In Venezuela, instead of a frontal attack against the old administrational and bureaucratic machinery, parallel structures were created to perform the tasks that the traditional apparatus was unfit to solve. These new, parallel structures mainly organized from below manage the social, health-care and educational programs of the Chávez-government that received much international attention. The resources and authorities of these parallels are, however, limited that delays the solution of many urgent problems and hinders the progress toward a direct democracy.

The article analyzes the steps the Venezuelan working-class movement has made towards the workers' self-management since Chávez came to power. It introduces the struggle between the old trade unions and their new, more spontaneous counterparts, and the various theoretical and pragmatic results of self-management. It emphasizes at the same time that the process is far from being over: the Venezuelan "revolution" may have a few surprises in store.

Table of contents

1. Szigeti Péter, Tanay Marcell, Alpár Róbert, Benyik Mátyás : Reflexions to the 3rd European Social Forumról (London, 15-18 October 2004)
2. Szigeti Péter : Towards the 4th social pilar of the EU
3. Vastagh Pál : On the EU Constitutional Treaty through Hungarian eyes
4. Lóránt Károly : The EU Constitutional Treaty
5. Vincze Hajnalka : Security and defence policy reforms in the Constitutional Treaty
6. Gerald Epstein : Power of the central banks
7. Eric Toussaint : The World Bank and the IMF in the service of dictatorships
8. Farkas Péter : A very decent discussion paper for the developing world
9. Tütő László : Haves and have-nots Part 1
10. John Lea : Crime as governance
11. Sonja Buckel : Autonomy and violence
12. Simon Paulenz : Unjust justice
13. Ursula Flossmann, Bernd Piringer : Free player of the law
14. Konok Péter : On the margins of an unclosable dispute
15. Krausz Tamás : Reflections to the current debate on socialism
16. Deák Barna : To the leftwing critique of the Soviet experience
17. Védegylet Oktatáspolitikai Műhely : Is the school flunking?

In possession of information describing the specific condition of society and the appropriate methodological instruments we can (according to the author) describe mathematically (that is verifying or falsifying) whether a communist community would become a stable model. The final proof, naturally can only be the existence of such a community.