Page - 119 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the national question 119 Bauerwasmindful of the difficulties and limitations hewould facewhen formulating thepremisesofhis theoryof thenation,asamedleyofdivergent ideas as towhat actuallymadeanationapprised the social consciousnessof theperiod. Inaddition,hardscience–biologyandpsychology inparticular– was still relatively undeveloped.Hedrew inspiration from two sources: Karl Lamprecht’sDeutscheGeschichte (GermanHistory, 1891–1908) and theworks ofMarx, namelyTheEighteenthBrumaire of LouisNapoleon. Drawingon the analyticalmethod of historicalmaterialism, Bauer created a concept of the nation thatwas sharply antagonistic towards the idealist conceptionswithin romantic nationalist ideology, racist constructs with biological inclinations, andempiricalaswellaspsychologicaltheories(hisconceptwassaturatedwith psychologism,despite claims to thecontrary).4Baueralsocriticised theanti- Semitismpresent inGermanandAustrianSocialDemocracyandpolemicised against thosewhodeclared, likeKautsky andWerner Sombart, that anation wasdefinedbycommonlanguageandterritory.5Heobservedthatthereexisted notonlydistinctnations that spokeacommon language,butalsoconquered nationsthatpreservedtheirdistinctnationalitywhileembracingthelanguage of the invader. Bauer found that itwasnotpossible to grasp theessenceof a nationmerelybylistingtraitscommonlyassociatedwiththeterm.Whenmak- inguseof thetheoreticalsourcesandbasicmethodologicalpremisesofMarx- ismtodevelophisconcept,hedefiedorthodoxMarxismandits fundamental object-subjectopposition.Thecategoryofnationality thathe introducedwas basedonsocialpractice inthebroadersense, thuscontinuingthelineof logic as to thedifferentways inwhichBauer’s theory of thenationwas interpreted, seeKonrad 1981,Mozetič 1987,Przestalski 1981,Śliwa1980andWiatr 1973. 4 SeeKołakowski 2005, p. 297, andLeser 1968, p. 253. Rooted in romantic ideologies, idealist theories appealed tometaphysical notions of the national soul, frequently accrediting an exceptionalmission inhumanhistory to thenation(Volksgeist, the influenceofHerderand Hegel) – Bauer described these as national spiritualism. Racist theories based onDarwin andWeismann’s research suggested the existence of amysterious reproductive substance. In empirical theories, the nationwas understood as a complex of traits such as language, territory, law,morals, religion, economy, and so on; Stalin andKautsky both conceded to this. Psychological conceptions equated the existence of the nationwith a national sense of belonging. According to these, the peasantry was outside of the nation as late as the nineteenthcentury.BauerpointedoutthatafterKant,suchpsychologicalapproacheslacked anyscientificbasis. 5 Kautskydidnotbelievethat Jewsconstitutedanationsincetheypossessedneitherterritory nor a common language – they were linkedmerely through religious and group ties. In contrast,SombartthoughtthatJewsbelongedtoanentirelydifferentrace.SeeKautsky2009 and2010,andSombart 1909.