Page - 179 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the ‘thirdway’ to socialism 179 heexpandedhis conceptofhegemony to include theeconomicandpolitical spheresaswell.Moreover,herecognisedtheroleof force inseizingandmain- tainingpower. In contrast, Bauer confined theconceptof cultural hegemony to the intellectual sphere. ‘Thehegemonyof theworkingclassover thework- ingpeople’, heclaimed, ‘can thereforenotbeadictatorshipof theproletariat overthepetty-bourgeoisandpettypeasantmasses,butmerelytheintellectual leadershipofthesemassesbythepartyoftheproletariat’(ourtranslation).21In spiteof thisdifference,Gramsci’sandBauer’sunderstandingshadseveralele- ments incommon,especially thebelief thatall revolutionary forceshadtobe unitedundertheruleoftheworkingclassandthatanewtypeofsocietyhadto beestablishedoncepoliticalpowerhadbeenseized.Furthermore, theyboth conceivedofhegemonyasaprocessthatwouldtakeplacebeforeandafterthe seizureofpowerandwasmoreakintoleadershipthandomination. Ofcourse,Bauerwasawarethatthepoliticalpoweroftheproletariat inthe parliamentarydemocratic systemwasnot synonymouswithclass rule. Inhis view,democracyasa formofpoliticalorderallowedtheworkingclass togov- ernbyvirtueoflegalentitlement.However,working-classrulewouldonlytruly begin once the proletariat had seized economic sovereignty. This approach, whichwas consistentwithMarx, ledBauer to conclude that the implement- ation of socialist democracy – i.e. political and social democracy – would determinetheendofthesocialistrevolution.Bauer’sconstructionprogramme foranewsocialorder(towhichweshall returnwhenwediscusshis theoryof thestatemorethoroughly)wasclearlyapparent inthishypothesis.Fornow, it is imperative tostate thatBauer’sattempt todefine theprogrammatic found- ationsofsocialismwasanambitiousanduniqueeffort intheSecondInterna- tional.Quiteirrespectiveofhowonejudgesitscontents, it isstill remarkable– moresobecausetheclassicalMarxistshadnotmadeanysucheffort.22 Bauer remained faithful tohisbelief in theparliamentary-democratic road to socialismupuntil the victory of fascism. Thiswas shapednot only byhis political beliefs, but also by news about the totalitarian facets of the Soviet Union. Bauer never accepted the Russian form of proletarian revolution as a universalmodel. LikeGramsci, he believed that the Soviet Russianmodel was not applicable toWestern Europe, and thatmany differentways led to 21 ‘DieHegemonie derArbeiterklasse über das arbeitendeVolk kannhier also nicht eine DiktaturdesProletariatsüberdiekleinbürgerlichenundkleinbäuerlichenMassenbedeu- ten, sondernnurdiegeistigeFührungdieserMassendurchdieParteidesProletariats’ – Bauer1976g,p.957. 22 CompareLeszekNowak’s interestingobservations inNowak1997,pp. 14–15.