7 Converging from socialism
-
Gavin Rae
Abstract
Kowalik moved to the USA in 1981 and remained living abroad until 1989. He actively supported the underground Solidarity movement, defending it as a working-class movement steeped in socialist values, and opposing those from the right who tried to incorporate it into their neoliberal and/or conservative agenda. However, throughout his near decade abroad, the Polish economy stagnated, social dissatisfaction grew and the socialist system stumbled towards its ultimate demise in 1989. Meanwhile, Kowalik witnessed the entrenchment of a right-wing conservative administration in the USA, which shifted the country further away from any form of social welfare capitalism. During his time abroad, Kowalik immersed himself in Lange’s evolving ideas on socialism, which helped to lay the ground for his own proposals for reforming socialism. However, his projections (partially drawn from Kalecki and Lange) that a form of welfare capitalism would stabilise in the West and socialism democratise in the East, thus bringing these systems closer together, did not materialise. Rather, unexpectedly Kowalk had to contend with disintegrating socialism in Eastern Europe and an unstable and increasingly neoliberal form of capitalism in the West. During this time Kowalik made some lasting relationships with parts of the intellectual left in the USA, becoming a focal point for some on the American left who identified with the Solidarity trade union movement in Poland.
Abstract
Kowalik moved to the USA in 1981 and remained living abroad until 1989. He actively supported the underground Solidarity movement, defending it as a working-class movement steeped in socialist values, and opposing those from the right who tried to incorporate it into their neoliberal and/or conservative agenda. However, throughout his near decade abroad, the Polish economy stagnated, social dissatisfaction grew and the socialist system stumbled towards its ultimate demise in 1989. Meanwhile, Kowalik witnessed the entrenchment of a right-wing conservative administration in the USA, which shifted the country further away from any form of social welfare capitalism. During his time abroad, Kowalik immersed himself in Lange’s evolving ideas on socialism, which helped to lay the ground for his own proposals for reforming socialism. However, his projections (partially drawn from Kalecki and Lange) that a form of welfare capitalism would stabilise in the West and socialism democratise in the East, thus bringing these systems closer together, did not materialise. Rather, unexpectedly Kowalk had to contend with disintegrating socialism in Eastern Europe and an unstable and increasingly neoliberal form of capitalism in the West. During this time Kowalik made some lasting relationships with parts of the intellectual left in the USA, becoming a focal point for some on the American left who identified with the Solidarity trade union movement in Poland.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Preface viii
- Acknowledgements xi
- List of abbreviations xii
- Introduction 1
- 1 A tragic advance 18
- 2 Socialist pluralism 33
- 3 Krzywicki and friends 60
- 4 The political and intellectual ferment after 1956 76
- 5 Luxemburg, Kalecki and the crucial reform of capitalism 92
- 6 Flying to Gdańsk 107
- 7 Converging from socialism 129
- 8 The shock of betrayal 146
- 9 Varieties of capitalism 165
- 10 No left turn 180
- 11 Back to the future 196
- Afterword 214
- Index 218
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Preface viii
- Acknowledgements xi
- List of abbreviations xii
- Introduction 1
- 1 A tragic advance 18
- 2 Socialist pluralism 33
- 3 Krzywicki and friends 60
- 4 The political and intellectual ferment after 1956 76
- 5 Luxemburg, Kalecki and the crucial reform of capitalism 92
- 6 Flying to Gdańsk 107
- 7 Converging from socialism 129
- 8 The shock of betrayal 146
- 9 Varieties of capitalism 165
- 10 No left turn 180
- 11 Back to the future 196
- Afterword 214
- Index 218
