Marxism and Social Democracy: The Revisionist Debate, 1896-1898

by Henry Tudor, J. M. Tudor

Overview

This is an anthology in English translation of the major texts concerned with the nineteenth-century debates between democratic socialism and revolutionary Marxism. The central figure is Eduard Bernstein, a leading German social democrat and former associate of Engels, who argued that Marx's analysis of society had been overtaken by events, and that his doctrine of revolution should be replaced by a policy of evolutionary reform by democratic means. The ensuing controversy between Bernstein and his opponents (Bebel, Kautsky, Parvus, Rosa Luxemburg, and Belfort Bax) helped create the split between center and far left, which is still a feature of socialist politics in Europe. Most of the articles and letters contained in this book have never been translated before, so the English-speaking reader is able to follow the debate for the first time. The debate is analysed in the introduction and the editors also provide detailed annotation and a bibliography. This volume will be a critical sourcebook for all serious students of nineteenth-century political theory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521340496
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/27/1988
Series:	Studies in Marxism and Social Theory
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,012,271
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.34(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; 1. Bernstein as orthodox Marxist; 2. Colonialism and socialism: Berstein's first exchange with Belfort Bax; 3. Problems of socialism: first series; 4. Socialism and the proletariat; 5. The movement and the final goal: Bernstein's second exchange with Belfort Bax; 6. Bernstein's overthrow of socialism: Parvus's intervention; 7. Revisionism defended; 8. Problems of socialism: second series; 9. Social reform or revolution? Rosa Luxemburg's intervention; 10. The party conference at Stuttgart: the debate on the press; 11. The summing-up; Notes; Bibliography; Index.