Lassallism
| Part ofa serieson |
| Socialism |
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LassallismorLassalleanismis thestrategyof the pursuit ofsocialismthrough the use of thestate.This school of thought developed fromGermanjurist and socialist activistFerdinand Lassalle.
This school of thought diverged from the route to socialism propounded byKarl Marx.Marx advocated a revolutionary strategy and focused on organizing through workers' organizations. Lassalle, on the other hand, emphasized pursuing socialism through electoral institutions, particularly throughuniversal suffrage.[1]Lassalle focused on organizing through engagement with the state viapolitical parties.Opponents of Lassalle critiqued his socialism asstate socialism.[2]
The practice of Lassallism carried forward in theGeneral German Workers' Association(ADAV), formed in 1863, and after the 1864 death of Lassalle. The General German Workers' Association would be a precursor to the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The SPD aimed for revolution and threatened the German political status quo, which inducedOtto von Bismarckto introduce the firstsocial reforms(State Socialism) for workers in Imperial Germany while suppressing the SPD with laws. The SPD exercised a fundamental opposition to the government until the 1890s when they supported thesocial reformsin the domestic policies byArthur von Posadowsky-Wehner.
The tension between Lassallism and Marxism in the United States would receive later attention inPhilip S. Foner'sHistory of the Labor Movement in the United States, Volume IIand in David Caute'sThe Left in Europe.Caute contended that the Marxists in Europe gained advantage relative to Lassallism with Lassalle's passing in 1864.[3]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^David Caute,The Left in Europe,World University Library [imprint of McGraw-Hill], Wallop, Hampshire, England, 1966, 61.
- ^Gilles Dauvé / Denis Authier, "Origins of the German Workers Movement," section on "Marxism" and Lassallism.http://www.marxists.org/subject/germany-1918-23/dauve-authier/ch02.htm#h3
- ^David Caute,The Left in Europe,World University Library [imprint of McGraw-Hill], Wallop, Hampshire, England, 1966, 53.