Workers’ Councils

Anton Pannekoek discusses the viability of workers’ councils as an effective means of administrating a socialist society, as contrasted to the centralized doctrines of state communism or state capitalism.

Conceived as an alternative way to establish and sustain socialism, the workers councils have so far never been successfully established at a national scale. Part of the problem was disagreements among revolutionaries about their size and responsibilities; while Lenin supported the notion during the revolutionary period, the councils were phased out in favor of a centralized state, rather than diffused through the strata of society.

Pannekoek draws on history for his ideas, noting the deficiencies of previous revolutions and the major objectives a future revolution should hold. The various tasks a state of worker’s councils must accomplish, and the enemies that must be overcome – notably fascists, bourgeois elements and big business – are listed. The ultimate objective is that workers should share widely the overall power of a communist society, work and organize together to maintain and increase it.