Cadre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses of the term, see Cadre (disambiguation).
Cadre (from the French; pronounced /kɑdʀ/, CAH-dray) are the backbone of an organization, usually a political organization. The assumption of the cadre model is that this small core of ultra-committed people are capable of recreating the organization's structure and ideological direction even if the current organizational form has been destroyed and all other members have been killed or imprisoned.
Radical Left movements in particular have maintained their minimum program of survival and growth very effectively through the strength of a cadre system. Basic success within a movement in which cadre are the vanguard comes when one core of cadre has gradually recruited and trained another group of cadre to ensure the perpetuation of the movement. This, in theory, both strengthens the movement politically and promotes a culture of emulation over that of competition.
