On the Formation of Marxism Historical Materialism Book Series Editorial Board Sébastien Budgen (Paris) Steve Edwards (London) Juan Grigera (London) Marcel van der Linden (Amsterdam) Peter Thomas (London) volume 113 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/hm On the Formation of Marxism Karl Kautsky’s Theory of Capitalism, the Marxism of the Second International and Karl Marx’s Critique of Political Economy By Jukka Gronow leiden | boston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gronow, Jukka, author. On the formation of Marxism : Karl Kautsky's theory of capitalism, the Marxism of the Second International and Karl Marx's Critique of political economy / by Jukka Gronow. pages cm. – (Historical materialism book series, ISSN 1570-1522 ; volume 113) Originally published as the author's doctoral thesis, Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki in 1986. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-30664-6 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-90-04-30665-3 (e-book) 1. Marx, Karl, 1818-1883. 2. Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938. 3. Capitalism. 4. Communism–History. I. Title. HX39.5.G72 2015 335.4–dc23 2015032313 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1570-1522 isbn 978-90-04-30664-6 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-30665-3 (e-book) Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. 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Contents Preface and Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 part 1 Kautsky’s Marxism 1 Organised Capitalism, the General Cartel and the Proletariat 29 2 The Dispute over Revisionism 35 3 The Theory of Immiseration, Socialist Consciousness and the Intellectuals 57 4 Socialism as Science 72 5 The Capitalist Law of Appropriation: Kautsky’s Interpretation of Karl Marx’s Economic Thought 78 6 The Centralisation of Capital and Monopoly Formation 94 7 Imperialism and the Relation between Industrial and Agrarian Countries 99 8 Imperialism and Its Alternatives 107 9 Imperialism as the Last Stage of Capitalism 126 10 Theoretical Sources of Kautsky’s and Lenin’s Studies on Imperialism 134 11 Imperialism as the Truth about Capitalism 151 12 Parliamentary Democracy and Revolutionary Tactics 157 vi contents 13 The Question of Democracy and Dictatorship: Lenin’s Critique of Kautsky the Renegade 192 part 2 Marx’s Marxism 14 The Immanent Critique and the Natural Rights Theory 211 15 John Locke, Adam Smith and Karl Marx’s Critique of Private Property 225 16 The Principle of Labour 252 17 The Theory of Increasing Misery and the Critique of Capitalism 276 Conclusion 288 Bibliography 311 Index of Names 325 Index of Subjects 327 Preface and Acknowledgements This study was written originally as my doctor’s thesis at the Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki. In 1979–83 it was supported by the Academy of Finland, to which I wish to express my gratitude. A short visit to the Inter- national Institute of Social History in Amsterdam in 1983 made it possible for me to become acquainted with the Karl Kautsky archive preserved at the Insti- tute. I would like to express my special gratitude to the following people, who commented on the original manuscript of my dissertation at different stages: Erik Allardt, Pauli Kettunen, Pekka Kosonen, Arto Noro and Matti Viikari. Erik Allardt and Matti Viikari also acted as the official examiners of my thesis. Johannes Berger was the official opponent nominated by the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Helsinki. None of them, naturally, bears any re- sponsibility for the ideas represented in the final monograph. I am grateful to Susan Sinisalo for correcting the English of my thesis originally published in 1986 in the series Commentationes Scientiarum Socialum (nr.33) of the Soci- etas Scientiarum Fennica. I’m grateful to the editor of the Historical Materialism series at Brill Publish- ers for offering me the possibility of republishing it. After much consideration, I have decided to publish the work in its original form, with only minor changes, mostly omissions of unnecessary repetitions and excessive quotes. Instead of making any extensive changes in the main text of the book, I have partly rewrit- ten its introduction in order to take into account and relate my arguments, whenever necessary, to the scientific accomplishments in the study of Kautsky and Second International Marxism which have taken place during the almost thirty years that have elapsed since the original publication of my thesis in 1986, none of which, in my opinion, seriously challenge the main line of interpreta- tion of my book. In the original version, most of the quotations were in their original German. This new version uses either original English translations or specific transla- tions from German to English. Since the old translations are often of a rather poor quality, even they have had to be modified at times. Whenever this is the case, I have added the following note to the reference: ‘translation modified BL’. Benjamin Lewis has helped me locate the old translations, as well as translated with great skill all those texts which only existed in their original German. His role was by no means restricted to translating. He has also used his vast know- ledge and extensive reading in guiding me through the most important recent contributions in the field, as well as commented expertly on my interpretation viii preface and acknowledgements of them. Without his valuable help, the whole project of republishing my study would not have been possible at all. The kone foundation has supported the project of the republication of this book for which I would like to express my special gratitude. Helsinki, August 2013 Introduction The quarter of a century of the rise and fall of the Second International (1889– 1914) could be called the formative years of Marxism, or ‘scientific socialism’ as it was solemnly named by its proponents. Karl Kautsky (1854–1938) was one of the leading figures who helped make Marxism the official doctrine of the rapidly growing social-democratic mass parties – directly in Germany and more indirectly throughout Europe and North America. As a leading theor- etician of the German Social Democratic Party, he was understood to repres- ent genuine Marxism by both enemies and friends of socialism alike. Kaut- sky’s Marxism was the target of many polemics and disputes concerning the right interpretation of Marxist doctrine, the scientific validity of the Marx- ist theory of society, and the political and strategic conclusions drawn from it. For the first time Kautsky’s theoretical authority was seriously challenged in 1899 by the full-scale critique put forward by Eduard Bernstein – a former ally and collaborator of Kautsky – of all the main theorems of Marxism. But neither Bernstein nor later critics could shatter the faith in Marxism as the official party ideology and Kautsky’s position as its leading theoretical repres- entative and protagonist. Not until the end of the First World War and the final organisational and political dissolution of the labour movement would Kaut- sky’s Marxism lose its position of authority. Kautsky became rather an obsolete figure, having no niche in the politically divided labour movement. Kautsky enjoyed a wide reputation as a leading theoretician of Marxism even before he was commissioned in 1890 to draft the official party programme, later to become known as the Erfurt Programme adopted by the German Social Democratic Party in 1891. The Erfurt Programme was generally recognised as the party’s first Marxist programme. For 34 years – from its very founding – Kautsky was the editor of the theoretical organ (Die Neue Zeit) of the most influential party of the Second International. He was also the acknowledged inheritor of the theoretical legacy of Marx and Engels, the ‘Old Ones’, and close collaborator with Engels during his last years. He edited and published many of Marx’s posthumous works, including the first published version of Theories of Surplus Value.1 Kautsky could thus with good reason speak with the authority of the ‘Old Ones’, and he was a most influential interpreter and propagator of 1 Kautsky 1904, 1905, 1910a. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004306653_002 2 introduction Marx’s and Engels’s scientific thoughts. Together with Engels’s Anti-Dühring,2 Kautsky’s DasErfurterProgramm [TheClassStruggle (1892)]3 and TheEconomic Doctrines of Karl Marx [Karl Marx’s Ökonomische Lehren],4 already published in 1887 before the Erfurt Programme, were the basic ‘textbooks’ of Marxism through which many a generation of Marxists studied and learned the basics of scientific socialism.5 The choice of Karl Kautsky as the main theoretical figure in the present study could thus be justified by the influential position he enjoyed among the Marx- ists of the period of the Second International. The main purpose of the present study is not, however, to analyse the history of Marxist ideas, and to identify the originators of certain important thought forms or the relations of influence among various Marxists and among different Marxist interpretations and con- ceptions.