Austria

THE AUSTRIAN LEFT, consisting of the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SDAP until 1934, SPO since 1945) and a fringe communist party (KPO), is intriguing because it calls into question the facile polarities of political terminology such as left versus right, working class versus middle class, and revolutionary versus reformist. In many ways, the Austrian left is somewhat of a paradox.

Rooted in the working-class movement of the 19th century, the SDAP/SPO has produced prominent leaders primarily from middle-class and often Jewish origin. Influenced by revolutionary Marxism, the SDAP/SPO has always been inspired by a strong ethical, democratic, and humanitarian spirit. At various junctures in its past, the Austrian left has found itself as a reformist movement with revolutionary pretensions (SDAP from 1889–1918), an establishment force defending the status quo (SDAP from 1918–34 and SPO from 1945 until today), and an outlawed party forced into exile and resistance (SDAP and KPO from 1934–45). Perhaps the best way to describe the Austrian left is a political movement dominated by the SDAP/SPO that has constantly negotiated a middle course between absolute [Page 42]political and economic ideals such as individualism versus collectivism, capitalism versus communism, and nationalism versus internationalism. In its efforts to forge an “Austro-reformist” or “third way” approach to past and contemporary problems, the SPO is sustained by its commitment to unity (the reason why the KPO has been a marginal force in Austrian politics) and its pragmatic orientation.

The capable leader and middle-class Jewish doctor Victor Adler founded the SDAP in 1889. Under Adler's stewardship, the SDAP placed a premium on party unity and organization, combining a revolutionary rhetoric with reformist actions or simply a revisionist Marxism. The SDAP led a successful campaign to institute universal male suffrage for parliamentary elections in 1905 and later extended the vote for women in 1919. Intellectuals such as Karl Renner and Otto Bauer have made important contributions to 20th-century socialist thought, which some scholars have identified as “Austro-Marxism.” Theorizing on the role of nationality within culturally diverse political realms, Renner advocated for cultural autonomy of ethnic groups within a supra-national state, while Bauer envisioned the peaceful coexistence of national cultures in a united states of Europe. Bauer, who emphasized the party's Marxist orientation and its class-based politics, was the SDAP's most influential personality during the political turbulence of the 1920s and 1930s as Austria's fledgling First Republic (1919–34) set up by the SDAP crumbled under the onslaught of right-wing reactionary and fascist movements.

The shining light of these years was the municipal socialism of Red Vienna, which led to the construction of workers’ apartments, hospitals, parks, schools, and recreational centers. Renner steered the party toward reformism by joining in coalition governments with bourgeois parties in the 1940s and 1950s in order to erect a social welfare state. Renner also moved the party beyond its working-class base to include middle-class salaried employees, culminating with the 1958 party program which heralded Austrian socialism as “the party of all those who work for a living.” The 1960s was a period of malaise for the SPO until the ascension to power of a man of international stature, Bruno Kreisky. Kreisky rejuvenated the SPO by paying lip service to lofty socialist ideals of a classless society while governing from the center as Austria's prime minister from 1971–83, when the SPO enjoyed an absolute majority in parliament. The Kreisky governments placed great emphasis on quality-of-life issues such as education and the environment while aiming for greater economic performance and full employment. Franz Vranitzky—the first party chairman of working-class background (although he made a career as a banker)—led the SPO as party leader and prime minister in the 1980s and 1990s. Vranitzky embraced the privatization of state-owned industries amid complaints that the party became dominated by technocrats and a form of “pinstripe socialism.”

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