Filtzer, Donald Arthur (1976) EA Preobrazhensky and the theory of expanded reproduction in the ...

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Filtzer, Donald Arthur (1976) E.A. Preobrazhensky and the theory of
expanded reproduction in the USSR during the period of primitive
socialist accumulation.PhD thesis.

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E. A. PREOBRAZHENSKY AND THE THEORY OF EXPANDED REPRODUCTIu;
ý
IN THE
USSR DURING THE PERIOD OF PRIMITIVE SOCIALIST ACCUMULATION
Donald Arthur Filtzer
Thesis Submitted for Degree Doctor Philosophy
the of of
Institute Soviet East European Studies
of and
University Glasgow
of
May 1976
CONTENTS
Summary iv
Preface
1
Introduction: Preobrazhensky's Marxism 15
Part I: Marx's Reproduction Schemes the Analysis
and of
Mixed Economy
a
Chapter 1: Circulation Simple Reproduction 83
and
Chapter 2: Marx the Reproduction Fixed Capital 117
on of
Appendix to Part I: The Reproduction II(v+s);
of
Necessities Luxuries 141
and
Part II: Simple Expanded Reproduction Under Concrete
and
Capitalism
Chapter 3: Simple Reproduction 151
Chapter 4: Expanded Reproduction Under Pure Capitalism 161
Appendix to Chapter 4: The Application Prices
of of
Production 186
Chapter 5: Expanded Reproduction Under Concrete Capitalism 193
Part III: The Expanded Reproduction Fixed Capital
of
Chapter 6: Reserves Under Expanded Reproduction 212
Chapter 7: The Accumulation Fixed Capital 241
of
Chapter 8: Marx the Use the Amortization Fund 272
on of
Chapter 9: The Accumulation Fixed Capital Under
of
"Pure" Capitalism 284
Part IV: Expanded Reproduction in the USSR During the
Period Primitive Socialist Accumulation
of
Chapter 10: General Outlines the Goods Famine 303
of
CONTENTS
(Contents)
Chapter 11: The Circulation Reproduction
and of the
Individual Components the Product in
of
Both Sectors
337
Chapter 12: The Accumulation Fixed Capital Under
of
Concrete Capitalism
376
Chapter 13: The Goods Famine in the USSR 390
Conclusion 409
Bibliography 423
SUMMARY
Evgeniy Alekseyevich Preobrazhensky was one of the great Marxist
thinkers the Bolsheviks that
of generation of prepared and carried out
the October Revolution. Yet his has
work remained relatively unexplor-
by Marxists. Those Preobrazhensky's
ed non-Marxist accounts of writ-
ings
hope-
and political activities, even where well-intentioned, are
lessly inadequate. They the Marxist he
grasp neither categories
used
the fact that his theories be
nor economic can only understood within
the context of his work as a whole and his theory of the transitional
society.
As a result this thesis opens with an extensive and in-depth Intro-
duction into the nature of Preobrazhensky's Marxism, touching its
upon
important
most philosophical roots and stressing the role of class con-
in
Preobrazhenzky's theory the transition.
sciousness of
The body the deals Preobrazhensky's
main of work specifically with
theory in the Soviet during the
of expanded reproduction system period
its
We Marx's
of primitive socialist accumulation. start with use of
the their his theory
reproduction schemes, and show connection with of
industrial
the the
circulation of capital and with reproduction of spe-
Then
cific production and social relations under capitalism. we use
Marx's theory the fixed
of reproduction of capital under simple capital-
ist to demonstrate the for the
reproduction need reserves within system
industrial
to derive the two-sector
and scheme of separate and agricul-
tural that Preobrazhensky to Further, this to
sectors was use. we use
introduce the the importance the
question of of material exchange of
their
specific use values under reproduction, as well as exchange on
the basis their
of value.
Next Preobrazhensky's theory
we analyze and expand upon of simple
Here that,
and expanded reproduction under concrete capitalism. we show
in department I II,
given unequal organic compositions of capital and
the tendency for the to there
and organic composition of capital rise,
is a tendency towards under-production of means of production. This can
be overcome by drawing the petty-commodity sector into the orbit of
impelling that to the
capitalist exchange, and sector make necessary
in its to the to
adjustments production so as allow capitalist sector
its internal disproportions the
overcome own via exchange with peasant
sector.
the
Then we open up an unexplored area of Marxist economics, ex-
from that
panded reproduction of fixed capital. Starting off a problem
Preobrazhensky had touched upon in an entirely different context, we ex-
fixed
amine the effects that the extended turnover period of capital
has upon expanded reproduction: It gives rise to a chronic deficit of
to
means of production. After exploring a number of possible solutions
is the
the problem we find that under pure capitalism the only solution
transfer from department II to department I.
of capital
famine
In to the findings to the Soviet goods we
order apply above
first take detour that famine in its general
must a and examine goods
trace
morphology. Following in large part Preobrazhensky's argument, we
out the inherent, structural tendencies towards the under-production of
it
means of production within the Soviet system, which cannot overcome
because of its backwardness. This deprives it of all the economic and
flexibility have for
social that a socialist economy would anticipating
inherent-
and circumventing these disproportions, and makes the economy
ly
weaker and more prone to crisis than even the advanced capitalist
countries.
From there we introduce to the Marxist theory of
another new aspect
by of
expanded reproduction, examining the circulation and reproduction
the individual in the
components of the annual product of all sectors
from
Soviet economy. Although we start off Preobrazhensky's own treat-
incomplete.
ment of the topic, this was sparse and It proves necessary
to trace in detail the the individual
out great circulation of elements
from the both
of expanded reproduction point of view of their quantita-
tive their
exchange as values and material exchange as particular use
Here the division is between those
values. primary products produced
in the turns that
private and state sectors--it out no category of ex-
be
panded reproduction can reproduced except via a complex
circuit of
exchange involving all departments of all sectors. What is
more, under
Soviet conditions, this exchange involves strict proportionality between
distinct department the Any disequilibrium be-
each and all of others.
tween two departments, in terms, lead
either value or material will the
into
entire system stagnation.
Finally, we apply these findings to our discussion of the expand-
fixed We trace the
ed reproduction of capital. out expanded reproduc-
tion of fixed capital under both concrete capitalism and in the Soviet
Here find that the dic-
system. we conditions of expanded reproduction
tate that the department I increasingly
peasant sector's assumes an
larger the the the
share of production of circulating part of constant
in departments. Yet this the
capital all condition contradicts condi-
tions famine the type that
of material exchange under a goods of exist-
in the Soviet Union. As Preobrazhen-
ed with virtually every aspect of
this the his long-standing
sky's analysis, confirms validity of posi-
tion that, both from from
an economic and a political point of view,
in impossible.
Only
socialism one country was massive material assis-
tance from help the USSR
other socialist countries could pull out of
its impasse. Only the intervention the Western
political of proletar-
iat the Revolution from degeneration.
could save
PREFACE
intended
This thesis was originally as a study of the methodologi-
cal foundations of the works of E. A. Preobrazhensky, the Soviet econo-
leading both
the theoretically
mist who was one of members, and politi-
cally, of the Trotskyist Oppositions of the 1920's. At the time it
to that Preobrazhensky's in
seemed us economic writings were so rich
implications,
their that they be
political and philosophical could only
if basic
these
properly appreciated philosophical premises were made
Marx drawn
their
explicit, and connection with out as extensively as
We believe be Preobrazhensky's
this to the
possible. still case. writ-
ings in the 1920's him to be the
show one of most original and exciting
just his but
thinkers, not of own time, of all of twentieth century
Marxism. We hope that least indication the
we can give at some of val-
idity this in the Introduction this thesis, deals
of appraisal of which
the Preobrazhensky's Marxism.
with character of
In any case, a quick glance at the table of contents will tell the
it down
reader that little of our original plan actually made onto paper.
This for First, Preobra-
was essentially two reasons. any such study of
tra-
zhensky as a methodologist and as a representative of a particular
dition fairly
Marxism thorough-going examina-
within would necessitate a
itself--starting
tion the Marxism with
of philosophical evolution of
Marx's battles his Kant, Hegel, and
own with philosophical predecessors,
Feuerbach, and wending its way through a critical assessment of the var-
ious into beginning
currents of Marxism that arose, and came conflict,
Marx
bastardization
the the the of
with end of nineteenth century and
embodied in the dogmas the Second International. Such a study, while
of
invaluable
to not merely
and, as we say, still necessary an appreciation
Sov-
of Preobrazhensky, but the Trotskyist movement within the
of entire
iet Union in the twenties, have been within
undertaken
simply could not
-2-
the bounds of a PhD thesis, particularly by someone whose academic train-
ing is not in philosophy proper. This is not to say that we have ig-
nored this problem. To the contrary. Not simply in our Introduction,
but throughout this thesis we have tried to draw
a constant connection
between Preobrazhensky's ideas the
economic and philosophical assump-
tions and political goals that lay behind them.
The lies in the the that
second reason nature of material eventual-
ly did become the After the his
subject of our study. publication of
finished The New Economics, Preobrazhensky in
major work, published
form take drafts that he intend-
article what we can only as of chapters
include in Part II Volume I
ed to successive volumes as of of The New
Volume II. The first
Economics and as of these was a pair of articles,
"Sotsialisticheskie i Kommunisticheskie Predstavleniya Sotsial-
entitled
izma" ("Socialist Communist Ideas About Socialism"), in
and published
(hereafter VKA), Nos.
Vestnik Kommunisticheskoi Akademii referred to as
historical
12 13,1925. These to the
and were comprise most of second,
final
part of Volume I of The New Economics, with the portion of this
volume being promised by Preobrazhensky to go to the printer some time
in 1926.1 To the best of our knowledge, it never did. In addition,
heading
there was a group of three articles, coming under the general
in System
"Economic Equilibrium Under Concrete Capitalism the
of and
of the USSR, " which were to form the first section of Volume II. The
latter volume, according to Preobrazhensky, was to be "devoted to a
is, Soviet industry,
concrete analysis of the Soviet economy, that of
Soviet the
agriculture, the system of exchange and credit, and economic
first
Soviet the
policy of the state, together with an examination of
2
VKA 17,
rudiments of socialist culture., The first of these articles,
is marked, "A chapter from Volume II of The New Economics; " all three
carry the words "To be continued" at their close. In addition, we can
infer from to
the closing VKA 22 that together they were
passage of
-3-
Volume II,
constitute the theoretical portion of presenting an analysis
both
of the regularities of expanded reproduction, under modern capital-
ism and in the particular economy of the Soviet Union. The
remainder
in
Volume II to take the task "filling/the
of was up of algebraic scheme
in the USSR that have here
of reproduction we outlined with concrete
data provided by Soviet statistics and, above all, by the Control Fig-
Gosplan. " It "touch
ures of would as well upon certain theoretical
in interests
that, the the
questions of shortening purely methodologi-
cal section of the study, we prefer to illustrate with figures from the
living Soviet "3
present-day economy.
These three in In the first
articles are no way complete. place,
in haste, doubt due
they to the
were written obvious no pressures of
in Preobrazhensky involved.
the
political struggle which was so actively
There in
the
are numerous misprints, especially numerical examples, and
in barest form.
the themselves the
arguments are usually presented only
Preobrazhensky followed log-
the to their
rarely up particular analyses
ical individual
the the theor-
concluions, and mode of elucidation of
is jumpy leaves lot to be by the
etical points often and a presupposed
In
reader. addition, many of the seemingly obvious political conclusions
highly
left The the tech-
are unstated. arguments, which are on surface
draw
nical, rarely out the conclusions to which they are pointing, ex-
in
in the This be terms
cept most round about way. again must explained
As theoreti-
of the political context within which they were written.
felt by
Preobrazhensky have that,
cal, academic pieces, must certainly
1926 1927, he free draw
and was not to the openly political conclusions
it
from his work that he had done in The New Economics. Once more, was
left
to the reader to cull out of the mass of reproduction schemes and
had
the inferences that Preobrazhensky
sparse political the
commentary
intended.
clearly
-4-
Even so, there is a clear coherence to these in its
works which
helps
turn their
also explain overtly abstract and even technical char-
They
acter. represent a rigorous attempt to work out for the emerging
Soviet the
economy regularities of economic reproduction their
and re-
highly
lation to the Soviet
unstable social relations within the
system,
hand, development
the the
on one and proper and application of the an-
for
alytical categories needed such an analysis, on the other. In this
Preobrazhensky, as we will demonstrate at some length in the body
of
this thesis, was undertaking a task quite similar to that which Marx had
in Volume II
Capital.
embarked on of
Originally had discussion
these to
we planned our of articles oc-
Once began to Preobrazhensky's
cupy one part of one chapter. we pore over
however,
the
use of reproduction schemes, more and more problems arose
demanded
that This
our attention and attempted solutions. was almost
inevitable, the fact that in his treatment Marx's Preo-
given of schemes
brazhensky himself breaking In the first
was entirely new ground. place,
Preobrazhensky's in VKA 17--which lays the basis for his
argument all
he.
subsequent analysis--is less than straightforward. In this article
two fundamental in Marx's First, he
made alterations schemes. added
two new departments to those that Marx worked with: To Marx's scheme
for he The
capitalism added a sector of petty-commodity production.
define
object was then to the regularities of expanded reproduction
historically
under the more realistic conditions of capitalist and pre-
Second, he dropped
capitalist production coexisting with each other.
Marx's
assumptions that a)the organic composition of capital remains
constant over time and b)that accumulation in department II "adjusts" to
by
that in department I (which
the procedure employed
was expositional
Marx). The into in detail below, was that
problem, as we will go some
development,
all of these represent distinct tendencies in capitalist
be from Preobrazhensky
which must analyzed separately one another.