Page - 209 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the ‘thirdway’ to socialism 209 concept inanumberofarticles in theArbeiter-Zeitung.94Asa theorist,Bauer was not in an easy position: the socialist movement offered him no ready- mademodels to fall back on. Hence, he saw himself compelled to look for inspiration inotherpolitical currents. Thesewere, asBauerhimself noted in the introduction toDerWegzumSozialismus, British guild socialismand the RussianmodeladoptedattheconventionofnationaleconomycouncilsinMay 1918.95 Bauer’s socialisation theory was intended as a negation of the national- isations that the Bolsheviks implemented after theOctober Revolution. His justification for this was twofold: firstly, he claimed that the rationalisation of production, the allocationof resources, and theprocess ofmodernisation requiredprofoundchangesinconsciousnessandtheeconomy.Thesecouldnot simplybeobtainedbydecree.96 Secondly, he argued that theRussianmodel was impractical for thewest European countries because theirmutual eco- nomicnetworkswere farmoreadvanced. For industrialised countries, Bauer craftedaplanofgradualhorizontalsocialisation.97 Theprogrammecontainedtheoutlineofapartialsocialisationagainstcom- pensation: large estates, woods, big industrial enterprises and banks would be passed into common ownership. Primarily, the plan was to nationalise branches of the economy thatwere strategically significant andhad evolved towards formsof planned economydue to ahighdegree of concentration– i.e. steel, iron, coal andelectricityworks.According to theprogramme, these represented foundations of centralised productionmanagement.98 The pro- cessofnationalising these industrieswas toproceedunder thecontrolof the capitalistsandinco-operationwiththem.Thesumofcompensationpayments fortheexpropriatedassetsofheavyindustrywouldbecollectedthroughtaxes on all capitalist property. Bauer envisioned thepossibility to expandnation- 94 Theywerecompiledinthepamphlet,DerWegzumSozialismus (TheRoadtoSocialism). 95 SeeBauer1976b,p.712. 96 Bauerwrote: ‘Thus,raisingthelivingstandardofthemassesrequiresnotonlythe legalact ofexpropriatingtheexpropriators,butalsotheeconomicprocessofstreamliningthesocial apparatusofproductionanddistribution…Dictatorshipcannotacceleratetheeconomic processofsocialisation’–Bauer1976d,p.338. 97 Formoreonthisconceptandits furtherevolution,seeMärzandWeber,pp.77–89. 98 AlthoughBauerworkedout aplan for aplannedeconomy,hewasnonetheless adecis- iveopponentofcompletelyabolishingthemarket.UnliketheBolsheviks,hearguedthat a planned economy should be introduced once socialisation was completed. In Aus- tria,OttoNeurath,whowas favourable toSocialDemocracy, formulated thenotionof a plannedeconomythatwenthandinhandwithabolishingthemarket.