Roy Wilkes reviews by Michael A. Lebowitz Paperback, 222 pages ISBN-13: 978-1-58367-256-3
If you don't know where you want to go, suggests Lebowitz, then no road will take you there. Our class cannot overthrow the rule of capital unless we have some idea of what we want to replace it with. But therein lies a problem. When workers think of 'socialism' they usually picture the "real" socialism of the 20th Century; most assume therefore that socialism is a totalitarian nightmare best avoided. Those of us who share Marx's vision of socialism as a society of freely associated producers therefore have a responsibility to understand and explain what went wrong with 20th Century socialism, why it went wrong, and how we would avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future. It isn't enough to blame the tragedy on the inadequate development of productive forces or on the belligerence of imperialism (what, after all, do we expect from imperialism?) Nor is a formulaic response sufficient, to simply decry 20th Century socialism as "state capitalism" or even "deformed and degenerated workers states." What is needed instead is a serious Marxist analysis of the social relations that pertained in real socialism'. In writing this book Lebowitz has made an important contribution to developing such an analysis, and one that deserves to be read and discussed widely on the left. According to Lebowitz, the Soviet Union and the other 'socialist' states exhibited vanguard productive relations. The vanguard party (which The Contradictions of 'Real Socialism': The Conductor and the Conducted adhered formally to democratic centralism but which was in practice bureaucratically centralist) created a bureaucratic state apparatus in its own image. The formal aim of that apparatus was to build a socialist society, and most of its members were probably sincere in their desire for such an outcome. The best and recruited to the party and to the state bureaucracies and moulded in the image of their existing leaderships. But the ones who advanced were those who conformed, which meant above all not challenging Thinking and doing Despite its professed allegiance to the proletariat, the vanguard did not actually believe that the working class was capable of organising production itself. Just as an orchestra needs a conductor to ensure that all the musicians work together in harmony, so too, it was reasoned, is a vanguard needed to stand at the head of the planned economy to ensure that the system runs smoothly and everything is coordinated. This approach inevitably entrenched a dichotomy between thinking and doing. The vanguard did all the thinking while workers produced what they were told to produce, in the way in which they were told to produce it. Vanguard relations were not a temporary aberration but constituted an organic system that created the conditions for its own reproduction. So how was that system reproduced?
37 Lebowitz argues that there was a social contract between the vanguard and the working class, in which the vanguard promised to deliver full employment and rising living standards, and in return the workers conceded all political power (including control of the plan) to the vanguard. It was one-sided contract, since the working class had little or no succeeded for a limited period in allowing the reproduction of At both a macro and micro level there were indeed very strong employment rights - it was virtually impossible to sack workers and there was therefore a relaxed pace of employment rights that made these states workers' states in the eyes of the workers themselves. Bosses could not forcibly separate individual workers from the means of production, and there was no reserve army of labour to exert an external discipline over the But in order to guarantee their vanguard would not allow the independent trade unions. The workers therefore remained atomised and alienated. This explains the ease with which these states were eventually disbanded and replaced with capitalist states - the working class was too weakened and de-politicised to mount any serious resistance. In order to deliver rising living standards, the vanguard tasked the managers of
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38 enterprises with delivering on the plan and meeting rising production targets, for which incentivised with bonuses. This in itself led to some highly Managers would deliberately mislead the bureaucracy by underestimating the productive potential of each enterprise, thereby securing targets that were more easily achieved. It was also in the managers' interest to hoard resources, including labour, which was one of the main factors behind the development of a shortage economy. The managers would then rapidly push up output in the period immediately before a deadline (an almost universal practice, known as storming ), which of course had a devastating impact on both the environment and on the quality produced. Since the workers alienated, they tolerated such practices and even colluded in them. Theft from enterprises widespread and was selfjustified by the assertion that 'the means of production belong to us anyway, so we are only taking what is ours.' Competing logics Although the working class formally owned the means of production, in reality property rights are multi-faceted and include the right not only to use the property but also to dispose of it and to exercise some measure of control over it. In practice however, the working class had little or no control over the means of production that it formally owned. And the response of the bureaucracy to the increasingly stagnant economy was to empower the managers even more and the workers even less. The system was characterised by competing logics and by contested reproduction. The logic of the vanguard was to try forces by means of top-down instructions. The idea was that once the productive forces had attained a sufficient level to guarantee abundance, communism would have been But in reality such abundance could never be achieved under vanguard relations, which relied on alienated labour power for the fulfilment of the plan. Alienated workers are concerned not with developing their human capacities as social beings (the only route to true abundance) but with the acquisition of commodities -an example of how the logic of capital persisted under vanguard productive relations. means of bonuses, which the vanguard falsely believed to be strengthened and deepened the logic of capital. In pursuit of their bonus, managers attempted to maximize the expense of other enterprises, of the environment, and of the plan as a whole. As the years went by, the managers increasingly desired more and more freedom from the plan, and in particular they wanted the power to exercise more discipline over 'their' workers, and to thereby acquire more property rights over the means of production. Under perestroika, the idea even took hold within the bureaucracy that a reserve army of labour would be beneficial to the growth of productive forces and therefore to the ultimate goal of communist abundance. Thus was the road back to capitalist hell paved with good intentions. But how is any of this relevant to socialists in the here and now? First and foremost is the realisation that a vanguard cannot substitute for the working class in building socialism. Lebowitz doesn't argue against leadership per se. Of course there is a role for leadership in the struggle against capital. But there is a crucial difference between leadership and command, and if we are trying to build a movement towards a genuine classless society, a free association of producers, then we must always seek to advance genuine democratically exercised workers' control, not only of individual workplaces but of the economy as a whole. We should also be prepared to question some of the axioms of far left organisation. The old ways of organising, whereby conference discussion period thinking for them the rest of the time, must be consigned to the dustbin of history. Organisations of the left must ensure that all of their members develop the confidence to control their organisation from below, in reality and not just in theory. Put simply, democracy must trump centralism every time. But the most important lesson of 'real' 20th Century ownership of the means of production is insufficient to guarantee a transition to socialism. Lebowitz identifies three sides to the triangle of socialism: social ownership of the means of production; workers' control at every level; and production geared towards the satisfaction of communal need. All three sides of the triangle are necessary to resist the logic of capital, which is an ever-present danger. Yugoslavia for example, introduced state ownership and a form of workers control. But instead of focusing on satisfaction of communal need, each enterprise sold commodities in a 'socialist market' with the aim of maximizing the income of the workers within that enterprise. The workers therefore saw it as being in their interest to devolve actual control to 'expert managers. This model of market socialism' cleared the way for a rapid return to capitalism. Finally, we should never allow ourselves to be deluded into believing that there is only one correct strategy and program, and that once the self-chosen few have discovered it the job of everyone else is merely to put it into practice. Reality is so complex and the task of overthrowing capital so immense that we need to gain the insights of as many different experiences as possible, and to approach the problem from many different angles. Any new parties of socialism for the 21st Century' must be inclusive and pluralist, responsive to the specific conditions in different localities, and to the diverse experiences of working class women and men of all cultures and traditions. A 'one size fits all' mentality is wholly inadequate to the task ahead of us. The left needs an open and honest discussion about the experience of 'real socialism' that goes beyond clichéd and one-dimensional rhetoric. Such a discussion may even produce a synthesis to heal a rift that has divided the Marxist left for a very long time. Lebowitz's book is not a bad starting point for such a discussion.
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19 January 2013
19.1 14.00 SMONDIA SHAHAOZH 16.00 ZUNTARTA - ZUNRUAR MANENAHNIA OMOZNONAIR BERMATOZ AKPORMATOZ KINHIH ENQMENDI ENANTIR ETO PATZIZMO KAI TH GAZILTIKH ANEWH BERTPO EMPOZ KINHZH MABIAH NEPONDI TQN RAMMATEN KAI TON TEXNON ENQZH METANAZTON EPIRTON MAKILTANIKH MOINDTHTA MARAOZ ROANIKH KOINDTHTA ANOIXTO IXONEIO METANAZTEN nEIPAIR RITUTIAKH KOINOTHA ZUMOROZ ENOMENON AMANEN ZUAAOOL EUGEPON ZUPION ANTIPRZIZTIKH OMAAR RABANON METANAETON ASANTE ZUNAIKRAIZTIKOI OPEIL AHMOTIKOI. On the 19th of January 2013, we will flood the streets of Athens from every city and neighbourhood of the country, workers and youth from every workplace, place of education and art. We will occupy the city with music, chants and speeches, to shout that the Nazis are not welcome, that the coalition government's racist policies of concentration camps, FRONTEX and of the denial of citizenship to the children of immigrants, enrage us as much as the barbaric measures that send hundreds of thousands to unemployment. We cannot tolerate the rich and the government that sows poverty and deprivation, leads to suicides, sends homeless to queue at soup kitchens putting the blame for the crisis on immigrants, turning them to scapegoats, just like Hitler blamed the Jews for everything. This policy led to Dachau and Auschwitz camps, to gas chambers and the crematories with millions of dead Jews, Roma, Communists and gays. It led to the massacre of WWII, the Nazi brutalities in the occupied countries like Greece, with the martyr cities that were burnt, the lives lost in the blockades by the assassins of the "Security Squads" in Kalavryta, Kokkinia, Chortiati, Kontomari, Viano, Distomo and other places. Solidarity with Greek Ant-Fascists KOINOTIKOI KAI We can not close our eyes to the thousands of dead immigrants and refugees, women and children, being hunted by the guards of FRONTEX. We demand to stop the disgrace of the nazi-type concentration camps and the sweeping operations by the Greek police. The immigrants need legalization and the refugees need asylum, victims as they are of the imperialist wars, the dictatorships and the annihilating measures of austerity by the IMF. Samaras rushed to proceed with the new law to deny the citizenship to the children of immigrants born in this country, with a decision by the High Court that shared the racist prejudice of New Democracy and the Golden Dawn. Thousands of children that are studying in schools are deemed illegal once they turn 18 and are asked to go back to the country of their parents where they have never been themselves! This is why the last months an unprecedented antifascist uprising has unfolded. On the 24th of August thousands of immigrants sent their message to Dendias that they are not afraid of the police sweeping operations called "Xenios Zeus". In the neighbourhoods the racist pogroms were challenged everywhere. On the 28th of October, the teachers, the students and the antifascists showed who controls the streets sending the neo-Nazi of Golden dawn back to the sewers. We call all workers and youth, intellectuals and artists, the immigrants communities, trade unions, student unions, school students, the local councils, all the committees against racism and fascism, the collectives of resistance, people's assemblies to support the national demonstration in Athens on the 19th of January. In the city which sent the greatest message against the Nazi occupation and today sends a message of resistance to the memorandums and the Troika that Neo-Nazis are not welcome -they are racist killers! We call for international solidarity with participation in Athens demonstration on 19th of January and antifascist action around the world outside Greek embassies.
AOHNA ПОДН ANTI@AZIZTIKH Saturday 19 January Athens, Anti-fascist city National demonstration, Omonia Square, 2pm Concert, Syntagma Square, 4pm Say it with a song... Nazis out! No to concentration camps! Citizenship for all the children of immigrants! Called by: Movement United Against Racism and Fascist Threat (KEERFA), Pan-Hellenic Federation of Artists and Entertainment (POTHA), Intellectuals and Artists, Theatre "EMPROS", Initiative "MAVILI" (Artists), Union of Immigrant Workers, Pakistani Community of Greece, Afghan Community of Greece, Open School of Immigrants in Piraeus, Egyptian Community, Union of United Afghan Refugees in Greece, Iranian Political Refugees Union, Antifascist Group of Albanian Immigrants, Union of Syrians in Greece, ASANTE (African immigrants in Greece)