History of ideas and ideologies |
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This research project examines the origins of the intellectual tradition of social democracy, focusing on ‘reformist’ and ‘ethical’ socialist political thought in late-Wilhelmine and Weimar Germany. This strand of socialism, which uses moral critiques of capitalist society to argue for the transition to socialism, has often been unfairly neglected. It is usually reduced to a synonym for ‘revisionist’ Marxism, and its significance is downplayed relative to other canons of left thought: Western Marxism, Marxism-Leninism, and social liberalism.
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This project redresses both areas of neglect. It redirects the focus of intellectual historians onto the wider network of early-20th-century social-democratic thinkers, and seeks to show how these thinkers engaged with more familiar currents of left thought, above all the Frankfurt School, Austromarxism, and left-communism. Its main output is a multi-volume series of translations of the later writings of the foundational social-democratic thinker Eduard Bernstein. Overall, the project aims to restore this early current of social democracy to prominence, not just as a rich ideological tradition in its own right, but also as a source of insights for the problems of contemporary society.
Eduard Bernstein on Socialism Past and Present: Essays and Lectures on Ideology
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This book presents six major texts and selected shorter writings by the social-democratic thinker and politician Eduard Bernstein, translated into English for the first time. Written over the period 1893 to 1931, these works focus on socialism as an ideology, and trace debates about ethics, social science, and class struggle that preoccupied the early-20th-century socialist movement. Bernstein carefully demarcates the boundaries between socialism and its ideological rivals, contrasting its communitarian aspirations with individualistic liberalism and anarchism, and its adherence to democratic methods with the totalitarian violence of communism and fascism. He revisits the intellectual canon of socialist thought, recentring contributions by Ferdinand Lassalle, Karl Rodbertus, and other neglected figures alongside those of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Urging socialists to seize the opportunities afforded by their growing political representation, Bernstein addresses the strategies needed to achieve progressive policy reforms, including the prospects for realising socialism with the foundation of the Weimar Republic.
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Reviews
‘In this illuminating collection, Marius Ostrowski brings together several essays by Eduard Bernstein, spanning a forty-year period of activity and addressing the question of “what is socialism”. At a time of renewed reflection on the foundation and value of social democracy, engaging with the thought of one of its founding fathers will be immeasurably valuable for both supporters and critics.’ — Lea Ypi, London School of Economics
‘During his long life, Eduard Bernstein made a contribution of great significance to both the theoretical and political development of the left, emerging as a founding figure of European social democracy. In this splendid volume, Marius Ostrowski presents Bernstein’s writing in its full richness and complexity, bringing together his lucid translations into English of some of the major theoretical works published by Bernstein during the years of the Weimar Republic. This book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the development of the socialist tradition during a period of great political turmoil, and gives us a three-dimensional understanding of Bernstein’s contributions to socialism and social democracy.’ — Martin O'Neill, University of York
‘During his long life, Eduard Bernstein made a contribution of great significance to both the theoretical and political development of the left, emerging as a founding figure of European social democracy. In this splendid volume, Marius Ostrowski presents Bernstein’s writing in its full richness and complexity, bringing together his lucid translations into English of some of the major theoretical works published by Bernstein during the years of the Weimar Republic. This book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the development of the socialist tradition during a period of great political turmoil, and gives us a three-dimensional understanding of Bernstein’s contributions to socialism and social democracy.’ — Martin O'Neill, University of York
Other publications
- Eduard Bernstein on Trade Unionism and the Mass Strike: Writings on Workers’ Activism (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2026)
- (with John-Erik Hansson) Bricolage in Intellectual History: A Modular Approach (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2026)
- ‘Bernstein, Eduard’, in Mortimer Sellers and Stephan Kirste (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (Springer Netherlands, 2023)
- ‘Germanizing Shakespeare during the First World War’, in Amy Lidster and Sonia Massai (eds.), Shakespeare at War (Cambridge University Press, 2023), 111–20.
- ‘From “noble patriotism” to the “republic of peoples”: Eduard Bernstein and the “national question” in Social Democracy’, History of Political Thought 43(3) (2022), 517–54.
- ‘“Reform or revolution”, redux: Eduard Bernstein on the 1918–19 German Revolution’, Historical Research 95(268) (2022), 213–39.
- ‘Social Democracy and “positive” foreign policy: the evolution of Eduard Bernstein’s international thought, 1914–1920’, History of Political Thought 42(3) (2021), 520–64.
- Eduard Bernstein on the German Revolution: Selected Historical Writings (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019)
- ‘Eduard Bernstein and the lessons of the German Revolution’, in James Muldoon and Gaard Kets (eds.), The German Revolution and Political Theory (Palgrave Macmillan), 137–58.
- Eduard Bernstein on Social Democracy and International Politics: Essays and Other Writings (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)
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The history of the European project is filled with ‘roads not taken’: alternative proposals for European unity that lost out over the course of European integration. These roads are largely forgotten in European policymaking and European studies, yet they offer illuminating lessons and prescient warnings for Europe’s future. This project challenges the dominant narratives of Europeanisation by uncovering these ‘roads not taken’, democratic as well as totalitarian, and from a variety of national and ideological backgrounds.
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This project constructs an ideological map of the competing strands of Europeanist thought between the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Rome, with continuations to the present day. It introduces to Anglophone audiences for the first time the ideas and writings of seven French, German, and Italian thinkers who made influential contributions to Europeanist thought, including the ‘integral federalist’ philosopher Alexandre Marc and the liberal journalist Claus Schöndube. In collaboration with European thinktanks, it also leverages insights from these ‘roads not taken’ to inform policy responses to current crises in European society.
Publications
- ‘Socialism’s heart of darkness: Conceptions of “Eurafrica” and Europeanist colonialism in dissident German Social Democracy, 1916–32’, History of European Ideas 52 (forthcoming 2026).
- ‘Europeanism: A historical view’, Contemporary European History 32(2) (2023), 287–304.
- ‘Social democracy and the “Europe question”: Lessons from Weimar?’, Renewal 27(1) (2019), 41–51. Reproduced in Danish as ‘Socialdemokratisme og det europæiske spørgsmål: Læren fra Weimar’, Kritisk Debat (15 August 2020), 83–94.