which exist wholly outside of the bourgeois parties. Anything less is entryism and doomed to fail. First and foremost this should be seen as an opportunity for agitation and propaganda, for showing workers what they can demand and what they can achieve through organizing outside of bourgeois structures.
Basically, reform as tactics (tools), revolution as strategy (goal). Economic and Political Strikes is a short text that touches on this. This is why effective ML parties nowadays (like KKE) participate in the spontaneous struggles for reforms, while never losing sight of the revolution.
Applying this to Mamdani, his government could be a great moment to push for reforms from the left by organising, and intensify class conflict whenever his reforms get pushback from the ruling classes. That is, use the struggle for reforms (in housing, childcare, “Israel” relations, migration) as a tool to exercise the political power of the working class, which eventually might grow to be able to topple the regime.
So yeah, revolutionaries shouldn’t shun reforms, they just shouldn’t be reformists and treat them as the end all be all.
Edit: also, and this could be controversial here, but I believe communists should get ready to critically support Mamdani when necessary against reaction, rather than throwing out the baby with the bathwater. It’s a tough balancing act.
The key to this is supporting Mamdani’s more radical reforms (i.e. those that genuinely help the working class) while not supporting the Democratic party and its institutions. Support “Mamdani the Radical Reformer” and “Mamdani the Agitator”, not “Mamdani the Democrat”.
As communists we must maintain our own independent political organizations that are unapologetically led by the working class and for the working class, and which exist wholly outside of the bourgeois parties. Anything less is entryism and doomed to fail. First and foremost this should be seen as an opportunity for agitation and propaganda, for showing workers what they can demand and what they can achieve through organizing outside of bourgeois structures.