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]
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