Class
Theory and History:
Capitalism and Communism in the USSR
Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff
Class
Theory and History
takes an ambitious and ground-breaking look at the entire history of the Soviet
Union
and presents a new kind of analysis of the history of the USSR:
examining its birth, evolution, and death in class terms. Utilizing the
class analytics they have developed over the last three decades, Resnick
and Wolff formulate the most fully developed economic theory of communism
now available, and use that theory to answer the question: did communism
ever exist in the USSR and if so, where, why and for how long? Their initial,
and controversial, conclusion: Soviet industry never
established a communist class structure. This conclusion then leads to
the hypothesis that the twentieth century’s defining struggle was not between
communism in the USSR
and capitalism in the United
States,
but rather between their respective state and private capitalisms. Combining
class theory and Soviet history, the book yields key lessons for the future
of private capitalism, state capitalism and communism.
“A
very ambitious and interesting book on a very important topic.”
—Howard
Sherman, author of Reinventing Marxism
“Using
a version of Marx's theory of class to explain the rise and fall of the Soviet
Union,
and the Soviet
Union
as evidence for the validity of this theory, Resnick and Wolff succeed
in providing us with an original and fascinating account of both.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with their results, no future work on either
of these important subjects will be able to ignore the sheer creative verve
and intellectual rigor with which they lay out their arguments. Very
highly recommended.”
—Bertell
Ollman, editor of Market Socialism: The Debate
Among Socialists
“A
stunning achievement!
Resnick and Wolff have extended their path breaking work in Knowledge and
Class to a full-fledged class analysis of the rise and fall of the Soviet
Union.
Building on the clearest analysis of class in the Marxian tradition, Resnick
and Wolff provide a comprehensive analysis of the core contradictions in
pre-Soviet Russia
and the Soviet
Union.
This is a work that all those concerned with the Soviet experience, the
nature of class, and the possibilities of fundamental social change will
have to contend with.”
—Victor
D. Lippit, editor of Radical Political Economy: Explorations in Alternative
Economic Analysis
“Class
Theory and History both follows in the best Marxian tradition's footsteps
and develops new important insights.Building
upon a notion of class whose pivot is the production and distribution of
surplus, the authors offer a stimulating and original interpretation of
the USSR's
birth, development, and fall.This
is class analysis at its best, a work which,
deserves the widest circulation.”
—Guglielmo
Carchedi author of For Another Europe: A
Class Analysis of European Economic Integration
Table
of Contents:
Introduction
PART I.
COMMUNISM
1.A
General Class Theory
2.The
Many Forms of Communism
PART II.
STATE CAPITALISM
3.A
Class Theory of State Capitalism
4.
Debates over State Capitalism
PART III.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE USSR
5.Class
Structures and Tensions Before 1917
6.Revolution,
War Communism, and the Aftermath
7.
Revolution, Class, and the Soviet Household
8.
The New Economic Policies of the 1920s
9.The
Transformations of the 1930s
10.Class
Contradictions and the Collapse
References
Published by ROUTLEDGE
HB
ISBN: 0-415-93317-X $ 85.00 [Can.
$128.00]
PB
ISBN: 0-415-93318-8 $ 24.95 [Can.
$37.95]
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