Cornelius Castoriadis

Reply to Pannekoek - Castoriadis

A reply to Pannekoek's letter to Socialisme ou Barbarie, translated by Asad Haider and Salar Mohandesi for Viewpoint Magzine.

Your letter has provided a great satisfaction to all the comrades of the group; satisfaction of seeing our work appreciated by a comrade honored as you are and who has devoted an entire life to the proletariat and to socialism; satisfaction of seeing confirmed our idea of a profound agreement between you and us on the fundamental points; satisfaction finally of being able to discuss with you and o

The illusion of 'Solidarity' - David Brown

David Brown's letter of resignation from the Solidarity group, and critique of the groups' - and by extension Cornelius Castoriadis' - fundamental misunderstanding of Marx's critique of political economy.

Editorial notes by the Hobgoblin Collective, 21 January 2011

The Fate of Marxism - Paul Cardan

Part 1 of Paul Cardan AKA Cornelius Castoriadis' critique of Marxism.

[i]Between 1961 and 1965 ‘Socialisme ou Barbarie’ published (in its issues 36-40) an important article by Paul Cardan entitled ‘Marxisme et ThÈorie RÈvolutionnaire’. Part I dealt with ‘the historical fate of marxism and the notion of orthodoxy’ and this pamphlet is based on that section. Part II went on to discuss ‘the marxist theory of history’.

The Role of Bolshevik Ideology in the Birth of the Bureaucracy

Lenin

This article was first published in Socialism ou Barbarie#35(1964),as an introduction to Alexandra Kollantai's The Workers Opposition,but it can stand alone as a refutation of the standard Leninist/Trotskyist claim that the Soviet Union only degenerated post 1924 i.e after Lenin's death, and as such has been published in pamphlet form by a number of groups.

We are happy to present to our readers the first translation into French of Alexandra Kollontai's pamphlet The Workers' Opposition in Russia. This pamphlet was published in Moscow at the beginning of 1921, during the violent controversy that preceded the Tenth Congress of the Bolshevik party. This Congress was to close discussion forever on this controversy as well as on all the others.

On the Content of Socialism I - Socialisme Ou Barbarie

On the Content of Socialism, Part One.

From the Critique of Bureaucracy to the Idea of the Proletariat's Autonomy
From Class Against Class

On the Content of Socialism, Part One.

From the Critique of Bureaucracy to the Idea of the Proletariat's Autonomy

Modern capitalism and revolution - Paul Cardan

Paul Cardan (Cornelius Castoriadis) attempts to describe and analyse the features and dynamics of the fully-industrialised capitalist societies of the early 1960s.

About the text

On the Content of Socialism III - Socialisme Ou Barbarie

French libertarian socialist group Socialisme Ou Barbarie's third part of the Content of Socialism: The workers' struggle against the organization of the capitalist enterprise.

We have tried to show[1] that socialism is nothing other than people's conscious self-organization of their own lives in all domains; that it signifies, therefore, the management of production by the producers themselves on the scale of the workplace as well as on that of the economy as a whole; that it implies the abolition of every ruling apparatus separated from society; that it has to bring ab

On the Content of Socialism II - Socialisme Ou Barbarie

Very detailed article by French libertarian socialist group Socialisme Ou Barbarie on "the development of modern society and what has happened to the working-class movement over the last 100 years" and how they "have compelled us to make a radical revision of the ideas on which that movement has been based."

Castoriadis, Cornelius, 1922-1997 - John Barker

An obituary and overview of the work of Cornelius Castoriadis, whose early theoretical writings had a strong influence on the UK Solidarity group, among others.

John Barker is an ex-member of Solidarity and the Angry Brigade.

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Cornelius Castoriadis
1922-1997
(By John Barker)

The working class and organisation - Cornelius Castoriadis

Petrograd Soviet, 1917

Excellent text by Cornelius Castoriadis from 1959 examining the problem with working class organisations which have turned against their creators and pointing out the lessons for future organising efforts.

The organizations created by the working class for its liberation have become cogs in the system of exploitation. This is the brutal conclusion forced upon anyone who is prepared to face up to reality. One consequence is that today many are perplexed by an apparent dilemma. Can one become involved without organization?