STATEMENT I hereby declare that this thesis has not already been accepted in substance for any ...

287 Pages·2017·27.64 MB·English

STATEMENT
I hereby declare that this thesis
has not already been accepted in
substance for any degree. It is
the result of my own independent
investigation, and all authorities
and sources which have been consulted
are acknowledged in the bibliography
and in the notes.
ABSTRACT
This thesis represents the first book-length account in the
English language of Marx's concept of the Asiatic mode of production
and of its implications for historical materialism. It examines the
origins of the concept, its place and functions within the work of Marx
and Engels and of subsequent Marxists, and its relevance to contemporary
Marxism. In doing so, it takes into account not only the intellectual
history of the concept but its political history; and not only its
theoretical implications for historical materialism but its political
implications for the Marxist approach to the non-Westem world.
THE QUESTION OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF
PRODUCTION: TOWARDS A NEW MARXIST
HISTORIOGRAPHY
Marian Sawer
A Thesis Submitted for the Degree
of Doctor of Philosophy
at the
Australian National University
June 1974
CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE iv
ABBREVIATIONS V
INTRODUCTION 1
THE PREHISTORY OF THE MARXIST CONCEPT OF ' THE
5
ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION
The Legacy of Aristotle 6
Travellers' Tales 11
Oriental Despotism and French Politics3 the First
15
Phase: A Negative Model for Europe
Oriental Despotism and French Politics, the Second
23
Phase: A Positive Model for Europe
Empires Belonging to Space and not to Time 31
The Contribution of Political Economy: the Relation
36
of Private Property to Progress
THE MARXIST CONCEPT OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF
49
PRODUCTION
Marx's Perception of the Non-Western World 49
Alternative Interpretations: The Question of the
Continuity or Discontinuity of Marx's Model of 57
Asiatic Society
Marx's Analysis of Asiatic Society in the General ^
Perspective of his Social Theory
The City in East and West 71
The Ancient East 74
The Asiatic Village System: Passport to the Future? 80
The Contribution of Engels to the Marxist Analysis 8Q
of the Non-Western World
'Asiatic Feudalism' 97
The Asiatic Mode of Production and the Sino-Soviet
104
Split
ii
Page
3 THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION IN RELATION TO THE
111
PLACE OF GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS IN HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
Marx and Engels on the Role of Geographical Factors
111
in Historical Development
The 'Geographical Deviation': Plekhanov 125
The ’Geographical Deviation': Wittfogel 135
Historical Materialism Versus Geographical Determinism:
139
Stalin and Beyond
The Revolt of the Soviet Geographers against Stalin 141
The Reassessment of the Place of Geographical Factors
147
in Historical Materialism
Rote on the Population Factor 151
4 MARXIST PERSPECTIVES ON RUSSIAN HISTORY: THE PRACTICAL
APPLICATION OF THE CONCEPT OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF 156
PRODUCTION
Marx’s Conception of the Character of the Russian
156
State: Russia Contrasted with Europe
Marx and the Service-State Theory of Russian
History: A Parallel Theory of the Noyi-European 164
Character of Russian History
Russian History in European Dress: The Orthodox
172
Marxist Approach
Plekhanov on Russian History: The Alternative Marxist
17S
Approach
Modernisation in a Non-Western Milieu: Trotsky on
206
Russia’s Past and Present
5 THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION IN RELATION TO THE
219
MARXIST ANALYSIS OF PROGRESS AND MODERNISATION
The Unilinear Schema of Social Development 219
The Hegelianised Version of the Unilinear Schema 232
Chronological and Logical Problems Associated with the
237
Progressive Ranking of Socio-Economic Fornations
The Multilinear Schema of History as Found in Marx 242
Variations of the Multilinear Schema as Applied to Pre-
245
Capitalist Societies
The Dynamics of Modernisation in the Non-Western World:
256
Towards a New Marxist Historiography
iii
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 268
Works by Marx and Engels 268
Other Works Consulted 269
iv
PREFACE
Wherever possible in this monograph I have referred to English
translations of works originally appearing in other languages. Where
this has not been possible, for example with Russian material, I have
followed the Library of Congress system of transliteration, but omitted
the diacritics. I have also retained the conventional use of 'y' for
the ending of certain Russian proper names (e.g., Trotsky not Trotskii).
In accordance with the policy of using existing English translations, I
have referred to the Martin Nicolaus translation of Marx's Grundrisse,
which is relatively faithful to the text. (The Grundrisse, although the
Dead Sea Scroll of Marxism, bears all tire characteristics of a rough
draft, characteristics which are preserved in the Nicolaus translation.)
In preparing this work I have received bibliographical assistance
from Professor Israel Getzler, now of the Hebrew University, and critical
assistance from Mr Bruce McFarlane of the University of Adelaide and
especially from my supervisor, Dr Eugene Kamenka of the Australian
National University. Professor Jean Chesneaux of the Sorbonne has
provided me with some further insight into the issues during the final
stages of preparation. My husband Michael has supplied invaluable assist­
ance with the proof-reading and bibliography, and my thanks also go to
my typist Mrs Cheryl Newman of the Political Science Department, RSSS,
Australian National University. Unfortunately Gianni Sofri's II modo d.i
produzione asiatico. Storia di una controversia marxista was not available
to me at the time of writing.
V
ABBREVIATIONS
MEGA Marx and Engels, Historisch-kritische Gesamtausgabe,
ed. D. Rjazanov/V. Adoratskij, Frankfurt/Berlin,
Marx-Engels-Archiv Verlagsgesellschaft/Ilarx-Engels,
Verlag, 1927-1932.
Werke Marx and Engels, Werke, 39 vols., 2 supplementary vols.,
Berlin, Dietz, 1956-68.
MESC Marx and Engels, Selected Correspondence, 2nd ed.,
Moscow, Progress, 1965.
MESW Marx and Engels, Selected Works, 2 vols., Moscow,
Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1951-55.
Capital Marx, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, 3 vols.,
N.Y., International Publishers, 1967.
Grundrisse Marx, Grundrisse. Foundations of the Critique of
Political Economy (Rough Draft), tr. Martin Nicolaus,
Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1973.
Karl Marx on Colonialism and Modernization
Karl Marx on Colonialism and Modernization, ed. Shlomo
Avineri, N.Y., Anchor Books, 1969.
The Russian Menace to Europe
Marx and Engels, The Russian Menace to Europe, ed. Paul
W. Blackstock and Bert F. Hoselitz, London, Allen and
Unwin, 1953.
N.Y.D.T. New York Daily Tribune.
Ex Libris Ex Libris Marx und Engels; Schicksal und Verzeichnis
einer Bibliothek, ed. B. Kaiser, Berlin, Dietz, 1967.
Rubel M. Rubel, Bibliographie des Oeuvres de Karl Marx, Paris,
Marcel Riviere, 1956; Supplement, 1960.
Collected V.I. Lenin, Collected Works, London, Lawrence and
Works Wishart, 1960- (Vol. 40 appeared in 1968) .
Selected V.I. Lenin, Selected Works, 2 vols., Moscow, Foreign
Works Languages Publishing House, 1950-52.
Sochineniia G.V. Plekhanov, Sochineniia, 2nd ed., 24 vols., ed. D.
Riazanov, Moscow, 1923-27.
History G.V. Plekhanov, Istoriia russkoi obshchestvennoi mysli,
Parts One and Two, Sochineniia, Vol. XX.
1
INTRODUCTION
The past decade has seen a dramatic revival of the concept of the
A siatic mode of production within Marxism. This has been one aspect of
the emergence of polycentrism, and of the accompanying attempt to break
down the 'theoretical sclerosis' induced by Stalinism. It has had far-
reaching implications for Marxist theory and practice - implications that
give the subject of this monograph contemporary relevance as well as
h isto rical interest.
The present work attempts to explore in some detail the origin,
development, and consequences for Marxist historiography, of the concept
of the A siatic mode of production as found in the work of Marx and Engels
and in subsequent Marxist w ritings. In doing so i t has to take into
account the political dimensions of the concept which have led to the
controversies surrounding i t both in the past and in the present.
The idea of the particu laristic nature of A siatic society, already
present in A ristotle, was developed in p o litical terms by Montesquieu,
and in politico-economic terms by the Physiocrats and the B ritish political
economists; and the idea was taken over by Marx in the concept of an
A siatic mode of production. The present work begins by tracing that
development, and the development of an associated idea, namely the idea
of European superiority and of the universal character of European civ il­
isation. I attempt to show that Marx also took over the la tte r idea, in
the form of the belief that Western capitalism was destined to universalise
its e lf both conceptually and concretely, and to 'overcome' non-Westem
forms of historical development.
Because the place and functions of these ideas in the thought of Marx
and Engels have been, and are, a matter of debate, the account of the
origins of the concept of the A siatic mode of production is followed by an
analysis of precisely how Marx and Engels used the concept and what role
2
it played in their work. The analysis includes an account of the manner
in which the concept came to be dropped, for political reasons internal
and external to the socialist movement, and in the interests of simplifying
Marxism into a single universal account of human social development.
From there we move on to a study of one of the issues which the
'Asiatic1 concept raises for historical materialism, namely the issue of
the role of geographical factors in historical development. This problem
is inherent in Marx's concept of the Asiatic mode of production, which
is the only mode of production he explicitly states as being geographically
circumscribed. The discussion leads on to the conception of alternative
forms of historical development, determined by specific geographical,
historical and ethnographic circumstances. Such an approach to Marxist
historiography, associated with the concept of the Asiatic mode of
production, is exemplified in a comparatively unknown work by the 'father
of Russian Marxism', G.V. Plekhanov, The History of Russian Social Thought.
Hence I analyse in some detail this work, which raises many of the problems
involved in reconciling Marxism with the idea of the coexistence of
different lines of historical development. One of those problems concerns
the role of non-economic factors in the appropriation of surplus value
in pre-capitalist production, and in providing the general dynamic of
society. Plekhanov, like Marx, however, saw the coexistence of different
forms of historical development as being brought to an end by the
universalising impact of Western capitalism. Trotsky, on the other hand,
at least in his earlier writings, was to foreshadow more recent Marxist
theorising allowing for, and even welcoming, non-Western and non-capitalist
forms of industrialisation. He also foreshadowed recent theories that
such forms of industrialisation tend to lead to non-Western forms of
socialism, based on non-Western historical experience combined with modem
industrial technology.