Page - XIV - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

xiv introduction to the english edition Thesecritiquesof theconceptionof socialist revolutionandtherepressive natureof thepowerapparatuses in thecountriesof ‘really existing socialism’, aswellasrejectionsoftheproletariatasthedrivingforceofhistory,werelinked to thequest foraso-called ‘thirdway’betweencapitalismandsocialism.And althoughtheWesternleftwasideologicallydiverse, itwasunitedinoneinten- tion:thedesiretoleadsocietyontoapaththatwouldovercomethedeficiencies ofbothsystems.Consequently,thewinningtendencywastheonethatendeav- ouredtoworkoutatheoreticalmodelofsocietythatwouldmatchtherealities ofthepost-industrialage.Inthistendencywereunderlyingcausesofagrowing interest,inthe70sand80s,withacurrentknownasAustromarxism,whichhad playedasignificantrole intheinternationalworkers’movementbeforeWorld Warii (namely, from1904–38). Inmy1991bookofthesamename,Ireferredtothistrendas‘thetendencyof mediation’.Inthetheoreticalrealm,itsmediationpertainedtotherelationship betweenMarxismandthemost importantphilosophical, social, andpolitical tendenciesoftheturnofthenineteenthandtwentiethcenturies;atapractical level, itconcernedchoosingapathbetweenreformismandBolshevism. Ialso wishtohighlightanundeniableachievementofAustromarxism:itsrepresent- ativesmanaged toworkout theoretical andpolitical concepts that transcen- dedthe interpretationsofMarxismcommonamongthegroupsof theSecond International, i.e. the right aroundEduardBernstein, the centre aroundKarl Kautsky, and the left aroundVladimirLenin.Thepolitical thoughtofAustro- marxism,especiallytheworksofOttoBauerandMaxAdler,wereunifiedinone central idea: its ambition toovercome thedividebetweenSocialDemocracy andCommunism,embodied in itspurest formbyBauer’s conceptof ‘integral socialism’, theideaofaprocessofmutual learninganddialogue.4 its sharpcritiqueof theeconomicandpolitical structureof thecapitalist state,exploitation, social inequality, racism, colonialism,war, and consumerist ideals, and its demand for the democratisationof social relations inbothcapitalist andsocialist countries. Itsweaknesses wereits inabilitytoworkouttools forwinningabroadsocialbaseandconfiningitself tothe actionsofsmallextremistgroups. 4 ThetheoreticalviewsofAustromarxismandtheactivityofAustrianSocialDemocracyfrom 1868–1934werethesubjectofmyinterests in the followingworks:Austromarksizmwteorii i wpraktyce. Studiummyśli filozoficznej i społeczno-politycznej (AustromarxisminTheoryand Practice.AStudyof itsPhilosophicalandSocio-PoliticalThought,Poznan1986);Nurtmediacji. Austromarksizm i jego recepcjawPolsce (TheTendencyofMediation.Austromarxismand its Reception in Poland, Poznan 1991); Filozof i demokrata. Studiummyśli społeczno-politycznej Otto Bauera (1881–1938), Vol. 1 (Philosopher and Democrat. A Study of Otto Bauer’s Socio- Political Thought, Poznan 1998);Utraconademokracja. Studiummyśli społeczno-politycznej