Page - 52 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

52 chapter 2 theotherhand, fullyconvincedwhetheronecoulddenythescientificandhis- toricallegitimacyofBernstein’sintervention.Aremarkhemadeonthefortieth anniversaryofMarx’sdeathtestifies to this: ‘What todayappears tobeacrisis ofMarxismisnothingbutthepainfulprocessofadjustingsocialismtoafunda- mentallyrevolutionisedworld’ (ourtranslation).15Heonlyperceivedrevision- ismasa threat to certainareasofpolitical practice, fearing it could lead toa lossof faithinsocialismamongthemassesandtransformationofpartiesfrom revolutionary to reformist– the latter,notabene,wasalreadya faitaccompli. Thiswaspartlywhyhepointed to the fundamental differencebetween revi- sionismandMarxismatthe11thpartycongressinInnsbruckin1911:revisionism viewed social gains and thepathof reformas the foundation for a transition fromcapitalismtosocialism,whereasMarxismarguedthat theconcentration ofcapital itselfpavedthewayforitssocialisation,andthatthegrowingcontra- dictions between classesmust necessarily culminate in a decisive struggle.16 Bauerdisassociatedhimselffromrevisionisminnumerousstatements,yetthis didnotpreventhimfromapprovingofVictorAdler’s reformist tactics. Incontrast to therevisionists,however,Bauerdidnot regardMarx’s theory as outmodedor erratic.17He conceded that someofMarx’s theses no longer fully applied to existing socio-historical conditions, but, in his view, this did notmean that thedoctrine itselfwasdeficient.Hewas in favourof generally remaining faithful toMarx’s ideas, yet he consideredMarxism itself tobe an open-ended system still capable of providing cognitive andmethodological directivestomeettheneedsofsocio-economicalandpoliticalanalysisofreal- ity. Inhis social philosophy, Bauerput forward the sloganof ‘Marxovercom- ingMarx’, althoughhediscernedacertaindistrust in theparty ranks towards posingproblems innewways.HewasmainlyconcernedwithutilisingMarx’s historicalmethodtoresearchnewsocio-politicalphenomena.Tohim,histor- icalmaterialism (which he just as often referred to as ‘thematerialist view of history’) represented,more than anything, a science of the laws of social development, aswell as amethod for studying thedriving forcesbehind the evolutionofsocieties.Healsounderstooditasamethodologicalpostulate for examiningformsofintellectuallifeintheirdependenceoftheeconomicstruc- ture. Fromapolitical point of view, Bauer added that the value of historical 15 ‘WasheuteeineKrisedesMarxismuszuseinscheint,esnichtsandersalsderschmerzhafte ProzeßdesAnpassungdesSozialismusaneinevomGrundausumgewälzteWelt’–Bauer 1980i,p.50. 16 SeeBauer1978,p.50. 17 SeeHeimann1985,p. 131.