Correspondence Publishing Committee - Facing Reality

The most important contribution of this group was the publication of the book, Facing Reality. It analyzed the implications of the October 1956 revolt in Hungary against Stalinist rule. The nature of the contribution by Cornelius Castoriadis is complex because he apparently did not have an opportunity to examine the manuscript before it went to press. The book argued that the example of Hungary demonstrated that modern society was shifting towards confrontation between workers' councils and bureaucratic institutions. Therefore, organizations such as Correspondence were needed. It also included a defense of the role of revolutionary newspapers, such as the one published by Correspondence. There was also analysis of the radical potential of anti-colonial movements such as the Gold Coast nationalist movement that had emerged in what is now Ghana. Attention was paid to the role of Kwame Nkrumah. The book was sharply criticized by Raya Dunayevskaya.