Abstract

This is an especially auspicious moment to reconsider the problem of organisation in Marxist theory. This is not needed for the sake of rehashing old debates about which strategy or tactic can best ‘make’ the revolution. In a century that has seen many revolutions come to power but none lead to the creation of a new society we have different reasons for exploring the problem of organisation. The question is, what kind of organisation, and what relation between organisation, spontaneity, and revolutionary theory, can best combat the tendency of new forms of oppression to emerge after the seizure of power? In other words, what role does revolutionary organisation play in the effort to envision and help work out the new human relations needed to ensure any successful transformation of society?