Working group Dr. Benedikt Kautsky
The Dr. Benedikt Kautsky ( Kautsky circle for short ) is a loose association of Austrian social democratic economists that has existed since 1960 . At times it was considered a “think tank” and cadre forge for the SPÖ's trade union wing , but it always functioned primarily as an internal discussion forum.
history
The economic working group established by Franz Senghofer in the ÖGB can be seen as a forerunner of the Kautsky Circle . The actual founding date, however, is a letter from Benedikt Kautsky dated February 26, 1960, which was followed by an opening event on March 16 under his chairmanship. Due to the unexpected passing of Benedikt Kautsky on April 1st of the same year, the association bears his name.
After about ten years, the Kautsky Circle was also constituted as a regular association. Until 1983, Philipp Rieger and Eduard März acted alternately as chairmen, then Günther Chaloupek. Right from the start, the meetings of the Kautsky Circle included individual presentations, some by very prominent domestic and foreign speakers, and seminars lasting several days. The traditional focus since the 1970s has been the New Year's seminar, which has been held in very different places and environments over the years: first in union halls and later in hotels on Semmering , in Gmunden , Bad Aussee , Bad Mitterndorf , Bad Leonfelden, etc. Events of the circle is the extensive space that is given to the discussion. The egalitarian and informal character of the events is likely to be due to the influence of several prominent members of the circle who have returned from Anglo-Saxon emigration, such as Eduard März and Philipp Rieger. In order to protect the relaxed, open and confidential atmosphere of discussion, media reports are undesirable.
The treated in Kautskykreis themes reflect the basic tendencies of the economic policies of the last decades resist: from the concepts of " Planification " and on Austria's nationalized industry -building industrial policy on the impact of oil price shocks and the Reaganomics to environmental problems, by the crisis of the " New Economy " to the world financial crisis and the current national debt problem .
The speakers who have appeared in the Kautskykreis include numerous top politicians in the country, from Bruno Kreisky and Hannes Androsch to Heinz Fischer , as well as internationally renowned left-wing economists such as Maurice Dobb and Joan Robinson . The circle also invites representatives of other political orientations. For example, Wolfgang Schüssel and Erich Streissler gave a lecture at this forum. Günther Chaloupek has been chairman of the district since 1985.
At the time of the single social democratic government under Bruno Kreisky , numerous economists from the area of the chambers of labor (and thus also the Kausty district) were appointed to government and high positions in economic administration, such as Ferdinand Lacina and Oskar Grünwald . However, the circle never became a playground for ambitious people, but always remained a forum for intellectual discussion and friendly debate.
literature
- Günther Chaloupek (With contributions by Heinz Kienzl , Philipp Rieger , Robert Schediwy and Lutz Sperlich): Economic policy between worldview and practical necessity. 50 years of the Kautsky Circle as a discussion forum for economic policy 1960 - 2010 , Leykam, Graz 2011
- Fritz Klenner : Benedikt Kautsky and the working group that bears his name in: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 8 (1982), pp. 547ff.
- Peter Ulrich Lehner: 25 years of encounter in: Mitbesthung No. 6/1985, p. 18f (on the 25th anniversary)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heinz Kienzl , in: Günther Chaloupek: Economic policy between world view and practical necessity. 50 years of the Kautsky Circle as a discussion forum for economic policy 1960 - 2010 , Leykam, Graz 2011, p. 49 ff.
- ^ Robert Schediwy, in: Günther Chaloupek: Economic policy between world view and practical necessity. 50 years of the Kautsky Circle as a discussion forum for economic policy 1960 - 2010 , Leykam, Graz 2011, p. 35 ff.
- ↑ See Profil (journal) , Vol. 38 (2007), p. 96.
