Australian Left Review
Article Title
The State and Australian Socialism
Abstract
Many discussions on theoretical questions are as tedious as the TV repeats over the holiday season. Let us hope we can make the discussions on the state now proceeding something more than a re-run of classical situations and past controversies. The issue has arisen again in connection with “ eurocommunism” , the dropping of “ the dictatorship of the proletariat” by the French Communist Party, the possibility of a left government resulting from the impending French elections and the political crisis in Italy. Many articles and pamphlets have appeared* and at le a s t two b o ok s: Eurocommunism and the State by the Communist Party of Spain’s secretary, Santiago Carrillo , and On the Dictatorship of the Proletariat by Etienne Balibar , a member o f the Communist Party of France. Unfortunately, only the latter is available in Australia at the time of writing.