The Political Forms of Modern Society: Bureaucracy, Democracy, Totalitarianism

360 Pages·2011·3.4 MB·English

by  Claude Lefort

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The Political Forms of Modern Society
Bureaucracy, Democracy, Totalitarianism
Claude Lefort
Edited and Introduced by
JohnB. Thompson
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First MITPress edition, 1986
© 1986 byPolityPress
Introduction© 1986 byJohnB. Thompson
Translationofchapter 5© 1978bySocial Research
Chapters 1–4 werefirst collected inÉléments d'une critique de la bureaucratie, ©1971 by
Librairie Droz,Geneva, Switzerland
Chapters 5 and 6 werefirst collected inLes Formes dt l'histoire: essais d'anthropologie
politique, ©1978 byEditions Gallimard, Paris, France
Chapters 7–10 werefirst collected inL'Invention démocratique: les limites de la domination
totalitaire, ©1981 byLibrairie Arthème Fayard, Paris, France
Allrights reserved. No part ofthis bookmay be reproduced inany formorbyanyelectronic
ormechanicalmeans (including photocopying, recording, or informationstorage and
retrieval) without permission fromthe publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lefort, Claude.
The political forms ofmodernsociety.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Communist state. 2. Bureaucracy. 3. Democracy.
4. Totalitarianism. I.Thompson, JohnB. II.Title.
JC474.L364213 1986 321.9 86-3050
ISBN 0-262-12117-4
Printed and bound inGreat Britain
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CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgements
Editor's Introduction 1
Part I 29
Problems ofPolitics and Bureaucracy
1 31
The ContradictionofTrotsky
2 52
Totalitarianism Without Stalin
3 89
What Is Bureaucracy?
4 122
Noveltyand the AppealofRepetition
Part II 137
History, Ideology and the SocialImaginary
5 139
Marx: FromOne VisionofHistoryto Another
6 181
Outline ofthe Genesis ofIdeologyinModernSocieties
Part III 237
Democracy and Totalitarianism
7 239
Politics and HumanRights
8 273
The Logic ofTotalitarianism
9 292
The Image ofthe Bodyand Totalitarianism
10 307
Pushing Back the Limits ofthe Possible
Notes 320
Select Bibliography 331
Index 335

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PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The essays inthis volume were originallypublished between1948 and 1981. Theyrepresent
a selectionofsome ofLefort's most important workonthe political, symbolic and historical
characteristics ofmodernsocieties.
I amparticularlygratefulto Claude Lefort for his constant and generous assistance
throughoutthe period ofpreparing this volume for publication. His openness to my
suggestions, his responsiveness to myquestions and his warmhospitalityhave made mytask
mucheasier and much more enjoyable than it might otherwise have been. AnthonyGiddens
and David Held provided me with many helpfulcomments and a great dealofeditorial
support.
I amalso gratefulto Librairie Droz,Éditions Gallimard and Librairie Arthème Fayard for
their willingness to allow us to translate and reproduce the essays. Mostofthe essays
originallyappeared in various journals before being gatheredtogether inthe volumes
published byDroz, Gallimard and Fayard. Details ofprevious publicationare givenbelow.
1 'The ContradictionofTrotsky', originallypublished as 'La contradictionde Trotskyet
le problème révolutionnaire', Les Temps Modernes, 39(1948–49);reprinted inClaude
Lefort,Éléments d'une critique de labureaucratie (Geneva: Droz, 1971),pp.11–29.
2 'TotalitarianismWithout Stalin', originallypublished as 'Le totalitarisme sans Staline:
L'U.R.S.S.dans une nouvelle phase', Socialisme ou Barbarie, 14(1956);reprinted in
Éléments d'une critique de labureaucratie, pp.130–90.
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3 'What is Bureaucracy?', originallypublished as 'Qu'est-ce que la bureaucratie?',
Arguments, 17 (1960);reprinted inÉléments d'une critique de la bureaucratie, pp. 288–
314.
4 'Noveltyand the AppealofRepetition', originallypublished as the postscript to
Éléments d'une critique de labureaucratie, pp.351–62, underthe title 'Le nouveau et
l'attrait de la répétition'.
5 'Marx: FromOne VisionofHistoryto Another',originallypublished as 'Marx: d'une
visionde l'histoire à l'autre', inClaude Lefort,Les Formes de l'histoire: essais
d'anthropologie politique(Paris: Gallimard, 1978),pp.195–233.
6 'Outline ofthe Genesis ofIdeologyin ModernSocieties', originallypublished as
'Esquisse d'une genèse de l'idéologie dans les sociétés modernes', Textures, 8–9 (1974);
reprinted inLes Formes de l'histoire, pp. 278–329.
7 'Politics and HumanRights', originallypublished as 'Droits de l'homme et politique',
Libre, 7(1980);reprinted inClaude Lefort, L'Invention démocratique: les limites de la
domination totalitaire(Paris: Fayard, 1981),pp.45–83.
8 'The Logic ofTotalitarianism', originallypublished as 'La logique totalitaire',
Kontinent Skandinavia, 3–4(1980);reprinted inL'Invention démocratique, pp.85–106.
9 'The Image ofthe Bodyand Totalitarianism', originallypublished as 'L'image du corps
et le totalitarisme', Confrontation, 2 (1979);reprinted inL'Invention démocratique, pp.
159–76.
10 'Pushing Back the Limits ofthe Possible', originallypublished as 'Reculer les
frontières du possible', Esprit (1981);reprinted inL'Invention démocratique, pp. 317–31.
Mostofthe essays are published inthis volume without alteration. However, Ihave edited
some ofthe essays inPart I,inso far as theycontained materialwhichwas repetitive or
whichwas too closelytied tothe originalcircumstances oftheir publication. Alldeletions are
indicated byellipses in square brackets.
The materialhas beentranslated byseveralindividuals. AlanSheridantranslated essays 1, 2,
7, 8and 9. Essay5 was originallytranslated byTerryKartenand published inSocial
Research, 56 (1978), pp. 615–66;Iamgratefultothe editorofSocial Research for
permissionto reprint this translation. Itranslated most ofthe remaining materialand I revised
the entire manuscript inorderto render style and terminologyconsistent throughoutthe
volume.
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I accept responsibilityfor anyerrorsor infelicities that mayremain.
WhenLefort quotes fromtexts which have beentranslated into English, the standard English
translations are used wherever possible. Occasionallyit was necessary, however,to alterthe
existing translation inorderto stayclose to the Frenchtext quoted byLefort.Allsuch
alterations are clearly indicated inthe notes.
J.B.T.,
CAMBRIDGE, AUGUST 1985
TheeditorandpublisheraregratefultoPenguinBooksLtdandRandomHouseInc.forpermissionto
reprintextractsfromCapitalbyKarlMarx,introducedbyErnestMandelandtranslatedbyBen
Fowkes.Translation©BenFowkes,1976.
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For it atteststothe imaginaryrelationthat we maintainwiththe past, 'the mythicalfunction
that we make it play inorderto assureourselves ofatruthwhich is alreadygivenand which
willnot betrayus, inorderto conjure away, insum,the indeterminacywhichconstantlyre-
emerges inthe historythat we live'. 13
The second considerationwhich led Lefort to develop his views was his critical interrogation
ofthe workofMarx. His earlier writings, while sharplycriticalofthe moreorthodoxforms
ofMarxism, were nevertheless premised onthe basic assumptions ofMarx's approach. When
Lefort arguedthatthe state and partybureaucracies had assumed a positionofdominance in
the USSR, hetook it for grantedthat this dominance was rootedinsocialrelations of
exploitationand that the exploited groups constituted a class which had the potential, indeed
was destined, to lead a revolutionarystruggle;the bureaucracy had replaced the bourgeoisie
and developed according to different principles, butthe positionofthe proletariat remained
unchanged. Similarly, the processes ofbureaucratization inthe industrialfirms and workers'
organizations ofthe West did not callinto question, but merelyredirected and accentuated
the proletariat's task ofcreating a societyfreed fromalldomination. However, as Lefort
remarks in 'Noveltyand the AppealofRepetition', this emphasis onthe proletariat is difficult
to reconcile withthe diversityofdivisions and forms ofconflict whichcharacterize modern
societies. The revolt whicherupted inMay1968, forexample, could hardlybe forced intothe
frameworkofa single united movement struggling forthe overthrowofthe dominant class.14
The demand for collective self-management continues to animate struggles ina wide — and
increasing — range ofspheres oflife, but this demand is now severed fromthe privileged
link that it once seemed to maintainwiththe proletariat.
However, it is not merelya matterofdisplacing the privileged role ofthe proletariat:the
critique must be pressed tothe heart ofMarxist theory, tothe systemofconcepts and
relations whichdefine what is fundamentalinsocietyand what is crucialto socialchange.
Marx's emphasis onthe concept ofthe mode ofproduction, and onthe socialrelations
established inthe processes ofproductionand exchange, tends to underplaythe significance
ofthe political and symbolic dimensions ofsociallife. These dimensions cannot be reduced
toor derived fromeconomic processes;politicaland symbolic forms are ofa different order
thaneconomic activities, even if, inactualcircum-