Workers Councils and the Economics of Self Managed Society Castoriadis

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WorkersCouncils

and the Economics of a

Self-Managed Society

by Cornelius Castoriadis

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Post: Postnet Suite 47, Private Bag X1, Fordsburg,

South Africa, 2033E-Mail: [email protected]: www.zabalaza.net


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Workers

Councilsand the Economics of aSelf-Managed Society

by Cornelius Castoriadis

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

Workers Councils M 100


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This book was first published by Paul Cardan (English pseudonym ofCornelius 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

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.Point-of-Departure.org

This edition published August 2007 by:

Zabalaza Books

Post: Postnet Suite 47Private Bag X1FordsburgSouth Africa2033

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.zabalaza.net

Cornelius Castoriadis M 99


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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

Cornelius Castoriadis M 97Workers Councils M 4


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0. Our Prefaceby Sol idari ty Group(Londo n); 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, isnt this allegation itself the real mystification? Doesnt his-

torical experience, and in particular the working class experience of recent decades,prove the very opposite? Dont 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

Workers Councils M 96


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Workers Councils M 44 Cornelius Castoriadis M 57


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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 oflabour 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 betweenvarious enterprises, and in particular, between producing and utilising units.

The residues of capitalisms 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

cant go into this problem here.

CentralA

ssemblyi

scompo

sedofre

voca-

ble de

legates,

elected

bythe

General

Assemblies

ofgiven

enterpri

ses,byt

he

General Assem

bliesof

RuralCo

mmunes,

andbyth

eGeneralAss

emblies

ofprofes

-

sionalgr

oupings.

MOST D

ELEGATES

WOULD REMA

IN AT

WORK.

(Rotating

minority

mightensure

continuit

y. Noon

emakesa

professio

nout

ofrepres

entingot

hers.)

CentralA

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ouldmee

tfortwo

days

eachwee

k(orforo

neweeke

achmon

th).

Delegate

sreportb

ackregul

arly(say,

oncea

month)to

General

Assembli

eswhich

elect-

edthem.

Central A

ssemblyelectsi

tsownC

ouncil.

(Alternati

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ersofth

e

CentralA

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ight,inrotatio

n,consti-

tutetheC

ouncilof

theCentra

lAssembly,all

members

beinginv

olvedats

omestageor

other.)


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Workers Councils and the Economics of Self Managed Society Castoriadis

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