Browderism refers to the variant of Marxism–Leninism developed in the 1940s by American communist politician Earl Browder, who led the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) from 1930 to 1945. Characterized by deviations from orthodox Marxist–Leninist policies and principles, it sought to revise Marxism to align the party with mainstream American politics and present events; this involved incorporating Americanism and its nationalist values into the party's message, shifting away from the revolutionary socialism previously touted by the CPUSA. Moreover, Browderism rejected class conflict entirely, instead advocating for class collaboration with the bourgeosie under a popular front.
Browderism served as the ideological line of the CPUSA's platform from 1942 until Browder's expulsion from the party in 1945. It was controversial for its revisionism in the communist world, both domestically within the party and internationally following the publication of the Duclos letter, which attacked the ideology. Following Browder's expulsion, a snap election held in July re-elected William Z. Foster as party leader. As a Stalinism, Foster reverted the party to traditional Marxism–Leninism. The influence of Browderism waned in the party's ideology, as under the leadership of Gus Hall, attempts to recreate a new popular front and align its aims with American circumstances under Bill of Rights socialism; however, these efforts were removed from Browderism, which has since been scrutinized by Anti-revisionism.
History
Beginning of Browder's leadership
Earl Browder became General Secretary of the Communist Party USA in 1930, and served as the party's unilateral leader and public face throughout his leadership—coinciding with the
Great Depression and presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The CPUSA's initial hostility to the
New Deal resembled the theory of
social fascism, attacking Roosevelt's policies in their 1934 manifesto while claiming Roosevelt's program to be "in political essence and direction ... the same" as that of
Adolf Hitler. Browder clarified in a 1933 pamphlet on social fascism that
fascism in general was “the dictatorship of finance capital”, and therefore Roosevelt and Hitler were the same in how “both are executives of finance capital”. Browder also attacked the Socialist Party of America (SPA) and its 1932 presidential nominee
Norman Thomas, accusing him of "covering up the class character of democracy by contrasting it with fascist dictatorship as if capitalist rule were not the essence of both", as well as "absolving the capitalist class of its fascist terror and making it appear as a measure of
self-defense against Communist
provocation." Yet in 1935, coinciding with the 7th World Congress of the Comintern endorsing the
popular front strategy, Browder in turn endorsed the New Deal, and described the political situation as "progress or reaction, democracy or fascism."
While Browder continued to serve as the Communist nominee for the 1936 and 1940 presidential elections, he gave a public speech on January 6, 1935, outlining an alliance with the SPA. Browder formally proposed a large-scale united front between the two parties, recognizing how Thomas acknowledged specific issues for cooperation. Within the American Left, such an alliance was endorsed by The New Republic, arguing that a broad anti-fascist platform meant "agreeing with Mr. Browder that common action is imperative and that the way to unite is to unite; and with Mr. Thomas that the way to begin is on specific issues." Browder also sought to form new mass organizations to unite communists with other progressive forces, including the American League Against War and Fascism in 1933, and the Psychologists League and League of American Writers, both in 1935.
Americanism and World War II
As this popular front strategy progressed leading up to World War II, Browder further de-emphasized Marxist rhetoric by utilizing American patriotism to appeal to a broader audience in U.S. politics. This coincided with Comintern policy under
Joseph Stalin, which still supported the popular front strategy worldwide up until the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the beginning of World War II. Due to the undermining of the Soviet Union's
Anti-fascism reputation, the CPUSA's ranks and recruitment numbers diminished. Browder was imprisoned in 1941; following his early release a year later, he returned to the general secretary position strongly in support of the American war effort, contrasted by the accusations of "imperialist war" the party had previously made. This led to the brief end of
class conflict and beginning of class collaboration in Browder prioritizing the popular front in the party's appeal above all else. These tendencies of Browderism, emphasizing an uncompromising popular front and aim to popularise the party with Americans culminated in 1944, when the CPUSA was officially dissolved for a short time and was restructured into the Communist Political Association (CPA). This decision from Browder, though receiving unanimous support from the National Committee as a constitutional convention for the new organization was planned for May 1944, there was bitter opposition to this change in the form of the Foster-Darcy letter, co-signed by CPUSA factional rival William Z. Foster and Philadelphia District Organizer Samuel Adams Darcy. Limited circulation of the letter was tolerated within the party leadership, but it would later lead to Darcy's expulsion by a CPA committee headed by Foster, who submitted to party discipline as emphasized by Browder.
Fallout and decline
Following the Tehran Conference in 1943, Browder hoped for the alliance between the Allied powers to continue after the war in peaceful coexistence, yet with the beginning of the
Cold War and
McCarthyism, Browderism became open to scrutiny.
Jacques Duclos, Comintern member and leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) published an article in the party's theoretical magazine,
Les Cahiers du communisme, attacking Browder's positions in what became known as the "Duclos letter". Quoting the Foster-Darcy letter, Duclos criticized Browder's beliefs about a harmonious post-war world as "erroneous conclusions in no wise flowing from a Marxist analysis of the situation", and that liquidating the CPUSA constituted a "notorious revision of Marxism". In retrospect, the article was found by historians
Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes and Kyrill M. Anderson to have already been written in Russian and initiated by Moscow, after they determined post-war relations would become hostile. With the end of the
Pacific War, Duclos was instructed to publish the article under his own name.
The article had major consequences for Browderism (sealing Browder's fate within the party) and the American communist movement, as the article had circulated worldwide among Comintern officials. The Communist Party USA was re-established at a snap election in July 1945, and Browder was removed from his position as general secretary, with Foster, who led the effort against Browderism, appointed as chairman and Eugene Dennis appointed as general secretary. Browder remained in the party, continuing to espouse Browderism in the form of Distributors Guide: Economic Analysis: A Service for Policy Makers, a weekly newsletter outlining his own vision for Soviet–American relations in contrast to the unfolding Cold War. This was considered to breach party discipline, and Browder was formally expelled from the CPUSA on February 5, 1946.
Legacy within the CPUSA
Browder died in June 1973. At this point, the Communist Party USA was under the leadership of
Gus Hall, Browderism was fully removed from the party platform, as the party remained committed to orthodox Marxism–Leninism. However, within Hall's policies, there were similarities with Browderism. This included a brief attempt to forge a "broad people's political movement", aligning the CPUSA in a new popular front with the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam War movement to amass support among
baby boomers. This would've tied the CPUSA, a by-product of the
Old Left, with the New Left, yet was unsuccessful. Hall also coined the term "Bill of Rights socialism", advocating for socialist ideals to be incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. However, Hall did not cite Browderism as inspiration for these policies, as there are notable differences which reflect a different era, particularly as Hall was more restrained when deviating from orthodoxy, being a committed Soviet ally. Joseph C. Mouledous noted how Hall advocated in 1961 for a
united front policy, allying with different groups around certain political issues. Moreover, Hall stressed elsewhere the party's necessity not to take over such organizations, which Mouledous attributed to how "the dangers of the united-front policy were made manifest during the Browder period, when the Party dissolved itself."
Components
Popular front
Browderism supports the organization of a
popular front, an alliance of socialists with liberals and progressives in opposition to
fascism. This strategy was adopted by the Comintern from 1934 until the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939, with examples of popular front governments briefly holding power in the 1930s including Spain, France and Chile. Browder's push for such a broad
Anti-fascism coalition was due to the rise of fascism in Europe and the popularity of the
New Deal, which Browder was initially hostile to, but then came to seek an alliance with the New Dealers, despite orders from Moscow in September 1939 to oppose Roosevelt, leading to conflict within the CPUSA.
Class conflict and collaboration
Under Browderism, the need for
class conflict against the
bourgeosie by the
proletariat was de-prioritized and downplayed by the necessity for as broad a popular front as possible. This evolved into class collaboration, where distinctions between socioeconomic classes were put aside in favor of cooperation for an underlying goal, feeding into the need to resist fascism during World War II, as Browder justified in his 1942 book
Victory and After. Browder's leadership made use of softer rhetoric more in line with terms used by the Roosevelt administration, such as "economic royalism".
Americanism and internationalism
Browder utilized Americanism to promote the CPUSA's platform in accordance with traditional values of
liberty and republicanism. This was exemplified by a
New Masses article in June 1935, where Browder positioned communism as part of the American revolutionary tradition:
According to American historian Wendy L. Wall in her 2008 book Inventing the "American Way", this association of communism with American patriotic values contrasts future Anti-communism interpretations of Americanism, as it was evoked during the Cold War.
Despite this nationalist alignment, Browderism continued to support internationalism and active participation in international relations. This informed its rejection of non-interventionism during World War II, with Browder supporting Roosevelt moving away from isolationism in the wake of increasing tensions amid the rise of fascism in Europe.
Racial integration
The Browderist approach to
race relations was unique within the CPUSA's history of strong relations with African Americans. According to Mouledous, the CPA diverged from the
Leninism principle of self-determination for African Americans, instead advocating for social integration; Browder cited World War II as the opportunity, writing in 1944 for the
Communist that "the immediate achievement in this period, under the present American system, of complete equality for the Negroes, has been made possible by the war as a peoples' war of national liberation." Mouledous argues this approach amounted to class collaboration based on progressive tendencies.
International influence
Browderism achieved a brief layer of international support for its ideas of class collaboration, particularly in the
countries of
Colombia,
Cuba and
Venezuela:
Colombia
Under the leadership of Augusto Durán, the Colombian Communist Party (PCC) was renamed as the 'Socialist Democratic Party' (which they formerly considered to be "somewhat of an insult") and committed itself to a popular front. The United States Department of State—recognizing the similar approach of the Communist Political Association—speculated that the 1943 dissolution of the Comintern would have led to the party being absorbed into that front. Similarly to the CPUSA's support for Roosevelt under Browder, Durán led the PCC's support of liberal Colombian president Alfonso López Pumarejo, and would later be criticized at the Communist Unity Congress in July 1946 following the Duclos letter.
Cuba
The Popular Socialist Party (PSP) adopted its own Browderist position on class collaboration with the publication of
Colaboración entre Obreros y Patronos by , PSP executive member and general secretary of the Confederación de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC). Based on a speech he gave to the National Association of Industrialists (ANIC), Peña argued that such collaboration between employees and employers was in Cuba's national economic interests following WWII. Upon the Duclos letter's publication, the PSP—along with the PCC—censured Duclos in the Venezuelan communist newspaper
¡Aquí Está!. The PSP claimed that Latin America's underdeveloped conditions justified their communist movements' collaboration with the national bourgeoisie as an "
Anti-imperialism alliance" which didn't apply to the U.S. However, during Foster's address to the PSP's 3rd National Assembly in January 1946, Browderism was formally repudiated by the party.
United Kingdom
Outside of Latin America, Browderist influence in the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was partly a grassroots effort by the CPUSA, with Browder sending
New Masses editor Joseph North to London to attend a World Federation of Trade Unions founding conference in February 1945 to advocate for its policies. A statement from the CPGB's leadership claimed that "advocates for the Browder line for Britain, including some enthusiastic adherents from the United States and other countries" supported the party's liquidation, akin to that of the CPUSA in 1944. Additionally, the party's response to the Duclos letter caused similar debate in Latin America as to whether its condemnation of Browderism was applicable to them.
During its 18th Congress in November 1945, the CPGB criticized Browderism, yet in contrast to the Latin American examples, denied any notion that the ideology had significantly infiltrated party ranks. General secretary Harry Pollitt—a Stalinist—argued in his political report to the congress that Browder's proposals "assumed a basic change in the character of imperialism, denied its reactionary role, and held out a long-term perspective of harmonious capitalist development and class peace after the war, both for the United States and the world." Furthermore, Pollitt justified the CPGB's favorable portrayal of the CPUSA during the Browderist period as informed by camaraderie amid anti-communist political attacks, and that:
Historian Neil Redfern challenges Pollitt's portrayal of events by noting how his "theses had not been essentially significantly different from Browder's ideas", pointing to Pollitt's revisionist position on war as an example. Furthermore, trade unionist Arthur Horner claimed in 1960 that, in retrospect, certain party members sympathised with de-prioritizing class conflict.
Venezuela
According to Steve Ellner, Juan Bautista Fuenmayor—elected general secretary of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) at the 1st National Conference in August 1937—pursued a similar position to the CPUSA's liquidation into the CPA. In 1945, his pamphlet
The Role of the Working Class and Communists in the Current Era argued for a "party of a new type" to form, uniting progressives around the then-clandestine party. Fuenmayor justified this course of action by alluding to "demagogic organizations" opportunistically appealing to the socialist identity themselves; this likely referred to Democratic Action, whose reformist politics Fuenmayor sought to confront during his tenure.
While publishing the Colombian and Cuban censures of the Duclos letter in ¡Aquí Está!, the PCV debated whether they should likewise publicly denounce it, with concerns that Browder was hindered in adequately responding against Duclos' charges. During the Communist Unity Congress, dissidents from the United Venezuelan Communist Party (PCVU) attacked the party's close association with Browderist policies, including Pompeyo Márquez. Rodolfo Quintero opposed the re-entry of former Browderists from the former PCV leadership, declaring that "we have been fed the excrement of Browderism from Cuba."
Criticism
Unlike other variants of Marxism–Leninism like
Maoism and
Hoxhaism, Browderism has not retained relevance within American communist politics, and its international influence was predominantly confined to the 1940s. It has, in retrospect, been criticized by
Anti-revisionism, a position within Marxism–Leninism which remains ideologically committed to Stalinism. Anti-revisionists argued that Browderism was indicative of American exceptionalism, as if the circumstances of class conflict didn't apply to the U.S. Furthermore, they argued that the broad popular front Browderism envisioned subordinated the CPUSA to the interests of the bourgeosie via the Democratic Party, and that the threat of fascism used as justification was non-existent. During the Sino-Soviet split, the editorial departments of the
People's Daily and
Red Flag claimed the revisionism of Nikita Khrushchev can be traced back to Browderism, even calling Khrushchev "a disciple of Browder".
Within the CPUSA, John Gates called Browderism "a valuable instrument in the hands of U.S. imperialism in its plans for world war and counter-revolution." Claudia Jones was critical of the Browderist political line on race relations as "strengthening ... bourgeois nationalism among the Negro people and ... undue reliance on the Negro reformist leadership." Today, the party has remained critical of Browderism; in a 2020 article, the party called its ideas "opportunistic" and the result of communist parties' "theoretical confusion and their abandonment of core principles and core working-class constituencies".
See also
Notes
Further reading
