Eduard Bernstein was a friend and protégé of both Friedrich
Engels and Karl Marx, who came to oppose orthodox communism. Bernstein saw that
the predictions of his close friends (that capitalism would crumble by virtue
of inherent economic tendencies and that workers would flock to communism) had
not come to pass. Quite to the contrary, capitalism in the 1890s First World
was healthier than ever, and both European and US workers were more interested
in obtaining their piece of the capitalist pie than in risking their lives
during a violent overthrow of the system. Because of this evidence, Bernstein
concluded that a gradual approach to social change through participation in
democratic systems would be more effective than revolution. As such, he became
one of the revisionists of Democratic Socialism. However one may feel about
socialism, communism or capitalism, one can admire Bernstein’s ability to
change his mind based on empirical evidence, rather than remaining committed to
a disproven orthodoxy. That change created a great deal of discomfort for
Bernstein. Internally, he had to deal with the dislocation anyone who
challenges their own long-held beliefs must face. Externally, his apostasy turned
some friends into enemies and alienated him from his political cadre.
The book is arranged chronologically regarding the elements
of both biography and developments in political theory during Bernstein’s life.
It is composed of three parts. Part One: “Preparation,” takes us through the
subject’s early life, focusing mainly upon the period of his political
awakening, and extending to the time of his questioning of Marxist theory. Part
Two: “Vision,” is necessarily the most theoretical of the sections as we pause to
consider the political landscape and meaning of socialism in fin de siècle
Europe, along with Bernstein’s defection and the alternatives he proposes. Part
Three: “Disappointment,” removes the reader from her holding pattern in
theoretical purgatory and drops her back into the whirling political fray of
1890s Germany. There, Bernstein is elected to Parliament and must battle both the
orthodox Marxists and the opportunistic, instrumentalist politicians of his own
party, the Marxist-Socialist SPD.
Manfred Steger is well-suited to the challenge of presenting
both the biographical and theoretical components of his project. He brings-out
the areas of conflict; those within the socialist movement and between the
socialists and the autocratic Prussian Emperor, whose executive branch truly
controls the political process. If parliamentary process, political
maneuvering, wars of words and dissent, are exciting to the reader, she will
not be disappointed. At the same time, the nuances of socialist theory are
fully, (sometimes painfully), elucidated in an organized manner which even
uninitiated non-fiction readers can follow. A brief epilogue permits Steger to
flex his own ample theoretical muscles, as he addresses the role that
Evolutionary Socialism can still play in a post-Soviet, information age of
global economic challenges.
By the end, a reader will have attained three objectives: First, a clear portrait of a remarkable,
intellectually flexible, evidence-based figure. Second, an understanding of the
political environment in fin de siècle Germany and its relation to socialism.
Third, a grasp of the prevailing currents that existed among European
socialists of the late 19th and early 20th Century. All
told, the attainment of these objectives is no mean accomplishment.
Steger, Manfred B. The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism.
Eduard Bernstein and Social Democracy. Cambridge: The University Press,
1997.
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