Castoriadis - Workers Councils and the Economics of a Self-Managed Society

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Workers’Councils

and the Economics of a

Self-Managed Society

by Cornelius Castoriadis



Workers’

Councilsand the Economics of aSelf-Managed Society

by Cornelius Castoriadis

[also known by his pseudonyms: Paul Cardan (English), Pierre Chaulieu (French)]



This book was first published by Paul Cardan (English pseudonym of Cornelius Castoriadis) in 1957. After that is was re-published, with a newPreface, the graphics and annotations (included in this edition), bySolidarity in March 1972. This Zabalaza Books edition is based on the

HTML version released on the web by Lust for Life in November 2006 andincludes the post-notations by Lust for Life . Lust for Life can be contact-ed at

Em a i l : [email protected]

W e b : www.Point-of-Departure.org

This edition published August 2007 by:

Zabalaza Books

P o s t : Postnet Suite 47Private Bag X1FordsburgSouth Africa2033

Em a i l : [email protected]

W e b : www.zabalaza.net



d. The ‘Central Assembly’ and Its ‘Council’ ........................................... 68

e. The ‘State’, ‘Parties’, and ‘Politics’ .................................................... 73

f. Freedom and Workers’ Power ........................................................... 75

10. Problems of the Transition ................................................................... 78

Notations by Cornelius Castoriadis (1957) ................................................ 81

As We See It by Solidarity Group (London) ............................................... 87

Annotations by Solidarity Group (1972) ..................................................... 90

Post-Notations by Lust For Life (2006) ...................................................... 93

Workers’ Councils M 4



0. Our Prefaceby Solidarity Group (London); March 1972

To the best of our knowledge there have been no serious attempts by modern lib-

ertarian revolutionaries to grapple with the economic and political problems of a total-

ly self-managed society.

What might the structure, social relations and decision-making institutions of

such a society look like, in an advanced industrial country, in the second half of the

twentieth century? Is the technological basis of modern life so complex that all talkof workers’ management of production can be dismissed as pure ‘utopia’ (as both the

beneficiaries - and most of the victims - of the present social order would have us

believe)?

Or, on the contrary, isn’t this allegation itself the real mystification? Doesn’t his-

torical experience, and in particular the working class experience of recent decades,prove the very opposite? Don’t the very advances of science enhance the feasibili-ty of a rational form of social organisation, where real power would lie in the hands

of the producers themselves?

This pamphlet seeks to deal with some of these questions. The events of the last

few years show quite clearly that this is no longer a ‘theoretical’ preoccupation, relat-

ing to some remote and problematic future. On the contrary, it is a real, immediate

and down-to-earth concern. At any time between now and the end of the century,hundreds of thousands - nay, millions - of men and women may well be confronted

with problems of the kind here discussed. And on the solutions ordinary people may

collectively provide to these problems will depend whether humanity really moves tosomething new, or whether we just exchange one servitude for another.

Let us immediately circumscribe the relevant area. We are not concerned with



less to a genuine division of labour and more and more to a simple division of tasks.Workers are not allocated to given areas of the productive process because their

‘professional skills’ invariably correspond to ‘skills required’ by management. They

are often placed here rather than there because putting a particular worker in a par-

ticular place at a particular time happens to suit the personnel officer - or the fore-man - or, more prosaically, just because a particular vacancy happened to be going.

Under socialism, factories would have no reason to accept the rigid division of labour now prevailing. There will be every reason to encourage a rotation of work-

ers between shops and departments - and, between production and office areas.

Such a rotation will greatly help workers to manage production ‘in full knowledge of

the relevant facts’. [More and more workers will have become familiar at first hand

with what goes on where they work.] The same applies to rotation of work between various enterprises , and in particular, between ‘producing’ and ‘utilising’ units.

The residues of capitalism’s division of labour will have gradually to be eliminat-ed. This overlaps with the general problem of education, education not only of the

new generations, but of those adults brought up under the previous system. We

can’t go into this problem here.



Cornelius Castoriadis M 57



C e n t r a l A

s s e m b l y i

s c o m p o

s e d o f r e

v o c a -

b l e d e l e

g a t e s, e

l e c t e d b

y t h e G

e n e r a l

A s s e m b l i e s

o f g i v e

n e n t e r p r

i s e s, b y

t h e

G e n e r a l A s s e m

b l i e s o f

R u r a l C o

m m u n e s,

a n d b y t h e G e n e

r a l A s s e m

b l i e s o f p

r o f e s -

s i o n a l g r

o u p i n g s.

M O S T D

E L E GA T E S

W O U L D R E M

A I N A T

W O R K.

( R o t a t i n g

m i n o r i t y

m i g h t e n s u r e

c o n t i n u i t

y. N o o n

e m a k e s

a p r o f e s s

i o n o u t

o f ‘ r e p r e s

e n t i n g ’ o t

h e r s. )

C e n t r a l A

s s e m b l y w

o u l d m e e

t f o r t w o

d a y s

e a c h w e e

k ( o r f o r o

n e w e e k

e a c h m o n

t h ).

D e l e g a t e

s r e p o r t b

a c k r e g u l

a r l y ( s a y,

o n c e a

m o n t h )

t o G e n e r

a l A s s e m

b l i e s w h i

c h e l e c t -

e d t h e m.

C e n t r a l A

s s e m b l y e l e c t s

i t s o w n

C o u n c i l.

( A l t e r n a t i

v e l y, g r o u p s o f

m e m b e

r s o f t h e

C e n t r a l A

s s e m b l y m

i g h t, i n r o t a t i o n,

c o n s t i -

t u t e t h e C

o u n c i l o f

t h e C e n t r a

l A s s e m b l y, a

l l

m e m b e r s

b e i n g i n v

o l v e d a t

s o m e s t a g e o

r

o t h e r. )



Z a b

a la

za B o o k

s

“ K n o w

l e d g

e i s t h e K e y t o

b e F r

e e

!“

M M

Post : Postnet Suite 47, Private Bag X1, Fordsburg,South Africa, 2033

E-Mai l : [email protected]

Webs i te : www.zabalaza.net

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