The long march through the institutions
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The long march through the institutions (der lange Marsch durch die Institutionen) is a slogan coined by student activist Rudi Dutschke to describe his strategy for establishing the conditions for revolution: subverting society by infiltrating institutions such as the professions. The phrase "long march" is a reference to the prolonged struggle of the Chinese communists, which included a physical Long March of their army across China.
Influences
The main influence on Dutschke's thinking is commonly thought to be the work of Italian communist Antonio Gramsci who, while imprisoned by Mussolini, wrote about cultural hegemony and the need for a "war of position" to establish the conditions for a revolutionary "war of manoeuvre". Degroot also identifies Ernst Bloch as a major influence. Bloch met Dutschke at Bad Boll in 1968 and admired his integrity and determination – qualities which he had written about in Das Prinzip Hoffnung (The Principle of Hope) as being essential for the achievement of utopia.
Herbert Marcuse corresponded with Dutschke in 1971 to agree with this strategy, "Let me tell you this: that I regard your notion of the 'long march through the institutions' as the only effective way..." In his 1972 book, Counterrevolution and Revolt, Marcuse wrote
- To extend the base of the student movement, Rudi Dutschke has proposed the strategy of the long march through the institutions: working against the established institutions while working within them, but not simply by 'boring from within', rather by 'doing the job', learning (how to program and read computers, how to teach at all levels of education, how to use the mass media, how to organize production, how to recognize and eschew planned obsolescence, how to design, et cetera), and at the same time preserving one's own consciousness in working with others.
Outcome
As a result of the conditions after the Second World War, including the baby boom, the Cold War and the sexual revolution, a counter culture developed in the 1960s which culminated in the protests of 1968. That young generation then became established in the institutions of society which then reflected their views but, in western societies, this did not immediately result in full-scale revolution.
See also
