Abstract
Discussing the varying theoretical and strategic approaches of socialists in Europe, Perry Anderson notes that the
continuity of the political ideas of Kautsky and Bauer with those of Berlinguer and Carrillo on the road to socialism in Western Europe is now virtually complete …. Thompson shares positions with his adversaries Althusser and Poulantzas, not to speak of Hirst and Hindess, within a broad spectrum that now stretches from Eurocommunism to left Social Democracy. The great majority of the Marxist intelligentsia in the West has rallied to these perspectives of late, and much creative work has been done from their standpoint.1
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Notes and References
P. Anderson, Arguments Within English Marxism (London: New Left Books, 1980) pp. 196–7.
For some critiques of Eurocommunism and ‘alternative strategies’, see H. Weber, ‘Eurocommunism, Socialism and Democracy’, New Left Review, no. 110, 1978, pp. 3–14; C. Boggs and D. Plotke (eds), The Politics of Eurocommunism Socialism in Transition (London: Macmillan, 1980); Red Notes, Working Class Autonomy and the Crisis (London: CSE Books, 1979);
E. Mandel, From Stalinism to Eurocommunism (London: New Left Books, 1978); D. Coates, ‘Labourism and the Transition to Socialism’, New Left Review, no. 129, 1981, pp. 3–22. For critical supporters of ‘alternative programmes’,
see F. Claudin, Eurocommunism and Socialism (London: New Left Books, 1978); P. Ingrao, ‘Eurocommunism and the Question of the State’, reprinted in Eurored, no. 9, 1978, pp. 12–17; D. Purdy, ‘The Left’s Alternative Economic Strategy’, Politics of Power (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980) pp. 55–80; F. Laclau and C. Mouffe, ‘Socialist Strategy: Where Next?’, Marxism Today, January 1981, pp. 17–22; A. Cutler et al., Marx’s ‘Capital and Capitalism Today, vol. 2, pp. 269–93; G. Therborn, ‘Eurocommunism — Can it Regain the Initiative?, Marxism Today, April 1980, pp. 14–20;
and P. Hain (ed.), The Debate of the Decade, The Crisis and the Future of the Left (London: Pluto Press, 1980).
S. Aaronovitch, The Road from Thatcherism (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1981).
For an analysis of British nationalised industries and the manner in which they have been restricted by capitalist production criteria, see B. Fine and K. O’Donnell, ‘The Nationalised Industries’, in D. Currie and R. Smith (eds), Socialist Economic Review 1981 (London: Merlin Press, 1981) pp. 265–85 and comments by K. Cowling, pp. 287–9.
See W. Wolf, ‘Big Shake-Out Nearing for World Auto Industry’, Intercontinental Press, 19 November 1979, p. 1138 for figures on employment in European car industries. Both the Italian Communist Party and other socialists such as Stuart Holland make much political capital over the development of the Alfa Romeo car plant at Naples — as an example of an ‘alternative’ policy which resolves regional unemployment — see M. Prior, ‘Problems in Labour Politics: Interviews with Stuart Holland, Frank Field and Michael Meacher’, Politics and Power, no. 2 (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980) p. 17. While car production has certainly created jobs in the South it is hardly an example of socially useful non-commodity production. Also it must be remembered that the Christian Democrats were behind the expansion of Italian public enterprises (IRI State Holding Company) and the latter should be seen in the context of Italian Production Processes rather than as a ‘model’ to be admired by socialists like Stuart Holland. For an analysis of Italian public enterprises, see M. Maraffi, ‘State/Economy Relationships: the Case of Italian Public Enterprise’, British Journal of Sociology, vol. 31, no. 4, 1980, pp. 507–24.
S. Holland, The Socialist Challenge (London: Quartet Books, 1976) p. 180.
See F. Archibugi, J. Delors and S. Holland, ‘Planning for Development’, in S. Holland (ed.), Beyond Capitalist Planning (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1978) p. 188.
A. Glyn and J. Harrison, The British Economic Disaster (London: Pluto Press, 1980) p. 161. The authors make a number of biting critiques against the British Alternative Economic Programme. Stuart Holland cites the Soviet NEP programme during the 1920s and the Chinese experience between 1961 and 1964 as evidence for the viability of an ‘alternative programme’ within a ‘mixed economy’. See Holland, The Socialist Challenge, pp. 165–6. These are poor examples as both the Bolsheviks and the Chinese Communists dominated the repressive state apparatuses of their respective societies and were not in the disadvantaged position that any potential Left ‘alternative movement’ would be in capitalist ‘mixed economies’ — i.e. confronting entrenched and hostile capitalist class forces and state apparatuses.
For a critique of ‘growth’ see V. Anderson, ‘Has Economic Growth got Anything to do With Socialism?’, unpublished paper delivered at Alternative Strategies Conference in London on 17 October 1981.
See J. Wajcman, ‘Workers’ Co-operatives — a Middle-class Ideal?’, unpublished paper delivered at Alternative Strategies Conference in London, 17 October 1981.
The notion of a ‘social-industrial complex’ was actually used by leading businessmen in the United States and not just reformers wishing to move the United States economy in the direction of Swedish patterns — see J. O’Connor, The Fiscal Crisis of the State (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1973) ch. 9. In Europe the ‘military-industrial complex’ is not as great as that in the United States, but the idea of transforming the ‘mesoeconomic’ sector has many similarities with the desire to build a ‘social-industrial complex’.
See L. Trotsky, The Transitional Program for Socialist Revolution (New York: Pathfinder Press, 1973).
There are a few brief policy statements and pamphlets, e.g. the British Communist Party pamphlet, W. Page, Farming to Feed Britain (London: Farleigh Press, 1976) which is quite uncritical of chemical agriculture. In contrast, the Agenor Co-operative (based in Brussels) is more sensitive to environmental questions and promotes a Europe-wide alternative agricultural policy in opposition to existing EEC farm policies and agribusiness. See, for example, The Great Milk Robbery (Brussels: Agenor, 1981).
CSE London Working Group, The Alternative Economic Strategy (London: CSE Books, 1980)
and F. Cripps et al., Manifesto: A Radical Strategy for Britain’s Future (London: Pan Books, 1981).
See H. Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974); S. Marglin, ‘What Do Bosses Do?
and A. Gorz, ‘The Tyranny of the Factory: Today and Tomorrow’, both in A. Gorz (ed.), The Division of Labour (London: Harvester Press, 1976);
and A. Roberts, The Self-Managing Environment (London: Allison & Busby, 1979).
S. Aaronovitch, The Road from Thatcherism (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1981), p. 108.
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© 1983 Boris Frankel
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Frankel, B. (1983). Between Reform and Revolution: ‘Alternative Programmes’ and their Failure to Confront the Desynchronisation of Processes. In: Beyond the State?. Contemporary Social Theory. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17227-6_11
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