Pamphlet: The Period of Transition

We are publishing here texts from the ICC's 1981 pamphlet The Period of Transition from Capitalism to Socialism: The withering-away of the state in marxist theory. Details of all our pamphlets and how to order them can be found here 

        ​CONTENTS

• The Period of Transition - Preface
• The Period of Transition - Introduction
  
  BASIC TEXTS
   
• Basic Texts 1: THESES ON THE NATURE OF THE STATE AND THE PROLETARIAN REVOLUTION (1946)
  (Gauche Communiste de France, 1946, Internationalisme. Written after the (second world) war and based on a critical reappraisal of the Russian experience, this text questions the traditional concept of a 'workers' state' and defends the need for the autonomy of the proletariat in defense of its class interests during the period of transition.

• Basic Texts 2: THE STATE, THE PROLETARIAN REVOLUTION AND THE CONTENT OF SOCIALISM (1972)
  Written for a conference in 1972, this excerpt from a longer article argues against the previous text considering that "the need  for vigilance in relation to the state" is "tainted with anarchism or in any case the result of a too subjective analysis of the counter-revolution."
   
• Basic Texts 3: PROBLEMS OF THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION (1972-73)
  A summary of the organisation's thinking in 1972-3 on the general historical framework of the period of transition: the political and material (1) problems which could arise in this unstable, complex and often contradictory society.

• Basic Texts 4: PROBLEMS OF THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION (April 1975)
  A text presented at  the 1975 International Conference; it tries to distinguish the nature of different periods of transition in history and defends the thesis whereby "the proletariat, whilst making use of the (post-insurrectionary) state, expresses its dictatorship OVER the state." It also gives in broad outline some economic measures. 
   
• Basic Texts 5: PROBLEMS OF THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION (December 1974)
  Also a contribution to the 1975 International Conference, this text takes a new look at passages from Marx and Engels, and criticises the position which refuses to identify the dictatorship of the proletariat and the state. 
   
• Basic Texts 6: STATE AND DICTATORSHIP
  This article also refuses the warnings against the state in the period of transition, positing that the state is necessarily revolutionary if the class using it is; it does not accept the position that the state-proletariat identification contributed to the degeneration in Russia.

• Basic Texts 7: THE STATE AND THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT
  This text deals with the class-state relation as it has been dealt with in the workers' movement to show that the ICC's position (the non-indentification of the proletariat and its goal - socialism - with the 'semi-state' of the period of transition) is based on the experience of struggles and is not an 'invention' of the ICC.
  
  INTERNAL DOCUMENTS
   
• Internal Documents a) DEFINING THE FRAMEWORK OF OUR DEBATES
  This contribution takes up the elements of the problem through marxist writings and defends the position that the proletariat, not being an exploiting class, cannot create socialism by dissolving itself into the state.
   
• Internal Documents b) WHO WILL DOMINATE THE ECONOMY?
  Disagreeing with the previous text, this contribution defends the idea that the working class will be a ruling class just like any other in history, including on the economic level.
   
• Internal Documents c) POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DOMINATION IN THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION
  In answer to the previous text, it attempts to define the framework for the economic policies of the proletariat and shows the limits of the workers' freedom of action in the period of transition.
   
• Internal Documents d) CLASS AND STATE IN THE PROLETARIAN DICTATORSHIP
  This contribution considers the state in the period of transition as a socialist expression of the proletariat and rejects the need for any vigilance in regard to the state.
   
• Internal Documents e) CLASS AND STATE IN THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT
  This intervention, contrary to the previous one, asserts the need for a clear distinction between the revolutionary organs of the working class - the workers' councils - and the state which remains essentially a conservative force.
   
• Internal Documents f) THE STATE IN THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION
  This text deals with the nature and origins of the state in history on the basis of Engels' study; it concludes that the state need not pose any dangerous problems for the proletariat in the period of transition.
   
• Internal Documents g) THE ORIGINS OF THE STATE AND ALL THAT
  An answer to the previous text, this contribution tries to explain the complex relation between society and state, between a ruling class and the state, defending the idea that even the semi-state of the period of transition will retain anti-socialist features common to all states.
   
• Internal Documents h) A REPLY TO CERTAIN CRITICISMS
  This contribution summarises the debate up to 1977 and defends what by then had become the 'majority' position in the ICC - that is, that the proletariat while using the state in the period of transition, must protect its class autonomy.
   
• Internal Documents i) DRAFT RESOLUTION ON THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION
  Proposed at the IInd Congress of the ICC in 1977.
   
• Internal Documents j) COUNTER-RESOLUTION ON THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION
  Also proposed at the IInd Congress of the ICC in 1977.
   
• Internal Documents k) RESOLUTION ACCEPTED AT THE IIIrd CONGRESS OF THE ICC (1979)
  Adopted at the IIIrd Congress of the ICC in 1979.
  
  (1) For an article criticising the 'work coupon' system, see Revolution Internationale No 8.