'The American Worker' and the Theory of Permanent Revolution: Karl Kautsky on Werner Sombart's Why Is There No Socialism in the United States?

In: Historical materialism: research in critical marxist theory, Band 11, Heft 4, S. 79-123

Abstract

Just as Werner Sombart's book, Why Is There No Socialism in the United States? (1906) analyzed the potential for a labor movement in the US, Karl Kautsky, a leading Marxist theoretician, also provided a comparative analysis of the unique aspects of capitalist development in Russia, the UK, & the US. His article, "The American Worker" (Die Neue Zeit, 1906) was part of a series of articles arguing that the Russian Revolution would lead to the dictatorship of the socialist society. In his book, The Road to Power (1909), Kautsky argued that the purchasing power of US wages had stagnated, & its nominal rise had been counteracted by the rise in prices fostered by the growth of trusts & employers organizations as well as the increase in labor activity. This led angry exchanges between Kautsky & the organs of the trade-union right wing. While Kautsky's work during the revolutionary period is still valued, his later support for democracy rather than proletarian despotism led to a final break with other Marxist scholars. 159 References. L. A. Hoffman