Page - 67 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

thematerialist view of history 67 thespiritofautomatismandhistorical fatalism.48Much like the lateKautsky, Bauerviewedanyfatalisticunderstandingofthelawsofhistoricalmaterialism very sceptically.Hecriticised theories that argued that thedownfall of capit- alismwas inevitable. Indeed,heviewedcrisesasvirtualopportunities for the capitalist economyto renewitself.49Yetmerely toassumeanontological law ofthegeneraldeterminacyofphenomenaandprocesses isnottantamountto presumingthatthehistoricalprocessissubordinatedtoavaguelyspecifieddes- tiny.Neither is it synonymouswithwritingall subjectivityoutofhistory. Bauer reiteratedawell-known thesis fromtheworksof philosophers such asGiambattistaVico,JohannGottliebFichteandG.W.F.Hegelandeconomists likeAdamFergusonandAdamSmith.Marx’s thoughtmirroredthisthesis: the generaldeterminacyofphenomenadoesnotenableus to strictlypredict any consequences thathumanactionsmayhave.More thanonce,Bauer stressed thathistorywasoftentheresultofanunconsciousinterplayofhumanactions, albeit with humans functioning asmembers of society, rather than as indi- viduals.Hesharplycriticisedbourgeoishistoriosophyforitsindividualismand elitism,particularly itsemphasisonso-calledgreatmeninhistory. Inhisown text, RevolutionäreKleinarbeit (RevolutionaryDetailWork, 1928),meanwhile, Bauerascribedtheabilitytocomprehendhistoriclinesofdevelopmenttoout- standing individuals,whiledenying that themassespossessedsuchaquality. Similarly, hebelieved that only outstanding individualswere capable of util- isingacquiredknowledgetogivedirectiontohistoricalevents.Theroleofgreat menwas to leadmassmovements, yet the subject of the historical process was always themasses themselves. Atmost, leaders can channel the energy of themasses, but they cannot trigger it, for itmatures spontaneously in the course of historical development. It was not Louis Bonaparte who changed history, but the peasantmasseswhowere insufficiently informed about the socio-politicalsituationandtheaimsofthebattlestheyfought.Theytherefore supportedBonaparteagainst theirobjectiveclass interest.50Actuallyexisting socialclasses,groups,andlayersthatcouldbecapturedbyempiricalresearch, not groups thatmerely exist as theoretical categories, carried the collective 48 Leser1979,p.31.CompareKulemann1979,p.260. 49 Kulemann writes about this too (Ibid.). Among Austromarxists, Max Adler and Karl Renner both rejected the theory of the inevitable collapse of capitalism – they took differentpremises as their startingpoint.Adler presumed thepriority of the subjective over the objective factor, while Renner based his notion regarding the endurance of capitalismonhis belief that theworking classwas immature andhadnot developed a proletarianclassconsciousness. 50 Bauer1976m,p.588.