Bulletins and News Discussion from February 12th to February 18th, 2024 - The Prodigal Failson - COTW: Brazil

A ghost is haunting the Alps – the specter of communism? The Swiss must have felt something like this in the past few weeks. In cities like Basel, Bern and Zurich, but also in smaller towns, posters repeatedly appeared asking whether one was a communist. If you answer this question in the affirmative, you should contact the group behind the campaign. Responsible for this is the Trotskyist organization “The Funke,” which is a section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) and claims to have members in more than 40 countries. The special thing about Switzerland is that the Funke is the largest association of Trotskyists and has a certain anchoring, especially in the university towns. But what kind of group is it exactly?

The organization was founded in 2007 and, according to its own statements, sees itself as a “Marxist movement within the Jusos and the trade unions”. It pursues the strategy of entrism, that is, working (openly or secretly) in reformist parties and organizations. While she hardly works in the Social Democratic Party (SP), her focus is on the Young Socialists (Jusos), who act independently of the SP. In some cantons, including Thurgau, the Trotskyists also temporarily formed the presidium and board of the Jusos. This was not always well received within the Federal Executive Board of the Jusos, who saw it as “infiltration.” The aim of the Funk was always to recruit “cadres” for its organization in order to build a “revolutionary party”. This goal now appears to have been achieved. As the Trotskyists announced in a statement on January 29, they wanted to create an independent party: the Revolutionary Communist Party (RKP).

They emphasize the end of the “relative stability of Swiss capitalism” and the failure of the “SP and the union leadership,” which could no longer offer any prospects for working people. They see the climate and women's strikes as essential to this development, which brought "the question of revolution to the table." Since the Gaza War began on October 7, 2023, Palestine solidarity has also played a role. The organization also plays a role that should not be underestimated. So it is no longer a question of if, but when the revolution will begin. But the Funke is not only against capitalism, but also against the “crimes of Stalinism” and against so-called identity politics. He describes these as “divisive poison” and is particularly against “quotas, safe spaces and gender language”. With this attitude he is also relatively isolated in the Trotskyist spectrum. It remains to be seen whether he can also overcome the demanded lifting of the "isolation" of the "thousands of atomized communists" who are supposedly just waiting for a "fighting organization."

The Funke sees the Bolsheviks, especially Lenin and Trotsky, as role models. Caspar Oertli, a leading member of the organization, emphasized to the bourgeois Neue Zürcher Zeitung on February 9th that they were taking the lead to form “communist cells.” Although the population of the Alpine republic is not yet ready for communism, the "potential" is very great: "We are not the ones who wait, but the ones who fight." The Funke currently has around 300 members, pending the official founding conference on May 10th to 12th there should be 500. Whether the RKP will lead the revolution is anyone's guess.

The revolutionary movement in Switzerland was always relatively weak. The ambitions are definitely huge, even if they are a little too convinced of themselves: "Only the IMT has the potential." All other revolutionary organizations would "sleepwalk and sink into pessimism." The class struggle will definitely break out in Switzerland too - will the RKP become part of it? Let's see.