May 2024
Who initiates the Workers councils?
Submitted by stevein7 on Fri, 2011-01-07 14:42
I had always adhered to a spontaneist perspective on this question, but I have rec'd a communication pointing in another direction.
Compañero Bagauda te agradecemos que te unas a nuestro debate, para
asi poder profundizar mas en lo correcto a mi parecer lo que hace
falta es unirse a debatir lo mas ampliamente posible y que todo aquel
que se sienta revolucionario participe, yo planteaba que la
discursion se iniciara para apoyar las luchas venideras de la clase
obrera, el motor seria la creacion de los consejos obreros porque es
necesario iniciarlos, y no es verdad que surgiran de los propios
obreros si escluimos los obreros con conciencia que en concreto son
la vanguardia obrera o sea el proletariado y es esta vanguardia que
tiene que organizar los consejos obreros si no no existiran.
Essentially, the workers' councils are the creation of the revolutionary vanguard.
which is correct, or perhaps both could be possible?
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The question of the origins
The question of the origins of workers councils is not even very clear from history. The original workers councils in the Russian Revolution of 1905 arose from a real need practical inside the class to unify the strike committees of the various factories on strike. However it seems that it was the members of the Social Democratic Party (mensheviks its appears!) who suggested the council idea (although to me the very practical need for the organisations to come into being does not take a great deal of class consciousness. Indeed I would say that if workers are not already spontaneously pushing in that direction we cannot speak of significant class movement for anyone to relate to. I suppose that in 1905 and in 1917 the RSDLP was a real party with widespread links inside the working class so it was not a surprise that they took a lead in the initiative to form soviets.
As I recall Bordiga was in no doubt that the Party create the Soviets but as he thought that the Party was the only bit of the class that counted, then that was at least consistent.
And I am not sure that this issue is important since it is what the workers decide afterwards that really counts and if they are really on the road to revolution they wil have laready created an instrument to fight for socialism (i.e a party) which can only carry out this fight inside the class and its representative bodies. That seems to be more important than precisely who sets the ball rolling.
As to the Spanish comment I suppsoe it depends on his definition of "la vanguardia obrera".
thecommune.co.uk Here the
thecommune.co.uk Here the writer for the Commune definitely comes out for a spontaneous origin.
Whilst this is not necessarily incorrect, could it be that the Commune (and this is from reading their basic platform) are joining the chorus of denigrating/playing down the absolute necessity of the need for a revolutionary party?