Theses on Hope and Hopelessness In Krytyka, No. 5-6 (151-152), 2010, pp. 42-47.

In an article dated 1971, the author argues against the claim that the socialist form of government can only be changed through a one-time total destruction. He conducts a systematic analysis of the characteristics of bureaucratic socialism, highlighting a number of contradictions: for example, the incessant demand for radical ideological transformation, which is opposed by the impossibility of abandoning the Stalinist-Leninist ideological legacy; the simultaneous processes of weakening and, at the same time, strengthening the dependence of national societies on the ruling apparatus; as well as other structural tensions that block self-reflection and innovation. The author rejects apocalyptic scenarios as the only mechanism for social change and argues that bureaucratic socialism can be overcome through a reformist strategy that will bring about both social and national liberation through gradual change. In his opinion, such a reformist approach is capable of creating conditions for the transformation of institutions and social relations without resorting to the violent “total” destruction of existing structures.