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West European Communist Parties: Kautskyism And/Or Derevolutionization?

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UniversiV M icr^tlms International SOON.Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 8513653 Zoubir, Yahia Hamdallah WEST EUROPEAN COMMUNIST PARTIES: KAUTSKYISM AND/OR DEREVOLUTIONIZATION? The American University Ph.D. 1985 University Microfilms internâtions!300 N.Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml48106 Copyright 1985 by Zoubir, Yahia Hamdallah All Rights Reserved WEST EUROPEAN COMMUNIST PARTIES: KAUTSKYISM AND/OR DEREVOLUTIONIZATION? by Yahia H. Zoubir submitted to the Faculty of the College of Public and International Affairs of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations Signatures of Committee: Chairman: Steven I . Levine Gert H. Mueller Richard Breitman Dean of the College Date 1985 The American University Washington, D.C. 20016 TEE AkERICM UNIVERSITY LIBRARY © COPYRIGHT BY YAHIA H. ZOUBIR 1985 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WEST EUROPEAN COMMUNIST PARTIES: KAUTSKYISM AND/OR DEREVOLUTIONIZATION? by Yahia H. Zoubir ABSTRACT In the 1970s, the Euroconununist phenomenon dominated the political scene. The West European communist parties declared that their strategy would be constitutional and that the deep transformation which they intended to under­ take in their nations would be accomplished within the parliamentary democratic framework. Their strategy con­ sists of involving and obtaining the consensus of the majority of the population in this peaceful process of transformation. To achieve their goal, they have pro­ claimed their independence from their previous center of domination, Moscow, and emphasized their national charac­ ters. More importantly, they have abandoned many of the fundamental concepts of Leninist doctrine. The basic thesis of this dissertation is that Eurocommunism has rejected "insurrectionary politics" as a means of coming to power. In opposition to the Eurocommunists' assertion that 11 their strategy is inspired by Gramsci's teachings, the contention of this study is that they have adopted Kautsky's conceptions, not Gramsci's theoretical formula­ tions. The Euroconununist strategy, contrary to the one prescribed by the founders of Marxism and by Lenin, is primarily parliamentary. Like classical Social Democracy, Eurocommunism, despite its intention of transforming capitalism, has ended up managing it. Unlike Social Democracy as it has devel­ oped since World War II, Eurocommunism's proclaimed objec­ tive remains the establishment of a socialist society. However, this dissertation asserts that this realization will be difficult to attain; history has indicated the repeated phenomenon of revolutionary movements becoming deradicalized in the process of attempting political integration. West European communist parties, like Social Democratic parties in the past, have been forced to operate within the confines of the very system they are attempting to change radically. Revolutionary means of establishing Communism in Europe have failed to undermine the legitimacy of parliamentary democracy. This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my mother, from whom I have learned more than from twenty-five years in schools. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing this dissertation would not have been possible without the contributions, moral support, and constant encouragement of relatives, faculty members and friends. I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to all those who have supported me and inspired me throughout the whole period of undertaking this work. Professor Steven I. Levine, my chairman, has not only shown interest in my work, but has provided constant intellectal stimulation and encouragement. He offered me the friendship necessary to make possible a working rela­ tionship. To Professor Gert H. Mueller I owe most of my intellectual inspiration ever since the first class I took with him in the autumn of 1979. He has taught me the meaning of critical research and theoretical rigor. Whatever sociological insight I may have developed is due to his guidance. Professor Richard Breitman took the risk of being on my committee without even knowing me. I would like to thank him for the confidence he has shown in me. lie has also helped me to avoid falling into the trap of partisan politics into which the nature of this work might have tempted me. I am also grateful to Professor Eusebio IV Mujal-Leon of Georgetown University for his help in the early stages of this dissertation. In the seven years I have spent in the School of International Service I have been fortunate to meet faculty members who assisted me in various ways. My special thanks go to Professor Nicholas Onuf, who never failed to give me his support when I needed it. I would also like to thank Professor Albert Mott and Professor Gunther Eyck, both West European specialists, for letting me lecture on my topic in their classes. I would like to thank Dean William Olson, Professor barman Wilson, and F. Jackson Piotrow for the support and trust they showed me while I was teaching the Western Tradition course in the School. The encouragement of Nora Bawa, Mary Eager, Suzanne Skillings and Tina Taylor is also highly appreciated, as is the help of my colleague Charlotte Knott. I am very grateful to the staff of The American University Library, who always helped me find my sources. My special thanks go to Shirley Rosenstock of the Inter- Library Loans, who acquired the necessary material for this research. Among my fellow students and friends, I would like to thank Robert Beckmann, Abbas Malekzadeh, and Ernest Plock. Francine Krasowska deserves all the credit for making this manuscript legible. Her excellent typing spared me yet another agony. VI My greatest debt goes to my wife Cynthia, who has supported me all the way through this dissertation. Her patience, encouragement, dedication, and moral support are immeasurable. She shared with me every minute of the agony, more than one can expect from a newly-wed. My dearest friends, Nicholas and Lisa Singer, granted me endless moral support and encouragement. Without Lisa's imposed deadlines this dissertation would still not have been completed. I am also very grateful to my dear friend Mohamed O. Benmoumene for being...my friend. Special thanks go to my in-laws, the Penningroths, who have been giving me lots of moral support. I am very grateful to my family in Algiers. I thank my father, step-mother, brothers and sisters for believing in me and praying for me during all these years of absence from h o m e . TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ..................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ............................................ iv INTRODUCTION ................................................. 1 Chapter I. ELEMENTS OF MARXIST THEORY ......................... 16 Introduction .......................................... 17 The Proletariat as the Class of Change ............. 25 Marx and the Conception of the P a r t y ................38 Social Revolution, Transition to Socialism and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat .... 45 The S t a t e ...............................................51 Reform and Revolution .............................. 64 The Peaceful Transition to Socialism .............. 71 Engels' "Introduction"; The Genesis of Deradicalization? ................................ 75 II. GERMAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY ............................ 94 The German SPD: From Isolation to Participation ..................................... 96 Karl Kautsky: Socialism and Democracy ............ 134 III. THE DEVELOPMENT OF EUROCOMMUNISM ................... 160 Origins of the Communist Parties of Western Europe ..................................
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