First RKP party congress: forward to the world revolution!

On the weekend of 14-16 March, more than 260 delegates and guests gathered in Vienna for the first congress of the Revolutionären Kommunistischen Partei (RKP), the Austrian section of the Revolutionary Communist International. 

Branches of the RKP in the regions of Vienna, Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Upper Austria, Tyrol and Vorarlberg had prepared for the event with intensive discussions. Guests travelled not only from all over Austria, but also from Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, former Yugoslavia, Sweden and Britain.

The whole weekend was imbued with the spirit of internationalism: the debate on Friday began with a presentation on our perspectives for world revolution by Niklas Albin Svensson from the International Secretariat of the RCI. The presentation and discussion highlighted not only the massive upheavals in international relations, with wars and trade wars, but also the germ of a solution – the epochal mass movements in Greece and Serbia show that the working class will not stand idly by and watch as living standards are destroyed.

 

 

 

 

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The discussion on the world situation provided a solid basis for discussing our perspectives for the Austrian revolution on Saturday. This topic was introduced by Emanuel Tomaselli, editor-in-chief of Der Funke, the paper of the RKP. He explained just how dire the situation is for Austrian capitalism. The dependence of this small export-oriented economy on world trade is becoming a millstone amid the epochal change from ‘globalisation’ to trade wars and protectionism.

The working class is supposed to pay the price. The reformists in the labour movement are either helping with this directly (like the Social Democratic Party of Austria), or are acting as a ‘side dish’ to the left-wing liberals and are offering no alternative to austerity or racism (like the Communist Party of Austria). In the discussion, this analysis was deepened and illustrated, and the worsening conditions in factories, schools and universities were highlighted.

The conclusion is clear: the working class needs a party that really wants to overthrow capitalism – and we are building it: the RKP. Since the party was founded in autumn, we have been energetically doing this. In spring, the RKP is focussing its efforts on recruiting communists on university campuses. This was also the focus of the congress on Sunday: after Florian Keller introduced the debate on party building, delegates from all across the country reported on their experiences and successes in party building. 

The party congress was rounded off with an international report assessing the work of the RCI, a discussion on the finances of the revolutionary party (introduced by Martin Halder), as well as voting on the documents prepared for the congress – which detail our perspectives for revolution in Austria, our strategy for building the RKP and a resolution on our work in spring – and the election of the party's Central Committee. On Saturday evening, there was also a workshop on Marxist philosophy and language presented by Yola Kipcak.

The entire congress was characterised by enthusiasm for the goal of achieving socialism in our lifetime, which is fed by a deep understanding of the ideas of Marxism, our perspectives and our tasks. This was evident, among other things, from the fact that participants continued to discuss and exchange experiences late into the evening – but also from the fact that over €6,000 of communist literature and merchandise was sold. The first congress of the RKP was a great success and an important step forward in preparing the Austrian working class for the great events to come!