The October Revolution in Prospect and Retrospect: Interventions in Russian and Soviet History

By John Eric Marot

Book Overview

In a series of probing analytical essays, John Marot tracks the development of Bolshevism through the prism of pre-1917 intra-Russian Social Democratic controversies in politics and philosophy. For 1917, the author presents a critique of social historical interpretation of the Russian Revolution.

Turning to NEP Russia, the author applies Robert Brenner's analysis of pre-capitalist modes of production and concludes that neither Bukharin nor Trotsky's NEP-premised programs of economic transformation and advance toward socialism were feasible. At the same time, he rejects the view that Stalinism was pre-destined to supplant NEP. Instead, he hypothesises that the superior alternative to Stalinism was NEP without collectivization and the Five-Year Plans -- a outcome that would have been possible had Bukharin and Trotsky joined forces to stop Stalin.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9004228659
• ISBN13: 9789004228658
• Release Date: June 2012
• Publisher: Brill
• Length: 274 Pages
• Weight: 1.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.5"