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 PDF
Preview 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
OntheFormationofMarxism Historical Materialism Book Series EditorialBoard SébastienBudgen(Paris) SteveEdwards(London) JuanGrigera(London) MarcelvanderLinden(Amsterdam) PeterThomas(London) volume113 Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/hm On the Formation of Marxism KarlKautsky’sTheoryofCapitalism, theMarxismoftheSecondInternationaland KarlMarx’sCritiqueofPoliticalEconomy By JukkaGronow leiden | boston LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Gronow,Jukka,author. OntheformationofMarxism:KarlKautsky'stheoryofcapitalism,theMarxismoftheSecond InternationalandKarlMarx'sCritiqueofpoliticaleconomy/byJukkaGronow. pagescm.–(Historicalmaterialismbookseries,ISSN1570-1522;volume113) Originallypublishedastheauthor'sdoctoralthesis,DepartmentofSociology,UniversityofHelsinkiin 1986. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-90-04-30664-6(hardback:alk.paper)–ISBN978-90-04-30665-3(e-book) 1.Marx,Karl,1818-1883.2.Kautsky,Karl,1854-1938.3.Capitalism.4.Communism–History.I.Title. HX39.5.G722015 335.4–dc23 2015032313 Thispublicationhasbeentypesetinthemultilingual“Brill”typeface.Withover5,100characterscovering Latin,ipa,Greek,andCyrillic,thistypefaceisespeciallysuitableforuseinthehumanities.Formore information,pleaseseewww.brill.com/brill-typeface. issn1570-1522 isbn978-90-04-30664-6(hardback) isbn978-90-04-30665-3(e-book) Copyright2016byKoninklijkeBrillnv,Leiden,TheNetherlands. KoninklijkeBrillnvincorporatestheimprintsBrill,BrillHes&DeGraaf,BrillNijhoff,BrillRodopiand HoteiPublishing. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,translated,storedinaretrievalsystem, ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise, withoutpriorwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher. 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Contents PrefaceandAcknowledgements vii Introduction 1 part 1 Kautsky’sMarxism 1 OrganisedCapitalism,theGeneralCartelandtheProletariat 29 2 TheDisputeoverRevisionism 35 3 TheTheoryofImmiseration,SocialistConsciousnessandthe Intellectuals 57 4 SocialismasScience 72 5 TheCapitalistLawofAppropriation:Kautsky’sInterpretationofKarl Marx’sEconomicThought 78 6 TheCentralisationofCapitalandMonopolyFormation 94 7 ImperialismandtheRelationbetweenIndustrialandAgrarian Countries 99 8 ImperialismandItsAlternatives 107 9 ImperialismastheLastStageofCapitalism 126 10 TheoreticalSourcesofKautsky’sandLenin’sStudieson Imperialism 134 11 ImperialismastheTruthaboutCapitalism 151 12 ParliamentaryDemocracyandRevolutionaryTactics 157 vi contents 13 TheQuestionofDemocracyandDictatorship:Lenin’sCritiqueof KautskytheRenegade 192 part 2 Marx’sMarxism 14 TheImmanentCritiqueandtheNaturalRightsTheory 211 15 JohnLocke,AdamSmithandKarlMarx’sCritiqueofPrivate Property 225 16 ThePrincipleofLabour 252 17 TheTheoryofIncreasingMiseryandtheCritiqueofCapitalism 276 Conclusion 288 Bibliography 311 IndexofNames 325 IndexofSubjects 327 Preface and Acknowledgements This study was written originally as my doctor’s thesis at the Department of Sociology,UniversityofHelsinki.In1979–83itwassupportedbytheAcademy ofFinland,towhichIwishtoexpressmygratitude.AshortvisittotheInter- nationalInstituteofSocialHistoryinAmsterdamin1983madeitpossiblefor metobecomeacquaintedwiththeKarlKautskyarchivepreservedattheInsti- tute. I would like to express my special gratitude to the following people, who commentedontheoriginalmanuscriptofmydissertationatdifferentstages: ErikAllardt,PauliKettunen,PekkaKosonen,ArtoNoroandMattiViikari.Erik Allardt and Matti Viikari also acted as the official examiners of my thesis. JohannesBergerwastheofficialopponentnominatedbytheFacultyofSocial Science at the University of Helsinki. None of them, naturally, bears any re- sponsibilityfortheideasrepresentedinthefinalmonograph.Iamgratefulto SusanSinisaloforcorrectingtheEnglishofmythesisoriginallypublishedin 1986intheseriesCommentationesScientiarumSocialum(nr.33)oftheSoci- etasScientiarumFennica. I’mgratefultotheeditoroftheHistoricalMaterialismseriesatBrillPublish- ersforofferingmethepossibilityofrepublishingit.Aftermuchconsideration,I havedecidedtopublishtheworkinitsoriginalform,withonlyminorchanges, mostlyomissionsofunnecessaryrepetitionsandexcessivequotes.Insteadof makinganyextensivechangesinthemaintextofthebook,Ihavepartlyrewrit- ten its introduction in order to take into account and relate my arguments, whenevernecessary,tothescientificaccomplishmentsinthestudyofKautsky andSecondInternationalMarxismwhichhavetakenplaceduringthealmost thirtyyearsthathaveelapsedsincetheoriginalpublicationofmythesisin1986, noneofwhich,inmyopinion,seriouslychallengethemainlineofinterpreta- tionofmybook. Intheoriginalversion,mostofthequotationswereintheiroriginalGerman. This new version useseither original English translationsor specific transla- tionsfromGermantoEnglish.Sincetheoldtranslationsareoftenofarather poorquality,eventheyhavehadtobemodifiedattimes.Wheneverthisisthe case,Ihaveaddedthefollowingnotetothereference:‘translationmodifiedBL’. BenjaminLewishashelpedmelocatetheoldtranslations,aswellastranslated withgreatskillallthosetextswhichonlyexistedintheiroriginalGerman.His rolewasbynomeansrestrictedtotranslating.Hehasalsousedhisvastknow- ledgeandextensivereadinginguidingmethroughthemostimportantrecent contributionsinthefield,aswellascommentedexpertlyonmyinterpretation viii preface and acknowledgements ofthem.Withouthisvaluablehelp,thewholeprojectofrepublishingmystudy wouldnothavebeenpossibleatall. Thekonefoundationhassupportedtheprojectoftherepublicationofthis bookforwhichIwouldliketoexpressmyspecialgratitude. Helsinki,August2013 Introduction ThequarterofacenturyoftheriseandfalloftheSecondInternational(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 oneoftheleadingfigureswhohelpedmakeMarxismtheofficialdoctrineof therapidlygrowingsocial-democraticmassparties–directlyinGermanyand more indirectly throughout Europe and North America. As a leading theor- eticianoftheGermanSocialDemocraticParty,hewasunderstoodtorepres- ent genuine Marxism by both enemies and friends of socialism alike. Kaut- sky’sMarxismwasthetargetofmanypolemicsanddisputesconcerningthe 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 in1899bythefull-scalecritiqueputforwardbyEduardBernstein–aformer 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 officialpartyideologyandKautsky’spositionasitsleadingtheoreticalrepres- entativeandprotagonist.NotuntiltheendoftheFirstWorldWarandthefinal organisationalandpoliticaldissolutionofthelabourmovementwouldKaut- sky’sMarxismloseitspositionofauthority.Kautskybecameratheranobsolete figure,havingnonicheinthepoliticallydividedlabourmovement. Kautsky enjoyed a wide reputation as a leading theoretician of Marxism evenbeforehewascommissionedin1890todrafttheofficialpartyprogramme, latertobecomeknownastheErfurtProgrammeadoptedbytheGermanSocial DemocraticPartyin1891.The ErfurtProgrammewasgenerallyrecognisedas 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 inheritorofthetheoreticallegacyofMarxandEngels,the‘OldOnes’,andclose collaboratorwithEngelsduringhislastyears.Heeditedandpublishedmanyof Marx’sposthumousworks,includingthefirstpublishedversionofTheoriesof SurplusValue.1Kautskycouldthuswithgoodreasonspeakwiththeauthority ofthe‘OldOnes’,andhewasamostinfluentialinterpreterandpropagatorof 1 Kautsky1904,1905,1910a. © koninklijkebrillnv,leiden,2016 | doi:10.1163/9789004306653_002 2 introduction Marx’sandEngels’sscientificthoughts.TogetherwithEngels’s Anti-Dühring,2 Kautsky’sDasErfurterProgramm[TheClassStruggle(1892)]3andTheEconomic DoctrinesofKarlMarx[KarlMarx’sÖkonomischeLehren],4alreadypublished in 1887 before the Erfurt Programme, were the basic ‘textbooks’ of Marxism throughwhichmanyagenerationofMarxistsstudiedandlearnedthebasics ofscientificsocialism.5 ThechoiceofKarlKautskyasthemaintheoreticalfigureinthepresentstudy couldthusbejustifiedbytheinfluentialpositionheenjoyedamongtheMarx- istsoftheperiodoftheSecondInternational.Themainpurposeofthepresent studyisnot,however,toanalysethehistoryofMarxistideas,andtoidentify theoriginatorsofcertainimportantthoughtformsortherelationsofinfluence amongvariousMarxistsandamongdifferentMarxistinterpretationsandcon- ceptions. The major merit of Kautsky’s thinking from the perspective of the presentstudyisthatKautskywaspracticallytheonlyMarxisttheoreticianof the time to present a systematic interpretation of what he understood to be Marx’sandEngels’stheoryofcapitalismand,insodoing,todevelopandfor- mulateatheoryofcapitalismofhisown.AstheformationoftheMarxisttheory ofcapitalismconstitutesthemainobjectofthisstudy,Kautsky’scontribution tothedevelopmentofthistheoryisofimmediateinterest. Thefocusofthepresentanalysisisthuslimitedtothehistoryofthesocial theoryofcapitalism.Itdoesnotintendtodiscussindetailproblemsofphilo- sophicalmaterialismorpracticalpoliticalquestionsofSocialDemocracy,only tonamealternativeapproaches.ComparedwithPlekhanov,anothermainthe- oreticalfigureofSecondInternationalMarxism,questionsofphilosophicaland historicalmaterialismwereofrelativelylittleinteresttoKautsky,atleastatthe timewhenhewasaleadingtheoreticianofthespd,andheleftthedefence ofmaterialismtoothers,amongthemPlekhanov.Thequestionsofhistorical materialismwereactualisedinKautsky’sthinkingbeforetheFirstWorldWar, in addition to his defence of the basic truths of Marxism against Bernstein’s critique,6mainlyinthecontextofthediscussionconcerningtheroleofeth- ics in historical materialism.7 But the different versions of and disputes over materialismwereotherwiseofrelativelylittleinteresttoKautsky,asevidenced 2 Engels1974–2004d. 3 Kautsky1910b. 4 Kautsky1906b. 5 SeeDonner1978. 6 Kautsky1899a. 7 Kautsky1909b.
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