2 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
becoming a war to decide the future of the whole of Central America. For imperialism, the stakes are high; it is about to unleash a large-scale war, reminiscent of the Vietnam war, in that part of the world.
The implications of these two crucial developments are examined in the current issue. Sujit Dutta, in the lead article, explores the background of the guerrilla struggle in El Salvador, contrasts its strategic perspective with the "foco" theory of an earlier period, and analyses its implications for the future of Central America, a region spreading all the way from the Caribbean to the southern border of Mexico. Raja Mohan, in his article on the neutron bomb, draws attention to its specific significance, why it should be taken seriously as portending the possibility of an actual unleashing of war on the socialist countries by U S imperialism. To say all this of course is not to claim that war is inevitable and that nothing can be done to prevent it. But the prevention of war requires a determined struggle against imperialist war plans, and for carrying out such a struggle one has to take the war plans seriously, instead of retaining the fond belief that nothing has really changed, that the present is qualitatively no different from the past, and that some people are only crying wolf as they habitually do. We recommend these two articles to our readers for careful scrutiny.
The deepening economic and political crisis in our own country has been accompanied by a spate of savage communal riots. Zoya Hasan, in her article, explores the socio-economic basis of commu-nalism as well as of the milieu which produces such violent riots. Drawing a distinction between communal ideology and consciousness, communal politics and communal violence, she argues that while communal ideology and consciousness is rooted in the pre-capitalist -socio-economic structure which survives in our country, thanks to the compromise entered into by the bourgeoisie, it is strengthened by the tardy and uneven nature of capitalist development. The ruling class parties utilize this ideology to make political appeals along communal lines; different sections of the ruling classes utilize this communal politics to advance their particular interests; and the ruling classes as a whole utilize communal ideology and politics to keep the toiling masses divided. It is this milieu which produces recurrent communal riots. Particularly noteworthy in her article is the examination of the concrete background of a number of communal riots. We hope that her analysis will provoke a discussion on this vital issue in the pages of our journal.
Bourgeois ideology attempts perpertually to invade the ranks of the working class, and this is particularly true of bourgeois philosophy. Philosophical struggle therefore is a vital element of theoretical struggle. A number of philosophical currents alien to Marxism, ranging from positivism to existentialism, have not only enjoyed a certain vogue, but have even made inroads into the Marxist camp.