ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the transition to socialism with the working class, the spearhead of revolution and socialism. It is also important to point out that the most important revolutions of the twentieth century–Russia, China, Cuba, Vietnam–were made in countries in which the organized proletariat was small if well organized and strategically located. Furthermore the role of the industrial proletariat and its political potential has increased because of the expansion of industrial capitalism in the Global South. Imagining such an event it is important to remember the French Revolution. It arrived as a near complete surprise and was experienced as a total transformation of society as it changed from one mode of production to another. Technological innovation would continue of course, its development based not on the need for profits or growth but on maximizing workers control over production and the quality and utility of products as well as their ecological compatibility.
