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Short history of the world working-classmovement from Lassalle to neoliberalism:The distorting hegemony of theunproductive middle classes - LorenGoldner

1988 text by Loren Goldner on the working classmovement and the "unproductive middle-class".

!ntroductory ote# $ugust %&&&' (he )ollowing essayis a kind o) "thought experiment"# attempting to tracethe career and impact o) the "man o) negation"#ultimately theori*ed by +egel as the ",russianmonarch" who "universally labors" in the realm o) thestate and hence art# philosophy and religion butwhose "labor" does not trans)orm nature# does notengage in what the (heses on euerbach call"sensuous trans)ormative activity". ature )or this)igure was and is what +egel viewed as the realm o)mere repetition# and "boring". +egel/s "universallylaboring" ,russian state bureaucrat is the most

elaborate de)inition o) the social type who ultimatelybecame dominant )or an epoch 180-190 in the"le)t"# counterposed as 2arx put it in the Grundrisseto "the individuality as all-sided in its production as inits consumption# and whose labor no longer appears aslabor# because an historical need has replaced anatural one". (his )igure# ultimately symboli*ed by

erdinand Lassalle# could only thrive in the period


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dominated by the kind o) materialism attacked by2arx in the "(heses on euerbach"# the materialism

)rom anti3uity to euerbach which has notincorporated "the active side developed by idealism"and which "does not understand activity as ob4ective"#a conception which survived long a)ter 2arx. (heinternational era o) the state civil servant in the "le)t"demarcates the era o) the centrality )irst# o) German5ocial 6emocracy Lassalle and# above all# o) the

7ussian revolution and the centrality o) the "7ussian3uestion" )or the international de)inition o) the le)t.(oday# it is possible to see the true meaning o) the"line o) continuity" o) this )igure )rom 1089 to 188to 1910 to 190 the meaning is the evolution o)mercantilism and not o) socialist revolution. (he lineo) continuity is )rom 5t-:ust to ichte to echaev and(chachev to 5talin# 2ao# +o and ,ol ,ot.

";ut as long as the revolution is not achieved# as longas the proletariat does not appropriate the instrumentso) social labor# this remorseless process o)development creates practically a new class o) petty

bourgeoisie. !t is the exact opposite o) the peasant andindividual small capitalist as the modern liberal o)state control is the exact opposite o) the oldindividualistic liberal. !t consists primarily o) theadministrators o) the new sociali*ed economic

structure# which cannot capitalistically exist

without them."


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"=hatever their social origin# whatever theirsub4ective motives# the )act remains that stalinism

)inds this caste o) labor leaders all over the world# inorea# in 5pain# in ;ra*il# everywhere#intellectuals# labor leaders# workers who rise--thecaste grows# changes composition# but it remains asan entity. !t )aces death# undergoes torture# )indsenergy# ingenuity# devotion# establishes a tradition#maintains it# develops it# commits the greatest crimes

with a boldness and con)idence that can only come)rom men who are certain o) their historic mission."ibid.

"$s ! think over (rotsky/s writings ! can see thisse3uence o) cause and e))ect in an endless chain. (his

happened# then the other# then the stalinistbureaucracy did this then and so he keeps up anendless series o) explanations# )ascinating# brilliant#)ull o) insight and illumination# to crash into hiscatastrophic blunders at the end... =e# on the otherhand# who show that stalinist cause could create the

mighty worldwide effect because it elicited class)orces hostile to the proletariat and inherent incapitalist society at this stage in its development# werestore to the proletarian struggle the historicalstruggle o) the classes with social roots. =e )inishaway with the demorali*ing# in )act sel)-destroying#theory that everything would have been all right# but

)or the intervention o) stalinist corruption." ibid.


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The Anglo-French hase: rior to the !efeat ofthe "ommune

(he classical workers/ movement was theinternational movement o) working people thatappeared# )irst in ?ngland and in rance# in theclosing decades o) the 18th century# o)ten in )orms o)struggle di))icult to distinguish )rom the struggles o)artisans and the urban and rural poor. !n the =estern

industrial world o) the second hal) o) the 19th century#it went )rom strength to strength in the )ormation o)mass trade unions and working-class political parties.!t culminated in the period o) its seeminglyunstoppable international hegemony# )romapproximately 189& to 19% during which manyobservers# sympathetic or hostile# considered itstriumph inevitable. (his movement--the classicalworkers/ movement--ended in the period o)reconstruction )rom =orld =ar !!# with its de)eatedhistorical legacy embodied in the "real existingsocialism" o) the ?astern bloc states and the =esterncapitalist wel)are states inspired by its ultimate

paradigm# 5ocial 6emocracy.

!t should be apparent )rom the above that the term"classical workers/ movement" is by no means co-extensive with the working class o) wage laborerswhose numbers continued to expand around the globea)ter =orld =ar !!# and whose remarkable upsurge inthe worldwide wave o) strikes and struggles in the


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years 19@8-190A laid to rest a postwar ideology o) the"integration o) the working class". (he battered

remnants o) the classical workers/ movement persistto this day in the declining trade-union movement andworking-class political parties which moved to centerstage in the late 19th and early %&th centuries#throughout the =estern world. ;ut i) we speak o) a"classical" phase o) the workers/ movement# it is toconnect a certain conception o) it to a speci)ic phase

o) history# roughly 18& to 19. $nd the realitywhich supports this de)inition is the )act that# in therenewal o) working-class struggle in the period 19@8-190A# the organi*ational expressions o) the classicalworkers/ movement were# on the whole# arrayedagainst the radical actions o) the working class. 5uch

divergences had occurred be)ore in history# manytimes# but were perceived as "systemic" only by tinyminorities on the )ringes o) the movement. !t is#however# indispensable today to o))er a theory o) theclassical workers/ movement to show its extent and itslimits. !t is in the context o) an internationalde)inition o) the classical workers/ movement that it

becomes possible to see its o)ten divergent nationalspeci)ics.

(his movement spread throughout the =estern worldwith capitalist industry and social relations# andbecame# in mid-19th century =estern ?urope )irst o)all# the bearer o) a vision superceding capitalist socialrelations# socialism or communism. $s such# it


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emerged )rom the explosion o) the ?uropean "(hird?state"# the liberal movement against the ancien

regime. (his separation o) the classical workers/movement )rom ?uropean liberalism# the appearanceby the late 18A&/s in ;ritain o) the 7icardiansocialists and o) the vision o) a "workers/ state"# wascadenced by the radical phaseso) the rench 7evolution# by the :uly 7evolution o)18A and )inally by the :une days in ,aris# 188.

(his last event# more than any other# created the"specter haunting ?urope# the specter o)communism"# invoked in the preceding year by 2arxand ?ngels in the


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union arm. 5omewhat later# >autsky wrote that theclassical workers/ movement had taken its political

economy )rom ?ngland# its politics )rom rance# andits philosophy )rom Germany# although this wasalready an ideology at odds with 2arx and ?ngels/)ormulation in the


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the "permanent revolution" strategy# a voluntaristabsurdity.

!t is essential to trace this "world line" o) theinternational movement# especially its revolutionarycutting edge# because its history produced thecategories with which most people# until recently#analy*ed its tra4ectory# categories which havein)iltrated our thinking to this day. !) the =estern

revolutionary le)t is patently in crisis# the crisis ispartly one o) the obvious ruins o) an old theoreticalparadigm and the absence o) a new one# to understandboth the present and )uture# which necessarily re3uiresan reinterpretation o) the past.

(he 7ussian 7evolution# in the sel)-conception o) the

;olsheviks# was never understood contrary to thecommon coin in some libertarian and ultra-le)t circlesas a revolution )or the construction o) the later#grotes3ue invention o) 5talin# "socialism in onecountry". !t was# rather# an unexpected )irst beachheadin an anticipated world revolution )ollowing the irst

=orld =ar. (his revolution# in the annus mirabilis1919# seemed very close to reali*ation# in Germany#$ustria# !taly# +ungary# and even# momentarily# in?ngland :anuary 1919# )ollowed by a serious strikewave in rance# and with a worldwide strike surge onevery continent# including the sprawling colonialsphere. (he center o) ;olshevik strategy# as everyone

knew at the time# was Germany# where the advancedmaterial conditions existed to ease 7ussia/s transition


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out o) backwardness. ;ut the German revolution wasde)eated# in an uneven process o) ruthless repression

and cooptation# )rom 1918 to 19%1 with a coda in19%A. (he 7ussian 7evolution was isolated#expelling the last military intervention including E.5.troops )rom abroad only in 19%1. +istory had notturned# and the immediate conse3uences o) the de)eatreached at least into the mid-190&/s.

!n the )irst years a)ter 1910# the 7ussian ;olsheviksand their allies including those who eventuallyopposed them )rom the le)t' the >$,6# )or example#was blowing up munitions trains carrying arms to the=hites as late as 19%1 in the international movementcontinued to treat the 7ussian 7evolution very muchas the )irst# almost accidental skirmish o) a globalprocess centered in Germany. ;ut such halcyon dayscould not last# and the emergence o) 5talin/s theory o)"socialism in one country" by 19% as a minimalde)inition o) the )inal de)eat o) the internationalistimpulse o) the revolution had radically altered theinternal dynamic o) the considerable )action o) the

world workers/ movement oriented to the young5oviet state. !n a history that is )airly well known#both in 7ussia and in the )raternal parties o) the


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and in 7ussian society# and the correspondinginternational strategy o) those )orces. 2ost o) the

radical wing o) the classical movement conse3uentlylearned to "speak 7ussian" )or an entire epoch.

!n the 7ussian 7evolution and its internationalimplications )or the workers/ movement# there wasmore than one historical novum. !t was alreadyenough o) a break with the world prior to 191 that a

political party# with roots in the 5econd !nternationaland calling itsel) 2arxist# stood at the head o) a statecalling itsel) socialist. !t was even more o) a breakwhen# within a decade# that state had assumed aradically authoritarian# not to say totalitariancharacter# as the 5talin )action triumphed over its lastorgani*ed opposition within the 7ussian party# not tomention those outside it. $s with the 7ussianrevolutionaries in the 5econd !nternational# so withthe internal li)e o) the ;olshevik ,arty' in 19%8# theinternal )actional situation# and the signi)icance o) thede)eat o) (rotsky# was understood by only a small)raction o) communists abroad.

;ut the creation o) the )irst "socialist" state led by anostensibly "2arxist" party# that by 19% wasproclaiming the previously unknown and unthinkabledoctrine o) "socialism in one country" did not exhaustthe innovations o) the 7ussian 7evolution and thecreation o) the


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)orce in global history. (he eastward movement o) theepicenter o) revolution )rom rance to Germany to

7ussia did not stop in 7ussia. !n the decade a)ter1910# it extended itsel) in the anti-colonial upsurges in2orocco# ?gypt# !ndia# and


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century# and cannot be underestimated )or the ex-colonial world that achieved independence a)ter

=orld =ar ! and especially a)ter =orld =ar !!. ?venthroughout :apan/s most aggressive imperialist phaseo) 19A1 to 19# that country was partially success)ulin presenting itsel) to the peoples it con3uered as aliberator )rom =estern colonial oppression.(he colonial world/s perception o) the :apanesevictory also in)luenced the perception o) the 7ussian

revolutions o) 19& and 1910. =hile 7ussia wasindubitably a =estern power and "the prison house o)nations"# with imperial ambitions in its own right# italso had the status o) an intermediary country#burdened with )oreign debt and bullied by the same;ritish and rench empires which# a)ter 1919#remained the two colonial powers par excellence. (he7ussian 7evolution o) 1910# there)ore# was )ar moreo)ten seen in the colonial and semi-colonial worldand was seen by important elements in 7ussia itsel)more as a success)ul movement o) national resurgencethan as a success)ul advanced skirmish in a worldproletarian revolution centered in Germany# one

which moreover never took place. ,articularly a)terthe early 19%&/s# when the internationalist#"cosmopolitan" orientation to the working classes o)the =est disappeared under the nationalism o) 5talin/s"socialism in one country"# the status o) the 5ovietEnion and the


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core o) national sel)-assertion c). "rom ational;olshevism to ?cology".

(his new extension o) international working-classpolitics# along with the very existence o) the 5ovietstate# was the central turning point in the %&th centuryhistory o) the classical workers/ movement. =hateverthe ideological illusions which had previouslysurrounded its sel)-understanding and the

understanding o) those observing or combating it# theworkers/ movement in ?urope and the Enited 5tateshad always seemed to be a movement o) class againstclass. $t no point prior to 1910# obviously# had themovement ever been in)luenced by the )oreign policyinterests and needs o) an ostensibly "workers/ state"#or later# by the model o) socialism that state claimedto represent. ;ut even less had the classical movementbeen directly in)luenced by struggles in the colonial orsemi-colonial world# or# a)ter the 199 triumph o) the


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191# been pretty much exclusively a ?uropean andorth $merican a))air# with resonance and

repercussions in :apan and Latin $merica. ;etween19& and 1910# the =estern )ramework that gavebirth to the classical workers/ movement had beenexploded. !) the advance was one o) actualinternationali*ation# the price was a vast detour in thetheoretical understanding o) what had happened# andwhat was un)olding. (his was particularly true

because the most radical phase o) the movement#between 189& and 19% was )ading as a )rame o)re)erence as the colonial and semi-colonial worldmoved into the drama in the 19%&/s indeed# the latterwas occurring in part because the revolutionaryimpulse o) the =estern workers/ movement was

)ading. (he )ull implications o) this development andthis detour- the con4ugation o) the old "class againstclass" traditions with the interests o) a national stateand with "anti-imperialist" struggles and# later# statesin the colonial and semi-colonial world# atrans)ormation o) class struggle in the =est )rom a"vertical" to an apparently "hori*ontal" )ramework--

reached )ar into the period a)ter =orld =ar !!.


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nature o) world capitalism# and to the )ate o) themovement# and )inally to the de)eat and )ailure o) the

world revolutionary surge o) 1910-19%1 thatultimately le)t the 5oviet state--itsel) turned againstworld revolution--isolated )or nearly % years.

From German and (talian )nification to !e-"oloni*ation

=e begin by recalling certain salient realities that maynot be immediately evident to the contemporaryreader. !n 191# the great ma4ority o) nation statesnow in existence were contained within the ;ritish#rench# +ohen*ollern# +apsburg# 7ussian andCttoman empires# with )urther *ones incorporated intothe colonies o) the E.5.# +olland# 5pain# ,ortugal and!taly. 2ost o) these nation states achieved )ormalindependence through the anti-colonial movementswhich gained momentum a)ter =orld =ar ! andabove all in the wave o) decoloni*ation o) 19-19@%#)ollowing =orld =ar !!. !n the ,ortuguese coloniesand in !ndochina# anti-colonial and anti-imperialist

wars continued through the period 19@%-190#. Latin$merica# most o) which had achieved independence)rom 5pain by 18%@# still was subordinated to virtualneo-colonial status by ?nglish and rench and# a)terthe 189&/s# $merican )inance capital. 2odernimperialism had come into existence in the decadesa)ter the 180A depression# culminating in the 188

;erlin con)erence )or the division o) $)rica among the


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=estern powers and by subse3uent =esterncoloni*ation o) much o) the remaining world in $sia

and Cceania. (he ultimate economic causes o) thisimperialist land grab are greatly debated and cannotconcern us here. evertheless# this phenomenon#which already began to make developments in Latin$merica# $)rica and $sia into domestic politicalissues in the ma4or capitalist powers# was part o) a)undamental trans)ormation o) political li)e in the

advanced capitalist world to that extent# the classicalworkers/ movement had already been"internationali*ed" by 19&.urther# it must be remembered that as late as 180between the original orth $tlantic core o)capitalism# centered in ?ngland# rance# ;elgium andthe Enited 5tates# and the empires that dominated?astern ?urope# the !talian and German nation stateshad not yet )ully constituted themselves. 5uch a ma4orreorientation o) the international balance o) power asthe emergence o) a uni)ied !taly and Germany#combined with the 180&-191 )ormation o) worldimperialism# could only have a ma4or impact on the

?uropean working-class movement# and create#particularly in


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)ramework was always the international dynamic.(hey on occasion opposed nationalist revolts against

Cttoman rule because their impact weakened Cttomancontainment o) 7ussian (sarist reaction.

2arx died in 188A and had little time to devote to ananalysis o) the newly-emergent imperialism. !ndeed#prior to the 189&/s at the earliest# the theoreticians o)the %nd !nternational paid little attention to social

developments in $)rica# Latin $merica and $sia perse# and many o) them looked upon coloni*ation o)these *ones in terms little di))erent than the imperialistideologues o) the white man/s burden. !ndeed# prior tothe 7usso-:apanese =ar and the 7ussian 7evolutiono) 19 most anti-colonial struggles appeared asbackward-looking struggles having no social contento) interest to socialists in advanced capitalistcountries. Cne need only measure the distancebetween the international impact o) the ?thiopiande)eat o) !taly in 189@# or the 5udanese de)eat o) Gen.Gordon in >hartoum in the same year# with theworldwide impact o) the :apanese victory in 19& # to

see how much the situation changed.

;ut the new world-wide colonialism and competitionbetween colonial powers had# by the mid-189&/s at thelatest# created a new political reality that had to a))ectthe =estern workers/ movement. (he German sei*ureo) >iouchou in 1898 perhaps )irst illuminated the new

importance o) the ar ?ast in world power politicsshowing that the ")irst underdeveloped country" was


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now competing with the older ;ritish and renchimperialisms globally# along with :apan/s occupation

o) >orea# signaling a new imperial power on thehori*on a decade be)ore 19&. (he $nglo-renchcon)rontation and near-war at ashoda# on the ile# in1898 was another step in this process. (he $mericande)eat o) 5pain in 1898 made $merica a colonialpower


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parliamentary 3uality o) national politics in the worldprior to 180 in which ?nglish and rench liberalism

were models imitated everywhere.rom an international economic point o) view# themost important phenomena o) the 180&-191 period isthe steady reduction o) ?nglish manu)acture to thestatus o) primus inter pares by the E.5. and Germany#and ultimately# around 19& their de)initive rise to aposition o) industrial superiority over ?ngland. !t is

not an exaggeration to say that much o) world history)rom 19&& to 19 was a struggle to bringinternational institutions# and particularly )inancialinstitutions# into harmony with the new situation o)19&&.

The "oming of the )nproductive +iddle"lasses

;ut the eclipse o) ?nglish industrial world supremacyby the E.5. and Germany trend which was alreadyattracting comment in the 180&/s--was hardly a mere"economic" reality. !t presented other countries with

two "models" )or their own development. !) Germanyhad the greater initial impact# it was because its status#through its long struggle )or national uni)ication asthe )irst "underdeveloped country" made it closer tomany nations in a similar situation. !n the 189&-191period# and indeed between 191 and 19# the E.5.itsel) borrowed many institutions central banking#

cartel organi*ation# research universities )rom


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Germany. ;ut in the longer run# it was the E.5. thatwas the country o) the )uture. (he world# a)ter and

even be)ore 19 saw the goal or the threat as"$mericani*ation"# even i) it was )ar moreGermani*ed than is o)ten acknowledged.

$s the world emerged )rom the "great depression" or"great de)lation" o) 180A-189@# it entered a phase o) anew kind o) prosperity that )oreshadowed# very

modestly# the hal)-decade o) consumerism o) the19%&/s and most importantly# the so-called "a))luentsociety" o) the 19-190A period a prosperity o)course largely limited to the C?


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it is recogni*ed that the bulk o)


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o) the ?uropean "wel)are state" and corporatism## and)inally# openly integrationist tendencies inside the

socialist movement itsel).

!n this period# then# "2arxism"# codi)ied by theorthodox o))icialdom o) the %nd !nternational# andtaken over to a great extent by the )ounders o) the Ard!nternational# was con3uered by the categories o) thedominant Feitgeist# and trans)ormed )or an epoch by a

set o) problematics ultimately )oreign to 2arx.urther# this trans)ormation o) 2arxism by itsencounter with neo-classical economics#Lebensphilosophie# the new German sociology whichalso came into existence in response to the newperiod# the avant-garde# and psychoanalysisoverwhelmed the "orthodox" who were themselvesill-e3uipped to deal with the new challenges. (hrough>autsky# and ultimately through Lenin# 2arxismac3uired a preoccupation with the problems o)organi*ation and consciousness that were ultimately)oreign toit. !n this period# with this new emphasis on

consciousness and organi*ation# 2arxism lost itsrelationship to production and reproduction in a)ashion that paralleled a comparable development inmore mainstream bourgeois thought e.g. in theappearance o) neo-classical economics. c). "(he7emaking o) the $merican =orking


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>autsky# $ugust ;ebel# Ctto ;auer# ?duard;ernstein# riedrich $dler and# )or the 7ussian sphere

at least# Georgi ,lekhanov. C) the younger generation#most had been trained by 2arx and ?ngels# and until?ngels/ death# covered orthodoxy with the mantle o)direct contact with the )ounders even i) ?ngels wasbrowbeaten# in the last year o) his li)e# into writing anew pre)ace to the


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writings" o) the 18&/s. (he leadership stratum o) the5,6 which set the tone )or the %nd !nternational as a

whole were# as a group# theoretically uninspired. (hisshould not be surprising# )rom a 2arxist point o)view# since the kind o) revolutionary struggles )romwhich 2arxism drew its deepest lessons were absent)rom the ?uropean scene between 1801 and 19& arl >orsch# 2arxism and ,hilosophy. !nevitably#the "2arxist materialism" that was populari*ed in the

international movement bore the stamp o) a"pragmatic" gradualism that issued in the revisionistdebate o) 1898-19&%# a debate in which >autskyian"orthodoxy" prevailed# but only as an ideological )iglea) o) the much more prosaic# integrationist dailypractice o) the 5,6.

'astward Shift of the 'picenter of #evolution

Cn the edges o) this world# in the 7ussianrevolutionary milieu# the next discontinuity in thehistory o) the international workers/ movement wasbeing prepared. !t was a discontinuity as radical as the

rise and triumph o) German 5ocial 6emocracy over?nglish trade unionism and rench ,roudhonistradicalism a)ter 180&. (he 7ussian revolutionarymilieu had been in continuous existence since the18%&/s. "no nation in history ever prepared itsrevolution longer or more sel)-consciously than7ussia"# as one biographer o) +er*en put it. Bictor

5erge e3ually noted that# )rom the )irst meetings o)the


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grouping o) revolutionaries approached the 7ussiansin experience# elan and ruthlessness. (he 7ussian

revolutionary intelligentsia was almost a socialstratum in its own right# and its decades o) resistanceto (sarist autocracy gave it an esprit de corps that nocollective experience in the =est could match. (heinternational milieu o) political exiles andpro)essional revolutionaries went back to the early19th century it stamped the li)e o) London# ,aris#

;russels# Geneva and Furich the 7ussians and ,oleshad been a presence there since the 18&/s.

$s such# its encounter with 2arxism was to beepochal. 7ussia was by the 18A&/s a cultural provinceo) Germany# and )ollowed the evolution o)international culture )rom the phase o) rench toGerman hegemony one or two decades in arrears. (heconversion o) the young ;akunin# +er*en and Cgarevto +egelianism in 18 their ")arewell to the rench"as represented by the utopian socialists# was perhapsthe turning point in the "Germani*ation" o) the7ussian intelligentsia. ;ut as oriented as it was to

=estern models# and as closely as it )ollowed theevolution o) the debate on the "social 3uestion" in the=est# the 7ussian revolutionary intellectuals were nomere imitators. (hey )used =estern thought withspeci)ically 7ussian messianic and millenariantraditions. ;y the 18@&/s# when ,opulism began totake shape in the wake o) the ser) emancipation# aspeci)ically 7ussian radicalism was codi)ied#


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expressed best in the "nihilist" movement o) the samedecade. =hen# in the 180&/s# ,opulism began its

campaign o) assassinations against (sarist o))icialdomultimately killing two (sars# in 1881 and 1888# itsunderground organi*ation# obligatory in theconditions o) 7ussia# brought a new kind o) radical)igure into ?uropean consciousness. (his mentalitywas brought to its paroxysm by echaiev# and waswell portrayed by 6ostoevsky in (he ,ossessed.

=hen 2arxism came to 7ussia# it )used# in Lenin#with echaiev/s revolutionary catechism# as he hadinherited it through his adolescent )ascination withautsky# who already saw consciousness coming tothe working class )rom outside# Lenin added thespeci)ic role o) the cadre organi*ation o) pro)essionalrevolutionaries. !n >autsky# hypostati*ed in Lenin#"consciousness" and organi*ation# and their bearers inthe intelligentsia# had moved to the center stage o)2arxism. (he man o) negation is the man o)consciousness# the state civil servant )irst accorded arole in the "emancipatory movement" in the

continental enlightened despotisms o) the 10th and18th centuries# and )irst linked to mercantiliststrategies o) national renewal in early 19th century,russia.

(he rise o) 7ussian 2arxism in the 189&/s wasinitially the )ruit o) the long work o) )igures such as,lekhanov )rom the 180&/s onward# much more in the


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tradition o) the 5econd !nternational orthodoxy. 2arxhad already attacked some o) his early 7ussian

)ollowers as apologists )or capitalism (hatorthodoxy prescribed# among other things# a strictlylinear and stagist theory o) historical progress# whichset a bourgeois revolution on the agenda )or 7ussia.5o deep did this current run in 7ussian 2arxism thatLenin seriously contemplated emigration to the E.5.where socialist revolution seemed more likely than in

7ussia and in :anuary 1910 told a meeting o) 5wisssocialist youth that the proletarian revolution in7ussia would occur ca. 19&.

;ut events began to undermine such theoreticalmis4udgements. (he serious# undeniableindustriali*ation o) 7ussia by the 189&/s )inallyenabled the 2arxists to de)eat the remnants o),opulism in the intelligentsia# with their emphasis onthe working class )irst con)irmed in the strike wave o)189. ;ut the storm o) 19& which broke over 7ussiaand 7ussian ,oland introduced stretched the doors o)perception even )urther. (he establishment o) )actory

and regional councils called soviets placed a working-class creation at the center o) the political struggle thathad been )oreseen# and created# by no 2arxisttheoretician. !t was an historical creation o) the sameepochal importance as the )oreshadowing o) the"dictatorship o) the proletariat" in the ,aris


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consciousness set down in =hat !s (o ;e 6oneH19&%# the document which had )orced the

;olshevik-2enshevik split. (he )rail )orces o)7ussian liberalism had been so out)lanked in 19&and 19&@# and had been so )rightened by theintervention o) the working class# that they had3uickly sought accommodation with the re-established(sar# even more ab4ectly than the German liberals/capitulation to ;ismarck a)ter 180&. (he 7ussian and

,olish 19 which had )orced the "mass strike"debate on the German 5,6 and thus on the 5econd!nternational# linked to the 7usso-:apanese war#consolidated the eastward shi)t o) the revolutionaryepicenter )rom Germany to 7ussia. !n the wake o)19 (rotsky# in)luenced by ,arvus# revitali*ed2arx/s 18& theory o) "permanent revolution" byapplying it to 7ussia. (rotsky did not 4oin the;olshevik ,arty until 1910# and a)ter the ebb o) theradical wave o) 19&-19&0 nothing seemed)undamentally di))erent in the international workers/movement. ;ut the experience o) the soviets# and(rotsky/s theori*ation o) the primacy o) the working

class in the overthrow o) (sarism uni3ue# asindicated earlier# in the 7ussian revolutionarymovement prior to 1910 would introduce yet anotherelement o) the legacy o) the classical workers/movement. ;ut its international signi)icance indeed#its signi)icance in 7ussia itsel) would only becomeapparent with the triumph o) the ;olshevik7evolution in 1910. or the )irst time in history# a


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"socialist" state headed by sel)-styled 2arxists hadestablished itsel).

;ut the world revolution upon which the ;olshevikstrategy was premised did not occur# and the new5oviet state# totally severed )rom any working-classbase by civil war and )amine# had to de)end itsel) andseek allies in totally unexpected conditions.

=ith the ebb o) the postwar revolutionary )erment in?urope# the de)eat o) the =hite counter-revolution#and the threat o) internal dissolution signaled by the>ronstadt uprising# the ;olshevik 7evolution settledin )or a period o) retrenchment. (his retrenchmentwas codi)ied in the 19%1 adoption o) the ?,# thecrushing o) >ronstadt# the $nglo-7ussian trade

agreement ending the embargo o) the 5oviet state# theconciliation with le)t-wing 5ocial 6emocracy in the(hird


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years 19%-19%0# centered most importantly# in theinternational sphere# on the revolutionary crisis in


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outbreak o) !ndian nationalism 19&8# the 2exican7evolution 191& and the


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empires to abandon the anti-colonial struggle )or ade)ense o) democracy as in !ndochina# $lgeria#

?gypt# and !ndia. (his policy continued into thepostwar period# until the beginning o) the


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=estern


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6emocracies that had capitulated to nationalism andparticipation in the war e))ort.

Like the previous !nternationals# the (hird!nternational was born o) a worldwide working classupsurge that )orced innovative structures andstrategies onto the scene. (he irst !nternational wasborn o) the post-18@ general upsurge that peaked inthe ,aris


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world economy was still dominated by ?ngland# and;ritish )inance capital centered in London. (he world

economy was still sub4ected to the rigors o) a workinggold standard# at least in relations between the ma4orpowers. (he state was )undamental everywhere in"creating the conditions )or accumulation"# and wasbeginning# in the 189&-191 arms race# to ac3uire itspost-19 )ace as the most important single consumer#but even in such statist economies as Germany# its

role was nothing like what it became during =orld=ar !# again under a*ism# and )inally in the post-19 reconstruction. =orld =ar ! was everywhere an"experiment o) nature" in a vastly increased role o)the state in the total management o) economic andsocial li)e. rom 1919 to 19%9# there was a certainillusion o) a "return to normalcy" in the dismantling o)the "state capitalism" that had been established in=orld =ar !# but the social crisis set in motion by theworld depression a)ter 19%9 ended that illusion)orever.

(he workers/ movement could not be una))ected by

these developments. (he participation o) the ma4oritysocialist )actions in virtually every country in thepost-191 ";uerg)rieden" or social peace# and theparticipation o) the trade unions in labor-managementboards gave the workers/ movement a social"respectability" and presence that it had largely lackedbe)ore 191. (here had been important anticipationso) these trends be)ore the war# in countries such as


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;ritain and 5weden# part o) the )irst steps towardsocial wel)are policy advocated by the ;ritish abians

and analogous groups on the continent. ;ut laborparticipation in the state# on any scale# let alone themassive one o) 191-1918# was anathema to much o)the dominant ideological spectrum i) less so thangenerally believed at the time.;y 19AA# with the coming to power o) +itler and7oosevelt# and on a lesser scale in ;ritain and the

rance o) the ,opular ront# the statist managementthat had worked in the emergency o) 191-1918 wasrevived in a "peacetime" context# althoughsigni)icantly associated almost everywhere with anexpansion o)war production indeed# it was armaments productionthat brought Germany out o) the slump# and whichrevived the E.5.# ;ritish and rench economies a)terthe second downturn o) 19A0. +4almar 5chacht inGermany# ranklin 7oosevelt in the E.5.# and :.2.>eynes in ;ritain# all key )igures in this new crisismanagement# had all been active in wartime economicmanagement boards in =orld =ar ! as was :ean

2onnet# architect o) the postwar ?uropean


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statist currents such as the $merican !== or therevolutionary syndicalists in rance e.g. 2onatte.

!t is )undamental to note that the creation o) suchmass


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state% from which the "s of the opular Frontera drew important support4

$s such# they were direct heirs to the Lassallean"people/s state" o) the early 5,6.

(he 19%-19%0 phase o)


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eminently practical one immediately a)ter =orld =ar!!# when the most important international upsurge

since 1910-19%1 took place. !ndeed# the (rotskyistwing o) the international le)t opposition expected thiswave to be the success)ul completion o) the upsurgede)eated in the early 19%&/s. ;ut nothing o) the kindoccured. (he Labour ,arty assumed power in ;ritainthe rench# ;elgian# !talian and :apanese twice failed to emerge from world war as asuccessful revolutionary force% and the socialcontent of the regimes that contained it% is the

fundamental 5uestion of the fate of theclassical workers movement and of the

working class in the 67th century4 (he

(rotskyists had explained the de)eat o) the Germanworking class in particular by the "absence o)


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revolutionary leadership" in the crucial momentsbetween 1910 and 19%A they explained the de)eat o)

the rench and !talian workers a)ter 19 by the


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(he new world situation a)ter 19 pro)oundly alteredthe international context o) the working-class

movement. (he 7ussian 7evolution and thesuccess)ul de)ense o) the 5oviet state a)ter 1910 hadbeen an international event o) the )irst order# but itsweakness# problems o) maneuver in a worldpreoccupied with reconstruction and then withdepression a)ter 19%9 had not yet trans)ormed theinternational balance o) power. $)ter 19# this was

hardly the case. ot only had the 5oviet statedemonstrated its power and the success o) its crashprogram o) industriali*ation by its victory in the5econd =orld =ar 5talingrad# in 19A# had turnedmany pro-a*i (hird =orld "anti-imperialists" suchas asser and 5adat in ?gypt into pro-5talinists itssphere o) in)luence was being enlarged by the creationo) a *one o) bu))er states in the )ormer cordonsanitaire o) ?astern ?urope# and mass


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in the new environment. (he "vertical" class strugglesin the =est o) the 189&-19%& period# during the high

tide o) the classical workers/ movement# had becomeinseparably linked to a "hori*ontal" con)rontation o)power blocs. $lthough the Enited 5tates sei*ed theinitiative with the creation o) the 2arshall ,lan in thespring o) 190# and the 5oviet Enion honored thedivision o) the world negotiated in 19A at Ialta# theorean =ar in 19& and the intensi)ication o) the Biet2inh insurgency in !ndochina brought the worldirreversibly into the


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di))erent way# the evolution o) the world situationa)ter 19 re-created on a world scale the situation o)

?urope a)ter 181# when any domestic politicaldevelopment )rom ?ngland to 7ussia had immediateimplications )or the entire international balance o)power. (he "7ussian 3uestion" in ?uropean politics)rom 181 to 1910 had been the attitude o) the (saristgovernment toward developments )rom the


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Bietnam in 19 gave )urther weight to the 5ovietbloc/s claim to be the sole serious )orce )or de-

coloni*ation. (he Enited 5tates# taking up the burdeno) the disintegrating ;ritish and rench empires#consolidated its position as the de)ender o) the globalstatus 3uo# everywhere.

(he third corner o) this triangle was the appearance#in the course o) de-coloni*ation# o) (hird =orld

;onapartism. =ith the independence o) !ndia 190#!ndonesia 198# and the colonels/ revolution in?gypt 19%# these regimes# under the leadership o)anti-colonial )igures such as ehru# 5ukarno andasser# introduced an apparently new con)iguration toworld politics. !n reality# these regimes had stronga))inities to the ?astern and emal ,asha c). on Germanideological in)luence in post-19&8 developments inthe Cttoman and later $rab world# c). ;assam (ibi#$rab ationalism ?nglish translation 198& ote$ugust %&&&' or Latin $merica# c). :oseph Love#


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(he


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)orces were already at work undermining it. (he deatho) 5talin in 19A initiated a period o) decompression

in the 5oviet Enion and ?astern ?urope concreti*edabove all in the workers/ revolt in ?ast ;erlin in :uneo) that year by 19@# one year a)ter ;andung# thebeginning o) the decomposition o) the 5oviet bloc wasirreversibly set in motion. !) the 19@ con)rontationover the 5ue* canal was an extension o) the logic o);andung# the %&th ,arty


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relation that the working class is' the crisis o) the ar?ast issued in both the :apanese victory over 7ussia

and the 7ussian 7evolution o) 19&. (he


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accord with "proletarian internationalism"# as 7ussiahad. or those who looked closely# it was clear that


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19@@# however# when


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the


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crisis# and the beginning o) serious $merican militarycommitment in Bietnam. !n a curious way# the two

ma4or military extensions o) the postwardecoloni*ation struggles# $merican intervention in!ndochina and the ,ortuguese embroilment in its$)rican colonies# take o)) in the same 19@1-19@%period and come to their denouement in the mostimportant global con4uncture o) the postwar period#190-190. !n 190# the Enited 5tates con)ronted the

deepest world recession to date in postwar history#the ew Iork


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ultra-le)t# had grappled with the "7ussian 3uestion"since 19%&. (hey had analy*ed the 5oviet Enion as a

degenerated workers/ state# as bureaucraticcollectivism# as state capitalism# as capitalism# period.(hey had seen the soviets and workers/ councilsthrown up in 7ussia and Germany in 1910-1918 as thesolution to the ")orm" o) workers/ rule. (wo realitiessince 190 tend to undermine that conception' theindustriali*ation o) the (hird =orld# and the

"Grundrisse phase o) capitalism"# the technology-intensive or "high tech" restructuring o) =esternindustry since the 190&/s. (he perspective o) "sovietseverywhere" was use)ul as long as the working classwas growing and was co-extensive with massproduction on a global scale. ;ut when worldcapitalism responded to the working-class o))ensiveo) 19@8-190A with this dual assault on the total wagebill# it showed the limits o) any "point o) production"de)inition o) the working class. !t )urther showed thelimits o) any de)inition o) socialism based on meredirect democratic control o) the point o) production bythe working class. =ith the Grundrisse phase o)

capitalism# scienti)ic labor has become a signi)icantsource o) value in a way it was not in the era o) massproduction. (he man o) negation# the man o)consciousness# the disinherited liberal arts studentwith no relationship to the trans)ormation o) nature#had a role only in the era o) the state civil servant.(hat role was the abstract posing o) universality# therevolutionary intellectual. (he abstract posing o)


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universality is possible and necessary only so long asas it does not exist in actual practice. Cnce a

signi)icant part o) society is actually engaged inconcrete universal labor# there is no independentpositive space )or the state civil servant.

(he tacit acceptance o) atomist ontology by %nd andArd !nternational 2arxism# its status as the ideologyo) the substitute bourgeois revolution# is linked to its

)alse appreciation o) the con4uncture# and linked to itsstatist civil servant vocation. (he )undamentalproblem o) the 2arxist movement o) the 189&-19%&period was its overestimation o) the capitalist natureo) contemporary ?urope. !t had to think that ?uropewas essentially )ully capitalist because it could notgrasp its own role in the completion o) the capitalistrevolution. ?urope in 191 had acceded to thecompletion o) the phase o) )ormal domination andextensive accumulation hence)orth# its tra4ectorywould be the phase o) real domination and intensiveaccumulation. (he key to this shi)t was the agrarian3uestion.

The Avant-Garde as the Search for Another8ind of Activity

(he 3uestion o) the avant-garde is not usuallyconsidered as part o) the history o) the classicalworkers/ movement. ;ut its role was not insigni)icant

)or the problematic o) the man o) negation# andultimately )or the vision o) what a supercession o)


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capitalism was to be. (his was not clear in the 19thcentury when the workers/ movement )irst ac3uired a

mass )orm in the E.5.# ?ngland# rance and Germany.(he general conception o) culture then current was ademocrati*ation o) existing high bourgeois culture.!ndeed# a vital )unction o) the classical workers/movement was the providing o) a social )ramework)or general sel)-development o) working people whichthe larger society denied them. ;ut by the time that

the o))icial workers/ movement became seriouslyinstitutionali*ed# i.e. by the 18@&/s# a crisis hadalready mani)ested itsel) within high bourgeoisculture itsel). (his crisis took the )orm o) theappearance o) the avant-garde# )irst o) all in rance.(he avant-garde emerged directly )rom the revolutiono) 188# and some o) its most important )ounders# like;audelaire# were on the barricades in :une 188. (he,arisian ;ohemia o) the 188-189& period hadvirtually no counterpart anywhere in the =esternworld at that time. ,arisian ;ohemia was a socialmilieu o) the man o) negation par excellence# but menwhose mere social existence posed# in a di))erent way

)rom the working class movement# the need )or a new)orm o) social organi*ation. =hat had occurred in188# everywhere# was a break in the universalpretensions o) the post-1089 "(hird ?state"# andnowhere more acutely than in rance. !n 1801#;ohemia had again mani)ested itsel) in participationin the ,aris


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artists" sympathetic to the workers/ movement. !t wasthe problematic o) the creation o) another kind o)

social li)e# in which the con)inement o) "aesthetics" toa separate sphere would be overcome. (his wastheori*ed by no one at the time certainly by no onewithin the workers/ movement. Iet# as peripheral tothat movement as the 3uestion o) "aesthetics"appeared in 18& or 1801 or even in 19% it wasultimately tied to the vision o) socialism and to the

3uestion o) "consciousness". (he classical workers/movement# )rom 18& to 19# was dominated bypopulari*ed visions o) 2arxism# economicdeterminism# bowdleri*ed vulgar materialism andmechanism# and e3ually uninspired visions o)"culture" that were generally out o) touch with the"cutting edge" o) the crisis in bourgeois culture itsel)this is not in itsel) a criti3ue# as that crisis naturallyre)lected in part the problems o) a speci)ic# unstableand o)ten hermetic social milieu. ;ut# with thetriumph o) a*ism in 19AA in particular# there was ageneral recognition that the world view o) theclassical workers/ movement# particular in its

populari*ed "vulgar materialist" outlook# wasinade3uate to combat )ascism and inade3uate toexplain it. =ilhelm 7eich and ?rnst ;loch# inparticular# made the daring assertion that the a*ishad won because the le)t/s rigidity had surrended somany "sub4ective" domains to the "discourse" o) theright# and that the le)t had to in e))ect "determinatelynegate" the appeal o) )ascism by taking those weapons


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away )rom it.Bery )ew artists or )or that matter# intellectuals )rom

the ";ohemian" milieu participated in the activities o)the classical workers/ movement# and to the extentthat they did# it was as individuals. (o the extent therewas an "aesthetic 3uestion" in the 5econd!nternational# it was dominated by a very classicalconception# one supported by some o) 2arx and?ngels/ views on the sub4ect. (here was no

theoretician o) note# in any country# with theexception o) (rotsky# who had much to say about theinnovations o) the international avant-garde# except togenerally condemn them as decadent. ;ohemia andthe avant-garde themselves had only moved beyondthe ,arisian context ca. 189 with the generali*ationo) the kind o) consumption that had made it possiblein ,aris in the 188-189& period.

(his situation changed considerably in 1910-19%1#when the general radicali*ation o) ?uropean societybrought important elements o) the avant-garde to theworking-class parties )or the )irst time. $s in the pre-

191# the 3uestion was not so much the impact orin)luence o) such elements on the workers/ movementas the in)luence o) the workers/ movement on theseelements. ;ut this# in the long run# was to beimportant because the experience o) the war destroyedthe hegemony o) dominant bourgeois ideology inartistic and intellectual strata and had made thesigni)icant parts o) the latter see that the "conditions


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)or cultural creation" depended on the working-classmovement and its triumph.

(he relationship between rench 6ada and surrealism#German expressionism# or 7ussian )uturism andconstructivism and the workers/ movement# or o) lesscohesive elements in the E.5. and ;ritain who brie)lygravitated around the new


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isolation o) the modernist avant-garde )rom theproblematic o) the workers/ movement. (he doctrines

o) "social realism" were so pervasive in the o))icialexpressions o) the organi*ations o) the movement thatthe reconstituted ";ohemia" and "avant-garde" a)ter=orld =ar !! tended to pride itsel) on an apolitical# oranti-political aestheticism. (his separation began tobreak down#except in isolated cases without wider immediate

in)luence# only with the appearance o) the "ew Le)t"a)ter 19@# and in an important way only a)ter themid-19@&/s.

$s a )undamental social stratum o) the "man o)negation" in the new kind o) =estern societies thatemerged )rom the 19%9-19 crisis# the avant-gardewas important to the subse3uent development o) theworkers/ movement when# in the 19@-190A period#the preoccupations o) the avant-garde spilled beyondthe con)ines o) the aesthetic ghetto into the massmovement o) the ew Le)t and counterculture. (hee))ect o) this development was to bring the career o)

the "man o) negation" to an end in =estern culture.(he avant-garde o) the periods 188-189 189&-19A&and19-19@ they were essentially marginali*ed in the19A&-19 by social realism had been attacks on aclassical conception o) culture tied up with one-waycommunication and the contemplative role o) theaudience. Enderneath the successive developments o)


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schools was the emerging )undamental pro4ect o) a"new kind o) li)e"# a demand )or a total trans)ormation

o) the world which would render the separateaesthetic sphere obsolete. =hen the concerns and"anti-bourgeois" "li)estyle" o) the avant-garde becamea mass movement among youth )rom the servicesectors o) =estern society ca. 19@# the separatedomain represented by the earlier avant-garde wasexploded. =hen# by 190 mass movements o) racial

minorities# women# gays# and ecologists had comeinto existence# the previous cultural war against the"repression" o) these groups was superceded. (hepost-188 avant-garde disappeared in thegenerali*ation o) its sensibility and "program" to alarge minority o) society. =ith this generali*ationcame a )ull-scale attack on the "universalism" o) thepreviously constituted intelligentsia# the pseudo-radical posturing o) "post-modernism"# in the name o)an ultimate ontological "di))erence" that could besubsumed in no universal.

9istorical "larification of $hat "ommunism

$as &ot

;ut the vision o) a society beyond capitalism# whatwe might call the "programmatic imagination" o)socialismJcommunism# was obviously by no meanslimited to the avant-garde and its relationship to theworkers/ movement. !t is# at bottom# this "vision"

which is most eroded today. 2arx and ?ngels/ point


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o) departure was a break with the "a priori" schemaand social blueprints drawn up by the utopian

socialists o) the early 19th century# and by utopians ingeneral# be)ore them. "


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"dictatorship o) the proletariat"# and 2arx was )rankin acknowledging that it had in)luenced his theory o)

the state. (he great )orce o) 2arxism over all rivalcurrents was that it linked the long-standing theorieso) utopia and communism to a concrete theory o)history as the "totality o) social relations". !t was# andshowed itsel)# to be the theory o) "the real movementun)olding be)ore our eyes".

(he "spectre o) communism" terri)ied bourgeoissociety in 188 and# )ar more deeply# in 1801# and hadgiven rise to debate# calumny and slander long be)orethe historical appearance o) 2arx and ?ngels. (here)usal o) 2arx and ?ngels to indulge in emptyspeculation about the outcome o) history was ahealthy reaction# and the only possible one# to the pre-188 proli)eration o) theories o) the world redeemersbut it le)t the elaboration o) the public )ace o)"socialism" to individuals and movements )ar lesscapable than they o) determining# at least# whatcommunism was not. 2arx and ?ngels hadrecogni*ed that the uni)ication o) Germany and the

disarray o) their rench rivals a)ter the de)eat o) the


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impact on the idea o) what socialism was and how itcould be brought into existence. (he 5,6 was a vast

"counter-society" within Germany# with vastassociations o) all varieties# a party press with do*enso) local daily newspapers# and workers/ cultural andeducational programs that were among its mostattractive assets. !n this climate# as the party moved)rom one electoral success to another# there graduallyarose the mood captured by ;recht/s remark# a)ter

+itler/s triumph in 19AA# that "the German workingclass was never more disarmed than when it came tobelieve that its triumph was inevitable."

(he 2arxist tradition within the 5econd !nternationalcon)ronted# and theori*ed# 3uestions o) municipalsocialism the so-called "sewer socialism" introducedby German emigres to the E.5. nationali*ation orsociali*ation# and a"rationallv-planned economv". !tdeveloped theories o) the transition )rom socialism toadvanced communism. ;ut until the 7ussian7evolution o) 19& and the world revolutionary waveo) 1910-19%1# above all in its German and 7ussian

phases# the speci)ic notion o) the ")orms" o) workers/rule were vague# ill-addressed. (he 7ussian workingclass/ invention o) the soviet# the central council o)revocable delegates )rom )actory and regionalcouncils# including peasants/# soldiers/ and sailors/councils as well# was the historical answer parexcellence# in practice# to this previously theoretical3uestion. ;ut the de)eat# everywhere# o) the world


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revolutionary wave led to the destruction o) thesoviets# in Germany and in 7ussia# and their

revolutionary democratic character# particularly wheredirect workers/ control o) production was concerned#was largely )orgotten )or hal) a century. !) thisexperience had brie)ly posed "nationali*ation underworkers/ control" as the content o) working-classpower# by 19A "socialism" outside o) the small)actions o) the international le)t opposition to

5talinism# was associated everywhere withnationali*ation and economic planning# in di))erentguises.or# even be)ore 191# the theory o) 2arx and ?ngels#already bowdleri*ed by the public "2arxists" o) the5econd !nternational# had important rivals' the abian5ocialism o) the =ebbs# the municipal "sewer"socialism practiced by local 5ocial 6emocrats inpower# the di))erent mutualist schemes o) anarchism#;ismarckian social insurance. !t may well be theirgreat extension a)ter 19 that makes them appear# inretrospect# so signi)icant# but the modest growth o)wel)are measures or legislative initiatives )or their

implementation in ;ritain# 5weden# ew Fealand andGermany in the years 4ust be)ore 191# with hindsight#clearly expressed the )uture. !t was less clear# in 191#or )or several decades therea)ter# 4ust how this )uturewas to come into existence.

!t is important to look at this 4uncture# 4ust be)ore thehistorical appearance o) the 5oviet phenomenon#


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which complicated the 3uestion o) the content o)socialismJcommunism even more. !t is important to

see )irst o) all how central the state had become )orthe classical workers/ movement# under the auspiceso) the German 5,6. !t is necessary# in order tocritici*e this statism which was the model )or mostother subse3uent currents o) signi)icance# to look )ora moment at 2arx and ?ngels/ actual conception o)communism# one which in reality in)luenced the

classical workers/ movement so little.

or 2arx and ?ngels# the key to capitalism was thestatus o) wage-labor as a commodity# with a status inthe market place both identical to that o) any othercommodity and at the same time the uni3ue "generalcommodity" whose value set the value o) all theothers. !nso)ar as they de)ined a commodity as beingcharacteri*ed by both use-value and exchange-value#they saw this dual# contradictory status o) laborpower- o) real human beings in the materialproduction and reproduction o) themselves- as thesource o) a whole series o) other antagonisms. (hough

little recogni*ed# the )undamental 2arxian criti3ue o)political economy rests on the problem o) individualcreativity in a society where nothing can exist unlessit can prove itsel) viable in the market place wherecommodities con)ront one another. 2arx used theexample o) 2ilton to illustrate this point. 2ilton# as apoet# "wrote poetry as a silkworm spins silk". ;ut in abourgeois society based on commodity production#


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2ilton/s work had to pass through the commodityrelations with publishers# editors# etc. $ctivity in

capitalism became socially "mediate"# i.e. mediatedthrough commodity exchange.


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within 5oviet society itsel) prepared the terrain )orthe industriali*ation debate o) the mid-19%&/s

)ollowed by the implementation# in 19%8# o) 5talin/sirst ive-Iear ,lan. (he coming to power o)2ussolini in 19%%# and +itler in 19AA# made )ascism athird# unanticipated participant in the internationaleconomic debate# because )ascism borrowed a greatdeal )rom the socialist movement# and 2ussolini/slabor-industry syndicates )or the regulation o) every

sector o) the !talian economy with many ex-anarcho-syndicalists in his party drew international attentionas another possible model o) economic regulation. $sindicated earlier# =orld =ar ! had been# among otherthings# a vast experiment in state economicmanagement# which through its practicioners likeranklin 6. 7oosevelt# :.2. >eynes# +4almar 5chacht#:ean 2onnet and =alter 7athenau had demonstratedin practice as no theory could that state regulationand management was not incompatible withcapitalism and pro)its )or capitalists. rom 19%9 to19AA# a great debate was conducted within theGerman labor movement and in the German )ascist

movement about concrete solutions to the economicdepression# and +itler/s >eynesian re)lation# centeredon state-)inanced war production and credit creation#was not so )ar in its theory )rom many similarsolutions advocated by economists o) the 5,6 c).:ean-,ierre aye# Langages totalitaires. ;etween19%9 and 19# the belie) that liberal capitalism# and3uite as likely liberal democracy# as they had existed


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prior to 191 were dead# was widely held all acrossthe political spectrum. ;y the time o) the outbreak o)

=orld =ar !!# only a hand)ul o) liberal democraciessurvived in the advanced capitalist world# and eventhey were undertaking massive statist action to re)latetheir economies. (he $merican ew 6eal and Leon;lum/s rench ,opular ront seemed# to observers atthe time# on a close continuum with the economics o)German or !talian )ascism# and 5oviet "communism"

indeed# to many observers# they seemed to have morein common with each other than any o) them had withthe pre-191 liberal capitalism remembered#moreover# through increasingly rose-tinted lenses.igures such as the !talian ;runo 7i**i wroteprovocative books on the "bureaucrati*ation o) theworld"# and ;erle# 2eans and :ames ;urnham in theE.5. theori*ed a "managerial revolution" in whichprivate capitalists were replaced by technocrats#managers and state administrators indeed# many suchtheorists considered this change to be morerevolutionary# and more actually the practicalabolition o) capitalism# than 2arxian socialism# in

either its popular or more theoretical )orm.(echnocracy itsel)# which had existed as a current)rom the early %&th century# o))ered its version o) asociety beyond capitalism# in which engineers wouldexpand their problem-solving methods )rom technical3uestions to social ones# and would clearly# by theirscienti)ic training# be the only social group capable o)doing so. ;y the late 19A&/s# theorists o) a state


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regulatory solution to the crisis o) a moribundcapitalism took on the appearance o) a veritable

"embarras de messies". 5uch currents could only bestrengthened by =orld =ar !!# where statemanagement was carried to even greater lengths. ?venamong non-belligerents# as in Latin $merica# the19%9-19 period made possible or inevitable aautarchic withdrawal )rom the depressed worldmarket and the wide use o) statist import-substitution

and other measures which actually# because o) thedemand created by =orld =ar !!# made these years aperiod o) industrial growth again# c). the book o):oseph Love.

;ut it would be a distortion to present the evolution o)the debate# or seeming debate# about the content o)socialism in the interwar period without underscoringthe )act that it was the 5oviet Enion and its plannedeconomy which overshadowed all others as a model)or a break with capitalism. !n the midst o) the worldcrisis# especially in the ,opular ront era 19A-19A9#or later during the 191-190 years o) the $llied

alliance against )ascism# up to the de)initive turn to


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apparently unstoppable rise o) collectivism on a worldscale. (his sense# and reluctance to critici*e the 5oviet

experiment# extended )ar into the ranks o) socialistsand liberals who were not themselves direct advocateso) the 5talinist model. (he death o) millions o) kulaksin the collectivi*ations# the role o) millions morepeople pressed into slave-labor pro4ects# the 3uasi-military regimentation o) the working class in theyears o) "bacchanalian planning"# or the implications

o) the 2oscow trials which wiped out most o) the;olshevik Cld Guard were either )latly denied asbourgeois slander or presented# apologetically orpragmatically# as the sine 3ua non o) any boldrevolutionary experiment. (he $merican# ;ritish andrench liberal and le)t milieus o) the 19A&/s were alldeeply immersed in 5talinophile bathos. (he renchLigue des 6roits de l/+omme supported the 2oscowtrials. !n such an atmosphere# it was all too easy todismiss the small minorities who )ought 5talinism)rom the le)t as irrelevant sects# when not simplypolice provocateurs or )ascist agents.

(he radical mass strikes and upsurges in rance19A@ and the social revolution in 5pain 19A@-A0were )ought by the


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threw its support behind 7oosevelt with the ,opularront turn.

(he new social strata recruited )rom the service sectorwhich had begun to )lourish )rom the 189&/s onwardsaw their aspirations mirrored in the 5oviet state the=ebbs# brie)ly also admirers o) 2ussolini# being theparadigmatic case# and the 5oviet state in turnindirectly inspired the ardor with which such elements

ensconced themselves in the rapidly expanding statebureaucracies o) ;ritain# rance or the E.5. 6uring=orld =ar !!# the $llied war e))ort and plans )or apostwar world order# combined with the emergence o)the continental anti-)ascist resistance movementsunder a*i occupation# )ueled these hopes even more.

=e have earlier sketched the impact# on theinternational political and social environment# o) therapid transition to conditions o)


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laid the )oundations o) "socialist" economies o) somekind through widespread nationali*ations and the

broad extension o) social legislation. Enlike =orld=ar !!# =orld =ar ! was not )ollowed in =estern?urope by a revolutionary upsurge. Endoubtedly asdiscussed earlier# the conciliatory roles o) the rench#!talian and ;elgian


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5ocial 6emocratic betrayal# such a thesis does notexplain why masses o) workers tolerated such

compromise# and# perhaps even more seriously# doesnot pay serious attention to what kind o) "socialism"these parties so submissive to 5talin would have builthad they taken power.

!n particular# the small revolutionary groups active inthe immediate postwar period# like so many others#

were blinded with the important exception o) the;ordigists# who correctly )oresaw decades o)re)ormist hegemony to the realities o) the period byapocalyptic expectations and predictions o) arepetition o) the post-1910 upsurge. 5uchexpectations# and reasonable analogies based on thehistorical experience o) the interwar period# blindedsuch currents and 4ust about everyone else to thedeeper )orces working )or stabili*ation and a longpostwar economic expansion.=e have re)erred# at several 4unctures# to theimportance o) the )ull entry into world history o) theanti-colonial movements in the decade be)ore =orld

=ar !# an entry underscored by the :apanese militaryvictory o) 19&. !n the period o) accelerated de-coloni*ation a)ter =orld =ar !!# particularly a)ter;andung# the newly independent development statessuch as !ndia# ?gypt# !ndonesia# or later Ghana and)inally $lgeria# )or the )irst time 4oined the growingvariety o) states characteri*ed as "progressive" andwhich served as models )or similar countries and anti-


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colonial movements elsewhere. $lthough these states#and their anti-imperialist ideologies# actually drew

more directly on the interwar proto-)ascist and )ascistmovements o)


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swallowed wholesale variations of the;eoples State; posed by the Lassallean S!

at Gotha in .


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otherwise# with disastrous results )or the internationalle)t. (he le)t had# in a word# been con3uered by

institutionalism.

(he postwar boom passed through three phases. (he)irst lasted )rom 19 to 198. !t was characteri*ed bythe 2arshall ,lan# the move toward ?uropeanintegration# the provision o) international li3uiditythrough the $merican balance o) payments# rapid

low-wage growth in ?urope# slow growth in the E.5.punctuated by recessions in 198-9# 19A-# 190-8# 19@&-@1# and an accelerating marginali*ation o)the (hird =orld by intensive accumulation in orth$merica# =estern ?urope and :apan.

(he second phase o) the postwar boom lasted )rom

198 to 19@9. !t was characteri*ed by a pro)oundalteration o) the E.5. economy a)ter the recession o)190-8# and the acceleration o) productiveinvestment abroad# particularly in =estern ?urope.(he creation o) the ??< 190 opened up ?urope )orlabor mobility as well as )or $merican investment. !n

approximately 19@# investment in production beganto move to selected parts o) the (hird =orld# wherethe productivity o) labor had reached suitable levelsand where the in)rastructure existed )or massmanu)acture. !n the second phase o) the postwarboom# the dollar crisis mooted by experts in 198began a serious point o) international contention# with

strains on )ixed exchange rates# the beginnings o) amove into gold# and the creation o) the ?uro-dollar


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market to absorb )oreign-held E.5. dollars )rom a nowexcessive E.5. balance o) payments de)icit. (he E.5.

itsel) en4oyed a boom )rom 19@1 to 19@9# stimulatedin part by the Bietnam =ar. 7eal wages hit a plateau)or wage workers in manu)acture in 19@. !n ?urope#wages began to rise in the late 19@&/s# pushed byworking-class militancy taking advantage o) boomconditions and making up )or the general wageausterity o) 19-19@. =ith the dollar crisis o) 19@8#

the building tension in the ;retton =oodsarrangements issued in the $merican recession o)19@9-1901. (he dynamic o) the international boomhad peaked in the ?uropean and :apanese recessionso) 19@-19@0 and the E.5. mini-recession o) 19@@.(he )inal phase o) the postwar boom# lasting until190A# was in reality a hyper-in)lated super-boomwhich no longer drew on dynamism in the productivesphere but depended on massive state credit creationand a basic ransacking o) productive assets.

!t is also important to note developments in the 5ovietbloc# )or our discussion o) state# market and plan. $s

early as 19# a discussion o) the operation o) the lawo) value had taken place in 5oviet economic circles.5ince the suppression o) the ?, in 19%8# market-oriented strategies )or industriali*ation had beendiscredited in 5oviet discussion and practice. (heimpressive growth rates achieved in the phase o)primitive accumulation )rom 19%8 to 191# andsimilar rates achieved in the period o) reconstruction


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)rom =orld =ar !!# had continued to marginali*ethese concerns. !n 19@%# however#


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unemployment and social disruption that would)ollow a )ull opening to the market.

(he end o) the postwar boom in the =est issued in thecrisis o) 190-190# to which we alluded earlier. (heillusion o) state agency in economic growth# theperspective o) the state civil servant# the man o)negation# the "moi absolu"# evaporated. (he de-industriali*ation o) the =est accelerated. (he phase o)

"high tech" accumulation- the direct appropriation o)scienti)ic knowledge to the production process itsel)-intensi)ied. (he rise o) neo-liberalism extended )rom(hatcher/s ;ritain to 7eagan/s $merica to 2itterand/srance to Gorbachev/s 7ussia to (eng/s


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break the international *ero or negative sum game inwhich the working class is trapped.

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