DOCSLIB.ORG

Dapprich, Matthias (2013)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Dapprich, Matthias (2013) Dapprich, Matthias (2013) The historical development of West Germany’s new left from a politico-theoretical perspective with particular emphasis on the Marxistische Gruppe and Maoist K- Gruppen. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4692/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] The$Historical$Development$of$West$Germany’s$New$ Left$from$a$Politico<theoretical$Perspective$with$ Particular$Emphasis$on$the$Marxistische+Gruppe+and$ Maoist$K0Gruppen$ by$ $ $ Matthias+Dapprich+ $ $ $ $ $ Submitted$in$fulfilment$of$the$requirements$for$the$degree$of$ Doctor$of$Philosophy$ $ $ $ School&of&Humanities& & College&of&Arts& $ University$of$Glasgow$ $ $ $ March$2013& & & & & &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&©&Matthias&Dapprich&2013& ii Abstract$ There is a gap in the existing literature as to why the New Left in West Germany entered a phase of rapid decline by the end of the 1970s. The overarching aim of this thesis is to offer a politico-theoretical explanation for the historical development of the New Left and why the ‘red decade’ between 1967 and 1976/7 ended so abruptly. Within this context, the thesis will focus on the Maoist K-Gruppen and particular emphasis will be placed on the Marxistische Gruppe, which defied the general decline of West Germany’s New Left and developed into its largest organisation during the 1980s. Furthermore, the Red Cells movement will be analysed from which both currents emerged in the wake of the student movement. Key works of the Marxistische Gruppe will be analysed with particular emphasis on politico-theoretical aspects. The analysis of the group’s theoretical work will provide a better understanding of the New Left’s historical developments against the background of the changing political environment. This thesis will conclude with reflections on developments of the radical left after the collapse of the New Left in 1989/91 and how the red decade’s legacy is still prominent in the work of the Gegenstandpunkt publishing house (the Marxistische Gruppe’s ideological successor). In conclusion, this thesis will reveal that the influence of politico-theoretical aspects on the historical development of the New Left has been given too little consideration and that the New Left’s fate cannot be adequately explained by external factors, but demands the consideration of the very development of theories and the practical conclusions organisations reached regarding their social, economic and cultural circumstances. This work will be the first to provide an insight into the potential of such a theoretical explanation for an understanding of the specific developments of the post-1968 West German New Left. iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my main supervisors, Dr Maud Bracke and Dr Myrto Tsakatika, who provided me with the opportunity to master this project, and with it, review a very interesting aspect of modern German history. Thanks also to Dr Karin Bowie for her valuable comments during the annual progress review. Special thanks to the respective archives in Berlin, Duisburg and Munich, for their help during the data collection process. Klaus-Dieter Betz and Ilona Ellefsen in Berlin, Dr Jürgen Bacia in Duisburg, and Bärbel Köhler in Munich, assisted me greatly. Thanks also to Jürgen Schröder and the online project Materialien zur Außerparlamentarischen Opposition, which provided me with many valuable resources. I would also like to thank my academic mentors in Bremen, without whose comments on previous versions on this thesis, this work would not have been possible. Thank you for the interesting discussions and provision of useful literature. I would particularly like to thank Esther for her critical comments and advice. Additionally, I am grateful to the interviewees, who sacrificed their effort and time to provide data for this thesis in the final stage of its completion. I would like to thank my family for their support during these last 4 years. I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Crawford family in Cardigan, Pessac and Hinsdale for their diverse help during the compilation of this work. Chopping my way through the undergrowth of the English language would not have been possible without your help during this time. Lastly and most importantly, I would like to thank Megan for sacrificing her time and effort at different stages of this work, partially even during the completion of her own PhD thesis. The journey is not always its own reward. After all these years, we can finally look forward! iv Author’s$Declaration$ I declare that, except when explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, this thesis is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of Glasgow or any other institution. Signature: Print name: Matthias Dapprich v List$of$abbreviations$ AB Arbeiterbund für den Wiederaufbau der KPD, Workers League for the Reestablishment of the KPD ABG Arbeiter-Basis-Gruppen, Workers Action Groups AfaS Archiv für alternatives Schrifttum, Duisburg APO Außerparlamentarische Opposition, extra-parliamentary opposition APO-Archiv Archiv der Außerparlamentarischen Opposition an der Freien Universität Berlin, Berlin BStU Bundesbeauftragter für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former GDR BWK Bund Westdeutscher Kommunisten, League of West German Communists CCP Chinese Communist Party DGB Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, German Federation of Trade Unions DKP Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, German Communist Party FAU/R Freie Arbeiter-Union/Rätekommunisten, Free Workers- Union/Council Communists FRG Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Federal Republic of Germany GDR Deutsche Demokratische Republik, German Democratic Republic GIM Gruppe Internationaler Marxisten, Group of International Marxists GSP Gegenstandpunkt publishing house GSPQ GegenStandpunkt – Political Quarterly KBW Kommunistischer Bund Westdeutschlands, Communist League of West Germany KB Kommunistischer Bund, Communist League KHB (ML) Kommunistischer Hochschulbund (Marxisten/ Leninisten), Communist Higher Education League (Marxists/Leninists) KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, Communist Party of Germany KPD/AO Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands/Aufbauorganisation, Communist Party of Germany/ Setup Organisation KPD/ML Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands/Marxisten-Leninisten, Communist Party of Germany/ Marxists-Leninists KSB Kommunistischer Studentenbund, Communist Student League (student organisation of the KBW) KSV Kommunistischer Studentenverband, Communist Student Organisation (student organisation of the KPD/AO) KSZ Kommunistische Studentenzeitung, Communist Student Paper KVZ Kommunistische Volkszeitung, Communist People’s Paper LCW Lenin Collected Works MECW Marx Engels Collected Works MfS Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, Ministry of State Security of the GDR (a.k.a. Stasi) MG Marxistische Gruppe, Marxist Group MG/EN Marxistische Gruppe/Erlangen-Nürnberg, Marxist Group/ Erlangen-Nuremberg MG/tf Marxistische Gruppe/theoriefraktion, Marxist Group/ theory faction MHZ Marxistische Hochschulzeitung, Marxist Higher Education Paper ML Marxism-Leninism vi MLPD Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands, Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany MSB Spartakus Marxistischer Studentenbund Spartakus, Marxist Student League Spartacus (student organisation affiliated with the DKP) MSZ (1970-7/1974) Münchener Studentenzeitung, Munich Student Paper MSZ (10/1974-1979) Marxistische Studentenzeitung, Marxist Student Paper MSZ (1980-1991) Marxistische Streit- und Zeitschrift ― Gegen die Kosten der Freiheit, Marxist Pamphlet and Magazine ― Opposing the Costs of Freedom MZ (1983) Marxistische Zeitung, Marxist Paper NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation PDS Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus, Party of Democratic Socialism RAF Rote Armee Fraktion, Red Army Faction RC Republikanischer Club, Republican Club RCDS Ring christlich-demokratischer Studenten, Association of Christian Democratic Students RK Revolutionärer Kampf, Revolutionary Struggle RL Radikale Linke, Radical Left RZ Rote Zellen, Red Cells RZ/AK Rote Zellen/Arbeitskonferenz, Red Cells/ Working Conference SB Sozialitisches Büro, Socialist Bureau SDS Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund, Socialist German Student League SDS/US Students for a Democratic Society SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, Socialist Unity Party of Germany SEW Sozialitische Einheitspartei Westberlins, Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, Social Democratic Party of Germany Stasi Ministerium für Staatssicherheit der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, Ministry of State Security of the GDR SWP Socialist Workers Party (United Kingdom) taz German left-wing daily newspaper tz Tageszeitung (Munich), daily newspaper UK United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland US United States of America WASG Wahlalternative:
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Berlin, Den 17.12.2002 Jürgen-Fuchs-Straße in Erfurt Am
    Berlin, den 17.12.2002 Jürgen-Fuchs-Straße in Erfurt Am 20. Dezember 02, anläßlich des 52. Geburtstags des Dichters, wird die Straße am Landtag in Erfurt in Jürgen-Fuchs-Straße benannt. Die Stadt Erfurt und der Landtag des Landes Thüringen ehren mit der Benennung einen Poeten, der mit seinen intensiven, leisen Gedichten die Nöte einer DDR-Jugend ausdrückte, die sich in den Zwängen des totalen Anspruches der SED auf die Menschen selbst zu behaupten versuchte. Seine akribische Beobachtung wertete die Realität ohne den erhobenen Zeigefinger des Moralisten. Die real existierenden Sozialisten sperrten ihn dafür ins Gefängnis und schoben ihn vor 25 Jahren in den Westen ab. Der so in eine neue Welt Geworfene konnte nun in seinem Beruf als Psychologe arbeiten und baute gemeinsam mit seiner Frau den "Treffpunkt Waldstraße" im Berliner Problembezirk Moabit auf, einen Heimatort für Jugendliche und Kinder aus schwierigen sozialen Verhältnissen.Jürgen Fuchs' literarisches Werk blieb nicht bei der Beschreibung des sozialistischen Totalitarismus stehen, sondern lotete die Möglichkeiten des Menschseins darin aus. In seiner Geradlinigkeit und seinem unbestechlichen Urteil achtete Fuchs darauf, daß die Aufarbeitung des SED-Unrechts nicht abstrakt blieb, sondern den Menschen in ihrer konkreten Situation gerecht wurde. Dafür ist ihm das Bürgerbüro e.V., zu dessen Gründern er gehörte, dankbar und verpflichtet. Der Weg in den Thüringer Landtag führt zukünftig über eine Straße der Sensibilität für die Nöte der Mitmenschen und des Engagements für die Menschenrechte. Dr. Ehrhart Neubert, amt. Vorsitzender Ralf Hirsch, Vorstand Presseerklärung vom 22.10.2002 JÖRN MOTHES: Kein Abstand zur Diktatur Ringstorff und Holter haben in ihrer Koalitionsvereinbarung die Auflösung der Behörde des Landesbeauftragten des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommern für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen DDR beschlossen.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 a New Political Dawn: the Cuban Revolution in the 1960S
    Notes 1 A New Political Dawn: The Cuban Revolution in the 1960s 1. For an outline of the events surrounding the Padilla Affair, see chapter two. 2. Kenner and Petras limited themselves to mentioning the enormous importance of a Cuban Revolution with which a great number of the North American New Left identified. They also dedicated their book to the Cuban and Vietnamese people for “giving North Americans the possibility of making a revolution” (1972: 5). 3. For an explanation of the term gauchiste and of its relevance to the New Left, see chapter six. 4. However, this consideration has been rather critical in the case of Minogue (1970). 5. The general consensus seems to be that, as the Revolution entered a period of rapid Sovietization following the failure of the ten million ton sugar harvest of 1970, Western intellectuals, who until then had showed support, sought to distance themselves from the Revolution. The single incident that seemingly sparked this reaction, in particular from some French intellectuals, was the Padilla Affair. 6. Here a clear distinction must be made mainly between the Communist Party of the pre-Revolutionary period, the Partido Socialista Popular (Popular Socialist Party) and the 26 July Movement (MR26). The former had a legacy of Popular Frontism, collaboration with Batista in the post- War period and a general distrust of “middle class adventurers” as it referred to the leadership of MR26 until 1958 (Karol, 1971: 150). The latter, led by Castro, had a radical though incoherently articulated ideo- logical basis. The process of unification of revolutionary organizations carried out between 1961 and 1965 did not completely obliterate the individuality of these competing discourses and it was in their struggle for supremacy that the New Left’s contribution was made.
    [Show full text]
  • Otto Kirchheimer and Carl Schmitt After 1945.” Redescriptions: Political Thought, Conceptual History and Feminist Theory 24(1): 4–26
    REDESCRIPTIONS Buchstein, Hubertus. 2021. “The Godfather of Left-Schmittianism? Political Thought, Conceptual History and Feminist Theory Otto Kirchheimer and Carl Schmitt after 1945.” Redescriptions: Political Thought, Conceptual History and Feminist Theory 24(1): 4–26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33134/rds.320 RESEARCH The Godfather of Left-Schmittianism? Otto Kirchheimer and Carl Schmitt after 1945 Hubertus Buchstein Greifswald University, DE [email protected] In the vast secondary literature on Carl Schmitt as well as on the Frankfurt School, the political and legal thinker Otto Kirchheimer is described as a forerunner of contemporary Left-Schmittianism. This view is sometimes expanded in the litera- ture to the personal relationship between Schmitt and Kirchheimer after 1945 as well. A closer look at Kirchheimer’s late work, at his unpublished correspondence with Schmitt, and at additional unpublished sources contradicts such an interpre- tation. In fact, Kirchheimer strongly attacked Schmittianism in German debates on constitutional theory after 1945. This article finally uncovers the extent to which Schmitt tried to instrumentalize his former doctoral student to pursue his political rehabilitation in the Federal Republic via the United States. Kirchheimer, however, took a firm stand against this attempt. In his defense of modern parliamentary democracy, Kirchheimer definitely sided with the political left of his times; but he did so without any flirtation with Schmittianism. Keywords: Otto Kirchheimer; Carl Schmitt; Left-Schmittianism; antisemitism; West German political and legal thought I. Introduction: Against Some Legends The work of Carl Schmitt (1888–1985) has become a point of reference for a growing number of contemporary political theorists on the left.
    [Show full text]
  • Italy's Atlanticism Between Foreign and Internal
    UNISCI Discussion Papers, Nº 25 (January / Enero 2011) ISSN 1696-2206 ITALY’S ATLANTICISM BETWEEN FOREIGN AND INTERNAL POLITICS Massimo de Leonardis 1 Catholic University of the Sacred Heart Abstract: In spite of being a defeated country in the Second World War, Italy was a founding member of the Atlantic Alliance, because the USA highly valued her strategic importance and wished to assure her political stability. After 1955, Italy tried to advocate the Alliance’s role in the Near East and in Mediterranean Africa. The Suez crisis offered Italy the opportunity to forge closer ties with Washington at the same time appearing progressive and friendly to the Arabs in the Mediterranean, where she tried to be a protagonist vis a vis the so called neo- Atlanticism. This link with Washington was also instrumental to neutralize General De Gaulle’s ambitions of an Anglo-French-American directorate. The main issues of Italy’s Atlantic policy in the first years of “centre-left” coalitions, between 1962 and 1968, were the removal of the Jupiter missiles from Italy as a result of the Cuban missile crisis, French policy towards NATO and the EEC, Multilateral [nuclear] Force [MLF] and the revision of the Alliance’ strategy from “massive retaliation” to “flexible response”. On all these issues the Italian government was consonant with the United States. After the period of the late Sixties and Seventies when political instability, terrorism and high inflation undermined the Italian role in international relations, the decision in 1979 to accept the Euromissiles was a landmark in the history of Italian participation to NATO.
    [Show full text]
  • Presseartikel 2006
    2006 Presseerklärung Berlin, den 21. Dezember 2006 Täuschungsmanöver in Berlin-Friedrichfelde Auf Vorschlag der PDS-Linkspartei wurde auf dem Zentralfriedhof in Berlin-Friedrichsfelde ein Gedenkstein für die „Opfer des Stalinismus“ errichtet. Das Bürgerbüro e. V. zur Aufarbeitung von Folgeschäden der SED-Diktatur betrachtet den Vorgang als Täuschungsmanöver. Ein solcher Gedenkstein müsste in seiner Aufschrift den Text „Opfer des Sozialismus“ zeigen. Mit der derzeitigen Aufschrift wird verschleiert, dass der Sozialismus auch nach Stalin bis 1989, in manchen Ländern bis heute, zahlreiche Opfer gekostet hat. Mit der Umbenennung des Gedenksteins würde zugleich darauf verwiesen, dass in Berlin-Friedrichsfelde nicht nur Sozialisten gedacht wird, die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus waren, sondern auch solchen, die selbst zu Tätern wurden. Zu diesen Tätern gehört auch der MfS-General und langjährige Chef der HVA , Markus Wolf. Das Bürgerbüro e. V., das zahlreiche Opfer des Sozialismus berät und betreut, fordert die PDS-Linkspartei auf, um der Wahrheit willen, die Inschrift des Gedenksteins zu korrigieren. Auf einem Friedhof sollte nicht gelogen werden. Dr. Ehrhart Neubert (Vorsitzender) Freya Klier (Vorstand) Siegfried Reiprich (Vorstand) Presseerklärung Berlin, den 9. November 2006 Bürgerbüro begrüßt Umdenken des Bundestages! Mit Genugtuung nimmt das Bürgerbüro e.V. zur Kenntnis, dass im Deutschen Bundestag die Entscheidung über die Novellierung des Stasiunterlagengesetzes verschoben worden ist. Wir erwarten, dass nunmehr eine Lösung gefunden wird, die die Aufarbeitung in der MfS-Frage nicht behindert. Eine Verlängerung der Überprüfungsfrist um 5 Jahre würde hinreichend Zeit geben, die Zukunft des Stasiunterlagengesetzes und der BStU im Sinne der Friedlichen Revolution zu regeln. Beim Bürgerbüro haben sich in wenigen Tagen 530 Unterstützer des Offenen Briefes an die Abgeordneten des Deutschen Bundestages eingebracht.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2010 Contents
    ANNUAL REPORT 2010 CONTENTS EDITORIAL 2 BUILDING BRIDGES: 20 YEARS OF THE ROSA LUXEMBURG FOUNDATION 4 Award-winning east-west projects 5 Posters from 20 years of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation 6 KEY ISSUE: AUTOMOBILES, ENERGY AND POLITICS 8 «Power to the People» conference of the Academy of Political Education 9 «Auto.Mobil.Krise.» Conference of the Institute for Social Analysis 10 THE ACADEMY OF POLITICAL EDUCATION 12 PUBLICATIONS OF THE ROSA LUXEMBURG FOUNDATION 16 EDUCATIONAL WORK IN THE FEDERAL STATES 20 CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND COOPERATION 32 Interview with the new director of the Centre, Wilfried Telkämper 33 New presences: The Foundations in Belgrade and Quito 34 Africa Conference «Resistance and awakening» 35 Visit by El Salvador’s foreign minister 36 Israel and Palestine: Gender dimensions. Conference in Brussels 36 RELAUNCH OF THE FOUNDATION WEBSITE 40 PROJECT SPONSORSHIP 42 FINANCIAL AND CONCEPTUAL SUPPORT: THE SCHOLARSHIP DEPARTMENT 52 Academic tutors 54 Conferences of the scholarship department 56 RosAlumni – an association for former scholarship recipients 57 Scholarship recipient and rabbi: Alina Treiger 57 ARCHIVE AND LIBRARY 58 Finding aid 58 What is a finding aid? 59 About the Foundation’s library: Interview with Uwe Michel 60 THE CULTURAL FORUM OF THE ROSA LUXEMBURG FOUNDATION 61 PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT 64 THE FOUNDATION’S BODIES 66 General Assembly 66 Executive Board 68 Scientific Advisory Council 69 Discussion Groups 70 ORGANIGRAM 72 THE FOUNDATION’S BUDGET 74 PUBLISHING DETAILS/PHOTOS 80 1 Editorial Dear readers, new political developments, the movements for democratic change in many Arab countries, or the natural and nuclear disaster in Japan all point to one thing: we must be careful about assumed certainties.
    [Show full text]
  • The Electoral Geography of European Radical Left Parties Since 1990
    ‘Red Belts’ anywhere? The electoral geography of European radical left parties since 1990 Petar Nikolaev Bankov, BA, MSc Submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social and Political Sciences College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow January 2020 Abstract European radical left parties (RLPs) are on the rise across Europe. Since 1990 they became an integral part of the party systems across the continent and enjoy an increased level of government participation and policy clout. The main source for this improved position is their increasing electoral support in the past three decades, underpinned by a diversity of electoral geographies. Understood as the patterns of territorial distribution of electoral support across electoral units, the electoral geographies are important, as they indicate the effects of the socio-economic and political changes in Europe on these parties. This thesis studies the sources of the electoral geographies of European RLPs since 1990. The existing literature on these parties highlighted the importance of their electoral geographies for understanding their electoral and governmental experiences. Yet, to this date, it lacks systematic research on these territorial distributions of electoral support in their own right. Such research is important also for the general literature on the spatial distribution of electoral performance. In particular, these works paid limited attention to the relevance of their theories for individual political parties, as they
    [Show full text]
  • Katalog FR En Web.Pdf
    » WE ARE THE PEOPLE! « EXHIBITION MAGAZINE PEACEFUL REVOLUTION 1989/90 Published as part of the theme year “20 Years since the Fall of the Wall” by Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH CONTENTS 7 | OPENING ADDRESS | KLAUS WOWEREIT 8 | OPENING ADDRESS | BERND NEUMANN 10 | 28 YEARS OF THE WALL 100 | TIMELINE 106 | HISTORY WITH A DOMINO EFFECT 108 | PHOTO CREDITS 110 | MASTHEAD 2 CONTENTS 14 | AWAKENING 38 | REVOLUTION 78 | UNITY 16 | AGAINST THE DICTATORSHIP 40 | MORE AND MORE EAST GERMANS 80 | NO EXPERIMENTS 18 | THE PEACE AND ENVIRONMENTAL WANT OUT 84 | ON THE ROAD TO UNITY MOVEMENT IN THE GDR 44 | GRASSROOTS ORGANISATIONS 88 | GERMAN UNITY AND WORLD POLITICS 22 | it‘s not this countrY – 48 | REVOLTS ALONG THE RAILWAY LINE 90 | FREE WITHOUT BORDERS yOUTH CULTURES 50 | ANNIVERSARY PROTESTS 96 | THE COMPLETION OF UNITY 24 | SUBCULTURE 7 OCTOBER 1989 26 | THE OPPOSITION GOES PUBLIC 54 | EAST BErlin‘s gETHSEMANE CHURCH 30 | ARRESTS AND EXPULSIONS 56 | WE ARE THE PEOPLE! 34 | FIRST STEPS TO REVOLUTION 60 | THE SEd‘s nEW TACTIC 62 | THE CRUMBLING SYSTEM 66 | 4 NOVEMBER 1989 70 | 9 NOVEMBEr 1989 – THE FALL OF THE WALL 74 | THE BATTLE FOR POWER CONTENTS 3 4 IMPRESSIONS OF THE EXHIBITION INSTALLATION © SERGEJ HOROVITZ 5 6 IMPRESSIONS OF THE EXHIBITION INSTALLATION OPENING ADDRESS For Berlin, 2009 is a year of commemorations of the moving Central and Eastern European countries and Mikhail Gorbachev’s events of 20 years ago, when the Peaceful Revolution finally policy of glasnost and perestroika had laid the ground for change. toppled the Berlin Wall. The exhibition presented on Alexander- And across all the decades since the airlift 60 years ago, Berlin platz by the Robert Havemann Society is one of the highlights of was able to depend on the unprecedented solidarity of the Ameri cans, the theme year “20 Years since the Fall of the Wall”.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origin of Socialist Reformism in France*
    CARL LANDAUER THE ORIGIN OF SOCIALIST REFORMISM IN FRANCE* PRELUDE: THE OPPOSITION TO MARX IN THE INTERNATIONAL Although the International Workingmen's Association is often called the Marxian International, it was at no time safely under the control of Karl Marx. The spirit of Marx, however, was the strongest single influence in the organization from its beginning, and from 1868, when the Proudhonians had suffered defeat at the Brussels Congress, to 1872, when Bakunin's opposition proved too strong to be overcome, Marx possessed more power in the organization than anyone else. Yet this power collapsed in 1872: Although formally Marx was the victor at the Hague Congress, actually in the conflict with Bakunin it became evident that Marx's position was disintegrating. What were the reasons? "Marx accused his opponent of the intention to introduce into the Association ideological disorder, the spirit of [political] abstentionism and of federalism, in the Utopian desire to create a communal organi- zation without government. Bakunin, in his turn, criticized Marx for wanting to impose on the International a unified dogma and a party discipline in order to create a regime of authoritarian communism first in the Association and then in the state (dans les gouvernements)."1 Unfortunately for Marx and for the unity of the workers' movement, many members of the International who by no means believed in a "communal organization without a government" and perhaps were not * The author wishes to express his gratitude to the Institute of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley for financial support in meeting expenses incurred in the collection of material; also to Monsieur Couta- rel, librarian of the Prefecture de police in Paris, for permission to use the files of the Prefecture; and to the staff of the Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis in Amsterdam, especially to Mr T.
    [Show full text]
  • A Critical and Comparative Analysis of Organisational Forms of Selected Marxist Parties, in Theory and in Practice, with Special Reference to the Last Half Century
    Rahimi, M. (2009) A critical and comparative analysis of organisational forms of selected Marxist parties, in theory and in practice, with special reference to the last half century. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/688/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] A critical and comparative analysis of organisational forms of selected Marxist parties, in theory and in practice, with special reference to the last half century Mohammad Rahimi, BA, MSc Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Centre for the Study of Socialist Theory and Movement Faculty of Law, Business and Social Science University of Glasgow September 2008 The diversity of the proletariat during the final two decades of the 20 th century reached a point where traditional socialist and communist parties could not represent all sections of the working class. Moreover, the development of social movements other than the working class after the 1960s further sidelined traditional parties. The anti-capitalist movements in the 1970s and 1980s were looking for new political formations.
    [Show full text]
  • A Collection of Articles by Harry Ratner
    IS THERE A FUTURE FOR SOCIALISM? A collection of articles ?by Harry Ratner INTRODUCTION ANY READERS will be familiar with Harry but have a consistent theme – the need to question Ratner’s excellent book, Reluctant what passes in Trotskyist circles for Marxist ortho- RevolutionaryM , which details the more than two doxy and face up to political reality. This is not, I decades he spent as an activist in the Trotskyist imagine, a message that will be well received in movement before breaking from it in 1960. One of some quarters. the features of the book was that, while the author Among the shibboleths Harry challenges are no longer considered himself a Trotskyist, his was the necessity for centrally planned production in a not an embittered account fuelled by personal socialist economy, the rejection of a parliamentary resentment towards the movement to which he had road to socialism, economic catastrophism, re- once committed his life. On the contrary, Harry’s ductionist views on the “class character” of the memoirs were distinguished by an admirable state, the validity of the Bolshevik revolution, both objectivity, in which he gave credit to his former in its own terms and as a model for future socialist comrades as serious and honest socialists, while struggles, and more. Even those who profoundly rejecting most of the main planks of the Trotskyist disagree with the author’s conclusions will hopefully programme. at least be provoked into re-examining their political The articles in this collection continue the assumptions. general approach of Reluctant Revolutionary, but Harry would welcome readers’ comments on in theoretical rather than autobiographical terms.
    [Show full text]
  • PROOF Contents
    PROOF Contents Acknowledgements viii 1 Survival and Renewal: The 1990s 1 2 Regroupment: Establishing a European Movement 29 3 The Party of the European Left 46 4 Diverse Trends: An Overview 66 5 A Successful Model? Die Linke (the Left Party – Germany) 83 6 How Have the Mighty Fallen: Partito della Rifondazione Comunista (Party of Communist Refoundation – Italy) 99 7 Back from the Brink: French Communism (Parti Communiste Français) Re-orientates 116 8 Communism Renewed and Supported: The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (the Czech Republic) 132 9 The Scandinavian Left 147 10 The European Left and the Global Left: 1999–2009 163 Notes 192 Index 204 vii PROOF 1 Survival and Renewal: The 1990s Almost two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, on the occasion of the German federal elections in September 2009, the International Herald Tribune marked the electoral victory of the German right with the headline, ‘Is socialism dying?’1 The German Social Democratic Party or the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) took 23% of the votes – its lowest poll since the Second World War – just months after the European elections registered a poor performance from left- wing candidates across the European Union (EU). As the article went on to observe, ‘Even in the midst of one of the greatest challenges to capitalism in 75 years, involving a breakdown of the financial sys- tem because of “irrational exuberance”, greed and the weakness of regulatory systems, European socialists and their leftist cousins have not found a compelling response, let alone taken advantage of the failures of the right.’ There is no doubt that across Europe the failure of the social demo- cratic parties to present a ‘compelling response’ to the economic crisis has led to a wave of electoral setbacks.
    [Show full text]