AUT: KPD(S), KAPD, Council Communism etc.

["Kurasje Archive" <kurasje@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello both Neil, kerspledeb and others.

If you know German I might have some original texts of interest to you. I have just renewed publication after a pause and have added losts of the early period of Council Comminism, i.e. the KAPD, the AAU the AAUE and others. There are English texts as well. The site is not at all complete, but anyway  -  visit: kurasje.tripod.com

Neil made the comment:
______
But then too later in the 30s, the councilists in W. Europe mainly of course, seemingly  rejected ALL political work of Rev. groups
as  a priori 'leninism-stalinism' and gave overwhelming  weight to the "revolutioary spontaniety' in the working class.
_______

Well Neil, the position of the Council Communists as you describe it from the 30'ies sounds much like the 'outside' critiques from the trotzkyists or italian bordigists  -  or may be rather some of their present advocates (the ICC etc.)

The Council Communists did not reject 'ALL political work' and they did not give 'overwhelming weight' to the spontaneity of the working class. I might be tempted to say: on the contrary !

One of the founding principles of the Council Communist current way back from Pannekoek and Johan Knief prior to the I.st WW and from the founding of the KAPD in 1920 was that 'the main problem of the German Revolution is that of the consciousness of the working class.'

Following this experience from the defeat of the German Revolution the Council Communist current was in a certain sense even more focused on the importance of propaganda, clarification and maturation of revolutionary class consciousness than the leninists. Actually some have critized the Council Communists of beeing too idealist in focusing on the importance of enlightment and clarity of thoughts within the working class.

The big question however was (and is) how to contribute to the revolutionary maturation and clarification of consciousness.

Opposing the Kautsky/Lenin-model of old 'social-democratic' teach-and-lead-role of the 'great party' the Council Communists kept their feet on the ground: if the situation is right the workers might listen to you, if it is not you cannot do anything about it.

If the situation is one of crisis and repeated struggles the workers will themselves learn very practically the lessons of class struggle; in such situations there will be not one holy truth for the workers, but a variety of of possible ways to handle the struggle and a variety of political organisations advocating the next steps: various radical bourgeois groups, social-democrats of all sorts, leninists/stalinists/trotzkyists, anarchists and even more 'rrrrrevolutionary' currents; all these political currents  -  organized in big bussines party-machines or just in very activist minor party-sects  -  wil be part of the political/ideological millieu of the workers discussions and those arguing the best will influence the most.

In this concept of practical and collectively discussed development of the class struggle the Council Communists did not advocate abstinence of political practice, but  -  on the contrary  -  participation like Communists in the old Marx'ian meaning, i.e. as minorities with the radical message of the historical and theoretical overviews and warnings against all sorts of utopian or short sighted reformist sloogans.

The Council Communists were not a unitary organization with diciplined points of views. In fact there were 2 main tendencies:

1. Those still trying to build a revolutionary communist party, although not a party in the old sense (i.a. not wanting to represent the workers and get into power on the backs of the workers). This tendency was that of the original KPD(Spartakus), the KAPD and in the 30'ies also present within the Rote Kämpfer-organization.

2. Those abandoning the 'party'-project as a principly false way of orientation and instead advocating the more or less 'pluralist' idea of the 'political work-groups' within the working class. This tendency was represented most clear by the Dutch Group of International Communists, GIC(Holland), but had other parallels in Germany, the US and elsewhere.

None of these tendencies were abstinent politically, but did what was within their possibilities to contribute to discussions within the revolutionary left millieu of their times. Contrary to others they just did not have the 'holy spirit' and 'world-saving' attitude to political activity.

They knew that open political discussion and clarification within the working class is of great importance. But they also knew that the emancipation of the working class can only be the result of the collective act of the workers themselves.

As to the Luxemburg-Pannekoek-Mattick-idea of 'spontaneity' this is just another view of the same matter. As experienced in most of the radical workers struggles through history the very practical necessities of the struggles often dictates the new steps to be taken  -  totally without any of the political parties or groupings having prepared or even thought of them. In mass strike actions the working class often take surprising and new initiatives.

The Council Communists did not make a fetish out of this, but held it worth pointing out against all the nonsense of the Kautsky-Leninists, to whom the workers can do nothing by themselves.

Enough here.
Greetings
Jens

The Council Communist Archive
http://kurasje.tripod.com

--
__________________________________________________________
Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com
http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup

Get 4 DVDs for $.49 cents! plus shipping & processing. Click to join.
http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/990-1736-3566-59



     --- from list aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---