Well Bakunin would say that sort of thing, wouldn't he. Presumably, he was referring to Marx & Engels' support for German unification, which even when conducted under the auspices of a conservative like Bismarck, they regarded as a progressive thing, because a united Germany would industrialize more quickly, resulting in an expanding industrial proletariat which would carry more weight within German society. A united Germany would also counterbalance the the influence of both Russia and Great Britain, which Marx & Engels regarded as the twin pillars of reaction in Europe.
I wonder what Bakunin's take on the US Civil War was. The French anarchist Proudhon supported the Confederate side (since he was sympathetic with the states rights argument) whereas Marx & Engels were staunch supporters of Lincoln.
Jim F.
-- Chris Doss <lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com> wrote:
I've been reading a bit of Bakunin lately (where he argues that Marx and Engels are really classic German chauvinists with a shiny ideology) and am getting suspicious that there may be something incoherent about the idea of an internationalism of people who are One of Us.
--- On Wed, 1/21/09, andie nachgeborenen <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com> wrote:
> From: andie nachgeborenen <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] How Politics Ruined My Life: Was Fuck Hope
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 1:36 AM
> And E.P. Thompson's scathing take off on this piece,
> "Outside the Whale, in The Poverty of Theory (that
> essay is an attack on Althusser, if anybody still cares).
> You want Englishness that is both provincially proud and
> genuinely internationalist, go read EPT, a writer just as
> good, in a different way, as Orwell, and much more One Of
> Us. He runs the serious dangers of being subject to the
> enormous condescension of history from which he sought to
> rescue the English working class. That woukd be a shame and
> a loss.
>
>
___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
____________________________________________________________ Internet Security Software - Click here. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw1a6OXkuyKlnbgg65y1vcUJxBzsASciEPIMF7OGqzTfaBLrX/