Reform, Revolution, and Opportunism: Debates in the Second International, 19001910
English
An essential record from the Second International, expertly curated by Under the Socialist Banner editor Mike Taber.
At its height, the Second International (1889-1916) represented the majority of organized workers in the world, and the largest of its affiliated parties counted over a million members. Its congresses drew delegates from across the globe, and its major victorieslike the eight-hour work dayhave long outlasted the organization itself.
In this important collection of debates and resolutions from the Second International, Reform, Revolution, and Opportunism captures the Internationals vibrancy and gives a snapshot of its strengths, weaknesses, and contradictions. Socialist militants turned to the Second International to deliberate on how best to combat the latest deprivations and excesses of capitalism, which was stretching beyond national boundaries for the first time. These new issues and the debates about how to respond to themsurging immigration; what to say about colonialism; how to relate to burgeoning struggles for womens rights; the drive to intern-imperialist warremain deeply contested over a hundred years later.
Taken together with Under the Socialist Banner, Reform Revolution, and Opportunism offers a rounded view of the Second International and its legacy, showing it to be a living, breathing movement with crucial insights for contemporary radicals.