The Meaning of Socialism

Cardan, Paul (Cornelius Castoriadis)

Publisher:  Solidarity (London), London, United Kingdom
Year Published:  1969   First Published:  1961
Pages:  26pp  
Resource Type:  Article/Report/Letter
Cx Number:  CX5607

Paul Cardan's 1961 discussion of modern conceptions of socialism, and the future of socialist movements.

Abstract:  Modern socialists have been unduly sycophantic to its Marxist origins - "Carefully selected quotations from Marx [...] are frequently resorted to in order to avoid fundamental discussions about Socialism." The focus, in fact, should be on the very remarkable present: if any "year zero" is to be set, it should be 1917. With the Russian Revolutions of that year, whole new dialectics of control and resistance were created, requiring new solutions. With the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, "whether Socialism was simply 'nationalism plus planning' or whether it was 'workers councils plus workers management of production' was shown to be no academic question." Capitalism itself has undergone momentous changes, that need to be addressed before they can be critiqued. For socialist revolution to be achieved, all strata of hierarchical management within production need to be eliminated.

Subject Headings

• Capitalism
• Class Conflict/Class Struggle
• Class Consciousness
• Contradiction
• Freedom
• Marxism
• Relations of Production
• Revolution
• Revolutionary Politics
• Self-Management
• Socialism
• Socialism/Case for
• Work/Meaningful
• Workers' Control
• Workers' Councils
• Working Class
• Working Conditions
• Workplace Conflict