Western Marxism and the Soviet Union

393 Pages·2007·3.214 MB·English

by  Marcel van der Linden

Western Marxism and the Soviet Union
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Historical Materialism
Book Series
Editorial Board
Paul Blackledge (Leeds),
Sébastien Budgen (Paris),
Michael Krätke (Amsterdam),
Stathis Kouvelakis (London),
Marcel van der Linden (Amsterdam),
China Miéville (London),
Paul Reynolds (Lancashire),
Peter Thomas (Amsterdam)
VOLUME 17
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Western Marxism and the
Soviet Union
A Survey of Critical Theories and Debates
Since 1917
by
Marcel van der Linden
Translated by
Jurriaan Bendien
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2007
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The English translation has been made possible with the (cid:2) nancial support of the
Netherlands Organization for Scienti(cid:2) c Research (NWO).
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
ISBN 978 90 04 158757
ISSN 1570-1522
© Copyright 2007 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior
written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by
Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to
The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910,
Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
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Contents
Preface ............................................................................................................ xi
Chapter 1
Introduction ................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 2
From the October Revolution to the Stalin Era (1917–29) ................... 11
2.i. Kautsky and the Bolsheviks: three controversies ................................... 12
Kautsky versus Lenin ............................................................................. 13
Kautsky versus Trotsky .......................................................................... 17
Kautsky versus Bukharin ....................................................................... 20
2.ii. Levi, Luxemburg and the Bolsheviks: criticism and
counter-criticism ................................................................................. 23
Levi ......................................................................................................... 24
Luxemburg .............................................................................................. 26
Interpretations ........................................................................................ 30
Zetkin, Lukács, and Kautsky ................................................................. 31
2.iii. Left-communist criticisms ...................................................................... 36
Gorter, Pannekoek, Rühle ...................................................................... 36
Korsch ..................................................................................................... 41
2.iv. Summary ................................................................................................ 43
Chapter 3
From Stalin’s ‘Great Leap Forwards’ to the ‘Great Patriotic War’
(1929–41) ..................................................................................................... 45
3.i. State capitalism ...................................................................................... 49
Miasnikov ............................................................................................... 51
Adler ....................................................................................................... 53
Wagner ................................................................................................... 54
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vi • Contents
Worrall .................................................................................................... 57
Pollock ..................................................................................................... 60
3.ii. Trotsky: the theory of the degenerated workers’ state .......................... 63
3.iii. Theories of a new mode of production ................................................... 69
Laurat ..................................................................................................... 69
Weil ......................................................................................................... 74
Rizzi ........................................................................................................ 75
Burnham ................................................................................................. 79
Shachtman .............................................................................................. 84
Carter ...................................................................................................... 86
Pedrosa .................................................................................................... 88
Hilferding ............................................................................................... 89
3.iv. Criticism ................................................................................................. 91
Criticism of theories of state capitalism ................................................ 91
Criticisms of the theory of the degenerated workers’ state ................... 93
Criticisms of theories of a new mode of production .............................. 95
3.v. Summary ................................................................................................ 96
Chapter 4
From the ‘Great Patriotic War’ to the Structural Assimilation of
Eastern Europe (1941–56) ........................................................................ 99
4.i. The theory of the degenerated workers’ state ........................................ 103
4.ii. Theories of state capitalism .................................................................... 107
Grandizo/Péret ........................................................................................ 108
James/Dunayevskaya .............................................................................. 110
Castoriadis/Lefort ................................................................................... 116
Cliff ......................................................................................................... 119
Bordiga .................................................................................................... 122
4.iii. Theories of a new mode of production ................................................... 126
Guttmann ............................................................................................... 126
4.iv. Interpretations ‘without labels’ .............................................................. 129
Sternberg ................................................................................................ 130
Cycon ...................................................................................................... 132
Frölich ..................................................................................................... 134
Ko(cid:2) er ....................................................................................................... 137
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Contents • vii
4.v. Debates and mutual criticism ................................................................ 139
The Deutscher debate ............................................................................. 139
Responses to Burnham ........................................................................... 146
Mandel’s critique of ‘state capitalism’ and ‘bureaucratic
collectivism’ ........................................................................................ 153
4.vi. Summary ................................................................................................ 158
Chapter 5
From the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU to the Repression of the
‘Prague Spring’ (1956–68) ........................................................................ 159
5.i. Theories of state capitalism .................................................................... 160
The current around Cliff ........................................................................ 160
5.ii. The theory of the degenerated workers’ state ........................................ 161
5.iii. Theories of a new mode of production ................................................... 164
Djilas ....................................................................................................... 164
Kuro(cid:3)/Modzelewski ................................................................................ 168
5.iv. Theories ‘without labels’ ........................................................................ 171
Wittfogel and his critics ......................................................................... 171
Marcuse .................................................................................................. 173
Rosdolsky ................................................................................................ 175
Boeuve ..................................................................................................... 177
5.v. Summary ................................................................................................ 178
Chapter 6
From the Repression of the ‘Prague Spring’ to Perestroika (1968–85) 179
6.i. Theories of state capitalism .................................................................... 180
Cliff’s current ......................................................................................... 180
Mattick .................................................................................................... 181
Maoist variants: Holmberg; Bettelheim and his critics ........................ 183
The operaïst variant ............................................................................... 192
6.ii. The theory of the degenerated workers’ state ........................................ 193
Elaborations ............................................................................................ 193
Criticisms ................................................................................................ 194
Mohun’s revision ................................................................................... 197
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viii • Contents
6.iii. Theories of bureaucratic collectivism ..................................................... 201
Stojanovi(cid:4) ............................................................................................... 201
Critical Rizzi-supporters: Carlo and Melotti ........................................ 202
Fantham/Machover ................................................................................. 206
Sweezy .................................................................................................... 209
6.iv. Theories of the new mode of production without a (consolidated)
ruling class ......................................................................................... 211
Pioneers: Arthur, Naville, Altvater/Neusüss ........................................ 211
The debate in ‘Links’ .............................................................................. 215
Dutschke and his critics ......................................................................... 218
Zimin ...................................................................................................... 221
Digression: Sohn-Rethel, Damus and the ‘social synthesis’ ................ 225
Bahro and his critics .............................................................................. 228
Schmiederer ............................................................................................ 239
Ticktin and his critics ............................................................................ 241
The Hungarian ‘New Left’ .................................................................... 246
Campeanu ............................................................................................... 252
6.v. Summary ................................................................................................ 254
Chapter 7
The Collapse and Its Aftermath: From 1985 to the Present ................. 257
7.i. Theories of (state) capitalism ................................................................. 258
The current around Cliff and its critics ................................................ 258
Daum and his critics .............................................................................. 261
Sapir ........................................................................................................ 265
Chattopadyay and his critic ................................................................... 266
Fernandez ............................................................................................... 270
‘Aufheben’ ............................................................................................... 272
Sandemose ............................................................................................... 274
Resnick & Wolff and their critics .......................................................... 275
7.ii. The theory of the degenerated workers’ state ........................................ 280
7.iii. Theories of bureaucratic collectivism ..................................................... 283
Loone ....................................................................................................... 284
Brenner and his critic ............................................................................ 284
Finger ...................................................................................................... 286
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Contents • ix
7.iv. Theories of a new mode of production without a (consolidated)
ruling class ......................................................................................... 288
Füredi ...................................................................................................... 288
Ticktin and his critics ............................................................................ 292
Cox .......................................................................................................... 296
Arthur ..................................................................................................... 297
Behrens ................................................................................................... 298
Campeanu ............................................................................................... 301
7.v. Summary ................................................................................................ 302
Chapter 8
In Lieu of a Conclusion ............................................................................... 305
Chapter 9
Meta-theoretical note .................................................................................. 321
References ......................................................................................................... 331
Index ................................................................................................................ 375
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