------------ EH.NET BOOK REVIEW --------------
Published by EH.NET (October 2007)
Marcel van der Linden, _Western Marxism and the Soviet Union: A
Survey of Critical Theories and Debates since 1917_. Leiden: Brill,
2007. xi + 375 pp. ?56/$125 (hardcover), ISBN: 978-90-04-158757.
Reviewed for EH.NET by Martin Kragh, Institute for Research in
Economic History, Stockholm School of Economics.
The objective of this book is to present the development of the
Western Marxist critique of the Soviet Union from 1917 to the
present. The author aims to show how Marxists who were politically
independent of the USSR "theoretically interpreted developments in
the Soviet Union" (p. 3). In order to accomplish this, the author has
collected a vast collection of sources (books, articles and
pamphlets) in the major European languages dealing with these
questions from a Marxist and critical point of view, "critical"
meaning not conforming to the official Soviet or Stalinist point of
view.
The first chapter, which has been rewritten for this English edition,
summarizes the author's methodology and research questions. Chapters
two to seven analyze different epochs of Marxist research, beginning
with the debate between the Bolsheviks and Kautsky in chapter two,
and ending with analyses made after the collapse of the Soviet system
in chapter seven (this last chapter is also new). Chapter eight
summarizes some concluding remarks, and chapter nine aims to provide
a "meta-theoretical" contribution to the science of analyzing
political texts in general.
Considering the long-term perspective (1917-2005), the author tries
to capture historical change through three "contextual clusters" that
he believes influenced Marxist theorizing on the USSR. The first
cluster deals with the Marxist conception of different forms of
society (modes of production) and their succession. This debate
gravitated around the question on how societies develop from feudal
to capitalist and finally into socialist (communist) societies, and
whether or not this sequence would be linear or not. Later the debate
shifted to more unilinear theories, arguing primarily that the Soviet
Union was something completely different from capitalism and
feudalism (while not being socialist either).
The second cluster deals with the way Western economies were
interpreted, whether or not they were conceived of as being stable,
dynamic or crisis prone. Considering the development from the Great
Depression to World War II and the final period of long-term growth
in the 1950s to the 1970s, all these interpretations were bound to
change. In this it followed that the interpretation of the Soviet
economy's sustainability also would be subject to re-evaluation. The
third cluster deals with precisely this very last aspect.
Accordingly, all these three clusters helped compound one another in
the analysis reached by Marxist scholars.
The author formulates three general questions that he tries to answer
in his reading of the subsequent texts. Firstly, in the texts, what
is the place of the Soviet Union in the successive modes of
production? Secondly, are there any essential class antagonisms in
Soviet society that they describe, and if so, which? And thirdly,
what is the driving force of Soviet society as they see it? These
questions in turn are consistently analyzed throughout the book, and
they support the author in giving structure to an otherwise
heterogeneous whole.
How well does the author answer these questions using his cluster
approach? In my opinion, he has done very well. The texts are
thoroughly worked through and analyzed -- and contrary to many of the
original texts -- in a very detached, informed and scholarly fashion.
The amount of sources the author has studied is staggering and the
bibliography in itself is a scientific contribution. He also succeeds
well in engaging in a dialogue with his research objects,
triangulating them against one another, appraising some, and
criticizing others in one coherent "language" or discourse. This is
the book's main strength, an aspect which gives the book an
encyclopedic value and makes it accessible to all scholars interested
in political history. This strength, however, also represents some
core weaknesses that can be summarized as follows.
As a scholar of the economic history of the USSR, the reviewer is
interested not only in the theories per se, but also to what extent
these theories can be considered consistent not primarily with
Marx(ism) -- which is what van der Linden investigates -- but with
the historical evidence and facts. Only in this fashion, I believe,
is it possible to make a real assessment of the theories' accuracy
and scientific value. The author in concluding seems to hold this
position himself, when asserting that "some texts" had "solid
empirical foundations," but that most were "lacking them," being
"illogical and superficial" at times (p. 305). The problem is that we
never learn how van der Linden reached this conclusion. Throughout
the book, there is little empirical evidence provided on the USSR,
and few attempts are made to evaluate the different authors against
the scant material presented. It is therefore impossible for the
reader to understand what van der Linden means by his claim that
"some" or "most" authors were more or less scientific. Who are the
authors in the first group, and who are the authors in the second
one? And secondly, what were these major shortcomings as he sees it?
The second problem relates to the author's choice of scholars to be
analyzed. He describes his method as including all those who labeled
themselves "Marxists" as such, but also those who conform to a
certain "Marxist approach." The Marxist approach, accordingly, means
emphasizing economic and social forces, dialectics and class
struggle. Unfortunately this is a much more inclusive approach than
the author might imagine. For example, why are not Alec Nove (who
dedicated a book to Marx' theories in relation to the USSR) or Donald
Filtzer (an outspoken Marxist historian) included? Not only do they
seem to fit into the model, but their research on the USSR is also
far reaching and well known. It seems, in fact, as if the author has
had another method in choosing his texts which he might not be aware
of himself. Instead of having chosen texts conforming to a certain
"world outlook," it seems as if van der Linden has made his choice
depending on whether or not the authors of these texts engaged in
debate with other Marxists primarily for political, rather than
scholarly reasons. Those who fall into the first category are thus
included, and those in the latter are excluded. This alternative
conclusion would be consistent with what van der Linden says himself
about the texts' scientific (scholarly) value.
In conclusion, van der Linden's book is the outcome of a well
researched and scholarly work spanning years of hard labor studying
many varied sources. The book has a beautiful language but requires
some previous knowledge in Marxist theory and the history of the
USSR. Now available in English, it will most likely serve as a future
reference point for people interested in the history of ideas. Its
shortcomings are relevant but do not affect the conclusions reached
by the author.
References:
Filtzer, D., _Soviet Workers and Late Stalinism: Labour and the
Restoration of the Stalinist System after World War II_. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Filtzer, D., _Soviet Workers and the Collapse of Perestroika: The
Soviet labour Process and Gorbachev's Reforms, 1985-1991_. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Nove, A, _The Economics of Feasible Socialism_. London: Allen &
Unwin, 1983, reprinted in 1991.
Martin Kragh is a Ph.D. student at Stockholm School of Economics. His
research interests include the economic history of the USSR and
history of economic thought.
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Published by EH.Net (October 2007). All EH.Net reviews are archived
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