The Essential Trotsky (Routledge Revivals)
The Essential Trotsky (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Leon Trotsky

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-17

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 1317744861

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When Lenin died and the Russian Revolution began to devour its leaders, Trotsky survived longer than most as an exile in Mexico, until his assassination in 1940. The Essential Trotsky, first published in 1963, demonstrates the significance of this innovative and radical thinker’s contribution to the Bolshevik success, the magnetism of his personality, and also a certain tragic heroism discernible throughout his life. The History of the Russian Revolution to Brest-Litovsk was written immediately after the events it describes, when Trotsky was attending the negotiations that extracted Russia from the First World War; The Lessons of October, an answer to his opponents in 1924, matches Lenin in power of analysis; and Stalin Falsifies History, written in 1927, presents the beginning of the distorting process by which Stalin secured his position, and defeated a range of attitudes, many more benign than his own, towards the future of the Revolution. This is a fascinating reissue that will be of value to students with an interest in early-twentieth century Russia, the Russian Revolution and the writings of Trotsky more generally.

The Essential Trotsky (Routledge Revivals)
The Essential Trotsky (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Leon Trotsky

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-17

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 1317744853

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When Lenin died and the Russian Revolution began to devour its leaders, Trotsky survived longer than most as an exile in Mexico, until his assassination in 1940. The Essential Trotsky, first published in 1963, demonstrates the significance of this innovative and radical thinker’s contribution to the Bolshevik success, the magnetism of his personality, and also a certain tragic heroism discernible throughout his life. The History of the Russian Revolution to Brest-Litovsk was written immediately after the events it describes, when Trotsky was attending the negotiations that extracted Russia from the First World War; The Lessons of October, an answer to his opponents in 1924, matches Lenin in power of analysis; and Stalin Falsifies History, written in 1927, presents the beginning of the distorting process by which Stalin secured his position, and defeated a range of attitudes, many more benign than his own, towards the future of the Revolution. This is a fascinating reissue that will be of value to students with an interest in early-twentieth century Russia, the Russian Revolution and the writings of Trotsky more generally.

The Fall and Rise of the Asiatic Mode of Production (Routledge Revivals)
The Fall and Rise of the Asiatic Mode of Production (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Stephen P. Dunn

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-07-26

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 1136811028

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This reissue was first published in 1982. It deals specifically with the ‘Asiatic mode of production’ described by Karl Marx in his basic evolutionary model for human society. The term defines a special form of society marked by state ownership of the means of production and extensive intervention by the state in all forms of social life. In the soviet Union, the concept has had a chequered and controversial career: leading writers, primarily Stalin, have denied its very existence, mobilizing the heavy artillery of state ideology in their defence, whilst later scholars show signs of reversing this trend. Drawing on a large body of Soviet writing on historiography, Stephen Dunn develops a critical analysis of the issue, and introduces important corrections to the accounts hitherto available in the West. His work should be of major interest to students of Soviet politics, economists and Marxists.

A Truer Liberty (Routledge Revivals)
A Truer Liberty (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Laurence A. Blum

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-10-15

Total Pages: 443

ISBN-13: 1135232415

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Simone Weil — philosopher, trade union militant, factory worker — developed a penetrating critique of Marxism and a powerful political philosophy which serves an alternative both to liberalism and to Marxism. In A Truer Liberty, originally published in 1989, Blum and Seidler show how Simone Weil’s philosophy sought to place political action on a firmly moral basis. The dignity of the manual worker became the standard for political institutions and movements. Weil criticized Marxism for its confidence in progress and revolution and its attendant illusory belief that history is on the side of the proletariat. Blum and Seidler relate Weil’s work to influential trends in political philosophy today, from analytic Marxism to central traditions within liberal thought. The authors stress the importance of Weil’s work for understanding liberation theology, Catholic radicalism, and, more generally, social movements against oppression which are closely tied to religion and spirituality.

Glasnost in Action (Routledge Revivals)
Glasnost in Action (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Alec Nove

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-02-01

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1136629122

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First published in 1991, Glasnost in Action: Cultural Renaissance in Russia is a comprehensive portrait of a society in transition as Professor Nove reflects on the changes taking place in the USSR at that time. While in English, Glasnost means ‘openness’, the author questions what ‘openness’ actually means in the USSR. How is Soviet culture – their art, literature, theatre, music and social life – affected by the new freedom of speech and thought that resulted from Glasnost? Was it Gorbachev’s power and charisma that propelled Glasnost or would it build up enough momentum in Soviet society to continue independently? Professor Nove uses examples from each area of Soviet life in his exploration of the new openness, referring to the release of previously banned films, writings, plays and works of art, while reflecting on the newfound honesty about the country’s Stalinist past and the problems faced today.

Socialism, Economics and Development (Routledge Revivals)
Socialism, Economics and Development (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Alec Nove

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-11-12

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1136582665

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First published in 1986, this text brings together a selection of papers written by the great Alec Nove on development economics, Marxist economies, the Soviet economy, and law and politics in the Soviet Union. Reflecting the varied and diverse interests of its distinguished author, the topics range from Soviet constitutional law, to Trotsky’s view of collectivization; from a critique of conventional micro-economics, to the economic disaster of the Allende regime in Chile. The author’s long-standing immersion in the past and present of the Soviet Union helps to provide the unique insights into the workings of Socialist economies characteristic of Professor Nove’s previous work. This volume should be essential reading for anyone interested in development economics, socialist economies, or the problems facing contemporary Soviet economic reformers.

Political Economy and Soviet Socialism (Routledge Revivals)
Political Economy and Soviet Socialism (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Alec Nove

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-02-01

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1136629262

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First published in 1979, Political Economy and Soviet Socialism is an integrated selection of papers written over the past 12 years of Russian history, which offers a unique insight into some important and controversial issues. Professor Nove discusses the ideas of some of the leaders of the Russian revolution (Lenin, Trotsky and Bukharin), the political economy of socialism and the problems of the contemporary USSR. The author addresses the role of traditional Russian ideas in shaping the Soviet Union’s social structure and the conceptual problems involved in defining its ruling stratum - whether or not it is a class. He also considers the criteria by which it is reasonable to judge Soviet reality, the performance and prospects of agriculture in communist-ruled Europe, the ability of the Eastern bloc to tackle problems of inflation and the obstacles to economic reform. Looking at the important and original developments of economic thought in the USSR and Eastern Europe, Professor Nove dissects the ideas of the ‘new leftists’ concerning the role of market forces under a feasible socialism. These papers offer essential reading for students of politics, economics and comparative social structure.

The Real Situation in Russia (Routledge Revivals)
The Real Situation in Russia (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Leon Trotsky

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-17

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1317744705

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The Real Situation in Russia, first published in 1928, contains three of Trotsky’s harshest rebuttals of Stalin’s takeover of the Russian Revolution following the death of Lenin. The first part contains a defence of the ‘Opposition Platform’ against the Stalinist denunciation; the second details Trotsky’s view of the precise nature of the Stalinist program, as well as its disastrous consequences for Russia; and the third demonstrates the unashamed falsification of the history by Stalin with regard to the beginning of the Revolution. Including a sympathetic, but nonetheless astute, introduction to Trotsky’s argument by the translator, The Real Situation in Russia will prove to be of value to all students of twentieth-century Marxism, and in particular to those interested in the Russian Revolution – not only its origins and early development, but also, perhaps, the reasons for its ultimate failure.

The Radical Tradition (Routledge Revivals)
The Radical Tradition (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Richard Gombin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-11-12

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 1136036229

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Originally published in 1978, Richard Gombin’s book traces the recurrent attitudes in the history of the European revolutionary movement which have criticized socialist and communist parties for their authoritarian and bureaucratic tendencies, and which have stressed spontaneity and decentralization as the correct basis from which to change society. From a critique of Marx, through to an examination of Soviet practice under Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin as a factor in the disillusionment of the left with the methods of the Russian Revolution, Gombin’s study examines the concepts of ‘workers’ councils’ as they emerged in several countries after the First World War. This comparative study develops the idea of a ‘council communism’ as opposed to a ‘party communism’ which, he suggests, is the fundamental concept in the criticism of orthodox Communism from the left.

The League on Trial (Routledge Revivals)
The League on Trial (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Max Beer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-17

Total Pages: 471

ISBN-13: 1317687426

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First published in 1933, this title explores the inner workings and diplomatic culture of the League of Nations in Geneva, at a time when the increasing strain of international relations was beginning to take its toll and disillusionment towards the League was growing. Written as a series of short sketches, Max Beer communicates a variety of insights into the League of Nations. Delving into the machinations and bewildering configurations of diplomatic relations that predominated, while at the same time maintaining a very human perspective, this volume represents a unique resource for students of this period in European politics.