Between Anti-Bureaucratism and Technocratic Democratisation: Was Oskar Lange's Socialist Theory Tightrope Walking?

Roberto Lampa

A chapter in Polish Marxism after Luxemburg, 2022, vol. 37, pp 157-171 from Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract: Lange's rejection of bureaucratic socialism can be traced throughout his works, from the very beginning to the end. Planners and economic agents have to act under mandatory rules provided by economic theory to avoid the risk of an autocratic regime detached from the people's needs. Drawing upon this premise, Walrasian theory played a pivotal role to introduce rules to tie the hands of socialist bureaucrats based on scientific, economic theory. In this sense, Lange's anti-bureaucratism and Walrasianism descended from a similar political premise. However, the coexistence of conflicting views into the same theory (such as Marxian and Walrasian theories) also implied potential risks, mainly when socialist democracy is conceived in technocratic terms and Marxian theory assimilates to natural sciences.

Keywords: Oskar Lange; socialism; Walrasian theory; Marxian theory; anti-bureaucratism; technocratic socialism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:rpeczz:s0161-723020220000037010

DOI: 10.1108/S0161-723020220000037010

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