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Lukács Today pp 126–156Cite as

The Question of Organization in the Early Marxist Work of Lukács

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Part of the book series: Sovietica ((SOVA,volume 51))

Abstract

Lukács’ History and Class Consciousness contains one of the most important discussions of organizational questions to emerge from the tumultuous period immediately following World War I. Unfortunately, Lukács’ contribution is little studied or discussed today and widely misunderstood by contemporary Marxists. Typically, he is viewed as a proto-Stalinist by critical theorists in Germany and America, and as a romantic irrationalist by many Marxists in France and Italy. Michael Löwy’s careful study of Lukács’ position in its historical context shows that neither of these interpretations is correct. Löwy argues convincingly that Lukács has something original to offer and that his theory has not yet been entirely exhausted by history.1 The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct Lukács’ position as it grows out of his evaluation of the work of Luxemburg and Lenin, and then to consider the adequacy of the Lukácsian theory of organization.

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Notes

  1. For examples, see James Miller, ‘Marxism and Subjectivity’, in Telos, no. 6, Fall 1970

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  2. Louis Althusser, et al., Lire le Capital, Paris, Maspéro, 1967, tome II, p. 104

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  3. Cf. M. Löwy, Pour une sociologie des intellectuels révolutionaires, Paris, PUF, 1976, pp. 203–225

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  4. Another book which helps to correct the image of the early Lukács is Laura Boella, Il Giovane Lukács, Bari, De Donate, 1977.

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  5. G. Lukács, History and Class Consciousness, translated by R. Livingstone, Boston, MIT, 1968. p. 338. This text will be referred to hereafter as HCC.

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  6. HCC, p. 297.

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  7. HCC, p. 307.

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  8. HCC, p. 297.

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  9. HCC, p. xlii.

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  10. HCC, p. 41.

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  11. HCC, p. 41.

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  12. HCC, p. 297.

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  13. HCC, p. 298.

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  14. HCC, p. 298.

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  15. G. Lukács, Lenin, trans. by N. Jacobs, London, New Left Books, 1970, pp. 67–68.

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  16. HCC, p. 2.

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  17. K. Marx, Writings of the Young Marx on Philosophy and Society, New York, Doubleday, 1967, p. 350.

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  18. Letter from Marx to Ruge (Sept. 1843), quoted in HCC, p. 77.

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  19. K. Marx, op. cit., p. 355.

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  20. K. Marx, Early Writings, London, C.A. Watts, 1963, pp. 53–54.

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  21. K. Marx, The Poverty of Philosophy, New York, International Publishers, 1963, p. 173.

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  22. K. Marx, Capital, New York, Modern Library, 1906 reprint, vol. 1, p. 20.

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  23. HCC, p. 16.

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  24. R. Luxemburg, ‘The Mass Strike, the Political Party and the Trade Unions’, in Rosa Luxemburg Speaks, New York, Pathfinder, 1970.

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  25. Ibid. p. 199.

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  26. HCC, p. 205.

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  27. HCC, p. 299.

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  28. HCC, p. 42.

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  29. HCC, pp. 41–42.

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  30. HCC, p. 303.

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  31. HCC, pp. 278–279.

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  32. HCC, p. 275.

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  33. R. Luxemburg, op. cit., p. 119.

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  34. HCC, p. 287.

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  35. HCC, p. 285.

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  36. HCC, p. 284.

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  37. R. Luxemburg, op. cit., p. 129.

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  38. HCC, p. 286.

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  39. HCC, p. 302.

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  40. HCC, p. 299.

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  41. R. Luxemburg, op. cit., p. 199.

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  42. R. Luxemburg, op. cit., p. 130.

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  43. Ibid. p. 121.

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  44. L. Trotsky, ‘Les problèmes de la guerre civile’, in Initiative Socialiste, no. 17, Juin 1968, pp. 9–10

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  45. Cf. also V. Serge, L’An I de la Révolution Russe, Paris, Éditions de Delphes, 1965, p. 96.

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  46. V.I. Lenin, Essential Works of Lenin, New York, Bantam, 1966, p. 89.

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  47. V.I. Lenin, What Is To Be Done?, in Selected Works, New York, International Publishers, 1967, vol. I, p. 130.

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  48. Ibid. vol. I, p. 130.

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  49. Ibid. vol. I, p. 130.

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  50. Ibid. vol. I, p. 122.

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  51. Ibid. vol. I, p. 130.

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  52. K. Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, in Marx and Engels, Selected Works, New York, International Publishers, 1969, p. 121.

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  53. Lenin, op. cit., vol. I, p. 121.

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  54. G. Lukács, ‘Spontaneität der Massen, Aktivität der Partei’, in Geschichte und Klassenbewusstsein, Neuwied und Berlin, Luchterhand, 1968, p. 136 (my translation A.F.)

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  55. Ibid. p. 137.

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  56. Ibid. p. 141.

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  57. G. Lukács, Lenin, op. cit., p. 26.

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  58. HCC, p. 304.

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  59. HCC, pp. 310–311.

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  60. HCC, p. 310.

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  61. HCC, pp. 69–70.

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  62. For a further discussion of Lukács’ theory of class consciousness and the Party, see A. Feenberg, Lukács, Marx and the Sources of Critical Theory, New York, Oxford University Press, 1985, Chap. V.

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  63. K. Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, op. cit., p. 121.

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  64. HCC, p. 326.

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  65. HCC, p. 42.

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  66. HCC, p. 326.

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  67. G. Lukács, Lenin, op. cit., pp. 67–68.

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  68. Ibid. p. 86.

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  69. Ibid. p. 87.

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Authors
  1. Andrew Feenberg
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Duquesne University, USA

    Tom Rockmore

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© 1988 D. Reidel Publishing Company

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Feenberg, A. (1988). The Question of Organization in the Early Marxist Work of Lukács. In: Rockmore, T. (eds) Lukács Today. Sovietica, vol 51. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2897-8_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2897-8_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7805-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2897-8

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