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Contemporaries across the spectrum of Left thought, from Antonio
Negri to Noam Chomsky, are falling over each other to claim the
mantle of Left Communism. Left Communism is the theory and practice
of worker control and self-organization whose adherents provided
the main opposition to the Bolsheviks. Rarely printed, often cited,
Pannekoek's Workers' Councils is the "Das Kapital" of Left
Communism. This updated edition includes a substantial introduction
from Noam Chomsky, illuminating the continuing relevance of this
classic text.
"An urgent message to the future-- are we listening?--from the
most brilliant theoretician of libertarian com-munism."--Mike
Davis, author of "City of Quartz"
Anton Pannekoek was a Dutch worker, Socialist, and astronomer.
He wrote "Workers' Councils" amidst Nazi occupation of Holland.
Anton Pannekoek discusses the viability of workers' councils as an
effective means of administrating a socialist society, as
contrasted to the centralized doctrines of state communism or state
capitalism. Conceived as an alternative way to establish and
sustain socialism, the workers councils have so far never been
successfully established at a national scale. Part of the problem
was disagreements among revolutionaries about their size and
responsibilities; while Lenin supported the notion during the
revolutionary period, the councils were phased out in favor of a
centralized state, rather than diffused through the strata of
society. Pannekoek draws on history for his ideas, noting the
deficiencies of previous revolutions and the major objectives a
future revolution should hold. The various tasks a state of
worker's councils must accomplish, and the enemies that must be
overcome - notably fascists, bourgeois elements and big business -
are listed.
Anton Pannekoek discusses the viability of workers' councils as an
effective means of administrating a socialist society, as
contrasted to the centralized doctrines of state communism or state
capitalism. Conceived as an alternative way to establish and
sustain socialism, the workers councils have so far never been
successfully established at a national scale. Part of the problem
was disagreements among revolutionaries about their size and
responsibilities; while Lenin supported the notion during the
revolutionary period, the councils were phased out in favor of a
centralized state, rather than diffused through the strata of
society. Pannekoek draws on history for his ideas, noting the
deficiencies of previous revolutions and the major objectives a
future revolution should hold. The various tasks a state of
worker's councils must accomplish, and the enemies that must be
overcome - notably fascists, bourgeois elements and big business -
are listed.
Left communism is the range of communist viewpoints held by the
communist left, which criticizes the political ideas of the
Bolsheviks at certain periods, from a position that is asserted to
be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views of
Leninism held by the Communist International after its first and
during its second congress. Left Communists see themselves to the
left of Leninists (whom they tend to see as 'left of capital', not
socialists), anarchist communists (some of whom they consider
internationalist socialists) as well as some other revolutionary
socialist tendencies (for example De Leonists, who they tend to see
as being internationalist socialists only in limited instances).
Although she died before left communism became a distinct tendency,
Rosa Luxemburg has heavily influenced most left communists, both
politically and theoretically. Proponents of left communism have
included Amadeo Bordiga, Otto Ruhle, Sylvia Pankhurst and Paul
Mattick. Contained in this volume are substantial contributions
from Sylvia Pankhurst, Herman Gorter, Anton Pannekoek and Jacques
Camatte.
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This
IS NOT an OCR d book with strange characters, introduced
typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have
occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor
pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original
artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe
this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections,
have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing
commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We
appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the
preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
The recent collapse of the Soviet Union made clear the weaknesses
and deficiencies in Leninist theory and practice. In the period
between the World Wars, however, an entirely different trend of
socialist thought had briefly flowered in Europe, a trend which
rejected the Leninist model of centralized party and state, and
instead affirmed the democratic self-emancipation of the working
class. This movement was "council communism." "Non-Leninist
Marxism" presents a selection of the most influential writings from
the council communists, including Hermann Gorter, Anton Pannekoek,
Sylvia Pankhurst, and Otto Ruhl.
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