Socialisme ou Barbarie () was a French-based radical

libertarian socialist Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (20 ...

group of the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

period whose name comes from a phrase which was misattributed to Friedrich Engels by

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialism, revolutionary socialist, Marxism, Marxist philosopher and anti-war movement, anti-war activist. Succ ...

in the '' Junius Pamphlet'', but which probably was most likely first used by

Karl Kautsky Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theorist. Kautsky was one of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels ...

. It existed from 1948 until 1967. The animating personality was

Cornelius Castoriadis Cornelius Castoriadis ( el, Κορνήλιος Καστοριάδης; 11 March 1922 – 26 December 1997) was a Greek-FrenchMemos 2014, p. 18: "he was ... granted full French citizenship in 1970." philosopher, social critic, economist, ps ...

, also known as Pierre Chaulieu or Paul Cardan. ''Socialisme ou Barbarie'' (''S. ou B.'') is also the name of the group's journal.

History

The group originated in the

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) is a revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global capitalism and the establishment of ...

, where Castoriadis and Claude Lefort constituted a Chaulieu–Montal tendency in the French Parti Communiste Internationaliste in 1946. In 1948, they experienced their "final disenchantment with Trotskyism", leading them to break away to form Socialisme ou Barbarie, whose journal began appearing in March 1949. Castoriadis later said of this period that "the main audience of the group and of the journal was formed by groups of the old, radical left: Bordigists, council communists, some anarchists and some offspring of the German 'left' of the 1920s They developed parallel to, and were in dialogue with, the Johnson–Forest Tendency, which developed as a body of ideas within American Trotskyist organisations. One faction of this group later formed Facing Reality. The early days also brought debate with

Anton Pannekoek Antonie “Anton” Pannekoek (; 2 January 1873 – 28 April 1960) was a Dutch astronomer, philosopher, Marxist theorist, and socialist revolutionary. He was one of the main theorists of council communism (Dutch: ''radencommunisme''). Biograp ...

and an influx of ex- Bordigists into the group. The group was composed of both intellectuals and workers, and agreed with the idea that the main enemies of society were the bureaucracies which governed modern capitalism. They documented and analysed the struggle against that bureaucracy in the group's journal. The thirteenth issue (January–March 1954), as an example, was devoted to the East German revolt of June 1953 and the strikes which erupted amongst several sectors of French workers that summer. Following from the belief that what the working class was addressing in their daily struggles was the real content of socialism, the intellectuals encouraged the workers in the group to report on every aspect of their working lives. Socialisme ou Barbarie was critical of Leninism, rejecting the idea of a revolutionary party, and placing an emphasis on the importance of workers' councils. While some members left to form other groups, those remaining became more and more critical of

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

over time. Jean Laplanche, one of the group's founding members, recalls the early days of the organization: The Hungarian Revolution and other events of the mid-1950s led to a further influx into the group. By this time, they were proposing the fundamental point as This became characterised as a distinction between the ''dirigeant'' and ''exécutant'' in French, usually translated as ''order-givers'' and ''order-takers''. This perspective enabled the group to extend its understanding to the new forms of social conflict emerging outside the realm of production as such. That was also the case for the 1960-1961 Winter General Strike in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...

. After the

May 1958 crisis The May 1958 crisis, also known as the Algiers putsch or the coup of 13 May, was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) which led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic and its replacem ...

and an influx of new meeting attendees, disagreements on the organisational role of a political group led to the departure of some prominent members including Claude Lefort and Henri Simon to form Informations et Liaison Ouvrières. By 1960, the group had grown to around 100 members and had developed new international links, primarily in the emergence of a sister organisation in Britain called

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

. In the early 1960s, disputes within the group around Castoriadis' increasing rejection of Marxism led to the departure of the group around the '' Pouvoir Ouvrier'' journal. The main Socialisme ou Barbarie journal continued publishing until a final edition in 1965, after which the group became dormant and announced its indefinite suspension in June 1967. An attempt by Castoriadis to revive it during the May 1968 events failed. The

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

was influenced by Socialisme ou Barbarie through

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situation ...

(who was a member of both), as too was Socialisme ou Barbarie influenced by Debord and the situationists. The Italian social movement of

Autonomia Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tenden ...

were also influenced, but less directly.

Members

Members of Socialisme ou Barbarie included: * Danièle Auffray, b. 1943. Left SouB around 1965. * Daniel Blanchard (as Pierre Canjuers), b. 1934. SouB: 1957–1965. ** Pierre Canjuers, Guy Debord: ''Preliminaires pour une définition de l'unité du programme révolutionaire'', Paris (July 20), 1960, (4 p.). ** Transl. in: Ken Knabb, ''Situationist International Anthology,'' Berkeley, 1981, p. 305ff.. *

(1922–1997). ** Various reprints, Union Génerale d'Éditions, ''10/18'' series, 7 Vols., 3 in 2 books, Paris, 1973 to 1979; ''Political and Social Writings'', David Ames Curtis (editor, transl.), 3 Vols., Minneapolis, 1988, 1993. *

Hubert Damisch Hubert Damisch (28 April 1928 – 14 December 2017), was a French philosopher specialised in aesthetics and art history, and professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris from 1975 until 1996. Damisch studied at ...

, b. 1928. SouB: 1953–1958. *

(1931–1994). SouB: One year from 1960 to 1961. Programmatic statement, with Daniel Blanchard *

Vincent Descombes Vincent Descombes (; born 1943) is a French philosopher. His major work has been in the philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. Philosophical work Descombes is particularly noted for a lengthy critique in two volumes of the project he cal ...

, b. 1943. * Jacques Gautrat (as Daniel Mothé), b. 1924. SouB from 1952. As Daniel Mothé: ''Journal d'un ouvrier, 1956-1958'', Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1959. *

Gérard Genette Gérard Genette (7 June 1930 – 11 May 2018) was a French literary theorist, associated in particular with the structuralist movement and such figures as Roland Barthes and Claude Lévi-Strauss, from whom he adapted the concept of ''bricolage ...

, b. 1930. SouB: 1957–1958. * Pierre Guillaume, b. 1941 (or 1940 ?). SouB: 1960–1963 (PO). * Alain Guillerm (1944–2005). SouB: 1962–1967. * Jean Laplanche (as Marc Foucault) (1924–2012). * Claude Lefort (as Claude Montal) (1924–2010). SouB until 1958. *

Jean-François Lyotard Jean-François Lyotard (; ; ; 10 August 1924 – 21 April 1998) was a French philosopher, sociologist, and literary theorist. His interdisciplinary discourse spans such topics as epistemology and communication, the human body, modern art and ...

(1924–1998). SouB: 1950–1963 (PO). * Albert Masó (as Vega, R.Maille) (1918–2001). Spanish anarchist,

POUM The Workers' Party of Marxist Unification ( es, Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista, POUM; ca, Partit Obrer d'Unificació Marxista) was a Spanish communist party formed during the Second Republic and mainly active around the Spanish Civil ...

. SouB: 1950-1963 (PO)
La Bataille socialiste ''Masó'' page.
*

Edgar Morin Edgar Morin (; ; born Edgar Nahoum; 8 July 1921) is a French philosopher and sociologist of the theory of information who has been recognized for his work on complexity and "complex thought" ( pensée complexe), and for his scholarly contributio ...

, b. 1921 (some sources have him as a member in the early 1950s). *

Henri Simon General Henri Joseph Simon (23 February 1866 – 15 May 1956) was a French army officer. He is particularly associated with the French protectorate of Morocco where he spent much of his army career. Simon served as head of intelligence to Hubert L ...

, b. 1922. SouB: 1952–1958. *

Ngo Van Ngô Văn Xuyết (Tan Lo, near Saigon, 1913–Paris, 1 January 2005), alias Ngô Văn was a Vietnamese revolutionary who chronicled labour and peasant insurrections caught "in the crossfire" between the colonial French and the Indochinese Commun ...

, 1913–2005 * Pierre Souyri (as Pierre Brune) (1925–1981). SouB: 1954–1963 (PO)
La Bataille socialiste ''Souyri'' page.
* Benno Sternberg (as Hugo Bell, Sarel, Barois), member from 1949 to 1967. He died in 1971. As Benno Sarel: ''La classe ouvrière en Allemagne orientale'', Éditions Ouvrières, Paris 1958 (Turin, 1959; Munich, 1975). * Translated for SouB: Paul Romano and Ria Stone: ''The American Worker'', Bewick, Detroit, 1947. Source: Andrea Gabler: ''Arbeitsanalyse und Selbstbestimmung. Zur Bedeutung und Aktualität von “Socialisme ou Barbarie“'', Göttingen, 2006. This is a dissertation for the ''Doktor'' (Ph. D.) in social sciences from the Georg-August-Universität at Göttingen. Her many biographies are in Anhang C, pp. 210– 223.

Texts

The forty issues of ''Socialisme ou barbarie'' have been digitised and there have been numerous reprints of ''SouB'' articles under the name of their authors, especially of Castoriadis' texts. ''A ''Socialisme ou Barbarie'' Anthology: Autonomy, Critique, and Revolution in the Age of Bureaucratic Capitalism''. London: Eris: 2018. A complete translation of the 2007 Acratie ''Anthologie'', plus additional translations of ''Socialisme ou Barbarie'' texts dealing with American and British workers' struggle.

Notes

References

* * Philippe Gottraux. ''Socialisme ou Barbarie, un engagement politique et intellectuel dans la France de l'après guerre''. Lausanne: Payot, 1997. * Stephen Hastings-King. ''Looking for the Proletariat: Socialisme ou Barbarie and the Problem of Worker Writing''. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2014. Paperback ed. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books : 2015. * Anthony Hayes.
How the Situationist International became what it was
', PhD thesis, Australian National University, 2017, chapters five, seven and Appendix three. * * , ''Les intellectuels sous la Ve Republique (1958-1990)'', vol. 2, Hachette-Pluriel, 1995, pp. 89–95. * Peter Starr,
Logics of Failed Revolt: French Theory After May '68
', Stanford University Press, 1995, p. 24. .

External links