From: Rakesh Bhandari (rakeshb@stanford.edu)
Date: Wed Dec 18 2002 - 23:15:44 EST
Jerry has already announced this book to OPE-L, but I thought I would
mention it again as I am sure it would greatly enrich the present
discussion of state capitalism.
There is also Bob Arnot's book which analyzes the Soviet Union of the
1970s and 80s from the perspective of class processes and surplus
labor--Controlling Soviet labour : experimental change from Brezhnev
to Gorbachev, 1988.
I don't think we have had a serious discussion of either book on OPE-L yet...
New Book, Fall 2002
Class Theory and History:
Capitalism and Communism in the USSR
Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff
Class Theory and History takes an ambitious and ground-breaking look
at the entire history of the Soviet Union and presents a new kind of
analysis of the history of the USSR: examining its birth, evolution,
and death in class terms. Utilizing the class analytics they have
developed over the last three decades, Resnick and Wolff formulate
the most fully developed economic theory of communism now available,
and use that theory to answer the question: did communism ever exist
in the USSR and if so, where, why and for how long? Their initial,
and controversial, conclusion: Soviet industry never established a
communist class structure. This conclusion then leads to the
hypothesis that the twentieth century’s defining struggle was not
between communism in the USSR and capitalism in the United States,
but rather between their respective state and private capitalisms.
Combining class theory and Soviet history, the book yields key
lessons for the future of private capitalism, state capitalism and
communism.
“A very ambitious and interesting book on a very important topic.”
—Howard Sherman, author of Reinventing Marxism
“Using a version of Marx's theory of class to explain the rise and
fall of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union as evidence for the
validity of this theory, Resnick and Wolff succeed in providing us
with an original and fascinating account of both. Whether one agrees
or disagrees with their results, no future work on either of these
important subjects will be able to ignore the sheer creative verve
and intellectual rigor with which they lay out their arguments. Very
highly recommended.”
—Bertell Ollman, editor of Market Socialism: The Debate Among Socialists
“A stunning achievement! Resnick and Wolff have extended their path
breaking work in Knowledge and Class to a full-fledged class analysis
of the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. Building on the clearest
analysis of class in the Marxian tradition, Resnick and Wolff provide
a comprehensive analysis of the core contradictions in pre-Soviet
Russia and the Soviet Union. This is a work that all those concerned
with the Soviet experience, the nature of class, and the
possibilities of fundamental social change will have to contend with.”
—Victor D. Lippit, editor of Radical Political Economy: Explorations
in Alternative Economic Analysis
“Class Theory and History both follows in the best Marxian
tradition's footsteps and develops new important insights. Building
upon a notion of class whose pivot is the production and distribution
of surplus, the authors offer a stimulating and original
interpretation of the USSR's birth, development, and fall. This is
class analysis at its best, a work which, deserves the widest
circulation.”
—Guglielmo Carchedi author of For Another Europe: A Class Analysis of
European Economic Integration
Table of Contents:
Introduction
PART I. COMMUNISM
1.A General Class Theory
2.The Many Forms of Communism
PART II. STATE CAPITALISM
3.A Class Theory of State Capitalism
4. Debates over State Capitalism
PART III. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE USSR
5.Class Structures and Tensions Before 1917
6.Revolution, War Communism, and the Aftermath
7. Revolution, Class, and the Soviet Household
8. The New Economic Policies of the 1920s
9.The Transformations of the 1930s
10.Class Contradictions and the Collapse
References
Published by ROUTLEDGE
HB ISBN:
0-415-93317-X $ 85.00 [Can. $128.00]
PB ISBN: 0-415-93318-8 $ 24.95 [Can. $37.95]
To order online:
in US/Canada: <http://www.routledge-ny.com/>www.routledge-ny.com
elsewhere: <http://www.routledge.com/>www.routledge.com or via email
at book.orders@tandf.co.uk
Or call toll free (credit cards accepted):
U.S.: 1-800-634-7064
FAX: 1-800-248-4724
Canada: 877-226-2237
FAX 416-299-7531
Everywhere else: Taylor and Francis Customer Services,
ITPS
Cheriton House, North Way
Andover, Hampshire SP10 5BE
United Kingdom
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Dec 20 2002 - 00:00:00 EST