Proudhon and Marx

Abstract

This is a translation from French of a speech given by Georges Gurvitch (1894–1965) originally published in Cahiers Internationaux de Sociologie in 1966 under the title ‘Proudhon et Marx’. Gurvitch, who succeeded Émile Durkheim as chair of sociology at the Sorbonne, discusses the significance of the revolutionary socialists Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865) and Karl Marx (1818–1883) for the field of sociology. In particular, Gurvitch highlights similarities in their thought such as Proudhon’s collective force and Marx’s surplus value and their shared concern for worker self-management. He argues that their mutual antipathy towards each other was rooted in personal feelings rather than in the incompatibility of their ideas, and calls for a synthesis of their ideas which would correct their errors and inspire ‘a new collectivism, neither Marxist nor Proudhonian, but surpassing both’. Lastly, Gurvitch emphasises the recurrent threat of fascism and stresses ‘decentralised collectivism’ as the only viable alternative going forward.