From Marx to Gramsci

Summary, part 4

Is a socialist revolution possible?

Le Blanc titles his sixth chapter “Does Revolutionary Marxism have a future,” but also says at the end of that very chapter that “[i]t is not possible to establish here whether the revolutionary Marxist orientation can be translated into a relevant plan of action” (p. 141). Instead, Le Blanc articulates several obstacles that are in the path of socialists. 

Class consciousness as a struggle for the working class.

According to Lenin, there can only be a working class struggle if everyone in the working class…

• Views themselves as members of the working class; and

• Directs their struggle not against individual employers, but against the capitalist class the government supports.

Class consciousness may be unevenly understood within the working class. Bertram Wolfe articulated that in history, “the bulk of the workers quite naturally sought to improve their situation very much within the framework of the existing capitalist system” (p. 132).

Luxemburg articulated that there is a tendency for opportunism, referring to a “pragmatic approach to gaining reforms without any active concern for revolutionary or socialist principles” (p. 134). Additionally, Marxists acknowledge that there is no automatic inclination on the working class members to embrace revolutionary Marxism.

The bureaucratization of the working class. 

As Lenin and Trotsky articulated previously, the socialist revolution must be led by the working class. However, this specialization of the working class intelligentsia can lead to a bureaucratization of the working class. Bureaucratization refers to the process in which government becomes excessively complicated by administrative procedures. 

With a bureaucratized government, there may be a narrow outlook for trade union and party leadership. For example, Karl Kautsky argued that unions and an independent political party are revolutionary, but not necessarily revolution-making.

This is because the labor movement leaders tend to focus on winning over marginal votes through easy-to-win and moderate plans. This plan is reformist and lends itself to bureaucratization.

This presents a dilemma for Marxists: do you need a majority to implement revolutionary tactics, or can your revolutionary tactics lead to a majority? Another way Marxism can lead to the bureaucratization of the working class is through the deradicalization of trade unions and political parties.

Even in a transitionary program, unions and political parties exist within capitalism. They will eventually mold themselves to capitalism’s social conditions, hoping for cooperation from the capitalist ruling class, becoming more reformist than revolutionary. 

Technological development: friend or foe?

Marxists acknowledge that technological development is a key component to capitalism, which leads to continuous growth, resource depletion, ecological damage, and global wealth tilting to more affluent nations. In theory, technological advancement can make international organizing between socialist groups easier, but international organization is not easy.

Le Blanc, who originally published the book in 1996, asks the following questions: What is the viability of revolution in an era of technological advancement? Is there time to achieve a socialist revolution before the planet is ruined?

Can uneven development make socialism possible?

For there to be world-scale socialism, a united international political party is necessary. However, many people question whether or not this is practical because there is uneven development both between and within countries.

Within countries, there is unevenness along race, gender, age, sexual orientation, and other identities. However, Marxists believe that “Class relationships arising from the structure of the economy … do not obliterate but instead permeate and connect all other forms of identity and oppression that exist in a capitalist society” (p. 139).