medearis, john. lost or obscured. how lenin, schumpeter and hannah arendt misanderstood de council...
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8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
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Northeastern Political Science ssociation
Lost or Obscured? How V. I. Lenin, Joseph Schumpeter, and Hannah Arendt Misunderstoodthe Council MovementAuthor(s): John MedearisSource: Polity, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Apr., 2004), pp. 447-476Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals
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8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/medearis-john-lost-or-obscured-how-lenin-schumpeter-and-hannah-arendt-misanderstood 2/31
Polity
Volume
XXXVI,
umber
*
April
004
Lost or Obscured?
How V.
I.
Lenin,
Joseph
Schumpeter,
and
Hannah
Arendt
Misunderstood
the
Council Movement
JohnMedearis
University
f
California,
iverside
The eriod ollowingorldWar witnessedhe lourishingf he ouncil ove-
ment,
hich
ttempted
odemocratize
olitics,
ociety
ndthe
conomy
nCentral
andEastern
urope.
hemovementeservesheoretical
ttention
s an llustrative
experiment
n democratic
gency-responsive
o historical
onditions
nd con-
straints,
nd
oppositional
ndtransformative
n ts
pproach
nd
ims.Themove-
ment's
mpact
n
thinking
bout
democracy
as been
ignificant,
ut
lso
ironic,
because ts
tory
as been ransmittedo he
resent
y
heoristshodidnot hare
the ouncils'
mbitions
nd
assumptions.
ewrecall ow hat
igures
s
disparate
as VI
.
Lenin,
oseph chumpeter,
nd HannahArendt
esponded
n
mportant
ways o themovement.ltimately,heway hese heoristsonceptualizedollec-
tive
gency
aused hem o
misjudge
he
ignificance
f
hemovementor
emo-
cratic
heory.
nd heir
esultingis-portrayals
ave ontributedo ome f he im-
itationsf
ontemporarynglo-American
emocratic
heory.
JohnMedearis s assistant
rofessor
f
political
cience t the
University
f
California,
iverside.is
writings
ttempt
n
various
ays
o
oin
the heorization
of
democracy
ith oncrete
ociological
nd
historical
tudy.
The ouncilmovementrose n hedisordernd ufferinghatmarkedhe nd
ofWorldWar towrestle ith he
iscredited
emnantsf
pre-war
tates,
rippled
armies,
nd n ndustrial
rder
hat
ad
become
more
ictatorial
s
production
as
harnessedo
total
war.This
pontaneous
ovement
f
radical emocratic
mbi-
tions
helped
chievewhatever
measure
f
democracy ermany
nd
Austria
enjoyed
etween hewars.
n
the
ontemporarynglo-American
olitical
heory
canon,
he ouncilmovementas
only
ne
great
dmirer,
annah
Arendt,
ho
referredo it as
part
f the
"revolutionary
radition
nd
its ost reasure".' ut
Arendt'sreatmentf the
councilmovementends tself
eadily
o
a
polarized
response,ccordingowhich he ouncilsmay eseen ithersa supreme oliti-
cal
achievement,
r n
impossible,erhaps
angerous,topia.
hecouncilmove-
ment hould e
regarded
s neither.twas
a movement-flawedike
ny
ther-
1. Hannah
rendt,
nRevolution
New
York:
iking,
963),
17-85.
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8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
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448 LOST OR
OBSCURED?
that
ttempted
o
democratizeomeof
he
conomic,
ilitary,
olitical
nd
ocial
institutionshat ad edEuropeo disastrousar.As nattemptomobilizeem-
ocratic
gency,
t
amply
meritederious heoretical
ttention.
he
consideration
given
t,however,
as
actually
bscured
mportantspects
f
the ouncil
move-
ment.
n
the
decades ince
he
FirstWorld
War,
he
movement
as notbeen o
much
lost,"
s
Arendt
uggested,
s obscured.
An
understanding
fthe ouncilmovement'sdeas nd
practices
ight
ave
(and
ould
till)
ontribute
o an enrichmentfdemocratic
heory.
n
particular,
historical
urvey
f he ouncilmovement
oregrounds
he
roblem
f ts
ledgling
democratic
gency-its
articipants'
ttempts
o
organize
ocial ntities
apable
f
regulatingndguidinghose ostwarocialrelationsndforces hat ommonly
affected
embers,
n
way
onsistent
ith
n
evolving
emocratic
deology.
n
ts
stance owards
he
ndustrial,
ilitary
nd social
orders
hat onstitutedheold
regime,
he
movement
as
oppositional
nd transformative.atherhan
being
wedded
o
single
emocraticnstitutional
orm,
he ouncil
movement's
pproach
was a
flexible
esponse
o historicalnd
sociological
onditions.he
majority
f
movement
articipants
idnot
reject arliamentary
nstitutions,
ut
ttempted
o
achieve heir
emocratizingoals
n
tandem
ith
hem,
pparently
nvisioning
n
interplay
etween
ifferentocial entitieshatwould
bring
bout the
desired
unleashing
fdemocratic
gency.
One
purpose
fthis
ssay,
hen,
s to
recoverhese
spects
fthe
heory
nd
practice
f
he
ouncils nd the
uestions
hey
might
aise or emocratic
heory
today.
nother
urpose
s
to demonstrate
omething
hat as been
forgotten:
hat
the ouncil
movement,
ar rom
eing
n
obscure istorical
ootnote,
trongly
nflu-
enced hinkershose
xamples
till einforce
omeof
he
deep
tructureor ur
debates bout emocratic
olitics.
oseph
chumpeter,
hose lite
onception
f
democracy
s a method
s
widely
ccepted
n
social
cience,
nd
provides
he
model
gainst
hich
lmost
llothersre
measured,
ormulated
hat lite
oncep-
tion s a
response
o
the ouncil
movement
nd imilar
emocratic
endencies.
I.
Lenin's heoreticalnd
practical
edirectionf
he
ouncils
elped
rienthe
oviet
state,
n
contrasto which o
many
emocraticdeals re
mplicitly
ormulated.
Arendt,
critic f
the familiarorms f
representative
emocracy,
eveloped
theory
f
political
reedomhat as
partly
nspired
y
he
movement.
ndirectly,
he
councilmovement
as
helped hape
he
waydemocracy
s defined
nd debated
today,
n
ways
fwhich e
are
mostly
naware. ut
n
heorizing
he ouncilmove-
ment, enin,
chumpeter
ndArendtistortedt s well.The ouncil
movement's
influences
a
tortuousnd
ultimately
ronic
tory.
A third
mportanturpose,
hen,
s
to
explore
ow all three heorists
ot
he
councils
rong.
uided
yrigidonceptions
f
xpertise
ndthe
tate,
enin lti-
mately
edirectedhe
councils,
heoretically
nd
practically,
rom
emocratic
forums
ntomute
rgans
f
uthoritariandministration.
hough
e feared
hem,
Schumpeter
irst
cknowledged
he
ignificance
f he ouncils
n
erms
much ike
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John
Medearls 449
their
roponents',
hen
eployed
n elite
onception
f ollective
ction hat
made
the ouncils nthinkable.rendt ade he ouncils centerpiecefher isionf
politics,
ut n
so
doing
lso
derogated
he ouncils'
ocio-economic
ims
and
methods.
n
ach
ase,
hese
heorists'
ays
f
onceiving
f
ollective
gency-its
dimensions,
nderpinnings,
nd
propererrain-prevented
hem rom
rasping
he
movement's
ttempt
o
create emocratic
gency.
hanks,
n
part,
o
them,
he
councils ave oooften eenmistreated
r
forgotten.
Of
ourse,
he eterminants
f
public
iscourses
n
subjects
uch s
democracy
are far oo
complex
o be attributed
olely
o
intellectuals
ike
chumpeter
nd
Arendt,
r even o someone ikeLenin-both
significant
istorical
ctor
nd
a
thinkernhis wn
right.
oreoverhererenow ndhave lmost
lways
een
ways
of
hinking
bout
emocracy
hat o not ollow
single
attern,
owever
ervasive.
But
Lenin,
chumpeter
nd
Arendt
elped
formulatend reinforceecurrent
assumptions
hat
merge,
n
different
ays,
ven
n
otherwise-disparate
ontem-
porary
onceptions
f
democracy.
nd
hey elped
nsure
hat
mportant
spects
of
he ouncilmovementould e
ignored.
This
ssay
onstitutessomewhat nusual xercise
n
the
history
f
political
thought.
t
does notdelve nto hehistorical ilieu f
single
hinker,
utfollows
the heoretical
nterpretation
f historicalomentver
he ourse f he
ecades
that ollowedt.2
begin
ith historical
ractice
nd
widespread
deology
nd sk
how
t
was
brought
nto
heory,
nstead f
racing
concept,
erhaps
o ts
ntry
into
opular
onsciousness.am nteresteds much
n
he
clipse
f n
nterrelated
set
f
deas nd
practices,
s in heir irth
nd
flourishing.
oreover,
hose
ew
who
considerhemselvestudentsf he ouncils
ikely
ssociate
heorizing
bout hem
with different
roup
f
thinkers:
specially
tto
Bauer,
ntonio
ramsci,
arl
Korsch
ndAntonie
annekoek.3
different
ort f
essay
ould ndeed e
written
on
these
igures'
ympatheticnderstanding
fthe
ouncils. ut heir
nterpreta-
tions renot he nes
hat ave
ontributed
o
hapingontemporarynglo-Amer-
icandemocratic
hought,
nd
o,
with
he
xception
f
ome ommentsn
Bauer,
I
have
argely
ut
hem
side.
In
the
ollowing
ection,
reviewhe ecordf
he ouncil
movement
ndwhat
it
ouldmean or
emocratic
heory.
hen
discuss he
way
Lenin,
chumpeter
nd
2. This s
probably
ost
mportant
ith
espect
oArendt.er
ntentionnd
meaning
n
writing
he
works hat
istortedhe ouncils' ecordan be
fully
ssessed
nly
n
ight
f
WorldWar
I
and heHolo-
caust. atherhan
nterpret
er
writings
n
hat
ontext,owever,
his
ssay,
n
ffect,
olds
er
esponsible
for er
nterpretation
f
differentra.
3. Gramsci,orschndPannekoekll
ssigned
ouncils
mportant
olesn heirocialistisions.ee
Serge
ricianer,
annekoek
nd
the
Workers'
ouncils,
rans.
ohn
erber
St.Louis,
MO:
Telos
Press,
1978);
Antonio
ramsci,
Soviets
n
taly,"
ewLeft
eview 1
1968):
28-58; ramsci,
electionsrom
Political
ritings,
910-1920,
rans. ohn
Matthews,
d.
Q.
Hoare
Minneapolis:
niversity
f
Minnesota
Press, 990);
Douglas
ellner,d.,
Karl
Korsch:
evolutionary
heory
Austin:
niversity
f
Texas
ress,
1974);
Karl
Korsch,
Whats
Socialization?
Program
f
Practical
ocialism,"
ew
German
ritique
,
3
(Fall,
975)
0-81.
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450
LOST OR OBSCURED?
Arendt-each
ifferently
nfluential
n
democraticiscourse-mis-theorizedhe
movement.inally,look t ome f heways heirailureseaken nglo-American
discourse
n
democracyoday.
I. The
Historical henomenon f
Councils
and Its
Significance
or
Democratic
Theory
It
s
possible
ofind
ough
recursors
f he
ouncilmovement
n
uch
vents
s
theParis ommunef
1871,
ut here
s
ittlevidencehat he
workers,oldiers,
politicalctivistsndrevolutionarieshofoundedouncils etween 905 nd1919
were
nspired
y
uch
examples.4
he
first
eal
tirring
f
he ouncilmovement
was in
theRussian evolution
f
1905,
n
whichworkers
n
factories
hroughout
Russia lected
epresentatives
o local
councils,
alled soviets"-the irst
reely-
elected
mass
rganizations
n
hat
ountry.5
twas tothis
model
hat
evolutionary
workers
urnedn
the
arliest
hases
f heRussian
evolution
f
1917.Not
ong
after strike
n
Petrograd
pread
o
become
general
trike
n
February
f hat
ear,
an
ad
hoc
revolutionaryroup
alled or orkers
n
factorieso lect
epresentatives
to
Petrograd
oviet.6
heworkers'
oviet
oon ncludedoldiers'
epresentatives
s
well.7 acedwithworevolutionaryrganizations-theetrogradoviet nd pro-
visional
ommitteef
dumamembers-Nicholasbdicated.
he councilmove-
ment
apidly
pread
hroughout
ussia
gain.
herewere 00 ovietsnRussia
y
the
nd
of
March.8
y
June,
more
han
37,000
orkers
n
Petrograd
ere
repre-
sented
y actory
ommittees.9
Just
fewmonths
ater,
uring
hewartime ass trike ovement
n
Germany,
Austriand
Hungary,articipantsuickly
ormed orkers'ouncils o coordinate
their
fforts.'0
ot
ong
fter
hat,
hen aced
with
n order
o
eave
port
or sui-
cidal
final
ampaign
t
sea,
Germanailors
t
Kiel
mutinied.
n
short
rder,
he
sailors lectedouncils;meanwhile,ocaldockworkerslectedheirwn, ndthe
Baltic
ort
as
soon n
their
ands. he ouncil
movement
pread
apidlyhrough
4. Oskar
nweiler,
he oviets: he
Russian
Workers,easants,
ndSoldiers
ouncils,
905-1921,
trans. uth
ein New
York:
antheon,
974), 1.
The
only
ntecedent-in
his ase for
actory
ommit-
tees-was theRussianradition
f
lectinghop
tewards
o
represent
orkersefore
anagement.
ee
S.A.
mith,
ed
Petrograd:
evolutionn he actories
Cambridge:ambridgeniversity
ress,
983),
7.
5.
Anweiler,
he
oviets,
2.
6.
Anweiler,
he
oviets,
04.
7. Anweiler,he oviets,06.
8. Nikolai .
mirnov,
The
oviets,"
n
Critical
ompanion
o
he ussian
evolution,
914-1921,
d.
E.
Acton,
.
.
Cherniaev,
nd
W
G.
RosenbergBloomington:
ndiana
niversity
ress,
997),
29.
9.
Gennady
hkliarevsky,
abor ntheRussian evolution:
actory
ommitteesnd Trade
nions,
1917-1918
New
York:
t.
Martin's
ress),
.
10.
F
L.
Carsten,
evolution
nCentral
urope,
918-1919
Berkeley
ndLos
Angeles:
niversity
fCal-
ifornia
ress, 972),
2-13.
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JohnMedearls
451
northern
ermany
nd
quickly
ecame
hemodel or
evolutionary
odies
n
1918.
Workersnd oldiersreatedouncilsn nearlyveryity"nGermany.II
Several
ifferent
ypes
f ouncils-not
ntirely
istinct
rom
ach
other-arose
in
the
revolutionary
eriod
fterhe nd
of
the
FirstWorldWar.
irst,
here ere
workers'
ouncils,
sually
ocal
bodies,
lected
ccording
o
varying
epresentative
ratios,
y
workers
n
the actories.
here
were,
econd,
oldiers'
ouncils,
lected
similarlyy
ank-and-fileoldiersnd
ailors.
n
Russia nd
n
Germany,
oldiersnd
workersften lected
epresentatives
o the ame ocal ouncils.
oon,
he ocal
councils
n
Russia
nd
Germany-and
omewhat
ater
n
Austria-elected
epre-
sentativeso
national
ongresses.
nd
inally,
orkers
n
ndividual
nterprises
ften
elected
actory
ommitteesr ouncils.
Councils
layed xtremely
mportantevolutionary
oles-
in
Russia,
eforehe
Bolshevikeizure
f
power,
nd
n
Germany
nd
Austria,
n thefirstew
months
afterhe
mpiresollapsed
t the ndof he
war.The
Petrograd
oviet,
epresent-
ing
what
ocialists
alled
revolutionary
emocracy,"
xercised
practical
heck n
actions
y
he
argely
ourgeois
rovisionalovernment.his
ystem
fdual
power
lasted
rom
ebruary
hrough
pril,
917.
n
Germany,
pontaneous
lectionsrom
barracks
ndfactories
n
Berlinent
epresentatives
o
mass
meeting
n Novem-
ber
10,
1918. his d-hoc ouncil onfirmedheCouncil
f
People's
Representa-
tives,
provisional
overnment
hat adbeenformed
y
greement
etweenead-
ers
of
the ocialdemocratic
nd
ndependent
ocialdemocratic
arties.
n
effect,
under
his
rrangement,
ower
was
recognized
obe in he
hands
f
workers'nd
soldiers'
ouncils,
emporarily,
ith heCouncil f
People's epresentatives
erving
as
the xecutivehosen
y
hem.12
hese
rrangements
ecognizing
he evolution-
ary
ower
f
he
ouncils,
f
ourse,
idnot
ast orever-nor
id
heworkersnd
soldiers
n
he ouncils
ecessarily
ant hem
o.
The ims
nd
deological
rientations
f
he ouncils
aried,
ut here
ere lear
common hemes. he
broadest,
ndmost
mportant
ne to
note,
s that he
oun-
cils
ypically
iewed
hemselves,
heir
ctions,
nd
he
hallengeshey
aced
n
dem-
ocratic erms.
ore
pecifically,
oth he
heory
nd
the
practice
f the
ouncils
seem o
have
enteredn
transforming
ppressive
nstitutionalealms nd
aming
dangerous
ocial
orces
hrough
he ntroductionf
democratic
ractices
nddeci-
sion-making
n
key
ettings.
specially
n
Germany
nd
Austria,
he
program
f
he
councilsombined
arliamentary
r
representative
emocracy
ith
'democratiza-
tion' f he
rmy,
he ivil ervicendthe
conomy."'3
erhaps
most
bviously,
he
11.Elizabeth.Tobin,RevolutionndAlienation:heFoundationsfWeimar,"nTowardheHolo-
caust:
The ocial nd Economic
ollapse
f
heWeimar
epublic,
d.
M.
Dobkowski
nd
.
Wallimann
(Westport,
onnecticut:
reenwood
ress),
56.
12.
Carsten,
evolution
nCentral
urope,
9-40, 29-30,
23-24.
13. Eberhard
olb,
heWeimar
epublic,
London:
llen
Unwin,988),
5.And ee:Dick
eary,
Rad-
icalismnd heWorker:
etalworkers
nd
Revolution,914-23,"
n
ociety
nd
Politics
n
Wilhelmine
er-
many,
d.
R.
J.
vans
London:
room
elm,
td.),
67, 70;Tobin,
Revolutionnd
Alienation,"
56,
58.
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452
LOST OR OBSCURED?
councilmovement
tood
or
military
nd
economic
emocratization;
or he
very
formationf he ouncilsended o verturnroverhaulower elationsn he ar-
racks nd
the actories.
Complete
emocratization,
bolitionf
militarism,"
ere
the
mbitious
oals
f he
ocal ouncil
n
Diez,
near
rankfurt.14
imilarly,
con-
ference
f
ouncils
n
Russian
rtillery
lants
alled
or full
emocracy
nd
colle-
giality"
n
production."1
n
Germany
nd
Austria,
ouncils ere
widely egarded
s
impatient
o chieve
democratic
ormf
ocialization
f
he
economy.16
he
ame
was true n
Russia.
here,
he
unequal
istributionf
power
n
production"
ad
been
f
great
oncerno
workers
n
Petrograd,
o when he
irst
actory
ommittees
formedn the
tate-owned
lants,
hey
rticulated
"vision
f a
democratized
systemf ndustrialelations"."he German ongressfWorkers'ndSoldiers'
Councils
amously
dopted
he
Hamburg
oints,
hich alled
or
he ree lection
of
fficers
y
ank-and-file
oldiers,
he bolitionf
fficers'
nsignia;
ontrol
f
gar-
risons
y
ocal
ouncils;
nd
making
oldiers'ouncils
esponsible
or
iscipline.'8
The
Congress
lsocalled
or
uick
ocialization
f
industries.19
It s
especiallymportant
o
explore
he
ttitudefthe
ouncils oward
arlia-
mentary,
epresentative
emocracy
ecause fthe
ise o
power
f
Bolshevism
n
this
eriod,
nd he
Bolsheviks'
doption
f
he
erm
soviet"or heiruthoritarian
rule.
he
Russian
oviets hat
ormed
n
1905had
quickly
eclared
hemselves
n
favor f democratic
epublic,
s we have een.And he
Petrograd
ovietf1917
likewisealled
mmediately
fter
t
formed
for
he nnihilationf
he ld
regime
andthe
onvocation
f
constituent
ational
ssembly,
o be elected
y
universal,
impartial,
irect,
nd
ecret
allot".20
imilarly,
n
Germany
nd
Austria,
he ouncils
stood or he
ormation
f
democratic
epublics--though
heirision f
democracy
clearly
ent
eyond
arliaments.erhaps
ore o
he
oint,
n
he ftermathf
he
Bolshevik
evolution,
othGermannd
Austrianouncils
ut
hemselvesn record
opposing
ole
power
or
ouncils,
hich,
iven
heir ase of
upport,
ould
have
amountedo
proletarian
ictatorship.21
t
s true hatn
Russia,
n
1917,
he
oviets
and
factory
ouncils
rew
more
upportive
ftheBolshevik
olicy
f ole soviet
power.
n
the
oviets,
hiswas
largely
ue to
rapid
urnover
nd
dramatically
increasing
olshevik
epresentation.22
he
Bolsheviks
anaged
lsoto
win
ver he
factory
ommittees,
n
which
hey riginally
ad ittle
epresentation,
y
favoring
14.
Tobin,
Revolution
nd
Alienation,"
58.
15. Steve
mith,
Factory
ommittees,"
n
Critical
ompanion
o heRussian
evolution,
47.
16.
Geary,
Radicalismnd he
Worker,"
70;
Tobin,
Revolution
nd
Alienation,"
56,
58-59.
17.
Smith,
ed
Petrograd,
;
Steve
mith,
Factory
ommittees,"
47.
18.Carsten,evolutionnCentralurope,2-73; olger erweg,The irst ermanongressf ol-
diers' ouncilsnd
he roblemf
Military
eforms,"
entral
uropean
istory
,
2
(1968):
59,
60.
19.
Geary,
Radicalismnd he
Worker,"
70;
Kolb,
heWeimar
epublic,
5.
20.
Anweiler,
he
oviets,
05.
21.
Carsten,
evolution
n
Central
urope,
10,134;
Gordon
raig, ermany,
866-1945
Oxford:
Oxford
niversity
ress, 978), 05;Kolb,
heWeimar
epublic,
5.
22.
Anweiler,
he
oviets,
77-81.
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454
LOST OR
OBSCURED?
cilswere
uite
road,
o too
were
he
pproaches
hey
ook nd he
ategories
f
activitieshey ngagedn.Usuallyhosenbybroad-basedlections,hey ormu-
lated
tatements,
ngaged
n
debate nd
petitioning,
ent
elegations,
oordinated
protest,
articipated
n
revolution,
issolvedld bodies nd
constituted
ew
ones,
and
even
rganized
ulturalctivities.
How
could democratic
heory
eriously
eflect
n the
council
xperience?
How
might
enin,
chumpeter
ndArendt
avedone o?
t
s neither
matter
f
simplyxplaining
mute
mpiricalhenomenon,
or,
n
the
ther
and,
f et-
ting
he ouncils
peak
for
hemselves. hat s needed
s
to
askwhat heres
n
the
ouncils'
oals,
anguage,
nd
practice
hat an be theorized
ruitfully
rom
democraticerspective.r, oput tdifferently:articipantsn the ouncils aw
both heir eans nd
ends s democratic.heorists
ight
skwhat
nsights,
hat
directionsemocratic
heory
ould ake rom
dopting
similar
but ritical)
er-
spective
oward he
ouncils,
heir
ctions,
nd
their
esponses
o thedifficulties
they
aced.
It
s
best o
begin yputting
side
generalizations
hat annot e
supported
n
light
f
the
diversity
nd
complexity
f
the ouncil
henomenon-impositions
that an
get
n
the
way
f
more
lementarynderstanding
f he ouncil
he-
nomenon.Most
mportantly,
he ctual ouncils
f
history-some
f
theirnter-
preters
otwithstanding-never
onstitutedsort f
eparate
nd
homogenous
political
ystem,
r a
distinct
orm f
tate.
Ultimately,
he
reation
f
the oviet
state
ecessitated
crushing
f he ouncils
soviets),
ot heir
eplication.
nd
while
he
ouncils ften oordinatedheir
ctivities ith ach
other,
hey
lso
interacted
eadily
ith
many
ther
ypes
f
political
nd social
ntities,
howing
little
nclinationo
abolish r
replace
hemwholesale.
ertainly
his
s
the
mport
of
heresistancef
the ouncils
hemselves,
specially
n
Germany
nd
Austria,
to
the
dea of
forming
council tate.
And,
more
generally,
he ouncils
imply
never rrived
t
any
determinatend
explicit
nswer o the
questions
f
how
they
hemselveshouldbe
internallyrganized,
r
how
they
houldrelate o
other ntities.n the
whole, hen,
t
s
probably
ettero
understand
he oun-
cils
in
terms
f what
they
were
trying
o
accomplish,
nd
the
characteristic
methods
hey
ere
mploying
o
accomplish
t,
ather
han n
terms f
ny
kind
of
fixed
nstitutional
ormula.
While
t s
misleading,
hen,
ocall he
ctual,
istoricalouncils
"system,"
t
is
quite
lear
hat
hey
ere
part
f
collective
hallenge
o established
uthority
in
industry,
he
military,
nd
the
tate,
broad-based
ttempty
working-class
people
to
use democratic
ractices
o
wrest
t
least
ome control rom hose
authorities.
hecouncils
ere,
n
this
ense,
art
f
social
movement-in
act,
themovement'sharacteristicethod.
mphasizing
he ouncils'
movementri-
gins
alls ttentionotwo
f he
most asic
hallenges
hat
hey
aced:
rganizing
themselves
ffectively,
nd
then
egulating,uiding
r
ltering
ostwar
ocial
ela-
tions ndforces. nd t lso calls ttentionothe deas
nd
elf-understandings
f
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JohnMedearls
455
the
ouncils'
articipants
s
they
ndertookhese
hallenges.29
ocial
movements
arecollectivitieseekingobecome ffectivectors. heyeek, hats, odevelop
their
gency,
heir
bility
o
ntervene
n
ongoing
ocial
processes
nd
to
re-consti-
tute ocial elations.
n
ight
f he ouncils'
pecifically
emocratic
deology,
hen,
we
might
ee
the
ouncils
most
imply
s a
key
lement
f
popular ttempt
o
develop
pecifically
emocratic
gency.
But
what
haracterized
his
ttempt
t democratic
gency?
irst,
he ffort
o
transform
elected,
emocracy-refractory
ealms f he ocial
world.
hecouncil
movementet ts
ights
n
particular
nstitutionsnd
structures-industry,
he
armed
orces,
nd
the
bureaucratic
ld-regime
tates-that ere
ppressive
nd
hierarchical,
ndthat
ere,
elatedly,
perating
othe etrimentf he
majority
f
people
ffected
y
hem. hecouncils
ere, hen,
historically
pecific
esponse
to
problems osed
by
he
ocial
tructuresnd tendencieshat
merged
efore
and
during
heFirstWorldWar. hus
t
matters
uite
bit
where
he ouncils
were
established-that
s,
not
ust nywhere,
ut
n
particularppressive
nd
hierarchicalealms. he
movement, oreover,
ttempted
o transform
nd
to
gain
ome control ver
particular
nstitutionsnd
forces
y ntroducing
emo-
cratic
ractices.
n
any
heterogeneous
ocial
world,
n
which
ome sectors re
more
nd some ess
egalitarian,ree,
nd
open
to
popularnfluence,
emocratic
practices
lways
ave he
potential
o
transform.ouncil
articipantsttempted
to harness his
otential
y
establishing
ouncils
n
factories
nd barracks. nd
the
particular
hoice f nstitutional
argets,
t
hould e
noted,
lso
reflected
view
hat conomic ife hould e
brought
nder
emocratic
ontrol,
recisely
because industrial
roduction,
s it
existed,
ostered
ominationnd
socially
destructiveorces.
As
have
lready
ointed
ut,
t s
also
quite
mportant
hat he
ouncils
ener-
ally
ejected
he ormationf
pure
ounciltate.
Many
riticismsf ouncils ocus
ontheirupposed endencyo stifler bolish hebeneficialspects fparliamen-
tary olitics.
t s
to
his--or
ore
pecifically
o he
ollapsing
f
parliamentary
ol-
itics ntomere
dministration-that
. J.
Polan
efers hen
he contendshat
he
council ormtselfontains
certain
nadequacies
hich
will ubvert
ny
articular
[benign]
ntent."30
ut
hiss a criticismettereveled
t ome
f
he ouncils'nter-
preters
han
t
the
historicalouncils hemselves.
effrey
.
Isaac and Nicos
Poulantzasre learerhan olan hat he
roblem
s
not
necessarily
ome
ntrinsic
29.
The
preceding
entenceseferothe
evelopment
f
ocialmovement
heory
oward
synthetic
approach
xamining
esource
obilization,
olitical
pportunities,
nd
deological
rames.nthis evel-
opment,
ee
Doug
McAdam,
ohn .
McCarthy
nd
Mayer
.
Zald,
Introduction:
pportunities,
obilizing
Structures,
nd
Framing
rocesses-Toward
Synthetic,
omparative
erspective
n
Social
Movements",
in
Comparativeerspectives
nSocial
Movements:
olitical
pportunities,
obilizing
tructures,
ndCul-
tural
ramings,
d.
D.
McAdam,
.
.
McCarthy
ndM.N.Zald
Cambridge,ngland:
ambridge
niversity
Press,
996).
30.
A.
J.
olan,
enin nd he nd f olitics
London:
ethuen,984), 9,
65.
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456 LOST OR
OBSCURED?
destructive
eature
f
councils
hemselves,
ut
ttempts
o abolish
arliamentary
bodies nd he oliticalightsheyrefoundedn.3'
The
councils'
cceptance
f
parliamentaryemocracy
s
arguably
ied oth o
the
oppositional
nd
for
ack
f
a
better
erm)
oliticalspects
f
the
ouncils'
practice.
aking
hese n
turn: hecouncilswere
oppositional.
hatever
opes
some heorists
ay
have
had
for
ull ouncil
overeignty--and
hatever
ouncils
might
ave
one,
had
they
prouted
n a
socialworldwith o
pre-existing
ower
relations-whathe
historicalouncils
ctually
idwas
set hemselves
p
n
oppo-
sitiono
dominationnd o
xisting
ocial endencies
un
mok.
or
he
movement,
councils ere
ignificant
n
themselves-for
he
particular
ractices
onstituting
themnternally-butlsofor heirlace n nd ffectn a broader etworkf nsti-
tutionsf
which
hey
ere
part.
n
Austria,
he
ouncils
eveloped
politics
f
opposition
nd
nterplay
etween
ifferently
onstituted
nstitutions,
ncluding
ar-
liament.32
n
Russia,
he
factory
ouncils
oexisted nd
competed
ith
rades
unions ndeven
ontinued
rivate
anagement,
n
many
ases.33
Relatedly,
he ouncils ere
n
certain
ense
olitical
rgans.
ow,
political"
s
a
dangerous
ord
o
use
n
an
essay
ealing
ith
rendt-butt
s,
qually,
very
important
netouse
n
ne
dealing
ith enin.usethe
word erewithout
ny
re-
tension
f
apturing
he essence" f
politics,
r
any
mplication
hatwhat s eco-
nomic r ocial annot lso be
political.
n factoriess much s in
neighborhoods,
councilscted
olitically
hen
hey
ook
ctive
art
n
onflictver ourses
f
ction,
engaged
n
debate,
rafted
tatements,
etitioned,
nd
riticized,
oth
nternally
nd
in
relationoother
roups.
hat
hey
id hiswe
know,
n
part,
rom enin
imself,
who ccused he ctual istorical
ouncils
f
becomingtalking
hops,"
n
which,
s
he
put
t
lsewhere
more
ympathetically),
public
eeting
emocracy"'
as
exhib-
ited,
turbulent"nd
surging."34
lthough,
ollowing
he
ollapse
f ld
regime
nsti-
tutions,
he ouncilsook
p
tasks hat adbeen
arried
ut
by
bureaucracies,
here
is ittle
vidence
hat
hey
aw themselves
s
simplyarrying
utfixed
ules.
n
this
sense,
rendt'snsistence
hat he ouncils oth reated
space
for
ebate s well s
a
mechanism
or
eveloping
nd
xercising
ollective
ower
eems
ight.
ut s John
F.
Sitton
oints
ut,
he ouncilsonsideredconomic
nd
ocial
uestions
o
be as
ripe
or
uch reatments those hat rendt
esignated
political."35
31.
Jeffrey
.
saac,
Arendt,
amus,
nd Modern ebellion
New
Haven ndLondon:
ale
University
Press,
992),
45.
Nicos
oulantzas,
The
tate nd theTransitiono
Socialism,"
ocialist eview
,
2
(March-April
978):
0.
32.
Bauer,
ustrian
evolution,
70-71.
33. Carmenirianni, orkersontrolnd Socialist emocracy:heSoviet xperienceLondon:
Verso, 982), 5, 6, 4,
3-62.
34.
Lenin,
Can he olsheviksetaintate ower?"
n
VI.
Lenin,
elected
Works,
ne-Volume
dition
(New
York:
nternational
ublishers,1917] 971),
00.
Lenin,
The
mmediate
asks f
he
oviet
overn-
ment,"
n
VI.
Lenin,
elected
Works,
27.
35.
John
Sitton,
Hannah rendt's
rgument
or ouncil
emocracy,"
n
Hannah
rendt:ritical
Essays,
d.,
Lewis
.
Hinchmannd andra
.
Hinchman
Albany:
UNY
ress,
994)
21-24. f
ourse,
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JohnMedearls
457
II. Lenin
Itwould eem here
ould e littleo
ay
bout
enin nddemocratic
hought.
But he
arly
evelopment
f he oviettate nvolveddrastic
econfiguring
f he
democratic
mpulses
f he
Russianouncils
soviets).
nd
lthough
t s
tempting
o
view enin's
teering
f his
rocess
s
merely
xpedient
nd actical-even
nprin-
cipled-in
act
treflectedenin's
elatively
onsistent
nderlying
eliefsbout ow
collective
gency
ould
e
promoted
nd
directed.36he onversionf
heRussian
sovietsf1917
nto
ccessories
f uthoritariantate
ower
as
nno mall
art
ue
to
key
eatures
fLenin's
hought:specially
is
onceptions
f
heory
nd
cience,
the ole f he arty,nd, elatedly,is estrictiveiew f he tate.
Prioro
1914,
enin ad hownittleheoreticalnterest
n
oviets,37
lthoughey
elements
f
his
hinking
lready
ndicated
ow he
might
reat hem.
n
1905,
e
regarded
he ouncils s
revolutionaryighting
rganizations,
utnot
s
perma-
nently
seful. e attended
eetings
f
he
Petrograd
oviet hat
ear,
ut
seldom
spoke," ccording
oRobertervice.38
y
1917 nd
1918,
owever,
he oviets
ere
integral
o his
hought.
nd
n
this
eriod,
enin's
hinking
bout he
oviets ent
through
everal
hases.
arly
n
1917,
s
the oviet
movement
pread
hroughout
Russia
nthewakeof heTsar's
bdication,
enin
nd
the
Bolsheviks
opularized
the amous
logan,
All
ower
othe oviets"-even
hough
he ovietshemselves
originally
ade
no
such
demand. he reasonwas
fairly
imple:
he
oviets,
ith
their
redominantly
orking-class
embership,
ouldbecome vehicle
or
lass
dictatorship,
f
nly
heBolsheviksould
gain
ontrol
f
hem.39
All
ower
o the
soviets" as atfirstittle ore
han
response
o he
evolutionarytruggle
or
osi-
tion
among
different
ocialist nd non-socialist
arties.
ut Lenin
developed
throughout
917 he
ruly
ovel
dea
hat
ovietsould
orm
he asis
f
newkind
of
tate
ower.
e
abandonedhis
ew
formula
nly
riefly
uring
he
ummer
f
1917,
n
response
o
a setback
or
heBolsheviks.40ut
s
the ituation
hanged
again,
he
logan
f All
ower
othe oviets"oon
reappeared.
The
new
position
s
best
aptured
n
The
State nd
Revolution:
heMarxist
Theory
f he tate ndtheTasks f he roletariatn
he
Revolution,
ritten
hile
Lenin as
n
hiding
n
he ate ummernd
arly
all f
1917,
nd
Can
heBolshe-
one should
e
wary
f
eeming
o
ttributeothe ouncils
consciousness
f
Arendtian
erminology
nd
distinctions.
36.
Polan ndNeil
Harding
rgue imilarly,hough
n
different
rounds,
hat he
ltimate
ormf
he
Soviet
tate
an
be traced ot
merely
o
expediency
r
to
misappropriation
f
Leninist
deas,
ut ocore
conceptionsnLenin'swnwritings,speciallyhe tate ndRevolution.ee:Polan,nd fPolitics,7-
88, 129;
Neil
Harding,
eninism
Durham:
uke
University
ress,
996),
50-51.
37.
Polan,
nd f
olitics,
51-52.
38.
This eticence
ay
n
part
ave eendue
to
partyressures.
ee
Robert
ervice,
enin: Political
Life,
ol.
,
The
trengths
f
Contradiction
Bloomington:
ndiana
niversity
ress,
985).
39.
Anweiler,
he
oviets,
12-13.
40.
Anweiler,
he
oviets,
69.
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8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
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458
LOST
OR
OBSCURED?
viks
etaintate
ower?"
ritten
n
he
all
f
he ame
year.
While
t
times enin's
languagencorporatedadical-democratichraseology,nreality,e envisionedhe
councils
ere ot
s free emocratic
orums,
ut
s mechanisms
or
nvolving
he
entire
orking
lass
n
the oercive
ork f
he tate-in
ffect,
hemeans
f
re-
ating
kind
f
universaldministration.41he
background
o this
iew
f
he ovi-
etswas the
heory
f
tate
ower
enin
ormulated,
ased
n
a
reading
f
Marx
nd
Engels.42
enin
rgued
amously
hat
tates rose ut
f
rreconcilablelass onflict.
A
state as
nothing
ut
mechanism
f
orce sed
by
neclass
gainst
nother,
e
said,
ts eal
meaning
o
be foundn ts
rgans
f
orce
nd
ommand,
specially
ts
bureaucracy,olice,
nd
army.
arliaments,
y
contrast,
ere mere
"talking
shops"-distractionsromhe eal ctivitiesf he tate.43iven hese ealities,he
proletariat
ouldhave o use state
ower gainst
he
ourgeoisie
ust
s
the
our-
geoisie
ad
used
t
gainst
hem.44
ut
he
roletariat
ould
not
imply
ake ver he
state reated
y
he
bourgeoisie.
atherhe
proletariat
adto "smash" hat
tate,
andmake
ts wn.45
his
s
the
ask enin
onceived
or
he oviets.
To
understandetter hat
ind
frole
or
he ovietshis
eally
as,however,
t
isworth
tepping
ack
nd
xamining
he lementsf
theory
f
ollective
gency
that
merged
n
Lenin's
writings,
nd
which lashed
ignificantly
ith
he
elf-
understanding
nd
practice
f
he
oviets. s
far
ack s What s to be
Done?,
he
kind f ollective
gency
hat eninnvisionedasthatf class ed
by
theoret-
ically
r
cientifically
nformed
anguard.
or
enin
osited
n
unusually
harp
is-
tinctionetweenhekind
f
theory"ecessary
o
guide
successfulevolution-
which ould
nly
e
developed
y
consciously-organizedanguard-and
he
ype
of
onsciousnessf
problems
ndtacticshat ouldbe achieved
hrough
he
elf-
educationnd
organization
f the masses.The
role
of the
party anguard,
e
argued,
as ike hat
f
ngineers
r rchitects
uidingbricklayers"
ho
lay
ricks
in
various
arts
f
n
enormous,
nprecedentedlyarge
tructure":
hey
use line
to
help
hem ind he orrect
lace
for
he
bricklaying;
o
ndicate
o
them he lti-
mate
oal
of he ommon
ork;
o
enable
hem o
use,
not
nly
very
rick,
ut
even
very
iece
f
brick."46
nsofar
s this ision
mbracedhe
aboring
asses,
t
embracedhem s
carrying
ut
plan
devised
argely
y
others. hus
ollective
agency,
s Lenin nvisioned
t,
n no
way
nvolved
heformulationf
goals
nd
strategies
y
hemass
ollectivity
hose ctions ere obe
organized.
hedivision
41.
Polan,
rawing
n
Weber,
domo
nd
Marcuse,
ritesf
totaldministration."ee End f
Poli-
tics,
17.
42.
That
t
wasa tendentious
eading
s
ertainly
rue,
ut hissnot he
lace
or
critiquelong
hese
lines.
43.
Lenin,
The
tate
ndRevolution:he
Marxist
heory
f he tate nd he
asks
f he
roletariat
in
he
Revolution,"
n
VI.
Lenin,
elected
Works,
96.
44.
Lenin,
Statend
Revolution,"
81.
45.
Lenin,
State
nd
Revolution,"
82,
89.
46.
Lenin,
Whats to be
Done?
Burning
uestions
fOur
Movement"
n The enin
nthology,
d.
Robert.
Tucker
New
York:
orton,
975),
01.
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8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
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JohnMedearls 459
of
the
ollectivity
nto
participatory,
ut
ntellectually
assive
roup,
nd a van-
guard,enin efendedntermsf heory,xpertise,nd a kind f nstrumentalist
vision
f ocial
cience.
He
could
not
magine revolutionary
ractice
asedon
anything
ess
han the
most
dvanced
heory,"47
practiceuided y
clear ense
of
he
elationship
f hemost ocal
f
rganizing
ssues o nternational
rade nd
nationalariff
olicy48-and
specially
the
bility
o estimate
orrectly
he
general
political
ituation
nd,
onsequently,
he
bility
o elect he
roper
momentor n
uprising."49
uch
knowledge,
uch bilities erenot o
be
sought
n hemasses-
but
nly
n
"few
ersons."50
This s not o
ay
hat
enin
nvisioned
completely
assive,
r
upine,
orking
class.Hedidnot.Moreover,e often ent ut fhis
way
odescribehe ollective
agency
f he
roletarian
asses
nd
vanguardogether
n
benign
erms
hatnno
way
hintedt
compulsion.
ut hesemodels
r
metaphors
f
ollective
gency
re
telling
or he
waythey
epresent,
n
different
ays, collectivity
hat cted
n
a
highly
oordinated
ay,
utmost
fwhose
members
idnot hink
or
hemselves.
Lenin ould
magine
n
alternative
othe irst
ricklayer
cenario
n
What s
to
Be
Done?,
ut
t nvolvedot ommon
ecision-makingy
he
workersr
group
on-
siderationf heir
oals,
ut athersituation
n
which
hey
ad
imply
nternalized
enoughredetermined
kill
o
ay
ricks
exactly
s
required"
ithout
sing
line.51
Years
ater,
nState nd
Revolution,
eninmbraced
ouncils,
utforesawn
them otmechanisms
or
eveloping
lans
f ction
r
rules
f
onduct
hrough
wide-open
iscussion
nd
debate,
ut
atherhe
asis
or
society
o inculcated
n
certain alues
nd
forms
f
behaviorhat twould eal
with
tsmain
roblems-
"the
violationf the rules f social ntercourse"-"as
eadily
s
any
crowd f
civilised
eople,
ven
n
modern
ociety,
nterferes
o
put stop
oa scuffle
r to
prevent
woman rom
eing
ssaulted."52
hen enin
egan
more
penly
owrite
of"subordination"
s a
part
fhis
onception
f
ollective
gency,
e
still
rgued
that nder ideal
iscipline
nd
lass-consciousness,"
he
kind f ubordinatione
meant would e
something
ike hemild
eadership
f conductorf n
orches-
tra."53
he
mage
s a mild ne
ndeed, ut,
iewed
romhe
tandpoint
fdemoc-
racy,
enin voided
mportant
uestions.
ho,
we
might
sk,
wrote ndwho hose
the
music?Who
rganized
he
rchestra,
nd
decided
hen twould
lay
nd
prac-
tice?
nder hat
uress
id t
cquire
ts ideal
iscipline?"
Lenin hus
nvisioned
he
working
lass
participatingctively,
oordinating
ts
actions
armoniously,
nd,
n a
sense,
rowing
n
power-but
oing
hese
hings
47.
Lenin,
Whats tobe Done?" 0.
48.
Lenin,
Whats
to
be Done?"
0.
49.
Lenin,
Whats tobe
Done?"
11.
50.
Lenin,
Whats tobe Done?"
0.
51
Lenin,
Whats tobe Done?" 02.
52.
Lenin,
State
nd
Revolution,"
57.
53.
Lenin,
The
mmediateasks
f he
oviet
overnment,"
25.
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8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/medearis-john-lost-or-obscured-how-lenin-schumpeter-and-hannah-arendt-misanderstood 15/31
460 LOST OR OBSCURED?
according
orules nd
goals
hat
ere
ot
eally
f
ts
wn
making.
ut mass
ody
engagednhighlyoordinateddministrativeork--carryingutroutineroce-
dures,
ulfilling
irectives,
ssuing
anctions,
ccording
orules ecided
y
thers-
would eem
o
be
nothing
ther
han
universaldministration.enin nvisioned
the
rmy
nd
police easing
o be
comprised
f
pecial
odies,
ureaucratic
unc-
tions
f
tate
nd
ndustryeing
aken
n
by
he
eople
s
a whole:
then orkers'
controlan become he
ountry-wide,
ll-embracing,mnipresent,
ost
recise
and
most onscientious
ccounting
f
he
roduction
nddistribution
f
goods."-4
Neil
Harding
inks
enin's
ll-encompassing
ision f
soviettate o
his
con-
tempt"
or
olitics,
nd
Polan,
imilarly,
oLenin's
esire
o
eradicate"
olitics.55
s
earlys 1904, enin ad rguedhat evolutionaryracticeadto bebasedon a
precise
heoretical
nowledge
hat ould
nly
e
marred
y
nterference
romrdi-
nary
members
f he
working
lass.
With he
oming
f
revolution,
enin
rgued,
again,
hat
here ere
ndisputable
cientific
nswers-answersrom
engineers
and
agronomists"-to
uestions
f resource
llocation,
conomic
lanning,
nd
the ike.56s
Rosa
Luxemburg
stutely
oted
n
1919,
The acit
ssumption
nder-
lying
he
enin-Trotskyheory
f
dictatorship
sthis: hat
he
ocialistransformation
is
something
orwhich
ready-made
ormulaies
ompleted
n the
f he
revolutionaryarty,
hich
eeds
nly
obe
carriedut
nergetically
n
practice."57
Leninould
nly
nderstand
oliticalisagreement
bout uchmatterssresultsf
ignorance
r
"bourgeois
lass
remnants,"
ccording
oPolan.58
But
his ision f Soviettate ad ittleodo with
ow
he
oviets,
t east
rigi-
nally,
aw
themselves.enin's
metaphors
nd
plans
or
hatwas
really
o be a uni-
versaldministrative
ody
onvey
ew
f he
mportant
lementsf he ouncilmove-
ment's
ttempt
t
creating
emocratic
gency.
hat
enin as uninterested
n
how
the oviets
rose nd
rganized
hemselvess lear. For sthe oviets ave
o
mpor-
tance s a
form,"
e
wrote
n
letter;
what e care bout
s
which lasses he ovi-
ets
represent."59
enin ouldwrite
ismissively
onths
ater f he
esire o "trans-
formhemembersf he ovietsnto
parliamentarians'."60
hiswas not he
goal.
"Our
im stodraw hewhole
f he
oor
nto he
ractical
ork f
dministration."'6
The
underlying
onceptions
f ollective
gency,
f
cience
nd
heory,
nd f he
state ould emain
s Lenin
aced he
ost-1917
ra,
nwhich
e
promoted
he
up-
54.
Lenin,
Can he
olsheviksetain
tate
ower?"
n
VL
Lenin,
elected
Works,
75.And ee:
Lenin,
"Statend
Revolution,"
29.
55.
Harding,
eninism,
53;
olan,
nd
f
Politics,
7,
175.
56. Harding,eninism,68.
57.
Rosa
Luxemburg,
The
Russian
evolution,"
n
Rosa
Luxemburg
peaks,
d.
Mary-Alice
aters
(New
York:
athfinder,970),
90.
58.
Polan,
nd
f
olitics,
7.
59.
Quoted
n
Anweiler,
he
oviets,
65.
60.
Lenin,
Immediate
asks,"
28.
61.
Lenin,
Immediate
asks,"
28.
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8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
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JohnMedearls 461
pression
f he
ouncilsnd
their
ncorporation
nto he
tate tructure.s
he
faced
dire conomic roblemss chairmanftheCouncil fPeople's ommissars,e
simply
ecamemore onvincedf
he
need
for
ndividualictatorial
eadership-a
view
hat
merged
ully
n
The
mmediate
asks
f
he oviet overnment."There
is
...
absolutely
o contradiction
n
principle
etween oviet
that
s, socialist)
democracy
nd the
exercise
f
dictatorial
owers y
ndividuals,"
enin
rgued
there.62
he
oviet
tate'smain
roblems
ow,
fterhe
reaty
f
Brest-Litovsk,
ere
not xternalut
eeply
nternal:
mprovingccounting,aining
he
upport
f
ngi-
neers,
aisingroductivity,
estoring
abor
iscipline.
Large-scale
achine
ndustry,"
he now
rgued,
calls or bsolute
nity
f
will,
which
irects
he
oint
abours f
hundreds,housands,ndtens f housandsf
people...But
ow anstrict
nity
f
will
e ensured?
y
housands
ubordinating
heir ill othewill f
ne."63
Given
his
iew f
he ole f
ouncils,
t
was
necessary
or enin o
ctuallyup-
press
heir
riginal
nclinations.
nd,
ndirectly,
e
acknowledged
his
ension.The
airing
f
questions
t
publicmeetings
s
the
genuine
emocracy
f
the
working
people,
heir
ay
f
unbending
heir
acks,
heir
wakening
o new
ife,
heirirst
steps long
he oad
which
hey
hemselvesave leared f
vipers
.. andwhich
they
ant
o earn o build
hemselves,
n
their wn
way,
or
hemselves,
n the
principles
f
heir
wn
oviet"
enin
rote."
ut
arringly,
e
added hat his
hasewas
necessary,
in
order o
make
ossible
he urableransition
o
uperior
orms
f abour is-
cipline,
othe
onscious
ppreciation
f he
necessity
or he
ictatorship
f he
proletariat,
o
unquestioning
bedienceo he
rdersf ndividual
epresentatives
of
he oviet
overnment
uring
he
work...We ust
earn o
ombine
he
public
meeting'
emocracy
f he
workingeople-turbulent,
urging,
verflowing
ts
banks ike
spring
lood-with
ron
iscipline
t
work,
ith
nquestioning
be-
dience othe
will
f
single erson,
he
ovieteader, hiletwork.65
This
rocess
f
combining"
he
riginal
ethodsnd
nclinationsf he
oviets
with
artyictatorship
ould e
a harsh ne.
Luxemburg
ould
ee the
heoretical
tensions
uilding
oward
pen
battle:
Lenin
nd
Trotsky
ave
aiddown
he ovietss the
nly
rue
epresentation
f
the
aboring
asses.Butwith
he
repression
f
political
ife
n
the and s a
whole,
ife
n
the oviets
must lso
become
more
nd
more
rippled.
ithout
generallections,ithoutnrestrictedreedomfpress nd ssembly,ithout
62.
Lenin,
Immediate
asks,"
24.
63.
Lenin,
Immediate
asks,"
24.
64.
Lenin,
Immediate
asks,"
26.
65.
Lenin,
Immediate
asks,"
26-27.
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Sun, 8 Feb 2015 14:13:42 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/medearis-john-lost-or-obscured-how-lenin-schumpeter-and-hannah-arendt-misanderstood 17/31
462 LOST OR
OBSCURED?
a free
truggle
f
opinion,
ife iesout
n
every ublic
nstitution,
ecomes
mereemblancef ife,nwhichnlyhe ureaucracyemainss the ctive le-
ment.
...
[S]uch
onditions ust
nevitably
ause
a
brutalization
f
public
ife:
attempted
ssassinations,
hooting
f
hostages,
tc.66
Practically,
he ulmination
f
he
fforto
uppress
he
ouncils as
reached
n
he
crushing
f the
Kronstadt
nsurrection
n
1921.
Widespread
issatisfaction
ith
bureaucratization
nd
party
ictatorship
ormed
he
asis
f he
movement,
hich
began
with
trikes,
emanding
hat ontrolver
roduction
e
wrested romhe
state nd be
given
o
democraticallyrganized
orkers.
ut
he
rebellionoon
spread o themilitary,ndsimultaneouslyecamemore oliticized,rendsum-
marized
n
he ailorstKronstadt
ssuing
heir
emand or ree ew lectionso he
soviets.67
n he
nsuing ilitary
esponse y
he
Bolsheviks,
undredsf heKron-
stadters ere hot.68enin's
istorted
eading
f
he ouncils
ecame,
ventually,
the
asisfor
campaign
o
uppress
hem.
III.
Schumpeter
Given henature f
Schumpeter's
nfluencen
democratic
hought
nd the
extent fhisassociation ithmainstreamheoriesfliberal
emocracy,69
t s
remarkableo
realize
ow
much
he was
influenced
y
the
debate ver ouncil
democracy
t the
end
of the
FirstWorld
War. t s
quite
lear hat
chumpeter
responded
o his
ebate,
specially
he ontributions
f
Bauer,
long-time
cquain-
tance
nd
briefly
fellow
abinet-member,
nd
Lenin,
ome
ofwhose
writings
Schumpeter
ad
clearly
ead
n
the ate 1910s nd
early
920s.
chumpeter
as
deeply
nvolvedtthe nd f he irst orldWar
n
hekinds
f
uestions
hat ni-
mated
he
debate
ver ouncils. s
young
ustrian
conomics
rofessor,
e had
begun
o
emerge
rom
cademiceclusionate
n
hewar
n
orderowrite series
of
memos nd etters
irculated
mong
membersf he
igh
ristocracy,
ounseling
them
n
political
atters.
arly
n
1919,
e was invitedo
oin
heGermanocial-
ization
ommission,
hich,
nderhe
ressure
f
he ouncil
movement,
as con-
sideringays
f
ocializing
he oal
ndustry.
oon,
e
was
nvitedack
oAustriao
serve
s
finance inister
n
coalition
overnment
n
which
he
DP had
slight
advantage
n
strength.
auer
was
foreign
inister
n
that abinet.
uring
chum-
66.
Luxemburg,
Russian
evolution,"
91.
67.Anweiler,he oviets,47, 48, 50.
68.
Anweiler,
he
oviets,
48.
69.
By
liberal
emocracy"
mean
ere
epresentativeemocracy
xtended
nly
s
far
s
may
e
con-
sistent
ith
ontemporary
orporate-centeredapitalism.
have ome
misgivings
bout he
erm-first,
because f he
ossibility
f
coherent
iberal
ritique
f
apitalism,
nd
econd,
ecause iberal
emoc-
racy
ould
lso
imply
ean
emocracy
hats
based ncrucial
olitical
nd
ivil
ights.
ut believeam
using
he erms
many
thersse t.
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464 LOST OR
OBSCURED?
he discussed
broad
rray
f
problems
t the ntersection
f
nationalism
nd
eco-
nomic olicy,ut he ariousopics ereheld ogethery hreeentralhemes.he
first as
the
need
o
protect
he
multi-national
absburg
mpire-the
econd,
he
role
hat
n
aristocratic
arty
ould
play
n
this ask.
he
hird,
verarching,
heme
was
the
ossibility
hat
uch
party
ould
work
within
ormally
emocratic
nstitu-
tions,
ut ounter
hemore
angerous
emocratic
rends
twork
n
Austria-Hun-
gary.
hese
writings
ontain
he
arliest
ersionf
Schumpeter's
ell-known
lite
theory
f
democracy.
In
ome
ways,
he
precise
ature
f he
hreathat
chumpetererceived
rom
democracy
as
not
ully
rticulated
n hese
ery arly
ritings.
t
tands ut
learly,
however,n chumpeter's920-21ssay,The ocialistossibilitiesfToday""Die
sozialistische
6glichkeiten
on
Heute"],
hich urned
quarely
o
onfronthe
his-
torical
roblem
f
he
ouncils.
hemain heme f he
ssay,
oncerning
ocialism
and the ole
f
the
ouncils-as
well s
the
ssay's
eliberateocus
n the
prob-
lems fdemocratic
ocialism-seem
artly
erived
rom auer's nfluence.
chum-
peter
rgued,
ike
auer,
hat he ransition
o socialism-conceived
s a
political
and
possibly
evolutionary
ct--could
ot be
achieved ntil
thorough
ocial
restructuring,
ith he
ouncilmovement
s
its
hief
lement,
ad
already
aken
place.
The ouncil
ystem
nd socialization
elong ogether,
nd
tend o realize
themselves
eciprocally
nd
roughly
t the ametime," e
said.73
f he ouncil
movement
as
"sufficiently
ide,"
e
rgued,
then
t,
nd
t
lone,
an
ccomplish
full ocialization
n a
single
ct
througheneral
trike."74
nd ikeBauer
gain,
Schumpeter
learly
aw
the
ouncil
movements
an
attempt
o democratize
he
economy.
hus
chumpeter
rgued
hat here as
an
analogy
etween
hehistori-
cal
process
f
political
emocratization
nd
he
rocess
y
which he ouncil
move-
ment
ould ndhaddone
ts
work.75
oreover,
n n
apparent
cknowledgment
f
the
self-understanding
f Bauer
nd
the
Austrian
ocial
Democratic
arty
s
a
whole, chumpeter
nsisted
n
focusing
n democratic
ocialism-setting
side he
possibility
f uthoritarian
ocialisttates.
[H]ere
we want
nly
o
peak
fdemo-
cratic
ocialism,
he ocialism
f
workers'
arty,"
chumpeter
rote;
only
tmeans
a
newform f
ociety."76
n
contrast
o democratic
ocialism,
chumpeterlearly
sawthe
olshevik
ath,
s dictated
y
he nwise
ttempt
orealizeocialism
nder
conditions
hat
erenot
ipe.77
nd
his,oo,
was a
theme
e
shared
ith
auer.
Of
ourse,
one
f his ndicates
hat
chumpeter
as
a socialist
r
ympathetic
to
the ouncils.
chumpetererely
elieved,
egretfully,
hat auer's ssessment
f
73.Josephchumpeter,DieSozialistische6glichkeitenonHeute,"rchivuirozialwissenschaft
und
ozialpolitik
8
1920-1): 24;
my
ranslation.
74.
Schumpeter,
Miglichkeiten,"
38;
my
ranslation.
75.
Schumpeter,
Miglichkeiten,"
37.
76.
Schumpeter,
M6glichkeiten,"
10;
my
ranslation.
77.
Schumpeter,
Miglichkeiten,"
26-27,
38;
chumpeter,
The
risis
f
he ax
tate,"
n
The
conom-
ics
nd
ociology
f
Capitalism,
d.
R.
wedberg
Princeton:
rinceton
niversity
ress,19181
991),
30.
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John
Medearls465
thenaturend ransformative
ignificance
f
he
ouncil
movement
ascorrect.et
evennthis ssay,chumpeter'siew fdemocracyas characterizedy bvious
tensions.
or here ere
lso
elementsfLenin's
houghtervading
is
rgument.
Themost
mportant
arkersf his nfluenceere
pointed
laims
bout he
need
for trict orker
iscipline
n
ocialist
ocieties.
hese
ommentsre omewhatif-
ficultoreconcile ith he
anguage
eused o
describe
conomic
emocracy
s the
councils
nvisionedt.But
he ource
f
he
dea s
clear.
arly
n
he
ssay,
chum-
peter rgued:
In
order
o
have uccesswith
ocialization,
n
iron
iscipline
nd
never-before-experienced
oughness
ouldhave o be
imposed
n the
working
masses."78
ater,
e
referred
gain
o this
iew,
ontending
hat
n
socialism,
the
unopposed
ubordinationf he f hemasses othewill f he eadern hework
process"
ould e
absolutely
ecessary-and
ere
ecited s his
uthority
enin's
essay,
The
mmediateasks
f
he oviet overnment."t eems
uite ikely
hatt
was
Lenin's ame
1918
ssay
hat
chumpeter
ad
n
mind n
contending
hat he
Bolshevik
eader nderstood
orrectly
ne of
yndicalism's
aults:he ailureo rec-
ognize
he
mportance
f he ivisionf abor nd
omplex
orkmethods."
Schumpeter
lso
hared
ith enin
n
his
ssay
radical
kepticism
oward
ar-
liamentaryemocracy,
nd
a
tendency
o
cast
parliamentaryemocracy
nd
the
council
ystem
s
mutually
xclusive
ptions.
he
council
ystem,
n
his
view,
would
completelyisplace
arliamentaryemocracy.
f
course,
chumpeter's
explanation
or hemoribundtate
f
parliamentary
nstitutionsn
contemporary
liberalocieties as his wn.80 ut
chumpeter's
iting
hetoric
bout he ham f
parliamentary
ebate
icked p
on
Lenin's
wn
referenceso
"talking
hops," er-
haps
even
ntensifying
t.
Actually
he ndividual ember as
nothing
o
say
but
whathas been
prescribed
o
him,
ecause he
parliament
ound
mposed
pon
t
certain
asks
long
with
heir olutions-so
hat he
verage
member
ery
oon
came
o
the
oint
hat
he
peeches
n
bills--or
ven
heir
eports-were
uperflu-
ous
bother
nd
that ne
only
would isteno
speeches,
f
pplause
r
ndignation
had
been
commanded."8'
arliamentas
a mere
ppendage
f
the tate nstitu-
tions hat
ctually
ielded
ower,
e
argued.
his
anguage
mirroredenin's iew
of
parliamentaryemocracy-andgain, chumpeter
pprovingly
itedLenin's
cynicism
bout
arliamentary
emocracy
n
upport
fhis
wn.82
The
outline f
Schumpeter's
lite
onception
f
democracy,
s
it
emerged
decades ater
n
Capitalism,
ocialism nd
Democracy,
s so well known hat
t
needs
nly
briefestatement
ere.
emocracy,
chumpeter
ow
ontended,
as
just
"method"r n
"institutional
rrangement
or
rriving
t
political
ecisions
n
78.
Schumpeter,
dglichkeiten,
08;
my
ranslation.
79.
Schumpeter,
MOglichkeiten,"
42.
80.
Schumpeter,
M6glichkeiten,"
24-27.
81.
Schumpeter,
M6glichkeiten,"
28;
my
ranslation.
82.
Schumpeter,
Miglichkeiten,"
27-28.
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466 LOST OR OBSCURED?
which ndividuals
cquire
he
power
o
decide
y
means
f
competitivetruggle
for he eople's ote."3Thisroceduralefinitionfdemocracyasmeant,mong
other
hings,
o exclude oth
ubstantive
nd normative
onceptualizations
f
democracy.
urther,
twas
meant
o
put mphasis
n
the
truggle
f lites. he
driv-
ing
orce
n
democracy,
ccording
o this
iew,
as
not
he
people,
heir
deas r
their
ower;
t
was
elite
ompetition.
In
rder ounderstand
ow
democratic
ol-
itics erve his ocial
nd
legislation],
e
must
tart
romhe
ompetitivetruggle
for
ower
ndofficend
realize hat
he
ocial unction
of
emocracy]
s
fulfilled,
as
it
were,
ncidentally.""84
he
primaryustification
or hismodelwas
Schumpeter's
contention
hat
hemasseswerenot
up
to
any reater
ole
n
directingolitics-
they ere incapablef ction therhan stampede."85nthisonception,hen,
democracy
as not he ule f he
people
ut the ule f he
olitician."86
This
ater lite
onception
f
democracy
as
founded
pon
newly
rticulated
elite
heory
f ollective
gency-and
new
trategy
or
ealing
ith he hreate
perceived
rom
emocratizing
ocial endencies.t s this lite
heory
fcollective
agency
hat levated
chumpeter's
laims
bout
emocracy
n
his1942
ook
nto
general
heory
f
democracy.
his
heory
as
mainly
dvanced
egatively,
s
an
attack
n
what
chumpeter
alled he classical octrine
f
democracy"--or
he
"classical octrine
f ollective
ction."87
thad
three
nterrelated
arts,
onnected
polemicsgainst
he
onceptions
f he ommon
ood,
common ill,nd ndi-
vidual
ill.
chumpeter
eld hat he classical"
onception
f
democracy
r ollec-
tive ction as
premised
nthe dea hat here as
a
unique,
etaphysical
ommon
good
hat as
not
ependent
pon
ndnot ffected
y
mpirical
ebate
rdiffer-
ences
f
pinion.88imilarly
econtendedhato-calledlassical
onceptions
f ol-
lective
gency
ested
pon
he dea hat he ommon r
general
ill,
kind f semi-
mystic
ntity"
ould
naturally
e drawn o this
ommon
ood.89 gainst
hese
claims,
chumpeter
ontendedhat
herexisted
n
he
olitical
ealm
othing
ore
than chaotic
lux f
differingpinions
ndvalues
hat cannot e reconciled
yrational
rgument"
r
"logic,"
nd that
compromise
ould
only
maimand
degrade";
ny
echnique
or
umming
hese
p
would ack
not
nly
ational
nity
but lso rational
anction."90
chumpeter
lso contended
hat lassical heoriesf
collectivection ested
pon
nvalid
ssumptions
bout ndividualction-the
dea
that
he will f he ndividual"as
characterized
y independence
nd
rational
83.
Schumpeter,
apitalism,
ocialismnd
Democracy,
rd d.
New
ork:
arper
orchbooks
1942]
1976),
69.
84. Schumpeter,apitalism,82.
85.
Schumpeter,
apitalism,
83.
86.
Schumpeter,apitalism,
85.
87.
Schumpeter,apitalism,
65.
88.
Schumpeter,apitalism,
50-52.
89.
Schumpeter,
apitalism,
52,
50-52.
90.
Schumpeter,apitalism,
51,
53.
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468 LOST
OR
OBSCURED?
Lenin nd
Schumpeter
efore
er,
as
blindedo
omeof he
ouncils'most
ig-
nificanteaturesythephilosophicalrameworkheconstructed.ndeed,he
must
urely
ake omeof he
blame
for hefact hatwhen
ontemporaryoliti-
cal theoristsrite bout he
ouncils-which
hey
o almost
xclusively
n
the
course f
writing
boutArendt
erself-they
reathem s rather
eager
istor-
ical allusions
nsufficient
o
support
hat s
often haracterized
s her
utopian
vision
f
itizenship.97
Arendt,
n
tark
ontrasto
Lenin,
iewed he
ouncilss
an
attempt
o
develop
some sort
f
autonomous,
ollective,
olitical
gency-to
reate ree
paces
for
argument
nd he
ormulationf
plans
f ction. he
famously
onceptualized
his
phenomenons the ouncils'trivingorpublicreedom,"hichmeantharingn
public
usiness.98
reedom,
rendt
rgued,
could xist
nly
n
public."99
nd
becauseArendt
aw
thecouncils s
providing
forum
n
which
eople
ould
engage
n
uch
public
ction,
he
praised
hem. he
councils,
he
aid,
were an
entirely
ewformf
government,
ith
new
public
pace
for reedom hich
as
constituted
nd
organizeduring
he ourse f he evolution
tself."'10
et er
ro-
clivity
or
harp
onceptual
ichotomies-well
nown
o studentsfherwork-
prevented
er rom
aving truly
ruitful
ngagement
ith he
ouncils'
egacy.
Twoof
themost
ignificant
fthese
ppositions
re inked:
political"
ersus
"social,"nd freedom"ersusnecessity."
he'kind
ffreedomhat rendtalued,
the
bility
o take
art
n
public
ffairs
n
a
space
n
which
gents
isclose hem-
selves
n
speech
nd
action,
ould
nly
e
a featurefwhat he
consideredhe
political
ealm,
hat
ealm
evoted
o
action,
he
pecific
ctivity
that
oes
on
directly
etween
menwithouthe
ntermediary
f
hings
r
matter."'1'
y
ontrast
with his
olitical
ealm
f
reedom,
he ocial
ealm
as
generally
neof
necessity,
she
ontended.102here ould e no freedom
n
he
istinctly
odernocial
ealm,
that
rendt
an
still
ruitfully
e
interpreted
s a democratic
heorist,
ee:
Jeffrey
.
Isaac,
Oases
nthe
Desert:
annah rendtn Democratic
olitics,"
merican
olitical
cience
eview,
8,
1
(March,
994):
156-68.
97. Councilsre one
f he
ew
opics
n
Arendt's]
ork hat
s
not
aken
eriouslyy
ritics."ee
Sitton,
Council
emocracy,"
07.
98.
Arendt,
n
Revolution,
14-15.
99.
Arendt,
n
Revolution,
21.
100.
Arendt,
n
Revolution,53;
nd ee
Arendt,
he
Origins
f
Totalitarianism,
econd
nlarged
d.
(New
York: eridian
ooks,
19511
958),
01.
101.
Arendt,
heHuman ondition:
Study
n heCentralilemmas
acing
odern an
New
ork:
Doubleday
nchor,
1958]
959),
,
155-61.
102.More recisely,rendtonsideredhe rivateealmydefinitionobe one ofnecessitynd he
public
ne
offreedom
Human ondition,
5).
The ocial ealm as neither
ublic
or
rivate,
utwas
created
y
modern
orceshat
ntroduced
he
reviously
rivate
ctivity
f
abor nto he
ublic
Human
Condition,
5-45).
ut t
eems
retty
lear,
oth rom rendt'sxclusivessociationf he
olitical
ith
freedom,
ndfrom er reatment
f
he
ocial
uestion,
hathe
regarded
he ocial
ealm
s one
n
which
freedom
as
impossible.
or
urther
vidence f
this
nterpretation,
inking
he ocial o
necessity,
ee
Arendt'siscussionf
actoryanagement
On
Revolution,
78).
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John
Medearis
469
in
which
eople
ttempted
o make heir
urvival
r
that
f he
pecies,
public
matter.'03ndeed, rendtontended,odangerousas "the ocial" ofreedomhat
"every
ttempt
o
solve he
ocial
uestion
ith
olitical
eans eads nto
error,
and
..
it s terror
hich
ends evolutions
o
their oom."'"
This
ontention
lone
hinderedrendtrom
nderstandinggreat
eal bout emocratic
olitics
n
gen-
eral,
s
Wolin
uggests.'05
ut s
we will
ee,
t
lsocaused
uite
pecificroblems
concerning
he ouncils
nd
heir
onception
f
democracy.
Anotherelated
ndrelevantistinction
n
Arendt'sork-this ne threefold-
is that etween ctivitiesr
components
f
thevita ctiva:
labor,"
work"
nd
"action."'06
aborreferredo
"biological rocesses
f the
human
body"
nd
attemptsofoster uman urvival;ork eferredo theproductionfartificial
things,
humanrtifacts"hat estowed
permanence
nd
durability
pon
he util-
ity
fmortal
ife";
ction as
founded
pon
he human
ondition
f
plurality,"
nd
was
inter-personal
ctivity
hat ouldfound
political
odies" nd makeremem-
brance nd hus
istory
ossible.'07
What s
key
or he
urposes
f
his
ssay
sthat
Arendtid
not reathese s differentimensionsf ll
ctivities,
ut s
distinctly
if-
ferentctivitiesn
hemselves,
hose
esults
ould
imilarly
e
sharplyistinguished
fromachother.
And
inally,early
s
important
n
explaining
he
ifficultieshe encounteredn
understanding
he
ouncils,
sArendt's
onception
f hemass-a
nightmare
ision
ofwhat uman
eings
ouldbecome. hemass onsistedf
people
who
"cannot
be
integrated
nto
ny
rganization
ased
on
commonnterest"
ecause
hey
ack
an
ability
or uch
public,
olitical
ctivities.'08
Mass
ociety"
as
an undifferenti-
ated
oup
of
tomized,
neffectual
ndividuals.
n
Hanna
enichel
itkin's
iew,
he
"mass"
was
neffectn
early
ame
Arendt
ave
othe
ocial,
which
itkinefines
suggestively
s "a
collectivity
f
people
who,
hough
hey
re
nterdependent
nd
active
.. behave
ndividually
n
ways
hat
reclude
oordinated
ction,
o that
hey
cannot
or
t
any
ate o
not)
ake
harge
f
what
hey
re
doing
n
he
world."'09
Thefirst
roblem
hat
hese
onceptions
nd
oppositions
aused
Arendt
n
heo-
rizing
he ouncilsoncernsheirirm
oots
n
ocial nd conomicnstitutions.
heir
creatorsormedouncils
o
democratize
articular
ierarchies,
o take ver
nstitu-
tions nd
re-shape
hem-quitendiscriminately,
romhe
tandpoint
f
Arendtian
103.
Arendt,
he
Human
ondition,-10, 5-45; rendt,
n
Revolution,
78.Hanna
enichelitkin
notes
his
efinitionf the
ocial,"
ut onsiderst
nsufficient
o
apture
he
ongstandingmportance
f
the
onception
n
Arendt's
hought.
ee:
Pitkin,
he
Attack
f
heBlob:Hannah
rendt's
oncept
f he
Social ChicagondLondon: niversityfChicagoress,998), 1.
104.
Arendt,
n
Revolution,
08.
105.
Wolin,
Democracy
nd
he
olitical,"
89.
106.
Arendt,
uman
ondition,
-10.
107.
Arendt,
uman
ondition,
-10.
108.
Arendt,
otalitarianism,
11.
109.
Pitkin,lob,
96.
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470 LOST OR
OBSCURED?
distinctions
etweenocial nd
political."0
oldiers'ouncils
imed
o
democratize
andrestructurehemilitary,ndfactoryommitteeshe conomy.his heyawboth
as valuable
n
tself,
nd means f
ecuring
dequate
ay,
table
mployment,
etter
working
onditions,
n end
to
humiliations
nd
mistreatment,nd,
more
roadly,
socialismnd
peace.
But or
rendt,
he xistencef
uch ims
was
awkward,
iven
her
enigration
f
social" ndeconomic
uestions.
hus
Arendt
y
urns
gnored,
denied
r
ondemnedhe ouncils'lear ocus
nwhat
hewould
ave
ermedon-
political
atters.o serious
iscussion
f
hese
ims
ver
merged
nher
writings.
Indeed,
n
noting
he
many
nstitutional
ites
nwhich
ouncils
rose,
rendt
rgued
misleadingly
hat
hey
id o because
f
merelyaphazardogetherness"
r "more
or less ccidentalroximity.""'his vasion llowedArendtomake he ouncils
appear
ar
loser n
pirit
han
hey eally
ere oThomas
efferson's
ards,
hich
actually
ould
have
been
territorially
ased."12 or
he
ame
reasons,
rendt
is-
characterizedhe ims f he
ouncils,
ontending
hat
hey
have
lways
een
pri-
marilyolitical,
ith
ocial nd conomiclaims
layingvery
inor
ole.""3
Her
endency
o misreadhe
xperience
f he ouncils as
reinforced
y
he
occasional
ppearance
f a rather aive
ociology,
resistance
o
analyzing
he
social and economic
power
relationsnd structureso which
the councils
responded.
he
onception
f he
mass,"
hateverirtues
t
may
ave n
xpress-
ing
normativeommitmento
politicalntegration
nd
belonging,
ended
lso,
n
Arendt's
ritings,
o
obscure hefact hat
eople
do not
ctually
ive s
isolated
monads,
ut s
participants
n
structuredocial
world."14
he
ouncils'methods
and
problems
imply
ould
not be
adequately rasped
rom he
tandpoint
f
Arendt's
mass"
ociology.
Arendt's ain
esponse
o
he
act
hat
he
ouncils
ad ocial
nd conomic
ims,
then,
as
to
gnore
r
uppress
t."5I
ut ttimeshe witched
ears
nd
dmitted
t,
and
roundly
ondemned
he ouncils:The atal
mistake
f he ouncils as
lways
been hat
hey
hemselvesidnot
istinguishlearly
etween
articipation
n
public
affairsnd dministration
r
management
f
hings
n
he
ublic
nterest.""6
110.
Dana
R. Villa
rgues
hat rendt as
chiefly
oncernedbout he
normalizingower
f
the
social."
ee
Villa,
Postmodernism
nd he
ublic
phere,"
merican
olitical
cience
eview
6,
3
(Sep-
tember
992):
18.He
may
e
right,
ut
hen,
hy
idArendtot
ecognize
nd
upport
he ouncils'
effortso
overcomehat
ormalizing
ower
ithinhe ealm f he ocial tself?
111.
Arendt,
otalitarianism,00;Arendt,
n
Revolution,
71.
112.
Arendt,
n
Revolution,
52-59. itton
rgues
hat rendt'sconcentration
n
territorially-based
councilssthe
rimary
ause
f
her
misinterpretation
f
he ouncilradition."ee
Sitton,
Council emoc-
racy,"
13.
113.Arendt,nRevolution,78.
114.
Pitkinees
he
isionf hemass
n
Origins
ndermining
rendt's
wn
roaderntentionss
a
the-
orist:
"[lit
s rucialo
recognize
hat,
n
Arendt'swn
ccount,
hese renot
articles
ut
eople,
hat
hey
arenot
n
fact
solated ut
tructurally
nterrelated,
nd
that
hey
re
not nert ut
ery
usy."
ee
Pitkin,
Blob,
94.
115.
See
Sitton,
Council
emocracy,"
21.
116.
Arendt,
n
Revolution,
77-78.
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John
Medearls 471
A
second
problem
n
Arendt's
nterpretation
fthe
ouncilsies
t a
junction
between erunderstandingfthe social" nd her riplet,abor-work-action.or
Arendt
ould
not
ccept
hat he ouncils
ought
more han
ulfilling
olitical
ctiv-
ity
or heirmembers.
hey
imed
to use
"action"-in his
ase,
democratic
action-to ransform
he
conomy
nd
ociety,
ncluding
he ealm f abor.
rendt
couldnot
ay
much
bout
his
ecause
f he
idigity
f he
onceptual
riplet
nd
her iew f he
ocial,
which
eld hat
t
was a realm
f
necessity
hat
ouldnot
e
experienced
nd transformed
n
the
way
that
many
fthe ouncils
esired.
he
attempt
o ct
politically
n
he ocial nd
conomic ealmsouldmakeno sense
o
her.
urdened,oo,
y
he iew hat ocial
reedom
as an
oxymoron,
rendt as
unresponsive
o thedominationnfactoriesnd elsewherehat he ouncils o
clearly
anted
o
overcome.
onversely,
ccording
o he
ssumptions
f
her abor-
work-action
riplet,
here ouldbe
no
room or n
interest
n urvival
r
ndeed
pursuit
f
nds n he
public, olitical
ealm
f
ction.
Mary
. Dietz s
surelyight,
then,
o riticize
rendt
or
ailing
o
dmit he
ossibility
f
breaking
own
he
is-
tinctions
etween
abor,
ork
nd
ction,
r o
recognize
politics
f
purposeful
activity."17
his attererm
aptures
oth omeof
he
ariety
f
ctivitieshe oun-
cils
ngaged
n
during
he
evolutionaryeriod-from
lanning
trikesndmarches
to
drafting
tatements
nd
petitioning
o
holding
ectures-and
heir nfulfilled
ambitionsorhe ransformationf
production,
s
well."8
Anotherelated
eakness
f
Arendt'sheorizationf
he ouncils as her reat-
ing
hem
at times)
s an
alternative
o
representative
r
parliamentary
emoc-
racy."9
ne ource f he
problem
ay
e
that,
s
Isaac
points
ut,
Arendtad n
insufficiently
uanced iewof
the
tate,
weakness he
ironically
haredwith
Lenin.'20
swe have
een,
he ouncilshemselves
idnot nclineo
his
rror,
spe-
cially
n
Germany
nd
Austria.he
participants
ncouncils
enerallypposed
he
abolition
f
parliamentaryemocracy.
hey
were
oncerned ith
emocratizing
social ndeconomicelationsfvarious inds,oth or he ake f ocial ndeco-
nomic
ransformation,
nd omake
arliamentary
overnment
ore
early
chieve
its
deals.
Neither
oncern as
intelligible
oArendt. er
harp hilosophical
ivi-
sions
made
her
nlikely
o ee
reciprocity
etween
ifferentctivitiesr
the
ealms
117.
Mary
.
Dietz,
'TheSlow
Boring
fHard
oards': ethodical
hinking
nd heWork f
Politics,"
American
olitical
cience
eview
8,
(December994):
73.
118.
t
eems
ikely
hat rendt's
ailureounderstandhe
ocial nd conomic
urposes
f
he oun-
cils he
praised
as
inkedo a
related
roblem
ietz
etects:withoutdimensionf
ubstantive
ur-
posefulness
hat
inds
ositivexpression
n
the
ocabulary
f
problem,'solution,'means,'nd,'
nd
'method,'rendt's
olitics
annot mbrace
erformance
s the
arrying
ut r ctive
ursuit
f
purposes
in
he
ery
orld
t
trives
o
vitalize"
"Slow
oring,"
79).
119.
saac
rgues
ersuasively
hat
rendtever ent
o
far
s to
propose
bolishingarliamentary
institutionsomake
way
or council
ystem.
utArendt
an be faultedor
iving
eadersittleeason or
thinking
hefavoredome
meaningfulay
f
ombining
ouncil ith
arliamentary
nstitutions.ee
saac,
"Oases."
120.
saac,
rendt,amus, 43,
45.
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8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
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472
LOST
OR
OBSCURED?
in which
hey
ook
place.
This
made
tdifficult
o
understand
ow the
ouncils
mightmprovehe ualityfparliamentaryemocracytselfy ransformingco-
nomic
nd ocial elations.
n
any
ase,
her
ritique
f
parliamentaryovernment
generallyut
he lame n ts
uiding
deas,
ot n
ocial nd
conomiconditions.
Furthermore,
ecause
he
ouncils'
roponents,
or
hemost
art,
avored oth
councils
nd
parliamentaryovernment,
hemovement
rovided
ertile
round
or
theorizing
he
ways
n which
emocratizednd undemocratizedocial
pheres
might utually
onditionnd nteractith ach
other--and,
elatedly,
or heoriz-
ing
he
ppositional
imensionfdemocraticction. uch
nquiries
ere
unlikely
for
nyone
dopting
rendt's
tandpoint.
Thuswe returno he entralronyfArendtnd he ouncils.hewasthe oun-
cils'
greatesthampion
mong
heoristsf he
present
nglo-American
anon. ut
her reatment
f
hem istorted
he ouncilsnd
failedocometo
terms
ith
he
range
f
ssues
nd
problems
heir
xistenceaised. his
iscrepancy
etween er
praise
or he
ouncilsndher
bility
o heorizehem
ed o omenotable isconti-
nuitiesnd
discrepancies.
rendt
cknowledged
he
ignificance
f
working
lass
movements
n
reating
he
kind
f
ction ndfreedomhe
held
obe
mportant,'21
but
he
ould
not
xplain
t; ndeed,
t eems
uite aradoxical,
n her
erms.'22
he
was
convincedoth hat he ouncils
epresented
movementhat ould edeem
politics,
nd hathe ocial
uestion
which
he ouncils
learly
ntendedo
ddress)
necessarily
estroyed
evolutionsnd ntroduced
error.
hus
he
very gency
hat
seemed
o
nitiate
olitical
reedom,
n her
iew,
imultaneouslyestroyed
t.
Or,
more
keptically
nd ess
paradoxically:
he ouncils'
ery
xistence
casts oubt
n
her ntirehesis
oncerning
he
orrupting
ffectsf he ocial
uestion,"
s Wolin
argues.'23)
inally,
er
igid hilosophicalategories
edArendt
o
ondemn
any
f
the
ctions--democratizing
he
conomy,
earing
own
ppressive
ocial ierarchi-
cal
remnantsf he
ld
regime--taken
y
he ouncils
n
pursuit
nd
enjoyment
f
a kind ffreedom
nd
politicalgency
he
might
ave
raised.
V. The
CouncilMovement nd
Democratic
Theory
Today
Lenin's,
chumpeter's
nd
Arendt's
ngagements
ith
he ouncilmovement
havehad
two
ypes
f
ffects
n
theorizing
bout
emocracy.
hefirst
ype
as
to
do
with he continued
rominence
f
assumptions
nderscored
y
each.
The
second
ype
oncernshe
pproaches
o
democratic
hinking
idden
y
he
way
he
three
ealt
with he ouncils.
121.
Arendt,
he
Human
ondition,
90-96.
122.
As saac
notes,
In
book bout
he
istinctionetweenabor
nd
politics,
he
provides
ut ne
example
f
genuine
modern
oliticalraxis-the
abor
movement-butssertshat he
spring'
f
this
praxis
ad
nothing
odo withabor " ee:
saac, rendt,amus,
60.
123.
Wolin,
Democracy
nd
he
olitical,"
99.
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John
Medearis 473
Theoretical
ustifications
nd studies f iberal
emocracy
ould
ssuredly
e
prominentodayven f chumpeteradnever ritten.ut in way hat as not
precisely
is
ntention)
chumpeter
ontributedo the
trength
f iberal emoc-
racy's
ntellectual
rmor. nceone
assumes,
ith
chumpeter,
hat he imitations
ofcurrent
olitical
nstitutionsre
directly
ooted
n
trictly
imited atural
apaci-
ties,
he
niversality
f iberal
emocracy
ppears
elf-evident.
chumpeter
ent
is
considerablentellectual
owers
o
displacingistorically
nd
sociologically
ensi-
tive
eflection
n the
possibilities
fdemocratic
gency
ith
ssertionsbout ni-
versal uman
in-)abilities.
e
provided
idely
dmired
rguments
or
iewing
he
action f
professional
oliticians,
ot
itizens,
s the
driving
orce f
politics.
ad
Schumpeter's
rguments
omedown o us-as
they ught
o
have-properly
on-
textualizeds a
response
othe ouncilmovement
and
other emocraticenden-
cies),
hey
ould ot eem o
impermeable
nd
nvulnerable.
ut nhis ater
ork,
Schumpeter
as
remarkably
uccessful
n
overing
ishistoricalracks.
enin,
s a
theoretician
nd
practitioner,elped
make t
possible
hat
ouncils,
istorically
n
expression
f ne of he
most
owerful
emocratic
ritiques
f
iberal
emocracy,
should e identifiedith
ureaucratic
ppression.
nd
ndeed,
nce one
accepts
that
xpertise
n
revolution-making,
ngineering,
nd economics an be
replace-
ments
or
olitical
ontestation-andnce
one follows enin n
viewing
orce s
the ssence f he tate-the
articipatory
nd ransformative
mpulses
f he oun-
cilsdo
seem o ead oward niversal
dministration.he
tory
fLenin's
heoreti-
cal
co-optation
nd
direct
uppression
f he
oviets,
ere t
reference-point
or
democratic
heorizing,
ight
roblematize
any asy ontemporaryssumptions,
but n
factt
s
an
episode
hat
s familiarlmost
xclusively
o
professional
istori-
ans
and
a few riticsf Lenin
n the eft.
rendt,
y
mparting
n
inspiring
ut
deeply
lawed ision f he
ouncils o
contemporary
cademic
ebate,
as made
it ll
too
asy
o
idestep
erious
ngagement
ith
hem.
y bscuring
he
ossibil-
ity
f
democratic
gency
nwhole
realms f ocial
ife,ndrenderingheurgent
practical
roblems
hat he ouncilset
ut o olve
nintelligible,
healso ssured
that er wndemand
or richer
olitics
ould trike
any
s
simply
topian.
A
more areful
nalysis
f he
movement,
ndof he
way
t
has
been
distorted
by
some of ts
best-known
nterpreters,
ould
help
re-establishhe
centrality
f
some
mportant
uestions
or emocratic
heory.
hefirstf
hese
oncerns em-
ocratic
gency.
hefact
hat he ouncils
ere ied o a
social nd
political
ove-
ment,
movementhat
as
trying
ot
merely
o obtain
his
r
that
mprovement,
but,
n
thefaceof
military
estruction,
conomic
ailure,
nd
multiple
orms
f
oppression,ocreate ortselfheconditionsfdemocracy-thisistoricalact
uniquely
ighlights
he
ssue fdemocratic
gency.
ut
s soonas one
recognizes
the
problem
f
democratic
gency,
ne can
see that t
provides
perspective
or
democratic
heory
enerally.
o raise he ssue f
democratic
gency
s not o
posit
an
essential,
nchanging
uman
haracteristic,
ut
on
the
ontrary)
o ask
under
what
conditionst s
possible
or
ollectivities
o
become effective
emocratic
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474
LOST OR OBSCURED?
actors,
nd to
criticallynalyze
he
xisting
ocial
world o as to
understand
ow
andwheret esistsemocraticntervention.t stoviewocial,conomicndpolit-
ical nstitutionsuch s
the ouncilshemselvesid-as
containing
ndemocratic
structures
ndforceshat esist
ollective,
galitarian
ontrol.nd
t sto
view em-
ocratic
olitical
ractice
uch s the
ouncils
id,
s
centering
n
the
ossibility
f
organizing
nd
cting
o
change,
r t east
o
counteract,
hose
emocracy-refrac-
tory
ocales.
No one could
hinkhat
ontemporary
ocieties
ave olved
he
prob-
lem f
regulating
nd
guiding
uman-made
tructures
ndforces
nthis
way.
And
yet,
espite
he act
hat
hese
roblemsrguably
nterpenetrate
nd
underliether
democratic
uestions,
he
roblems
f
democratic
gency
renot
widely
iscussed
as such n cholarlyiteratureoday.
If he
roblem
f
democratic
gency
asnot een
olved-if,
n
fact,
t sa
prob-
lem hat as to be
posed
ver nd
over,
ndifferent
istorical
ontexts,
nd
nthe
face
f
different
hallenges,
hen
he
problem
f ransformation
ust e
perenni-
ally mportant,
oo.
The
problem
f
democratic
ransformation,
s
I
have
iscussed
it,
s the
roblem
f
hanging
hose ocial
ealms
hat
articularly
ndermine,
esist
orfrustrateemocratic
gency.
have
uggested
hat emocratic
ractices
nd
nsti-
tutions
re
always otentially
ransformative,
s
long
s
humansive
n n incom-
pletely
emocratized
orld.
But transformative
mbitions,
urely
recurrent
(though
multiform)
spiration
f
political
heory,
ften eemtobe in llrepute
today,
t
east
mong nglo-American
cholars.
It
s
quite
lear
hat he ouncils
merged
n hemidstf
particular,
xisting
et
of historical
endencies-including
eclining
ld
regime
nstitutions,
ising
orld
capitalism,
nd
military
ower
un mok.
he ouncils
pposed
what
hey
ook o
be thedestructive
nd
oppressive
eatures
f his ocial
world.
hat s to
say,
he
councils
rose nd
cted
s
oppositional
ntities.
nd onsistent
ith heir
deology,
democratic
ractices
ere he ouncils'
haracteristic
ethod
f
pposition.
hile
such
ppositional
emocratic
ractice
s
especially
bvious
nthe
ontextf
post-
WorldWar
Europe,
t s almost
ertainly
fbroader
ignificance.
heview hat
opposition
as
only
derivative"
alue
ndemocratic
olitics ight
eem
plausible
"in world
f deal
political
nstitutions,"
otes
an
Shapiro;
[b]ut
n the ctual
world,
here ocial
rdersome
obe
what
hey
re n
morally
rbitraryays,
nd
where
ll
procedures
f
government
urn ut
on
close
nspection
o be
flawed,
opposition
ust
njoy
more
ndependent
nd exalted
tatus
n a
persuasive
account f
ust
emocratic
olitics."'24
or
s
long
s
people
ind hemselves
on-
fronting
nstitutions
nd
forces hat
ppress
hem r
escape
heir
ollective,
gali-
tarian
ontrol,
emocratic
pposition
ill
e
of
ignificance.Deliberativeheoriesavedominated
nglo-American
cholarly
ebatesbout
democracy
or ome
years
ow.
A
substantial
ffort
asbeendevoted
o
exploring
124.
an
hapiro,
emocratic
ustice
New
Haven: ale
University
ress,
999),
0-31.
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8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/medearis-john-lost-or-obscured-how-lenin-schumpeter-and-hannah-arendt-misanderstood 30/31
John
Medearls
475
their
ases,
nd
deploying
hem s
part
f mild
ritique
f
xisting
iberal emo-
cratic ractices.eliberativeheoriesosit specializednd uncoercedorm f
public
iscourse
s themain
equirement
fdemocratic
egitimacy.
nd
elibera-
tive heorists
re
especially
utspoken
bout he
requirements
f
democraticis-
course,
iewed
s
a
cooperative
ractice.
here s no needhere o ask
whether
deliberative
heory
s
primarily
n internal
evelopment
n
academic
oliticalhi-
losophy,
r
whether
t s
best nderstood
n
relation
o
uchhistoricalendenciess
the
ollapse
f
ommunism,
he
eeming-failure
fnew
ocial
movementso
arise
that
might
ival he
mportance
f
those
hat
lourished
n theWest
rom 955 o
1975,
nd
he
xtraordinary
orldwide
ise
f
neoliberalism.ut
t
s clear hat
n
scholarlyiscoursetructuredround eliberativeractices-viewedrimarilyn
relationo iberal
emocracy--the
ssues aised
y
he ouncilmovement
annot
be central.
n
a discourse ocused
n
the
egitimacy
f
decisions-implicitly,
he
decisions
fmoderniberal-democratic
tates-there
asnot
beenmuch oom
o
askaboutnondemocraticocial orces
nd
tructureshat
scape
ven
he
ontrol
of uch tates. nd s
a
result,
here as been ittleoom o
raise
uestions
bout
howsuch
xisting
tructures
nd
relations
esistnd
frustrateemocratic
gency
more
roadly--especially
f
hat
gency
s not iewed
s
reducible
o
the
bility
o
intervene
n
discourse.
n
scholarly
ebate ocusedn the
erms
f
ngoingoop-
eration,
uestions
bout
democracy
s an
oppositionalractice
learly
ecome
marginal
s well.
ndeed,
hehistoricalecord
f
democratic ovements
isingp
to
oppose
domination,
nd to
exercise
ower
gainst
he
dominant,
ecomes
almost
nintelligible
n
ight
fthe
xpectation
hat emocrats
ust eek
ccord
with therocial
roups
ndforces. nd
n
discoursehat
as--as
ome
f
ts
ro-
ponents
dmit-chosenomake
ts
eace
with
iberal
emocracy,
he mbition
or
democratic
ransformationust eem
merely
uaint.'25
t
s no
surprise
hat
ames
Bohman,
n
ommentingavorably
n
Habermas,
umps
ogether
communitarian,
participatory
r
council"'
emocracy,
nd
dismisseshem
ll,
without
iscussion,
as
attempts
o
pply
democratic
rinciples
..
everywhere
n
he
ame
way."'26
By
now t hould e
sufficiently
lear hat
n
uggesting
emocratic
heory
ould
learn
romhe
ouncil
movement,
do
notmean o
uggest
hat
e
directly
pply
an
eighty-year-old
nstitutional
ormula
houghtlessly
o
contemporary
roblems.
have
rgued,
n
ny
ase,
hat he
historicalouncilmovement
adno
simple
nsti-
tutionalormulao
offer.
aking
nspiration
romhe ouncil
movement-in
he rit-
ical
nd
theoretical,
ot he
hortatory
ense--would
nvolve
xploring
he
present
125.
Emily
auptmann,
CanLessBe
More? eftisteliberative
emocrats'
ritique
f
Participatory
Democracy,"
olity
3,
3
(Spring
001):
397-421;
ames
ohman,
The
Coming
f
Age
of
Deliberative
Democracy,"
heJournalf
Political
hilosophy
,
4
(1998):
00-25.
126.James
ohman,
ublic eliberation:
luralism,
omplexity,
nd
DemocracyCambridge:
IT
Press,
996),
2.And ee
Seyla
Benhabib,
Review f
Juergen
abermas,
etween acts
nd
Norms,"
American
olitical
cience
eview
1,
(September
997):
25-26.
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8/9/2019 Medearis, John. Lost or Obscured. How Lenin, Schumpeter and Hannah Arendt Misanderstood de Council Movement
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/medearis-john-lost-or-obscured-how-lenin-schumpeter-and-hannah-arendt-misanderstood 31/31
476
LOST OR OBSCURED?
possibilities
nd imitsfdemocratic
gency,ocusing
ttention
n
the
key
ocial
locations here nterventionouldmake he ocialworldmoredemocratically
open,
nd
reconnecting
emocracy
o
opposition
nd
transformation.
f
ourse,
suchreflectionould
ikelyupport
ouncil-like
ttempts
o
ntroduceemocratic
practices
here
hey
o notnow
exist,
nd
to
oppose
or weaken
he
existing
sources
f
undemocratic
ower.
The fforto earn romhehistoricalouncils eed
not
e hindered
y
heir
ev-
olutionaryrigins
nd
context-although
his
might
e the
ase
if
he
point
was
simply
o
copy
preconceived
ormula.
ny
emocratic
ovement,
ny
ttempt
o
build
emocratic
gency,
aces
particular
etof
ocial
orcesnd
tructures
hat
constituteonstraintsnd enablementsor ction. he briefollapse fmilitary,
economic
nd
politicalower
n
centralnd eastern
urope
t the
ndofWorld
War
representslimiting
ase
for
emocratic
ractice,relatively
are
pecimen
of the kind f
political pportunity
emocratic
ovements ust
ften
eize
upon.'27
ut
ocial
forces
nd relationsre
constantlyndergoinghange,
nd
those
hanges
ffer
p
changing
pportunities,
arge
nd
small,
hat
emocratic
agency
an
exploit.
ven
ow,
here
re
undoubtedlyroups ollowing
he ouncils'
example,
roperly
nderstood.
Theymay
ndeed e
forming
ouncil-like
odies,
or
xample,
o
representeg-
lected
eighborhoods
r nfluenceocal conomic
evelopment.
ut
hey
may
ust
as
wellbe
focusing
n
transforming
nternationalconomic
odies,
odiminishhe
influencefmultinational
orporations,
ndto
nstitutionalize
democratic
phere
for
eveloping-world
armers
nd
workers.
heymay
e
attempting
o chieve
ork-
place
democracy,
s
did
ome
f he
actory
ommittees
n
postwar
urope.
r
hey
may
imply
e
trying
o
build nions
o
sustain
ffective
pposition
o
employer
domination,
n he
many
ountries
here
uch
movementsre
frequently
rushed,
often
iolently.
heymay
e
buildingpon xisting
ocial
ies,
n
hurches,
chools
and
factories-developing
heir
apacities,
nd
planning
heir
ctions,ace-to-face,
in
night-time
eetings.
ut
heymay
lsobe
combining
uchmethodsithnternet-
based
ommunicationnd
coordination,
n mannerhat
as
the
potential
as
we
have
ecently
earned)
omobilize illions
f
people
n
near-simultaneous
arches
against
egemonic
ilitary
ower,
n
ities
round heworld. he
point
ill
not e
for emocratic
heory
imply
o transcribe
heir
ctions,
ut
ather
o
try
o under-
stand nd
larify
heir
ttempts
o
build emocratic
gency,ppose
nondemocratic
social
orces,
nd
ransform
ecalcitrantnstitutions
nd
power
elations.
127. "Revolutions"
re
imply
tthe extreme
nd f
he
pectrum"
f
ntense
eriods
f
ocialmove-
ment
ctivity,
r
what
idney
arrowerms
cycles
f ontention."ee
Tarrow,
ower
nMovement:ocial
Movements
nd
Contentious
olitics,
econd dition
Cambridge:ambridgeniversity
ress, 998),
4.