Ernest Mandel (1923â1995) was one of the best-known Marxist scholars active in the second half of the twentieth century. A leading member of the Fourth International, his books on capitalist economics, bureaucracies in the workersâ movement and on power and socialist strategy were translated into many languages. Democratic self-organisation of workers was a red thread that ran through all of his thinking. In Against Capitalism and Bureaucracy, Manuel Kellner presents the first and until now only comprehensive overview of Mandelâs theoretical and political contributions, arguing that his work remains important for the debates on a socialist alternative in the twenty-first century.
Manuel Kellner, PhD (2006), Philipps University Marburg (Germany), Magister in Political Science and History (1980) in the RWTH Aachen, is a member of the Fourth International and its German section (ISO). He is the author of books in German, mainly on Trotskyism, and an introduction to critiques of religion.
9789004533493 Foreword to the English Edition
Against Capitalism and Bureaucracy: Socialist Strategy in the Work of Ernest Mandel
Foreword
Introduction
1 Theory and Practice
â1âOccupational Ban and Refusal of Entry 1972
â2âCaptured by the Nazis
â3âRole Model Abraham Leon
â4âPolitical Work in the Belgian Workersâ Movement
â5âRole in the Fourth International and Contribution to Theory
2 Critique of Contemporary Capitalism
â1âMandelâs Historical-Genetic Critique of Capitalism
â2âMandelâs Contribution to Marxist Crisis Theory
â3âLate Capitalism
â4âLong Waves of Capitalist Development
â5âWorldwide Inequality
3 Socialism: The Utopian Dimension in Mandelâs Work
â1âThe Free Association of Producers: A Stateless, Classless Society
â2âSocialist Council Democracy and Transition to Socialism
â3âThe Material Prerequisites for Universal Emancipation
4 Critique of Bureaucracy
â1âMandelâs Explanation and Critique of Bureaucracy in the Workersâ Movement
â2âCritique of Stalinism
â3âBreaking up Stalinist Monolithism and the âSocialist Campâ
â4âThe Temptation of Substitutionism: The Roots of Surrogate Politics
5 Socialist Strategy
â1âPrefigurative Forms of the New Society: Mass Strike and Self-Organisation from below
â2âStrategy of Transitional Demands
â3âThe Dual Character of the Trade Unions
â4âClass Consciousness and Building Revolutionary Parties
â5âCritique of Reformism and United Front Policy
â6âPermanent Revolution and the International Dimension of Socialist Strategy
6 Emancipation and Social Catastrophe
â1âMandel on Trotskyâs Theory of Fascism
â2âMandel and the Holocaust
7 Evaluation and Prospects
â1âOpenness and Coherence: A Field of Tension
â2âThe Revolutionary Potential of Western Europe
â3âReaction to Gorbachev
â4âWorld Historical Rupture 1989â1991
â5âWeaknesses of the Concept of âBureaucratised Workersâ Statesâ
â6âHistorical Determinism
â7âKarl Marxâs âCategorical Imperativeâ
â8âAporias of Marginality: Mandelâs âLast Wordâ on Sectarianism
â9âThe Self-Organisation of the Working Class
Eyewitness Testimony (Tape Recordings from the Authorâs Own Archive) Bibliography Index
This book should be interesting both for academic research and for left activists all over the world. Mandelâs contributions are important for a balancesheet of the 20th century and for the actual discussion on socialist programmatics.