A comprehensive study determining "workers' control" across socialist systems?

[RedSonRising]

I've been wondering whether a comprehensive empirical study, from a Marxist or more generally anti-capitalist perspective, of the degree to which workers were empowered and given control of economic decision-making processes across various countries that underwent revolutionary movements exists. (An ambitious, objective attempt at setting the record straight on where socialism actually existed, so to speak, only with an intense focus on the information substantiating the conclusion, rather than the argument itself.)


I anticipate that it doesn't. However, there are numerous context-specific sources that detail accounts of the experiences and mechanisms in the workplace and the state. If one were to engage in such an effort, what existing historical records might one use as a source? What archival or primary sources exist (or could exist) that remain under-utilized by historians and researchers? What might some variables in a more scientific approach be, and how might they be quantified?

One example of the type of study I'm talking about is a chapter from a book called "Cuba: A Different America". Now I haven't read this book in its entirety, but the sections I did read gave very valuable insight on the nature and relationship of Cuban Unions, managers, and State administrators. The specific descriptions of the power dynamics and daily role of workers over eras is done with a closeness I don't often see in cites, even among committed knowledgeable leftists arguing about what to consider a specific economic model. This may be down to my own lack of depth in historical research, but something tells me that along with the overly ideological nature of leftists today, that level of specificity and concentration of related information isn't so readily accessible or compiled. (You can take a look here (http://books.google.com/books?id=9CJec-NWjS0C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=workers%27+control+in+cuba&source=bl&ots=RnJtPOGstP&sig=rJZiGF8wydvvG7pX0zQNbFzDFYI#v=onepage&q=workers'%20control%20in%20cuba&f=false).)

I'm sorry if History is the wrong place for this kind of thing, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

[Tim Cornelis]

First thing that sprung up in my mind:

http://www.haymarketbooks.org/pb/Ours-to-Master-and-to-Own

Haven't read it myself so I don't know to what extent it is what you're looking for.

[Cliff Paul]

In the context of the Spanish Revolution there's Ronald Fraser's Blood of Spain: An Oral History of the Spanish Civil War. It's an oral history of the Spanish Civil War (featuring interviews from participants from every side) so most of the book doesn't really apply but there are a few sections that include first-hand accounts of how the libertarian socialism of the CNT-FAI was carried out (or attempted to). The book and the interviews were compiled during the waning years of the Francoist regime, so there's a lot of unique material in it.

Unfortunately the only other notable attempt at establishing an oral history of the Spanish Civil War was begun in the late 2000s (I haven't actually listened to the interviews but maybe it's worthwhile material) so only a handful of people who participated in the revolution are still alive. http://libraries.ucsd.edu/speccoll/scwmemory/

[RedSonRising]

First thing that sprung up in my mind:

http://www.haymarketbooks.org/pb/Ours-to-Master-and-to-Own

Haven't read it myself so I don't know to what extent it is what you're looking for.

Well this seems exactly like what I was looking for! :laugh: Thanks! Have you heard anyone speak on/about it? I wonder how comprehensive it is in terms of scope of study.

I mean, shit, it even traces some of the language I used in my description.

From the dawning of the industrial epoch, wage earners have organized themselves into unions, fought bitter strikes, and have gone so far as to challenge the very premises of the system by creating institutions of democratic self-management aimed at controlling production without bosses. Looking at specific examples drawn from every corner of the globe and every period of modern history, this pathbreaking volume comprehensively traces this often under-appreciated historical tradition.

Ripe with lessons drawn from historical and contemporary struggles for workers’ control, Ours to Master and to Own is essential reading for those struggling to bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old.


In the context of the Spanish Revolution there's Ronald Fraser's Blood of Spain: An Oral History of the Spanish Civil War. It's an oral history of the Spanish Civil War (featuring interviews from participants from every side) so most of the book doesn't really apply but there are a few sections that include first-hand accounts of how the libertarian socialism of the CNT-FAI was carried out (or attempted to). The book and the interviews were compiled during the waning years of the Francoist regime, so there's a lot of unique material in it.

Unfortunately the only other notable attempt at establishing an oral history of the Spanish Civil War was begun in the late 2000s (I haven't actually listened to the interviews but maybe it's worthwhile material) so only a handful of people who participated in the revolution are still alive. http://libraries.ucsd.edu/speccoll/scwmemory/

Thanks a lot for that information. Sounds really interesting. The capturing of oral history is vital for a situation such as that one.