Class Theory and History: Capitalism and Communism in the USSR

Abstract

Introduction Part I: Communism 1. A General Class Theory The Classical Tradition Our Basic Terms Utopia and Communism: A Brief Digression A Concrete Communism Communist Class Structures: Centralization versus Decentralization Culture, Politics and Economics of Communism Appendix: How Societies Differ: A Methodological Problem Endnotes 2. The Many Forms of Communism Class and Property Class and Markets Class and Power Classless Communism and Proletarian Dictatorship Socialism and Communism Endnotes Part II: State Capitalism 3. A Class Theory of State Capitalism Capitalisms and Exploitation Justifying the Label Value Analysis for State Capitalism: A Technical Digression Capitalisms, Communisms and Socialisms Endnotes 4. Debates over State Capitalism Conflicting Concepts Power as the Theoretical Key Weakness of Power Theories Endnotes Part III: The Rise and Fall of the USSR 5. Class Structures and Tensions Before 1917 The Fundamentals: Feudal, Ancient, Capitalist and Communist The Complexities The Contradictions and the Revolution Endnotes 6. Revolution, War Communism, and the Aftermath Changing the State and Class Structures Organizing the New Class Structures A Class and Value Analysis of War Communism Class Contradictions After War Communism Endnotes 7. Revolution, Class, and the Soviet Household Bolshevik Class Blindness New Economic Policy/Old Household Policy Endnotes 8. The New Economic Policies of the 1920s Relations Between Agriculture and Industry: An Overview The NEP in Class and Value Terms A History of NEP Contradictions Adjusting State Industrial Capitalism Revolution and NEP as a Transition to State Capital 9. The Transformations of the 1930s New Complexities and Contradictions Communism in Agriculture State Capitalism and Industry The Industrial Workers Stalinism and Class Appendix A: The Value Equation for Collective Farms Appendix B: The Value Crisis of Collective Farms Endnotes 10. Class Contradictions and the Collapse Class Structures After World War Two Postwar Culture Postwar Politics Postwar Economy State, Enterprise, and Household Transitions The Collapse Appendix A: The Value Equation for Military Expenditures Appendix B: The Value Equation for International Terms of Trade Endnotes References