The Illusion of State Socialism and the Contradiction between Wage Labor and Capital

by cominsitu

by Wolfgang Müller and Christel Neusüss (1970)

The following article provides a synopsis of different versions of the revisionist theory of the state, and of its immanent tendencies. Further, it outlines a critique of the establishment of income distribution as an autonomous sphere, independent of production, and of the way state socialism is presented as carrying out its specific functions, as Marx indicated by means of the Factory Legislation. Only on the basis of these preliminary considerations it is possible to relate the concrete manifestations of the state’s social and political-economic functions to the process of capital realization and its contradictory development. Although this deals with revisionist theories of the state, it is not an actual analysis of contemporary state socialism. Thus, the historical and material conditions within which the illusion of state socialism has come about are only touched upon. The history of theory is generally kept separate from the history of capital. Yet, it is necessary to critically evaluate the revisionist theorists’ reification of the state —or rather, of income distribution—as a preliminary analytical step. . . [READ PDF]

• First published in Sozialistische Politik 6-7 1970; Reprinted in Probleme des Klassenkampfs 1 1971; Translated in Telos 25 Fall 1975

On the “State derivation debate” see:

• Elmar Altvater and Jürgen Hoffmann, “The West German State Derivation Debate: The Relation between Economy and Politics as a Problem of Marxist State Theory” (1990)
• Simon Clarke (ed.) The State Debate  (1981)
• Holloway and Piccoto (ed.) State and Capital: A Marxist Debate (1979)
• Johannes Agnoli, Der Staat des Kapitals (1978)