Class Theory and History

by Resnick,Stephen A.

• ISBN13: 9780415933186
• ISBN10: 0415933188
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2002-07-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Class Theory and Historytakes 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 USSR and provate capitalism in the United States to discuss the future of private capitalism, state capitalism and communism.

Author Biography

Richard D. Wolff and Stephen Resnick both serve as Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
Part 1: Communism
A General Class Theory	3	(48)
The Classical Tradition	5	(3)
Our Basic Terms	8	(2)
Utopia and Communism: A Brief Digression	10	(3)
A Concrete Communism	13	(3)
Communist Class Structures: Centralization versus Decentralization	16	(4)
Culture, Politics, and Economics of Communism	20	(22)
Appendix: How Societies Differ-A Methodological Problem	42	(2)
Notes	44	(7)
The Many Forms of Communism	51	(34)
Class and Property	52	(7)
Class and Markets	59	(6)
Class and Power	65	(6)
Classless Communism and Proletarian Dictatorship	71	(3)
Socialism and Communism	74	(5)
Notes	79	(6)
Part 2: State Capitalism
A Class Theory of State Capitalism	85	(19)
Capitalisms and Exploitation	85	(3)
Justifying the Label ``Capitalist''	88	(4)
Value Analysis for State Capitalism: A Technical Digression	92	(3)
Capitalisms, Communisms, and Socialisms	95	(6)
Notes	101	(3)
Debates over State Capitalism	104	(29)
Conflicting Concepts	104	(7)
Power as the Theoretical Key	111	(8)
Weaknesses of Power Theories	119	(7)
Notes	126	(7)
Part 3: The Rise and Fall of the USSR
Class Structures and Tensions before 1917	133	(23)
The Fundamentals: Feudal, Ancient, Capitalist, and Communist	133	(10)
The Complexities	143	(3)
The Contradictions and the Revolution	146	(7)
Notes	153	(3)
Revolution, War Communism, and the Aftermath	156	(27)
Changing the State and Class Structures	158	(6)
Organizing the New Class Structures	164	(5)
A Class and Value Analysis of War Communism	169	(6)
Class Contradictions after War Communism	175	(4)
Notes	179	(4)
Revolution, Class, and the Soviet Household	183	(23)
Bolshevik Class Blindness	185	(7)
New Economic Policy/Old Household Policy	192	(10)
Notes	202	(4)
The New Economic Policies of the 1920s	206	(31)
Relations between Agriculture and Industry: An Overview	209	(4)
The NEP in Class and Value Terms	213	(9)
A History of NEP Contradictions	222	(5)
Adjusting State Industrial Capitalism	227	(2)
Revolution and NEP as a Transition to State Capitalism	229	(2)
Notes	231	(6)
The Transformations of the 1930s	237	(44)
New Complexities and Contradictions	238	(5)
Communism in Agriculture	243	(14)
State Capitalism and Industry	257	(5)
The Industrial Workers	262	(6)
Stalinism and Class	268	(5)
Appendix A: The Value Equation for Collective Farms	273	(1)
Appendix B: The Value Crisis of Collective Farms	274	(1)
Notes	275	(6)
Class Contradictions and the Collapse	281	(54)
Class Structures after World War Two	282	(4)
Postwar Culture	286	(12)
Postwar Politics	298	(12)
Postwar Economy	310	(6)
State, Enterprise, and Household Transitions	316	(5)
The Collapse	321	(4)
Appendix A: The Value Equation for Military Expenditures	325	(1)
Appendix B: The Value Equation for International Terms of Trade	326	(1)
Notes	326	(9)
References	335	(12)
Index	347