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Roland Boer Socialism in Power On the History and Theory of Socialist Governance Socialism in Power Roland Boer Socialism in Power On the History and Theory of Socialist Governance Roland Boer School of Philosophy Renmin University of China Beijing, China ISBN 978-981-19-5413-9 ISBN 978-981-19-5414-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5414-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore For Yang Huilin, my wise mentor Preface This monograph concerns the historical development—in practice and theory—of governance in socialist systems. Some years ago now, I began to think of a work that would deal systematically with this question, since there is now more than a century of concrete experience and its associated theoretical reflection. The vastness of the task, however, soon became apparent. On the way, I found myself needing to develop some aspects of the project. The study of Engels became a monograph, entitled Friedrich Engels and the Foundations of Socialist Governance (Springer 2021). I also realised that the developments in China required in-depth research and another separate work, which became Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: A Guide for Foreigners (Springer 2021). With these tasks completed, I could finally return to the original task. This book is the result. The book seeks to bring together the historical realities of socialist systems of governance and its associated theoretical reflection, which is framed by the Marxist tradition. In that light, I begin with analyses of the works of Marx and Engels. This is the task of the opening two chapters, in which I emphasise in particular the influence of Engels in establishing the basic principles of socialist governance. From here, I devote three chapters to the Soviet Union, which was the first country in human history to experience socialism in power. The second half of the book moves to East Asia, with an initial chapter devoted to the DPRK (North Korea), before focusing in the remaining chapters on China, which arguably has the most developed form of socialist governance. From this research, it has become abundantly clear that the form of governance that emerged after proletarian revolutions was and is unlike any other form that has hitherto appeared. This new form is not a version of the Western European “nation- state,” not an empire or colonising power, and not a federation. This book in one respect is an examination of what exactly this new form is. Further, there are still too few works available in English that provide a fair assessment of the experiences of socialism in power. The main reason for such a scarcity of English language works is the imposition of a Western liberal framework, and thus the model of the Western capitalist nation-state, on socialist development. Such a model is an ill-fit indeed for countries with very different histories, cultures, and traditions of governance. vii viii Preface This Western liberal model has also influenced a few too many Western Marxist dismissals—for reasons too many to enumerate here—of any actual experience of socialism in power. By contrast, the works that do seek to understand socialism in power on its own terms are still relatively few. I have, of course, made use of the few works that do so, but my primary sources throughout are from the countries in question. Over the years, I have benefited from many discussions, debates, and feedback on earlier efforts related to this book. Many are comrades, colleagues, and friends in China who have contributed directly and indirectly to the present work. I think particularly of Yang Huilin, who has been a wise and extraordinary mentor in China for a long time now. Also at the Renmin University of China are Zang Fengyu and Zhang Jing, my old friends. Thanks also to Hong Xiaonan, Fang Yumei, Qu Hong, and Song Liang at Dalian University of Technology’s School of Marxism. Not to be neglected are the fine scholars at the Academy of Marxism, within the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: Deng Chundong, Wang Zhongbao, and Liu Zixu are just a few among many. They have provided invaluable feedback, especially when I thought I knew much but actually knew very little, as well as opportunities to present papers and publications in journals. I would also like to thank someone who has become my editor at the Beijing office of Springer: Leanna Li is the epitome of professionalism and efficiency. In Australia, I thank Colin Mackerras and have valued his immense knowledge and experience of China. Tamara Prosic has debated with me many aspects of devel- opments in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, as has Roger Markwick with regard to the early days of the Soviet Union. I am also deeply grateful to comrades in the Communist Party of Australia, for their lively interest in and engagement with some of the topics discussed here. At the risk of leaving out names, I will not name them here, but they know very well who they are. Among colleagues in Europe, Yiannis Kokosalakis has been invaluable in relation to worker democracy in the Soviet Union, having made available his groundbreaking work (on which I rely in Chaps. 3 and 5) before publication. In relation to the DPRK, Keith Bennett’s suggestions have been invaluable in light of his immense and long-standing experience of the country. Stefano Azzarà has urged me to appreciate more than I often do what is actually beneficial from the Western tradition, and Antonis Balasopoulos has pushed me to think through the philosophical implications of the communist project. I also thank Hannes Fellner and Marc Püschel, from among a fine younger generation of Austrian and German Marxist scholars, as well as Kaan Kangal, who works at Nanjing Univer- sity. Finally, the one who knows most about this work, as I do of hers, is Christina Petterson, for whom I thank for the many years now of working on our common project. Toongabbie East Roland Boer May 2022 Contents 1 Introduction .................................................. 1 2 Marx on the State, Proletarian Dictatorship and Commune ....... 11 2.1 Opening Remarks ........................................ 11 2.2 Hitherto Existing Forms of the State ........................ 12 2.2.1 Key Points on Earlier State Forms ................... 12 2.2.2 Historical Emergence of the Bourgeois State .......... 14 2.3 Dictatorship of the Proletariat .............................. 16 2.3.1 Main Features of the Proletarian Dictatorship ......... 17 2.3.2 Analysis ......................................... 19 2.4 The Commune ........................................... 21 2.4.1 Marx’s Presentation of the Paris Commune ........... 21 2.4.2 Limits of the Commune ............................ 22 2.4.3 Proletarian Dictatorship and the Commune ........... 23 2.5 On Socialist Governance .................................. 26 2.6 Conclusion .............................................. 29 References .................................................... 30 3 Friedrich Engels and the Foundations of Socialist Governance ..... 35 3.1 Opening Remarks ........................................ 35 3.2 The State as a Separated Public Gewalt ...................... 36 3.2.1 Determination of the State ......................... 37 3.2.2 TheRoleofG ewalt: Bismarck’s Germany ............ 38 3.3 Dictatorship of the Proletariat and Socialist Gewalt ............ 40 3.3.1 Proletarian Dictatorship and the Commune ........... 40 3.3.2 Socialist Gewalt .................................. 43 3.4 The Eventual Dying Away of the State ...................... 45 3.4.1 Background Summary ............................. 45 3.4.2 Dying Away of Its Own Accord ..................... 46 3.5 Towards Enmeshed Socialist Governance .................... 49 3.5.1 Public Gewalt Standing in the Midst of Society ....... 49 3.5.2 Depoliticised Governance .......................... 51 ix x Contents 3.5.3 Administering the Stuff of Life for the True Interests of Society ................................ 52 3.6 Concluding Observation ................................... 53 References .................................................... 53 4 Lenin, Before and After October ................................ 61 4.1 Opening Remarks ........................................ 61 4.2 Before October: On the State and Socialist Democracy ........ 62 4.2.1 The State and Revolution .......................... 63 4.2.2 Socialist Democracy .............................. 66 4.2.3 Summary ........................................ 67 4.3 Threshold: The Early Structures of Soviet Power .............. 67 4.3.1 Institutionalisation of the Soviets .................... 68 4.3.2 Transition to Leadership of the Communist Party ...... 69 4.3.3 Transitions in Worker Democracy ................... 70 4.4 After October: Power, Democracy, and Democratic Centralism .............................................. 72 4.4.1 The Immediate Tasks of Soviet Power ............... 73 4.4.2 Socialist Democracy .............................. 76 4.4.3 Democratic Centralism ............................ 78 4.5 Conclusion: An Unexpected Withering ...................... 79 References .................................................... 82 5 The Soviet Union as a Multi-national and Anti-colonial State ...... 89 5.1 Opening Remarks ........................................ 89 5.2 Historical Background .................................... 90 5.2.1 Austrian Marxism ................................ 90 5.2.2 The Bund ........................................ 91 5.2.3 Caucasian Mensheviks ............................ 92 5.2.4 Stalin’s Definition of a Nationality .................. 93 5.3 Class as the Unifying Basis for Diversity .................... 94 5.3.1 Lenin’s Approach ................................. 94 5.3.2 Stalin: The Unifying Category of Class as the Basis for the Diversity of Nationalities ......... 94 5.4 Preferential Policies for Minority Nationalities ............... 96 5.4.1 Enactment of Preferential Policies for Minority Nationalities ..................................... 96 5.4.2 Implications for the Structures of Socialist Governance ...................................... 100 5.5 Anti-colonial Struggles for National Liberation ............... 101 5.5.1 Emergence of the Insight into Anti-colonial Struggles ........................................ 102 5.5.2 Attacking the “Rear” of Capitalist Imperialism ........ 103 5.5.3 A New Type of Global Revolution: Concrete Support for Anti-colonial Struggles .................. 104 Contents xi 5.6 Conclusion: On the Right to Secession and Self-determination .................................... 105 References .................................................... 107 6 Democracy and a “Socialist State” .............................. 113 6.1 Opening Remarks ........................................ 113 6.2 Dictatorship of the Proletariat .............................. 114 6.3 Socialist Democracy ...................................... 115 6.3.1 Electoral Democracy .............................. 116 6.3.2 Consultative Democracy ........................... 120 6.3.3 Human Rights .................................... 123 6.3.4 Leadership of the Communist Party ................. 125 6.4 A “Socialist State” ....................................... 126 6.4.1 Overcoming the Dialectic of Saturn ................. 127 6.4.2 A Second Stage of Socialism ....................... 128 6.5 Conclusion: A Socialist State and Its Withering Away ......... 130 References .................................................... 132 7 The “Korean Style” of Socialist Governance in the DPRK ......... 137 7.1 Opening Remarks ........................................ 137 7.2 Historical Background .................................... 139 7.3 Electoral Democracy ...................................... 141 7.3.1 The Electoral System .............................. 141 7.3.2 People’s Assemblies .............................. 142 7.3.3 Political Parties ................................... 143 7.4 Consultative Democracy .................................. 145 7.4.1 The Mass Line ................................... 145 7.4.2 Chongsanri Method in Agriculture .................. 146 7.4.3 Taean Method in Industry .......................... 149 7.4.4 Summary: Unity of Opposites ...................... 151 7.5 Leadership of the Workers Party ............................ 152 7.5.1 The State Affairs Commission ...................... 153 7.5.2 The Regulated Order of WPK Leadership ............ 154 7.6 Summary: Human Rights and the Administration of Things for the True Interests of Society ............................ 155 7.7 Theory: “Believe in the People as in Heaven” ................ 156 7.7.1 Juche and Songun ................................. 156 7.7.2 People First: Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism ............ 157 7.8 Conclusion: From the Unity of Opposites to Communism ...... 159 References .................................................... 160 8 China’s Whole Process People’s Democracy ..................... 165 8.1 Opening Remarks ........................................ 165 8.2 Background: A Long History of Democratic Struggle .......... 167 8.3 From the Eighteenth Congress Onwards ..................... 168 8.4 Minzhu: The People as Masters of the Country ............... 169

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