Karl Kautsky

Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theorist. A leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Second International, Kautsky advocated orthodox Marxism, which emphasized the scientific, materialist, and determinist character of Karl Marx's work. This interpretation dominated European Marxism for two decades, from the death of Friedrich Engels in 1895 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Born in Prague, Kautsky studied at the University of Vienna. In 1875, he joined the Social Democratic Party of Austria, and from 1883 founded and edited the influential socialist journal ''Die Neue Zeit''. From 1885 to 1890, he lived in London, where he worked with Engels. In Germany, he became active in the SPD and wrote the theory section of the party's Erfurt Program (1891), which became a major influence on other European socialist parties. He briefly left in 1917 to join the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) because of his opposition to the increasing collaboration of the SPD with the war effort, but rejoined in 1922. By the 1930s, his influence and involvement in politics was dwindling, and he died in Amsterdam in 1938.

Kautsky's interpretation of Marxism held that history could not be "hurried", and that politically workers and workers' parties must wait for the material economic conditions for a socialist revolution to be met. Under his influence, the SPD adopted a gradualist approach, taking advantage of bourgeois parliamentary democracy to improve the lives of workers until capitalism was brought down by its internal contradictions. His positions led to disputes with other leading Marxists, including Eduard Bernstein, who favored a reformist approach; Rosa Luxemburg, who advocated revolutionary spontaneity; and Vladimir Lenin, who Kautsky believed had initiated a premature socialist revolution in Russia in 1917 and led the Soviet Union toward a dictatorship. Provided by Wikipedia
Showing 1 - 14 results of 14 for search 'Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938', query time: 0.09s Refine Results
  1. 1
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1905
    Berlin : Buchhandlung Vorwärts, 1905.
    63 p.
  2. 2
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1906
    Berlin : Buchhandlung Vorwärts, 1906.
    63 p.
  3. 3
    Tu di wen ti
    土地問題
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1937
    Shanghai : Shang wu yin shu guan, Minguo 26 [1937]
    2 v.
  4. 4
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1919
    Stuttgart : Dietz, 1919.
    xx, 252 p.
  5. 5
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1975
    Belfast : Athol Books, 1975.
    xii, 60 p.
  6. 6
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1910
    Berlin : Buchhandlung Vorwärts, 1910.
    63 p.
  7. 7
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1916
    Chicago : C.H. Kerr & Co., 1916.
    189 p. ; 18 cm.
  8. 8
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1916
    Berlin, 1916.
    40 S. ; 8.
  9. 9
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1934
    İstanbul : Gazete Matbaa Kütüphane, 1934.
    236, [4] p. ; 19 cm.
  10. 10
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1934
    İstanbul : Gazete Matbaa Kütüphane, 1934.
    1 online resource (236, [4] pages)
    Center for Research Libraries
    Online Resource
  11. 11
    by Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938
    Published 1905
    Stuttgart : Dietz, 1905.
    xx, 262 p.
  12. 12
    by Waldenberg, Marek
    Published 1976
    Warszawa : Wiedza Powszechna, 1976.
    276 p. ; 19 cm.
    Other Authors: ...Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938...
  13. 13
    [Stuttgart : I. H. W. Dietz,
    v.
    Other Authors: ...Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938...
  14. 14
    Published 1930
    Berlin : Dietz Nachfolger, 1930.
    56 p.
    Other Authors: ...Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938...

Search Tools: