Council Communism and the Socialization Dilemma

Forthcoming in James Muldoon (ed.) Council Democracy: Theorising Boundaries Between the Political and Economic. (London: Routledge)

20 Pages Posted: 2 Jan 2018

See all articles by Nicholas Vrousalis

Nicholas Vrousalis

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics (EIPE)

Date Written: December 27, 2017

Abstract

Suppose you propose to retrieve the means of production from the capitalist mode of production, turning them from alien forces conspiring against freedom into an expression of freedom. How might you do that? The question gives rise to a socialisation dilemma. The first horn of the dilemma, statism, associates socialisation with exclusive state ownership and control of the means of production. The second horn of the dilemma, syndicalism, associates socialisation with exclusive worker ownership and control. In this paper, I first show that the socialisation dilemma pervades the writings of 20th century socialist thought. I then discuss a prominent way out of the dilemma, proposed by Karl Kautsky. After illustrating the Kautskian programme’s seminal contribution to the socialisation debate – from Karl Korsch, Max Adler, and Otto Bauer, to Nicos Poulantzas and David Schweickart – I argue that the programme’s principles are incongruous with its strategies. This incongruity issues from the subordinate role that Kautsky assigns to the workers’ councils. I then conclude by proposing a Madisonian solution to the socialisation dilemma, based on the idea of a workers’ parliament.

Keywords: workers councils, German revolution, workplace democracy, self-management

JEL Classification: B14, B51, P30, P32, L00

Suggested Citation

Vrousalis, Nicholas, Council Communism and the Socialization Dilemma (December 27, 2017). Forthcoming in James Muldoon (ed.) Council Democracy: Theorising Boundaries Between the Political and Economic. (London: Routledge), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3093582

Nicholas Vrousalis (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics (EIPE)

P.O. Box 1738
EIPE Office, Room H5-23
3000 Dr Rotterdam
Netherlands

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