Council Communism

[T G R]

I have been told elsewhere that Council-Communsim is, essentially an organised form of Anarcho-Communism. Can anybody elaborate?

[OleMarxco]

Yes'aman :)
I am myself a self-declared Council Communist, and my worst fear is any Totalarians taking any power. More info on CC here (Not Commie-Club, and DEFINATELY not A-Communism!)

Various Redism's List (http://www.redapollo.org/redisms.shtml): Look for Council Communism down there the list - Luxembourg is mentioned as it's "creator", although according to her own theory, she wouldn't want to be named as a "leader and icon" :D

[codyvo]

Yes I think Council Communism is great I really shouldn't be the one to lecture you on the subject because I am not that knowledgable about it, but from what I read it is a much more effective way to prevent totalitarian-dictatorship takeover. Also as far as I know no country has ever really even attempted something like council-communism but it looks good on paper.

[ErikuSz -sXe-]

Yeah I read a lot about it.
If you ask me, one of the best marxist writers & theorist was Anton Pannekoek.
He was a Dutch communist and one of the brains behind Council Communism.
Council Communism was concieved in Holland & Germany but did not rooted itself as much in the CP's as Bolshevism and evantually only survived in some small organisations and was evantually adopted by anarchists & anarcho-communists.
The reason Council Communism didn't root as well as Bolshevism in the CP's is quit simple. After the first world war there were uprisings in both Germany and Russia. The only difference was that in Russia the revolution was succesfull, as in Germany it failed. People like to concentrate on succes so Bolshevism got the upperhand and many CP's were being organized in the bolshevik style.
Lenin did not approve on the theories of what he called 'left-wing communism'.
Council Communism concentrated much more on the emancipation of the working class, whilst bolshevism concentrated on the obedience of the working class towards the party.
Lenin wrote his book: “Left-Wing” Communism – An Infantile Disorder, in a response to the criticism of German & Dutch marxists.

For more info on Left-wing, Anti-Bolshevik or Council Communism you should check out:

LEFT WING ROCKS (http://www.marxists.org/subject/left-wing/index.htm)

P.S. I think the nowaday Communist & Anarchist could learn much of these forgotten marxists... I would really like to discuss these theories further with anyone who is interessted.

[OleMarxco]

I will pass up to that challenge voluntarily ;)
Go right at it! I'm waiting, with baited breath :redstar2000:

[PRC-UTE]

Read the book 'Workers Councils' by Anton Pannekoek. You can find a copy of it at most left wing infoshops.

http://nefac.net/node/1256

[Paradox]

:rolleyes:

Another thread about Council Communism, and again, I ask "Why has no one mentioned Luxemburg?"

But, she is mentioned in that "various redisms" link OleMarxo provided. Still, I'm a bit puzzled as to why she wasn't one of the first mentioned in this or the other Council Communism thread in the Theory Forum.

Luxemburg archive:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/index.htm

[workersunity]

workers councils is already online at marxists.org and ya hes a great author and one of the main proponents of council communism i would say check up with rosa luxembourg as well

[ErikuSz -sXe-]

Originally posted by [email protected] 20 2005, 09:02 PM
Another thread about Council Communism, and again, I ask "Why has no one mentioned Luxemburg?"
In my post I mentioned the German communists and their failiure during & after the 1st W.W. I did not mention Luxemburg because, in my opinion, she wasn't a regular example of a council communist. In her polemics with Lenin she is very cautious towards bolshevik (i.e. Leninist) theories. Knowing this I thought Pannekoek would make a better introduction for someone who is unfamiliar with Council Communism.

Despite that, Luxemburg was a great marxist theorist, and indeed a Council Communist. I think that communication between different Revolutionary Left movements is very important. This however is only possible if we do not reduce the discussion to squabble (think about Trotskyte vs. Stalinist discussions) and keep concentrated on causality & strategy. Luxemburg (as well a Lenin) was very good at this. Certainly worth the effort of intensive study.

[workersunity]

ya, all these left communism vs leninism will break the movement, look at the US there are a shit load of socialistesque parties out there, and imagine if we all united, damn, now thats a force to be reckoned with. Even though i sympathize a lot more with council communism, i own two of lenins books and really enjoy state and revolution, i dont discredit the impact of lenin on contemporary socialist thought

[OleMarxco]

Also, the board as of Red Apollo (http://forum.redapollo.org/) *nudge, nudge* is attempting to try at a Council Communistic model of the forum Check it out! Nevermind that I am affiliated with the site! ;)

[ErikuSz -sXe-]

Originally posted by [email protected] 23 2005, 05:14 PM
ya, all these left communism vs leninism will break the movement, look at the US there are a shit load of socialistesque parties out there, and imagine if we all united, damn, now thats a force to be reckoned with. Even though i sympathize a lot more with council communism, i own two of lenins books and really enjoy state and revolution, i dont discredit the impact of lenin on contemporary socialist thought
I agree... its a shame we have to divide ourselfs with words when it is really all about deeds. Even though I am a council-communist/anarcho-communist I enjoy reading Lenin to, of course I don't agree with everything but then again I never agree with everything one person tells me.
We just have to set our goals and work towards them. Why is that so hard if our goals are the same?

This is also why I think RevLeft is very important... I see all those different schools of communism & anarchism discussing our differences. Thats a very good thing, cause there is a lot to talk about and I also think that the unification of all those movements finally began, this united progressive, world wide movement is (and will be more & more in the future) the anti-globalist movement.

All those different schools of anti-capitalism finally working together.

What are your opinions on this?

[Zingu]

Yes, I found my niche in Council Communism, sort of a balance between Leninism and Anarchism, too tired right now, post more tommorow.