In recent years researchers addressing issues revolving around the transition to socialism have developed theories transcending the sterile antinomy of Leninist vanguardism and social democratic reformism. The purpose of this article is to explore aspects of class relations and class structure in the transition to socialism from such a nondogmatic perspective. Our thesis is that the noninsurrectionist transition to socialism in advanced capitalist democracies should be looked for in the gradual transformation of relations of control at the point of production rather than in the revolutionary ascendancy of the proletariat. This article attempts to chart this potential transformation of productive relations.
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