Class Theory and History: Capitalism and Communism in the USSR

Stephen A. Resnick, Richard D. Wolff

Psychology Press, 2002 - Capitalism - 353 pages

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

Contents

• A General Class Theory: 3
• The Classical Tradition: 5
• Our Basic Terms: 8
• A Brief Digression: 10
• A Concrete Communism: 13
• Centralization versus Decentralization: 16
• Culture Politics and Economics of Communism: 20
• How Societies DifferA Methodological Problem: 42
• Notes: 44
• The Many Forms of Communism: 51
• Class and Property: 52
• Class and Markets: 59
• Class and Power: 65
• I: 71
• Socialism and Communism: 74
• Notes: 79
• State Capitalism: 83
• A Class Theory of State Capitatism: 85
• II: 88
• III: 92
• IV: 95
• Notes: 101
• Debates over State Capitatism: 104
• Power as the Theoretical Key: 111
• Weaknesses of Power Theories: 119
• Notes: 126
• The Rise and Fall of the USSR: 131
• Class Structures and Tensions before 1917: 133
• The Complexities: 143
• The Contradictions and the Revolution: 146
• Notes: 153
• Revotution War Communism and the Aftermath: 156
• Changing the State and Class Structures: 158
• Organizing the New Class Structures: 164
• V: 169
• Class Contradictions after War Communism: 175
• Notes: 179
• Revolution Class and the Soviet Household: 183
• Bolshevik Class Blindness: 185
• New Economic PolicyOld Household Policy: 192
• Notes: 202
• The New Economic Poticies of the 1920s: 206
• An Overview: 209
• The NEP in Class and Value Terms: 213
• A History of NEP Contradictions: 222
• Adjusting State Industrial Capitalism: 227
• Revolution and NEP as a Transition to State Capitalism: 229
• Notes: 231
• The Transformations of the 1930s: 237
• New Complexities and Contradictions: 238
• Communism in Agriculture: 243
• State Capitalism and Industry: 257
• The Industrial Workers: 262
• Stalinism and Class: 268
• The Value Equation for Collective Farms: 273
• The Value Crisis of Collective Farms: 274
• Notes: 275
• Class Contradictions and the Collapse: 281
• Class Structures after World War Two: 282
• Postwar Culture: 286
• Postwar Politics: 298
• Postwar Economy: 310
• State Enterprise and Household Transitions: 316
• The Collapse: 321
• The Value Equation for Military Expenditures: 325
• The Value Equation for International Terms of Trade: 326
• References: 335
• Index: 347

Bibliographic information

• Title: Class Theory and History: Capitalism and Communism in the USSR; Class Theory and History: Capitalism and Communism in the USSR, Stephen A. Resnick
• Authors: Stephen A. Resnick, Richard D. Wolff
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Psychology Press, 2002
• ISBN: 0415933188, 9780415933186
• Length: 353 pages