Western Marxism and the Soviet Union: A Survey of Critical Theories and Debates Since 1917 (Historical Materialism Book Series)

If the Soviet Union did not have a socialist society, then how should its nature be understood? The present book presents the first comprehensive appraisal of the debates on this problem, which was so central to twentieth-century Marxism. "The 'Russian Question' was an absolutely central problem for Marxism in the twentieth century. Numerous attempts were made to understand the nature of Soviet society. The present book tries to portray the development of these theoretical contributions since 1917 in a coherent, comprehensive appraisal. It aims to present the development of the Western Marxist critique of the Soviet Union across a long period in history (from 1917 to the present) and in a large region (Western Europe and North America). Within this demarcation of limits in time and space, an effort has been made to ensure completeness, by paying attention to all Marxist analyses which in some way significantly deviated from or added to the older theories."--Jacket The ‘Russian Question'was an absolutely central problem for Marxism in the twentieth century. Numerous attempts were made to understand the nature of Soviet society. The present book tries to portray the development of these theoretical contributions since 1917 in a coherent, comprehensive appraisal. It aims to present the development of the Western Marxist critique of the Soviet Union across a rather long period in history (from 1917 to the present) and in a large region (Western Europe and North America). Within this demarcation of limits in time and space, an effort has been made to ensure completeness, by paying attention to all Marxist analyses which in some way significantly deviated from or added to the older theories. The 'Russian Question' was a central problem for Marxism in the twentieth century. Numerous attempts were made to understand the nature of Soviet society. If the Soviet Union did not have a socialist society, then how should its nature be understood? This book tries to portray the development of these theoretical contributions since 1917 A wide-ranging survey of debates within Marxism about the Soviet Union in the twentieth century.