Rajani Palme Dutt
Encyclopedia
Rajani Palme Dutt best known as R. Palme Dutt, was a leading journalist
and theoretician
in the Communist Party of Great Britain
.
in Cambridge, England. His father, Upendra Dutt, was an Indian
surgeon
, his mother Anna Palme Dutt was Swedish
. Anna Palme Dutt was a great aunt of the future Prime Minister of Sweden Olof Palme
.
Dutt was educated at The Perse School
, Cambridge and Balliol College
, Oxford
, where he obtained a first class degree in classics after having been suspended for a time due to his status as a conscientious objector
in World War I
.
Dutt married an Estonian
, Salme Murrik
, the sister of Finnish-Estonian writer politician Hella Wuolijoki
, in 1922. His wife had come to Great Britain
in 1920 as a representative of the Communist International.
, a left wing statistical bureau, in 1919. The following year, he joined the newly formed Communist Party of Great Britain
(CPGB) and in 1921 founded a monthly magazine called Labour Monthly
, a publication which he edited until his death.
In 1922, Dutt was named the editor of the CPGB's weekly newspaper, The Workers' Weekly
.
Dutt was on the Executive Committee of the CPGB from 1923 until 1965 and was the party's chief theorist for many years.
Dutt first visited Soviet Russia
in 1923, where he attended deliberations of the Executive Committee of the Communist International
(ECCI) relating to the British movement. He was elected an alternate to the ECCI Presidium in 1924.
Following an illness in 1925 which forced him to stand down as editor of Workers' Weekly, Dutt spent several years in Belgium
and Sweden
as a representative of the Comintern. He also played an important role for the Comintern
by supervising the Communist Party of India
for some years.
Palme Dutt was loyal to the Soviet Union
and to communist ideals. In 1939, when the CPGB General Secretary Harry Pollitt
supported the United Kingdom's entry into World War II
, it was Palme Dutt who promoted Stalin's line, forcing Pollitt's temporary resignation. As a result, he became the party's General Secretary until Pollitt was reappointed in 1941.
In his book Fascism and Social Revolution a scathing criticism and analysis of fascism is presented with a study of the rise of fascism in Germany, Italy and other countries. He called fascism a violent authoritarian, ultra nationalist, and irrational theory. In his own words: "Fascism is antithetical to everything of substance within the liberal tradition."
A critic of his book notes that "Students of fascism cannot understand the phenomena without reading R. Palme Dutt's classic, Fascism and Social Revolution. Dutt's genius was his ability to apply the basic principles of Marxist political economy to the European economic and political crisis of the late 20s and early and mid-30s, when the book was written. Dutt was prescient enough to understand the crisis of overproduction which propelled the growth of fascism in Europe, including Germany and Italy. He also understood that the resolution of the economic crisis would inevitably lead to war, and that war would not only lead to the destruction of the capital responsible for excess production, but also of "excess" population. When the book was written, in 1936, he noted that the crisis of overproduction was responsible for the destruction of food, but would eventually escalate to the destruction of people. More precisely he noted that "Now they are burning food, soon they (capital) will be burning people. Some argue that this comment was one of the earliest and most precise predictions of the Holocaust."
After Stalin's death, Palme Dutt's reaction to Khrushchev
's Secret Speech downplayed its significance, with Dutt arguing that Stalin's "sun" unsurprisingly contained some "spots". A hardliner within the CPGB, he disagreed with its criticisms of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
in 1968 and opposed the CPGB's increasingly Eurocommunist line in the 1970s, retiring from his party positions, although remaining a member until his death in 1974.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and theoretician
Theoretician (Marxism)
A theoretician is a term from the vernacular of Marxism relating to an individual who observes and writes about the condition or dynamics of society, history, or economics, making use of the main principles of Marxian socialism in the analysis....
in the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
.
Early years
Rajani Palme Dutt was born 19 June 1896 on Mill RoadMill Road, Cambridge
Mill Road is a street in southeast Cambridge, England. It runs southeast from near to Parker's Piece, at the junction with Gonville Place, East Road, and Parkside. It crosses the main railway line and links to the city's ring road . It passes through the wards of Petersfield and Romsey, which are...
in Cambridge, England. His father, Upendra Dutt, was an Indian
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
, his mother Anna Palme Dutt was Swedish
Swedes
Swedes are a Scandinavian nation and ethnic group native to Sweden, mostly inhabiting Sweden and the other Nordic countries, with descendants living in a number of countries.-Etymology:...
. Anna Palme Dutt was a great aunt of the future Prime Minister of Sweden Olof Palme
Olof Palme
Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
.
Dutt was educated at The Perse School
The Perse School
The Perse Upper School is an independent secondary co-educational day school in Cambridge, England. The school was founded in 1615 by Dr Stephen Perse, a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and has existed on several different sites in the city before its present home on Hills...
, Cambridge and Balliol College
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he obtained a first class degree in classics after having been suspended for a time due to his status as a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Dutt married an Estonian
Estonians
Estonians are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. They speak a Finnic language known as Estonian...
, Salme Murrik
Salme Dutt
Salme Dutt was an Estonian-born British communist politician, wife of Rajani Palme Dutt.The Finnish-Estonian author Hella Wuolijoki was her elder sister...
, the sister of Finnish-Estonian writer politician Hella Wuolijoki
Hella Wuolijoki
Hella Wuolijoki was a Finnish writer of Estonian origin, known for her Niskavuori series.-Life & career:Wuolijoki was born in Helme, Estonia....
, in 1922. His wife had come to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in 1920 as a representative of the Communist International.
Political career
Dutt joined the Labour Research DepartmentLabour Research Department
The Labour Research Department is an independent trade union based research organisation, based in London, that provides information to support trade union activity and campaigns. LRD's publications Labour Research, Bargaining Report, Fact Service and LRD Booklets, along with an Enquiry Service...
, a left wing statistical bureau, in 1919. The following year, he joined the newly formed Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
(CPGB) and in 1921 founded a monthly magazine called Labour Monthly
Labour Monthly
Labour Monthly was the magazine of the Communist Party of Great Britain .-Authors published:* Alexander BogdanovLabour Monthly was the magazine of the Communist Party of Great Britain .-Authors published:...
, a publication which he edited until his death.
In 1922, Dutt was named the editor of the CPGB's weekly newspaper, The Workers' Weekly
Workers' Weekly
The Workers' Weekly was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Great Britain, established in February of 1923. The publication was succeeded by The Daily Worker in 1930.-Forerunners:...
.
Dutt was on the Executive Committee of the CPGB from 1923 until 1965 and was the party's chief theorist for many years.
Dutt first visited Soviet Russia
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
in 1923, where he attended deliberations of the Executive Committee of the Communist International
Executive Committee of the Communist International
The Executive Committee of the Communist International, commonly known by its acronym, ECCI, was the governing authority of the Comintern between the World Congresses of that body...
(ECCI) relating to the British movement. He was elected an alternate to the ECCI Presidium in 1924.
Following an illness in 1925 which forced him to stand down as editor of Workers' Weekly, Dutt spent several years in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
as a representative of the Comintern. He also played an important role for the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
by supervising the Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...
for some years.
Palme Dutt was loyal to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and to communist ideals. In 1939, when the CPGB General Secretary Harry Pollitt
Harry Pollitt
Harry Pollitt was the head of the trade union department of the Communist Party of Great Britain and the General Secretary of the party for more than 20 years.- Early life :...
supported the United Kingdom's entry into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it was Palme Dutt who promoted Stalin's line, forcing Pollitt's temporary resignation. As a result, he became the party's General Secretary until Pollitt was reappointed in 1941.
In his book Fascism and Social Revolution a scathing criticism and analysis of fascism is presented with a study of the rise of fascism in Germany, Italy and other countries. He called fascism a violent authoritarian, ultra nationalist, and irrational theory. In his own words: "Fascism is antithetical to everything of substance within the liberal tradition."
A critic of his book notes that "Students of fascism cannot understand the phenomena without reading R. Palme Dutt's classic, Fascism and Social Revolution. Dutt's genius was his ability to apply the basic principles of Marxist political economy to the European economic and political crisis of the late 20s and early and mid-30s, when the book was written. Dutt was prescient enough to understand the crisis of overproduction which propelled the growth of fascism in Europe, including Germany and Italy. He also understood that the resolution of the economic crisis would inevitably lead to war, and that war would not only lead to the destruction of the capital responsible for excess production, but also of "excess" population. When the book was written, in 1936, he noted that the crisis of overproduction was responsible for the destruction of food, but would eventually escalate to the destruction of people. More precisely he noted that "Now they are burning food, soon they (capital) will be burning people. Some argue that this comment was one of the earliest and most precise predictions of the Holocaust."
After Stalin's death, Palme Dutt's reaction to Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's Secret Speech downplayed its significance, with Dutt arguing that Stalin's "sun" unsurprisingly contained some "spots". A hardliner within the CPGB, he disagreed with its criticisms of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
in 1968 and opposed the CPGB's increasingly Eurocommunist line in the 1970s, retiring from his party positions, although remaining a member until his death in 1974.
External links
- "Fascism and Social Revolution: A Study of the economics and Politics of the Extreme Stages of Capitalism in Decay" (1934)
- R. Palme Dutt Archive Marxists Internet Archive
- http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/soul.htm Resistance to the Soul : Gandhi and His Critics