Socialism from Below

by Hal Draper, Ernest E. Haberkern (Editor)

For readers who have not yet discovered Hal Draper, this collection of essays will come as a revelation. Draper combined a rare mastery of his sources with abundant wit, a down-to-earth style, and a delight in puncturing venerable myths, especially about Marx and Marxism. All of his many strengths are on display in Socialism from Below.

David N. Smith
Department of Sociology, University of Kansas

Genres: Politics, Theory, History

412 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Hal Draper (born Harold Dubinsky) was an American socialist activist and author who played a significant role in the Berkeley, California Free Speech Movement. He is known for his extensive scholarship on the history and meaning of the thought of Karl Marx.

Draper was a lifelong advocate of what he called "socialism from below", self-emancipation by the working class, in opposition to capitalism and Stalinist bureaucracy, both of which, he held, practiced domination from above. He was one of the creators of the Third Camp tradition, a form ("the form", according to its adherents) of Marxist socialism.

Reviews

[Rhys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Socialism From Below is a very good collection of essays by Hal Draper, focused mainly on the importance of revolutionary/system change coming from the 'mass-majority' - from 'below' as opposed to being lead by reformists and the 'intelligentsia'. More importantly he distrusts the sentiment that the 'mass-majority' is incapable of acting in its self-interest: Muta pecora, prona et ventri obedientia. [The herd is silent, submissive, and obeys its stomach.]

"What unites the many different forms of Socialism-from-Above is the conception of socialism (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) must be handed down to the grateful masses in one form or another, by a ruling elite which is not subject to their control in fact. The heart of Socialism-from-Below is its view that socialism can be realized only through the self-emancipation of activized masses “from below” in a struggle to take charge of their own destiny, as actors (not merely subjects) on the stage of history" (p.10).

[Josh Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

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