1st Edition
The Making of Council Democracy State Transformation and Radical Possibilities
“Council democracy” is a particular form of democratic socialism that strives towards democratic self-governance on the basis of active, free, and associated individuals working cooperatively within a federated council system. Both in political practice and in social theory, “council democracy” has resurfaced periodically in the past, most notably in the interwar period, in the “long 1960s,” and since the turn of the 21st century. This book offers a novel theoretical and methodological approach to the study of “council democracy.” It focuses on the processes that led to the emergence of two of the foundational and most radical instances of “council democratic” movements in Germany during the German Revolution (1918-1919) and in Italy during the biennio rosso (1919-1920). With all their diversities, ambiguities, and shortcomings, these movements, in varying degrees, sought democratic alternatives to autocratic relations, from local to state levels, and to economic relations, from workplace to national levels. The book shows how the processes through which state-led war mobilization transformed the contours of class struggle laid the ground for the emergence of “council democratic” movements with specific characteristics in Germany and Italy and not in the United Kingdom and France.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Making of the “Council Democratic” Movement in Germany
Chapter 3: The Making of the “Council Democratic” Movement in Italy
Chapter 4: War Mobilization in the United Kingdom and France
Chapter 5: The Making of “Council Democracy” in a Comparative Perspective
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Biography
Babak Amini is a lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia. He is the co-editor of “Classical Sociology and the First World War” (Journal of Classical Sociology, 2024) and Routledge Handbook of Marx’s Capital: A Global History of Translation, Dissemination and Reception (Routledge, 2025).
“The Making of Council Democracy is an essential account of council movements in Germany and Italy in the First World War era. Applying an astute interplay of theory and practice, Babak Amini brilliantly synthesizes the potential of council democracy with systematic clarity and historical precision. Everyone devoted to the study of council democracy must read this book.” - Professor Immanuel Ness, City University of New York
“Babak Amini looks at the Italian and German council movements in the context of state transformations during WWI that paved their way. Well written and based on a solid Marxist analysis the book is an extremely valuable contribution to the study of council democracy and a refreshing read.” - Dr Dario Azzellini, Autonomous University of Zacatecas
“Amini sets a new standard for scholarship on council democracy, offering a fine-grained comparative assessment of council democratic movements in Germany and Italy at the end of the First World War. This outstanding book sheds new light on this important historical period and revises some of our traditional understandings of these movements.” - Dr James Muldoon, University of Essex
