Analytical Errors of the Kampuchean Communist Party

Abstract

O N SEPTEMBER 27 1977, Pol Pot presented a long report to a Meeting to Commemorate 17th Anniversary of Founding of Communist Party of Kampuchea during which he officially revealed for first time existence of Kampuchean Communist Party (KCP) and reviewed history of revolution. While no one was surprised at revelation, speech is important nevertheless, for it presents most comprehensive statement available of how KCP had analyzed Khmer society, history, and its own success in achieving political power. In this report, Kampuchean history is presented in Stalinist mode: a period of primitive communism was followed by a stage of slavery, then feudalism, then capitalism, until KCP victory ushered in period of socialism. Many Western marxists would reject such a rigid typology as anti-historical, distorting specific structures of Khmer society by forcing it onto Procrustean bed of a general model whose utility was dubious at best. Pol Pot used model to make point that, at each historical moment of major change between stages, exploited classes did not succeed in eliminating exploitation because of the absence of a correct political line to direct struggle.' In most recent, feudal-capitalist era, struggle for national independence failed, according to Pol Poteven armed revolutionary struggle. What is reason? he asked. The lessons acquired at price of blood of our people in history of its valiant struggle teach us that absence of a correct and discerning (juste et clairevoyante) line to guide it in its revolutionary struggle is reason for successive failures of our people.2