This book presents six major texts and selected shorter writings by the social-democratic thinker and politician Eduard Bernstein, translated into English for the first time: Socialism Past and Present; The Social Doctrine of Anarchism; Social Liberalism or Collectivism?; How is Scientific Socialism Possible?; What is Socialism?; The Socialisation of Enterprises; and articles from the periodicals Neue Zeit and Sozialistische Monatshefte alongside several unpublished manuscripts. Written over the period 1893 to 1931, these works focus on socialism as an ideology, and trace debates about ethics, social science, and class struggle that preoccupied the early-20th-century socialist movement. Bernstein carefully demarcates the boundaries between socialism and its ideological rivals, contrasting its communitarian aspirations with individualistic liberalism and anarchism, and its adherence to democratic methods with the totalitarian violence of communism and fascism. He revisits the intellectual canon of socialist thought, recentring contributions by Ferdinand Lassalle, Karl Rodbertus, and other neglected figures alongside those of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Urging socialists to seize the opportunities afforded by their growing political representation, Bernstein addresses the strategies needed to achieve progressive policy reforms, including the prospects for realising socialism with the foundation of the Weimar Republic.
Author(s): Marius S. Ostrowski
Edition: 1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2021
Language: English
Commentary: TruePDF
Pages: 711
Tags: Political Theory; European Politics; Political History; History; History Of Germany And Central Europe
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
Problems of Socialism, Continued: Socialism After the Revisionist Controversy
The Workers’ Perspective on Society: Bernstein’s Account of Socialist Ideology
Ideology between Science and Utopia: The Prospects for Bernsteinian Socialism
Part I: Socialism Past and Present: Historical and Contemporary Disputes Within Socialism
Chapter 2: Prologue
Chapter 3: Socialism as a Social-Scientific Theory of Development
Chapter 4: The Natural Rights Justification of Socialism
Chapter 5: The Significance of Theories of Value for Scientific Socialism
Chapter 6: The Nature of Society in Advanced Capitalism
Chapter 7: Socialism and the Theory of Class Struggle
Chapter 8: Theory of the State and Socialism
Chapter 9: Socialism as Democracy and Parliamentarism
Chapter 10: The Bolshevist Perversion of Socialism
Chapter 11: The Nearest Possible Realisations of Socialism
Part II: Writings on Ideology and Socialist Theory
Chapter 12: The Social Doctrine of Anarchism
I. An Anarchist “Picture of Civilisation”
II. Max Stirner and The Ego
III. Proudhon and Mutualism
IV. Bakunin’s Anarchism and the Various Anarcho-Communist Hybrid Constructs
Chapter 13: Social Liberalism or Collectivism
I. Posing the Question
II. The Point of Departure and Remedy of Oppenheimer’s Social Liberalism
III. The Flaw in Oppenheimer’s Calculation
IV. The Liberal Principle and State Intervention
Chapter 14: How is Scientific Socialism Possible?
I.
II.
Addendum I
Addendum II
Addendum III
Addendum IV
Addendum V
Chapter 15: What is Socialism?
I. The Emergence and Transformations of the Concept of Socialism
II. Liberalism as the Preliminary Stage of Socialism
III. Socialism and the Ideology of the Workers’ Movement
IV. Difficulties on the Way Towards Socialism
V. On the Why and How of the Realisation of Socialism
Chapter 16: The Socialisation of Enterprises: Guiding Principles for a Theory of Socialisation
I
II
III
Part III: Selected Articles
Chapter 17: A Piece of Materialist Propaganda-Writing
Chapter 18: Right and Justice
Chapter 19: Natural Science Contra Social Science
Chapter 20: Morality and Politics
Chapter 21: Proudhon as a Politician and Publicist
Chapter 22: Two Political Programmatic Symphonies
I. A Socialist Symphony
II. A Sextet of Young Liberals
Chapter 23: Idealism, the Theory of Struggle, and Science
Chapter 24: The Core of the Dispute
Chapter 25: On the German Worker Past and Present
Chapter 26: The Latest Prognosis of Social Revolution
I
II
Chapter 27: Parties and Classes
Chapter 28: Socialism and Liberalism in the Prussian Landtag Elections
Chapter 29: On the Value of Parliamentarism
Chapter 30: Class and Class Struggle
Chapter 31: On Class Struggle
Chapter 32: Democracy in Social Democracy
Chapter 33: Class Struggle and Cultural Progress
Chapter 34: The Intellectuals in the Reichstag Elections
Chapter 35: Science, Value-Judgments, and the Party
Chapter 36: What is Socialisation?
Chapter 37: Class Struggle and Coalition Politics
Chapter 38: Limits to the Formal Implementation of Democracy
Chapter 39: Idea and Interest in History
Chapter 40: Who and What are Social Fascists?
Index
