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

xx introduction to the english edition time.However, the scopeof availablematerialhasplacedcertain restrictions onme.IwillthereforeeschewthoroughassessmentsofotherexponentsofAus- tromarxismandtheirviews.Similarly, thepositionsofEuropeanSocialDemo- cracy’skeyideologueswillbetakenintoaccountonlymarginallyforanumber ofreasons.First, thesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthepositionsof indi- vidualAustromarxists,especiallytheirpoliticaloutlook,havealreadybeenthe subject ofmywork,NurtMediacji (TheTrendofMediation). Second, Bauer’s theoryandpracticewasfarmore influencedbypoliticalevents inAustriaand inEuropethanbydebatesconductedintheinternationalworkers’movement. Thefinal reasonispracticalyetcrucial: adetailedcomparisonofBauer’s solu- tionswiththereflectionsofEurope’sSocial-Democratic leaderswouldexceed thescopeofthisbookandstrainthereader’sattention. Withtheexceptionofthefirstchapter,thepresentworkisstructuredthem- aticallyratherthanchronologically. Itconsistsofeightchapters. The first chapter contains abiographyof ourprotagonist and serves as an outline of the history of Austromarxism as a politicalmovement. It gives a summary of Bauer’s theoretical journey towardsMarxism and his emergent conceptionof a democratic transformationof the capitalist systemas a task for the working class. Special attentionwill be paid to Bauer’s relationship to Austromarxism and his role within that current. I will depict his most importantachievementsasawriter,aswellastheresultsofhispoliticalactivity inparliamentandthethreeinternationals. Iwillalsoattempttotracehowthe eventsofWorldWar iand thedramatic revolutions inGermany,Austria, and RussiaturnedBauer intoasocialistpragmatic. From a philosophical point of view, Bauer’s interpretation of Marxism, whichwasembroiled in thecontradictionsof thepositivist andneo-Kantian schools of thought, emerges as themain question. Themodel of scientific knowledgebasedonthesepremiseswascrucialforBauer’sattitudetowardsthe contentofMarx’stheory,andthenaturalistandscientisticperspectiveheadop- teddeterminedhisviewofbasichistoriosophicalproblemssuchasdetermin- ismand freedominhistory, the roleofobjectiveandsubjective factors in the socialprocess, the statusof ethical values, and the interdependencebetween historicalandethicalnecessityandbetweenconsciousnessandtheeconomy. Thesequestionswillbeaddressedinthesecondchapter. Bauer’sdeterministicconceptionofhistory,clearlyapparentinhishistorio- sophical ideas, alsomanifested itself inhis economic thought. The subjectof hisreflectionswereprognosesthatemergedinthecourseofhispolemicswith RosaLuxemburg, andwerebasedonRudolfHilferding’s theoryof ‘organised capitalism’. It is worth highlighting the nature of Bauer’s economic analysis of the structureof capitalism. It servedas a justification for the evolutionary