Che Guevara: His Revolutionary Legacy

by Olivier Besancenot, Michael Löwy, James Membrez

“Deep inside that T-shirt where we have tried to trap him,” notes the celebrated Chilean novelist Ariel Dorfman, “the eyes of Che Guevara are still burning with impatience.” Olivier Besancenot and Michael Löwy deftly capture this burning impatience, revealing Guevara as a powerful political and ethical thinker still capable of speaking directly to the challenges of our time.
In this masterful new study, Besancenot and Löwy explore and situate Guevara’s ethical, revolutionary, and humanist legacy. They explicate Guevara’s emphasis on the import of the individual coming to understand and accept socialism at a personal level. For Guevara, Besancenot and Löwy show, the revolutionary project demands more than a transformation of the mode of production; it demands a profound transformation of the individual, the birth of what Guevara termed the “new man.” Besancenot and Löwy also explore Guevara’s pragmatic approach to the question of state power and unique theoretical contributions to the question of the transition to socialism.
In Guevara, Besancenot and Löwy find a life that was lived as an example of revolutionary potential. Guevara’s ethical and political sensibilities, unwavering anti-imperialism, and firm commitment to revolutionary social transformation still ignite hope in all who struggle for a better world.

Genres: Politics

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2007

Reviews

[David Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivier Besancenot’s and Michael Löwy’s Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Legacy is a welcome attempt to go beyond the chic Che and to recreate a usable past — a revolutionary socialist legacy based on the life and ideas of Che Guevara. The authors are, respectively, a French trade union militant and presidential candidate for the revolutionary left, and a leading Marxist theorist and writer on both European and Latin American revolutionary traditions. For the authors a key to Che Guevara’s legacy is an appreciation of his anti-Stalinism. The rediscovery and restoration of Che’s true legacy can be of enormous benefit to the reconstruction of a revolutionary left today. As the authors sum up, “Many claim that the flame of our hopes was extinguished with the demise of the tragic and bloody experience known as ‘real socialism.’ We respond: an ember still burns — the communism of Che Guevara.” Highly recommended.

[Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tries to attribute to Che politics that Che did not espouse, and which by his actions he clearly did not agree with. Truly frustrating read. Mercifully short. Second book like this that I have read from Monthly Review Press -- seems to be a hit-or-miss operation in the book publishing department.

[Ahmad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different insight on Guevara that tries not to be biased.

[James Renaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Necessary book to read for anyone looking to delve deeper than the icon of Che, his views on “real socialism”, anti-bureaucracy and formulating a more humanitarian socialism for the people.

[Ramin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. There have been many myths and cults about Che, and the authors do a great job of describing the actual events in Che's life, as well as criticizing the limitations of his experience and his shortcomings. Che had strong ideals, and he was willing to fight and even die for them, but he was (usually) not naive, and definitely not suicidal. He was also a doctor, with a passionate desire to help people whenever possible.

They discuss the influences on Che in his youth. For example, he supported Arbenz in Guatemala, who was leftist and democratic, but also pacifist, and did not fight against the CIA-organized coup. Perhaps this experience helped him prepare for the Bay of Pigs invasion years later.

They also discuss Che's intellectual influences. Che did a lot of reading, and in fact one of his Bolivian comrades remarked that his backpack resembled a library as much as an armory. Unlike some other socialists, Che wanted people to develop themselves as well as working together. He was open-minded and always learning, and ultimately everyone learns from their experiences as they work towards a revolution; for Che, socialist revolution is a process, not an event, and it cannot simply be copied from country to country. He tried help build movements in the Congo (after the U.S.- and Belgium-supported coup against Lumumba) and in Bolivia, but ultimately these campaigns failed. Perhaps in Bolivia today, however, Morales's government is to some extent influenced by Che.

There were differences between Che and Fidel and the other Cuban leaders, and importantly, also with the Soviet leadership. He criticized the Soviet "manuals", which dictated ideas rather than discussing them. His criticisms of the Soviets were harsh in a particular speech he gave in Algeria, which may have been the reason why he was no longer seen in public with the rest of the Cuban government. For Che, democracy and discussion are very important, among all people, while bureaucratization and a managerial caste must be avoided.

Finally, the authors discuss movements that were inspired by Che, and how some (but not all) of Che's ideas and experiences are still relevant today. In particular, they mention the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Brazil's Landless Rural Workers' movement, the anti-corporate globalization movement, and others.