Introduction
Eduard Bernstein was born in 1850 in Schöneberg, the second child of a Jewish locomotive driver from Danzig (Gdańsk). A gifted student from an early age, he attended Gymnasium until forced to leave at 16 due to his family’s poor financial circumstances. From 1866 to 1878, Bernstein worked as a bank clerk in Berlin, during which time he became increasingly active in the German workers’ movement. He joined the “Eisenacher” Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei (SDAP, Social-Democratic Workers’ Party) led by August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht in 1872. Soon after, Bernstein had his first opportunity to shape the ideological direction of German socialism when he assisted Bebel and Liebknecht in the preparation of the 1875 Gotha Programme, which united the “Eisenacher” faction with the “Lassallean” Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein (ADAV, General German Workers’ Association) to form the Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands (SAP, Socialist Workers’ Party of Germany).
With...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Angel P (1961) Eduard Bernstein et l’évolution du socialisme allemand. Didier, Paris
Bernstein E (1993) The preconditions of socialism, Henry Tudor (ed.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Gay P (1952) Dilemma of democratic socialism: Eduard Bernstein’s challenge to Marx. Columbia University Press, New York
Grebing H (1977) Der Revisionismus: Von Bernstein bis zum ‘Prager Frühling’. Beck, Munich
Gustafsson B (1972) Marxismus und Revisionismus: Eduard Bernsteins Kritik des Marxismus und ihre ideengeschichtlichen Voraussetzungen. Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Frankfurt
Heimann H, Meyer T (eds) (1978) Bernstein und der Demokratische Sozialismus. Dietz, Berlin
Meyer T (1977) Bernsteins konstruktiver Sozialismus. Dietz, Berlin
Ostrowski MS (ed) (2018– ) Eduard Bernstein collected works. Palgrave Macmillan, several volumes
Steger MB (1997) The quest for evolutionary socialism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Tudor H, Tudor JM (eds) (1988) Marxism and Social Democracy: The Revisionist Debate 1896–1898. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Ostrowski, M.S. (2021). Bernstein, Eduard. In: Sellers, M., Kirste, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_902-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_902-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6730-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6730-0
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Law and CriminologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences