Making of Council Democracy

Babak Amini is a lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia. He is the co-editor of “Classical Sociology and the First World War” (Journal of Classical Sociology, 2024) and Routledge Handbook of Marx’s Capital: A Global History of Translation, Dissemination and Reception (Routledge, 2025).

• Chapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: The Making of the “Council Democratic” Movement in GermanyChapter 3: The Making of the “Council Democratic” Movement in ItalyChapter 4: War Mobilization in the United Kingdom and FranceChapter 5: The Making of “Council Democracy” in a Comparative PerspectiveChapter 6: Conclusion

“The Making of Council Democracy is an essential account of council movements in Germany and Italy in the First World War era. Applying an astute interplay of theory and practice, Babak Amini brilliantly synthesizes the potential of council democracy with systematic clarity and historical precision. Everyone devoted to the study of council democracy must read this book.” - Professor Immanuel Ness, City University of New York“Babak Amini looks at the Italian and German council movements in the context of state transformations during WWI that paved their way. Well written and based on a solid Marxist analysis the book is an extremely valuable contribution to the study of council democracy and a refreshing read.” - Dr Dario Azzellini, Autonomous University of Zacatecas“Amini sets a new standard for scholarship on council democracy, offering a fine-grained comparative assessment of council democratic movements in Germany and Italy at the end of the First World War. This outstanding book sheds new light on this important historical period and revises some of our traditional understandings of these movements.” - Dr James Muldoon, University of Essex