Communism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) PDF
Preview Communism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Leslie Holmes Communism A Very Short Introduction 3 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwidein Oxford NewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto Withofficesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress intheUKandincertainothercountries PublishedintheUnitedStates byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork #LeslieHolmes2009 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker) Firstpublished2009 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress, orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment, OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Dataavailable TypesetbySPIPublisherServices,Pondicherry,India PrintedinGreatBritainby AshfordColourPressLtd,Gosport,Hampshire ISBN 978–0–19–955154–5 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 For Lu¨ Qiongyan, Zhou Shimin, Zhou Yan, and Zhou Tao. This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface xi Listofillustrations xv Listoftables xvii 1 Thetheoryofcommunism 1 2 Abriefhistoryofcommunisminpower 17 3 Thepoliticalsystemofcommunism 52 4 Theeconomicsystemofcommunism 69 5 Socialpoliciesandstructuresofcommunism 85 6 Communism’sinternationalallegiances 102 7 Thecollapseofcommunism–andthefuture 118 Furtherreading 139 Chronology 145 Index 147 This page intentionally left blank Preface SomethingstrangehappenedinJuly2008.ThePresidentofthe UnitedStates,acountrythathadfordecadesseenCommunismas itsprincipalenemy,lookedhappyandrelaxedashesatwith ChineseCommunistleadersattheopeningoftheOlympicGames inBeijing.Insomeways,itwassymptomaticofchangesbothin attitudesintheWesttowardsCommunism,andinthenatureof Communistpoweritself.Afterall,ChineseCommunismhad becometheWunderkind(wonderchild)–thedevelopmentmodel everyonewastalkingabout–ofthelate20thandearly21st centuries,butattheexpenseofsomeofwhatmanybelievedwere keyaspectsofCommunism.Infact,CommunistChinawasnot onlyshowingtherestoftheworldhowacountrycouldhave impressivelyhigheconomicgrowthratesyearafteryear,butwas actuallyusingsomeoftheresultsofthisgrowthtoinvestin capitalistcountries,includingtheUSA.Thishasbeenoneofthe greatcontradictionsofrecentyears. Thisisabookaboutcontrastsandcontradictions.Itisabook aboutadream–communism–thatfortoomanybecamea nightmare;whetherwelookatStalin’sTerror,Mao’sGreatLeap ForwardandCulturalRevolution,orPolPot’sgenocidalregimein Cambodia,weseemillionssufferingphysicalandpsychological horrorsinthenameofwhatwassupposedtobetheconstructionof thefairestandmostdesirabletypeofsocietyeverknownto humanity.Itisabookabouta19th-centuryideathatmany attemptedtorealizeinthe20thcentury;butintheirendeavours toturnitintoreality,theoriginalideabecamesoseriously distortedthat,toalargeextent,itwasdiscredited.Itisabook aboutasystemthat,atitszenith,ruledmorethanathirdofthe world’spopulationacrossfourcontinents,andthreatenedto destroytheWest.Yetmostofthatsystemeventually,andvery suddenly,mutatedintospectacularfailure.Theoverwhelming majorityofstatesthatwereCommunistasrecentlyasthelate 1980shavenowmovedon.While,formally,fiveCommunist statesremain,thetwosuccessfulones(ChinaandVietnam)areso largelybecausetheyhavejettisonedmanyoftheoriginalbasic tenetsofcommunismandareinsomeimportantareas–notably theeconomy–alreadypost-communist,whichhelpstoexplain theconundrumidentifiedintheopeningparagraph.Athirdstate m –Laos–isstillalargelyagrariancountry,andthuscannotbe unis deemedasuccessintermsofcommunism’sownobjectives. m m Moreover,likeitslargerAsian‘Communist’neighbours,Laoshas o C beenintroducingradicalreformsthataremovingitawayfrom anytraditionalconceptionofaCommuniststate.Thetwo remainingstates(CubaandNorthKorea)havebysomecriteria adheredmorecloselytotheoriginaltenets.Buttheyareweak– andinbothcasesmaybeontheirwaytoadoptingmoreandmore capitalistprinciplesanyway. ItisnotonlyintheformerandstillexistingCommuniststates wherefundamentalcontradictionsandcontrastscanbeobserved, however.HavingsmuglyclaimedvictoryoverCommunismatthe beginningofthe1990s,theWesthadwithinlessthantwodecades enteredacrisisperioditself,takingeveryoneelsewithit.Themost radicalmarket-orientedversionofcapitalism–neo-liberalism– experiencedaseriouslossofcredibility,asmillionsacrosstheglobe sufferedeconomichardshipanduncertaintyasaresultofthe falloutofthenearcollapseoftheWesternfinancialsystem,andlost xii faithinit.IfthesymbolofCommunism’sfailurewasthefallofthe BerlinWall,thatofthefailureofneo-liberalismwasthenear collapseofWallStreet–Wall-to-Wallcontradictions,crisisand failure! Moreover,bylate2008,theamazon.comrankingofbooksales revealedthatoneofthemostdifficultbooksofcommunisttheory toread,Marx’sCapital(especiallyVol.1),hadbecomeabest-seller. AndaJanuary2009articleinMelbourne’sleadingnewspaperThe Age,referringtothere-registrationoftheAustralianCommunists (whohadderegisteredinJuly1990),openedwiththesentence ‘Dustoffyourberetsandpolishyourlapelpins–theCommunists areofficiallyback’.Whilethesignificanceofthealleged‘re-birth’of Communismshoulddefinitelynotbeexaggerated,thereis renewedinterestinbothitstheoryandpractice.Thisistheraison d’eˆtreofthepresentslimvolume. P Somepointsofclarificationarenecessary.First,thestatusof re fa somestatesasCommunistisdisputed.Notably,manywould ce disagreewiththeinclusionhereofvariousAfricanstates.The approachhereisabroad–moreinclusive–one,andinthisIhave followedthepracticeofanalystssuchasDavidandMarina OttawayorBogdanSzajkowski.Thissaid,thefactthatmany otherspecialists,suchasArchieBrown,wouldrejectthisbroader interpretationisimplicitlynotedinthefactthatthereisverylittle inthisbookonthesedisputedcases.Second,inorderto distinguishthetheoryofcommunismfromthepracticeofstates claimingtobebuildingcommunism,thelatterwillbeidentified inthisbookbytheuseofanupper-case‘C’whenevertheterm ‘Communist’isused. Iwishtothankthefouranonymousreadersoftheoriginalbook proposalandmanuscriptfortheirnumerousinsightfuland sensiblesuggestions(andcorrections!),andtheteamatOxford UniversityPress,especiallyAndreaKeeganandEmmaMarchant, xiii
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