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Workers' council

March 03, 2023

This article is about the institution. For the 1921 American political group, see Workers' Council of the United States.

A workers' council or labor council[1] is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates, the latter of which can be recalled at any time.[2] In such a system, the workers themselves are able to exercise decision-making power. The workers within each council decide on what their agenda is and what their needs are. The council communist Antonie Pannekoek describes shop-committees and sectional assemblies as the basis for workers' management of the industrial system.[3] A variation is a soldiers' council, where soldiers direct a mutiny. Workers and soldiers have also operated councils in conjunction (like the 1918 German Arbeiter- und Soldatenrat). Workers' councils may in turn elect delegates to central committees, such as the Congress of Soviets.

Supporters of workers' councils argue that they are the most natural form of working-class organization. Some socialists believe that workers' councils are necessary for the organization of a proletarian revolution and the implementation of a communist society. In 1917, councils such as the Petrograd Soviet were formed by striking workers to coordinate the Russian Revolution, exercising political power in the absence of the Czar's governance.[4] In the workers' councils organized as part of the 1918 German revolution, factory organizations such as the General Workers' Union of Germany formed the basis for region-wide councils. A works council is distinct from a workers' council in that it is organized by a firm to assist with shop-floor management, rather than organizing a socialist revolution. These organizations exist on a legal basis and are common among businesses in Germany.[5] The term has also been applied to unions such as the Nigeria Workers' Council.

Anarchism

Anarchists advocate for the use of workers' councils and voluntary associations as the basic units of a stateless society. Anarchists propose horizontal social organisation through voluntary federations of communes. French mutualist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon advocated for this form of organisation as an alternative to all forms of statehood.[6] In his book The Conquest of Bread, Russian anarchist theorist Peter Kropotkin advocated for horizontal networks of workers' councils to organise stateless societies based on the principles of anarcho-communism.[7] He also hinted at the use of workers' councils for organising a future anarchist revolution in his work on the French Revolution.[8]

During the Russian Revolution, the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine led by Nestor Makhno established a stateless territory in Eastern Ukraine on the principles of workers' self management. The Makhnovists established a system of free soviets, which allowed workers, peasants, and militants to self-govern their communities and send delegates to the Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents.[9]

The Spanish Revolution of 1936 saw the creation of anarchist communes across much of Spain. These communes operated under the principle "From each according to his ability to each according to his needs". Decision-making in the communes were conducted through workers' councils.[10] As a result of this form of organisation, and the collectivisation of industries, production saw an increase in terms of efficiency and there was a 20% increase in productivity.[11][12]

Marxism

Leninism

Main article: Leninism

Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, in his book The State and Revolution, proposed that the dictatorship of the proletariat should come in the form of a soviet republic. He proposed that the revolutionary party should seize state power and establish a socialist state based on soviet democracy.[13]

Despite Lenin's declarations that "the workers must demand the immediate establishment of genuine control, to be exercised by the workers themselves", on May 30, the Menshevik minister of labor, Matvey Skobelev, pledged to not give the control of industry to the workers but instead to the state: "The transfer of enterprises into the hands of the people will not at the present time assist the revolution [...] The regulation and control of industry is not a matter for a particular class. It is a task for the state. Upon the individual class, especially the working class, lies the responsibility for helping the state in its organizational work."[14][15] Council communists criticize the Bolsheviks for superseding the soviet democracy formed by the councils and creating a bureaucratic system of state capitalism.

Council Communism

Main article: Council Communism

Council Communism is a libertarian Marxist school of thought that advocates for a system of workers councils, as opposed to a Communist party or trade union, to coordinate class struggle. Workers directly control production and construct higher organizational bodies from below. Recall-able delegates can be elected from individual workplaces to represent workers on a societal level. Council communists, such as the Dutch-German current of left communists, believe that their nature means that workers' councils do away with bureaucratic form of the state and instead give power directly to workers through a soviet democracy. Council communists view this organization of a revolutionary government as an anti-authoritarian approach to the dictatorship of the proletariat.

The council communists in the Communist Workers' Party of Germany advocated organizing "on the basis of places of work, not trades, and to establish a National Federation of Works Committees."[16] The Central Workers Council of Greater Budapest occupied this role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, between late October and early January 1957, where it grew out of local factory committees.[17]

Historical examples

Workers' councils have played a significant role in the communist revolutions of the 20th century. They originated in lands of the Russian Empire (including Congress Poland and Latvia) in 1905, with the workers' councils (soviets) acting as labor committees which coordinated strike activities throughout the cities due to repression of trade unions. During the Revolutions of 1917–1923, councils of socialist workers were able to exercise political authority. Communists such as Anton Pannekoek and Rosa Luxemburg advocated for the control of the revolution by the workers' councils. Several times in recent history, the socialists have organized workers' councils during periods of unrest. Examples include:

See also

References

  1. ^ Rocker, Rudolf (2004). Anarcho-syndicalism: Theory and Practice. AK Press. p. 63. ISBN 1902593928.
  2. ^ Castoriadis, Cornelius (2014). Workers' Councils and the Economics of Self-Managed Society. Thought Crime Ink. ISBN 9780981289762.
  3. ^ Pannekoek, Antonie (1946). Workers' Councils. Wageningen, Netherlands: Communistenbond Spartacus. ISBN 9781902593562.
  4. ^ "Workers Councils".
  5. ^ "POLYAS Election Glossary". POLYAS Company. 26 June 2017.
  6. ^ Proudhon, Pierrre Joseph. "The Principle of Federation" (PDF).
  7. ^ Kropotkin, Peter (2015). The Conquest of Bread. Penguin Classics. ISBN 9780141396118.
  8. ^ The Great French Revolution, 1789-1793. PM Press. 2021. ISBN 9781629638768.
  9. ^ Nestor Makhno and Rural Anarchism in Ukraine. Pluto Press. 2020. ISBN 9780745338873.
  10. ^ González Martínez, Carmen (1999). Guerra civil en Murcia. Un análisis sobre el poder y los comportamientos colectivos [Civil war in Murcia. An analysis of power and collective behaviors.] (in Spanish). Murcia: Universidad de Murcia. p. 93. ISBN 84-8371-096-X – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Sewell, Amber J. (2007). "Las colectividades del Cinca Medio durante la guerra civil (1936-1938)" [The communities of Cinca Medio during the civil war (1936-1938)]. In Ledesma, Sanz (ed.). [Middle Cinca region] (PDF) (in Spanish). Tarragona. p. 141. ISBN 978-84-8380-060-7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  12. ^ Kelsey, Graham (1991). Anarchosyndicalism, Libertarian Communism, and the State: The CNT in Zaragoza and Aragon, 1930–1937. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, International Institute of Social History. p. 161. ISBN 0-7923-0275-3.
  13. ^ "The State and Revolution" (PDF).
  14. ^ Tony Cliff Lenin 2 Chapter 12 Lenin and Workers’ Control, section The Rise of Factory Committees
  15. ^ Amosov et al. (1927) Oktiabrskaia Revoliutsiia i Fazavkomy, vol. 1, p. 83. (published in Moscow)
  16. ^ Bernhard Reichenbach, The KAPD in Retrospect: An Interview with a Member of the Communist Workers Party of Germany
  17. ^ "Balazs Nagy: Budapest 1956 - the Central Workers' Council (Autumn 1964)".
  18. ^ Rougerie, Jacques (2014). La Commune de 1871 [The commune of 1871] (in French). Paris: Presses universitaires de France. pp. 58–60. ISBN 978-2-13-062078-5.
  19. ^ Maurice Brinton, pseud. (Christopher Agamemnon Pallis). The Bolsheviks and Workers' Control. (Orig: Solidarity UK, London, 1970), The Bolsheviks and Workers' Control introduction
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h Ness, Immanuel (2010). Ours to Master and to Own: Workers' Control from the Commune to the Present.
  21. ^ Goonewardena, Leslie (1975). "Employees Councils and Self Management in Sri Lanka". State. 1: 32–37.
  22. ^ Ness, Immanuel (2014). New Forms of Worker Organization: The Syndicalist and Autonomist Restoration of Class Struggle Unionism. pp. 184–203.
  23. ^ Poya, Maryam (2002) [1987]. "Iran 1979: Long live the Revolution! ... Long Live Islam?". In Barker, Colin (ed.). Revolutionary Rehearsals. Chicago: Haymarket Books. pp. 143–149. ISBN 1-931859-02-7.
  24. ^ A Small Key Can Open a Large Door: The Rojava Revolution (1st ed.). Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness. 4 March 2015. According to Dr. Ahmad Yousef, an economic co-minister, three-quarters of traditional private property is being used as commons and one quarter is still being owned by use of individuals...According to the Ministry of Economics, worker councils have only been set up for about one third of the enterprises in Rojava so far.

External links

  • Workers' Councils: The historically discovered form of the dictatorship of the proletariat
  • Workers' Councils, Anton Pannekoek

March 03, 2023
workers, council, this, article, about, institution, 1921, american, political, group, workers, council, united, states, workers, council, labor, council, form, political, economic, organization, which, workplace, municipality, governed, council, made, workers. This article is about the institution For the 1921 American political group see Workers Council of the United States A workers council or labor council 1 is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates the latter of which can be recalled at any time 2 In such a system the workers themselves are able to exercise decision making power The workers within each council decide on what their agenda is and what their needs are The council communist Antonie Pannekoek describes shop committees and sectional assemblies as the basis for workers management of the industrial system 3 A variation is a soldiers council where soldiers direct a mutiny Workers and soldiers have also operated councils in conjunction like the 1918 German Arbeiter und Soldatenrat Workers councils may in turn elect delegates to central committees such as the Congress of Soviets Supporters of workers councils argue that they are the most natural form of working class organization Some socialists believe that workers councils are necessary for the organization of a proletarian revolution and the implementation of a communist society In 1917 councils such as the Petrograd Soviet were formed by striking workers to coordinate the Russian Revolution exercising political power in the absence of the Czar s governance 4 In the workers councils organized as part of the 1918 German revolution factory organizations such as the General Workers Union of Germany formed the basis for region wide councils A works council is distinct from a workers council in that it is organized by a firm to assist with shop floor management rather than organizing a socialist revolution These organizations exist on a legal basis and are common among businesses in Germany 5 The term has also been applied to unions such as the Nigeria Workers Council Contents 1 Anarchism 2 Marxism 2 1 Leninism 2 2 Council Communism 3 Historical examples 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksAnarchism EditAnarchists advocate for the use of workers councils and voluntary associations as the basic units of a stateless society Anarchists propose horizontal social organisation through voluntary federations of communes French mutualist philosopher Pierre Joseph Proudhon advocated for this form of organisation as an alternative to all forms of statehood 6 In his book The Conquest of Bread Russian anarchist theorist Peter Kropotkin advocated for horizontal networks of workers councils to organise stateless societies based on the principles of anarcho communism 7 He also hinted at the use of workers councils for organising a future anarchist revolution in his work on the French Revolution 8 During the Russian Revolution the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine led by Nestor Makhno established a stateless territory in Eastern Ukraine on the principles of workers self management The Makhnovists established a system of free soviets which allowed workers peasants and militants to self govern their communities and send delegates to the Regional Congress of Peasants Workers and Insurgents 9 The Spanish Revolution of 1936 saw the creation of anarchist communes across much of Spain These communes operated under the principle From each according to his ability to each according to his needs Decision making in the communes were conducted through workers councils 10 As a result of this form of organisation and the collectivisation of industries production saw an increase in terms of efficiency and there was a 20 increase in productivity 11 12 Marxism EditLeninism Edit Main article Leninism Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin in his book The State and Revolution proposed that the dictatorship of the proletariat should come in the form of a soviet republic He proposed that the revolutionary party should seize state power and establish a socialist state based on soviet democracy 13 Despite Lenin s declarations that the workers must demand the immediate establishment of genuine control to be exercised by the workers themselves on May 30 the Menshevik minister of labor Matvey Skobelev pledged to not give the control of industry to the workers but instead to the state The transfer of enterprises into the hands of the people will not at the present time assist the revolution The regulation and control of industry is not a matter for a particular class It is a task for the state Upon the individual class especially the working class lies the responsibility for helping the state in its organizational work 14 15 Council communists criticize the Bolsheviks for superseding the soviet democracy formed by the councils and creating a bureaucratic system of state capitalism Council Communism Edit Main article Council Communism Council Communism is a libertarian Marxist school of thought that advocates for a system of workers councils as opposed to a Communist party or trade union to coordinate class struggle Workers directly control production and construct higher organizational bodies from below Recall able delegates can be elected from individual workplaces to represent workers on a societal level Council communists such as the Dutch German current of left communists believe that their nature means that workers councils do away with bureaucratic form of the state and instead give power directly to workers through a soviet democracy Council communists view this organization of a revolutionary government as an anti authoritarian approach to the dictatorship of the proletariat The council communists in the Communist Workers Party of Germany advocated organizing on the basis of places of work not trades and to establish a National Federation of Works Committees 16 The Central Workers Council of Greater Budapest occupied this role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 between late October and early January 1957 where it grew out of local factory committees 17 Historical examples EditWorkers councils have played a significant role in the communist revolutions of the 20th century They originated in lands of the Russian Empire including Congress Poland and Latvia in 1905 with the workers councils soviets acting as labor committees which coordinated strike activities throughout the cities due to repression of trade unions During the Revolutions of 1917 1923 councils of socialist workers were able to exercise political authority Communists such as Anton Pannekoek and Rosa Luxemburg advocated for the control of the revolution by the workers councils Several times in recent history the socialists have organized workers councils during periods of unrest Examples include Paris France during 1871 la commune 18 Adrianople Vilayet Ottoman Empire in 1903 Russia in 1905 and during 1917 1921 soviets 19 Poland during 1905 1918 1919 1944 1947 and 1956 1970 1980 1981 rady robotnicze 20 Mexico during 1910 1920 1994 present and 2011 comites trabajadores Glasgow Scotland during 1915 20 Austria during 1918 Finland during the 1918 Central Workers Council of Finland Germany during 1918 1919 rate 20 Ukraine during 1918 1921 vilni rady free soviets Hungary during 1919 and 1956 szovjetek Italy during 1919 1920 and 1968 consigli di fabbrica Ireland during 1920 1921 comhairle oibrithe China during 1920 1927 and in 1967 suweiai Korea during 1929 1931 hyeob uihoe and 1945 1946 inmin wiwǒnhoe Spain during 1934 and 1936 1937 comites trabajadores Indonesia during 1945 1946 20 Vietnam during 1930 1931 and 1945 Algeria during 1962 1965 20 France during 1968 comites d entreprise Czechoslovakia in 1968 Sri Lanka during the 1970 75 United Front government 21 Australia during 1971 1980 and 1990 22 Chile during 1973 cordones Argentina during 1973 and 2001 20 Northern Ireland during 1974 Portugal during 1974 1976 20 Iran during 1978 1979 shoras 23 Canada during 1981 20 Rojava from 2012 onward 24 Libya during 1977 2011See also EditAnarchism Antonie Pannekoek The Civil War in France Co determination Council communism Kronstadt rebellion Factory committee Free association of producers Guild socialism Libertarian socialism Marxism Paris Commune Rosa Luxemburg Soviet democracy Soviet republic system of government Soviet council Supreme Soviet Works council Workers control Workers self management Workers Council of the United StatesReferences Edit Rocker Rudolf 2004 Anarcho syndicalism Theory and Practice AK Press p 63 ISBN 1902593928 Castoriadis Cornelius 2014 Workers Councils and the Economics of Self Managed Society Thought Crime Ink ISBN 9780981289762 Pannekoek Antonie 1946 Workers Councils Wageningen Netherlands Communistenbond Spartacus ISBN 9781902593562 Workers Councils POLYAS Election Glossary POLYAS Company 26 June 2017 Proudhon Pierrre Joseph The Principle of Federation PDF Kropotkin Peter 2015 The Conquest of Bread Penguin Classics ISBN 9780141396118 The Great French Revolution 1789 1793 PM Press 2021 ISBN 9781629638768 Nestor Makhno and Rural Anarchism in Ukraine Pluto Press 2020 ISBN 9780745338873 Gonzalez Martinez Carmen 1999 Guerra civil en Murcia Un analisis sobre el poder y los comportamientos colectivos Civil war in Murcia An analysis of power and collective behaviors in Spanish Murcia Universidad de Murcia p 93 ISBN 84 8371 096 X via Google Books Sewell Amber J 2007 Las colectividades del Cinca Medio durante la guerra civil 1936 1938 The communities of Cinca Medio during the civil war 1936 1938 In Ledesma Sanz ed Comarca del Cinca Medio Middle Cinca region PDF in Spanish Tarragona p 141 ISBN 978 84 8380 060 7 Archived from the original PDF on 21 November 2011 Retrieved 16 July 2013 Kelsey Graham 1991 Anarchosyndicalism Libertarian Communism and the State The CNT in Zaragoza and Aragon 1930 1937 Dordrecht Kluwer Academic International Institute of Social History p 161 ISBN 0 7923 0275 3 The State and Revolution PDF Tony Cliff Lenin 2 Chapter 12 Lenin and Workers Control section The Rise of Factory Committees Amosov et al 1927 Oktiabrskaia Revoliutsiia i Fazavkomy vol 1 p 83 published in Moscow Bernhard Reichenbach The KAPD in Retrospect An Interview with a Member of the Communist Workers Party of Germany Balazs Nagy Budapest 1956 the Central Workers Council Autumn 1964 Rougerie Jacques 2014 La Commune de 1871 The commune of 1871 in French Paris Presses universitaires de France pp 58 60 ISBN 978 2 13 062078 5 Maurice Brinton pseud Christopher Agamemnon Pallis The Bolsheviks and Workers Control Orig Solidarity UK London 1970 The Bolsheviks and Workers Control introduction a b c d e f g h Ness Immanuel 2010 Ours to Master and to Own Workers Control from the Commune to the Present Goonewardena Leslie 1975 Employees Councils and Self Management in Sri Lanka State 1 32 37 Ness Immanuel 2014 New Forms of Worker Organization The Syndicalist and Autonomist Restoration of Class Struggle Unionism pp 184 203 Poya Maryam 2002 1987 Iran 1979 Long live the Revolution Long Live Islam In Barker Colin ed Revolutionary Rehearsals Chicago Haymarket Books pp 143 149 ISBN 1 931859 02 7 A Small Key Can Open a Large Door The Rojava Revolution 1st ed Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness 4 March 2015 According to Dr Ahmad Yousef an economic co minister three quarters of traditional private property is being used as commons and one quarter is still being owned by use of individuals According to the Ministry of Economics worker councils have only been set up for about one third of the enterprises in Rojava so far External links EditWorkers Councils The historically discovered form of the dictatorship of the proletariat Workers Councils Anton Pannekoek Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Workers 27 council amp oldid 1141199719, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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