Council communists (US organization)
Encyclopedia
In 1934 a group of left communists within the IWW
joined with a dissident faction of the Proletarian Party to form the United Workers Party. The group soon changed its name to Groups of Council Communists or simply the Council Communists.
Originally based in Chicago, the groups main activity was producing its journal International Council Correspondence
, which was called Living Marxism when the group transferred to New York in 1938 and New Essays in its final issues in 1943. The group published published important articles by Paul Mattick
, Anton Pannekoek, Karl Korsch
and the first English translation of Rosa Luxembourgs Marxism or Leninism. Its most important original work may have been The Inevitability of Communism by Paul Mattick, the first book length critique of Sidney Hook
s Karl Marx: a revolutionary interpretation. Hook thought the work important enough to attempt to get it published by a mainstream publisher.
The periodical, which was originally produced with voluntary labor, increased readership inversely to the growth of membership in the organization.The journal gained readers as the group lost members. Shortly after the entry of the US into the Second World War interest in radicalism began to fade. When the cost of producing the journal became too expensive to accommodate its circulation the group was dissolved and the periodical folded.
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
joined with a dissident faction of the Proletarian Party to form the United Workers Party. The group soon changed its name to Groups of Council Communists or simply the Council Communists.
Originally based in Chicago, the groups main activity was producing its journal International Council Correspondence
International Council Correspondence
The International Council Correspondence was a council communist magazine published in Chicago from 1934 to 1943. In 1938, it changed its name to Living Marxism and again to New Essays in 1942....
, which was called Living Marxism when the group transferred to New York in 1938 and New Essays in its final issues in 1943. The group published published important articles by Paul Mattick
Paul Mattick
Paul Mattick Sr. was a Marxist political writer and social revolutionary, whose thought can be placed within the council communist and left communist traditions...
, Anton Pannekoek, Karl Korsch
Karl Korsch
-Biography:Korsch was born in Tostedt, near Hamburg, to Carl August Korsch, a secretary at the cantonal court and his wife Therese. In 1898 the family moved to Meiningen, Thuringia and Korsch senior attained the position of a managing clerk in a bank...
and the first English translation of Rosa Luxembourgs Marxism or Leninism. Its most important original work may have been The Inevitability of Communism by Paul Mattick, the first book length critique of Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook was an American pragmatic philosopher known for his contributions to public debates.A student of John Dewey, Hook continued to examine the philosophy of history, of education, politics, and of ethics. After embracing Marxism in his youth, Hook was known for his criticisms of...
s Karl Marx: a revolutionary interpretation. Hook thought the work important enough to attempt to get it published by a mainstream publisher.
The periodical, which was originally produced with voluntary labor, increased readership inversely to the growth of membership in the organization.The journal gained readers as the group lost members. Shortly after the entry of the US into the Second World War interest in radicalism began to fade. When the cost of producing the journal became too expensive to accommodate its circulation the group was dissolved and the periodical folded.
Pamphlets
- World-wide fascism or world revolution? Manifesto and program of the United Workers Party of America. Chicago: United Workers Party, 1934
- Bolshevism or communism : on the question of a new communist party and the "Fourth" International Chicago: The Party, 1934
- What next for the American workers? Chicago: United Workers Party, 1934
External links
- Leninism or Marxism by Rosa Luxemburg first published in English by this group. Reprinted in pamphlet form by Anti-Parliamentary Communist FederationAnti-Parliamentary Communist FederationThe Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation was a communist group in the Britain. It was founded by the group around Guy Aldred's Spur newspaper - mostly former Communist League members - in 1921...
- Comprehensive index of issues of ICC, with links to selected articles