Stalin: From Theology to the Philosophy of Socialism in Power

Stalin: From Theology to the Philosophy of Socialism in Power
Author: Roland Boer
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2017-10-17
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9811063672

This book not only explicates Stalin’s thoughts, but thinks with and especially through Stalin. It argues that Stalin often thought at the intersections between theology and Marxist political philosophy – especially regarding key issues of socialism in power. Careful and sustained attention to Stalin’s written texts is the primary approach used. The result is a series of arresting efforts to develop the Marxist tradition in unexpected ways. Starting from a sympathetic attitude toward socialism in power, this book provides us with an extremely insightful interpretation of Stalin’s philosophy of socialism. It is not only a successful academic effort to re-articulate Stalin’s philosophy, but also a creative effort to understand socialism in power in the context of both the former Soviet Union and contemporary China. ------- Zhang Shuangli, Professor of Marxist philosophy, Fudan University Boer's book, far from both "veneration" and "demonization" of Stalin, throws new light on the classic themes of Marxism and the Communist Movement: language, nation, state, and the stages of constructing post-capitalist society. It is an original book that also pays great attention to the People's Republic of China, arising from the reforms of Deng Xiaoping, and which is valuable to those who, beyond the twentieth century, want to understand the time and the world in which we live. -------Domenico Losurdo, University of Urbino, Italy, author of Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend.

The Rise and Fall of Communism in Russia

The Rise and Fall of Communism in Russia
Author: Robert V. Daniels
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 493
Release: 2008-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300134932

Distinguished historian of the Soviet period Robert V. Daniels offers a penetrating survey of the evolution of the Soviet system and its ideology. In a tightly woven series of analyses written during his career-long inquiry into the Soviet Union, Daniels explores the Soviet experience from Karl Marx to Boris Yeltsin and shows how key ideological notions were altered as Soviet history unfolded. The book exposes a long history of American misunderstanding of the Soviet Union, leading up to the "grand surprise" of its collapse in 1991. Daniels's perspective is always original, and his assessments, some worked out years ago, are strikingly prescient in the light of post-1991 archival revelations. Soviet Communism evolved and decayed over the decades, Daniels argues, through a prolonged revolutionary process, combined with the challenges of modernization and the personal struggles between ideologues and power-grabbers.

Friedrich Engels and the Foundations of Socialist Governance

Friedrich Engels and the Foundations of Socialist Governance
Author: Roland Boer
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2021-10-08
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9811646953

This book states that the political systems of China, Vietnam, Cuba and other socialist countries are showing distinct maturity and ability to deal effectively with challenges – the most recent being the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to understand how they have developed their structures, it is time to return to the roots of the Marxist tradition and re-examine the question of socialist governance. It was Friedrich Engels (and less so Marx) who laid out some of the theoretical foundations for socialist governance. On the basis of extensive research in 1870s and 1880s, Engels developed his analysis of the nature of hitherto existing states as a ‘separated public power’; the role of the dictatorship of the proletariat and its exercise of power; the actual meaning of the ‘withering away of the state’, which would be one of the very last outcomes of socialist construction; and the nature of socialist governance itself. On this matter, he proposed a de-politicised public power that would stand in the midst of society and focus on managing the processes of production for the sake of the true interests of society.

Red Theology: On the Christian Communist Tradition

Red Theology: On the Christian Communist Tradition
Author: Roland Boer
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2019-02-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 900439477X

In Red Theology: On the Christian Communist Tradition, Roland Boer presents key moments in the 2,000 year tradition of Christian communism. Defined by the two features of alternative communal practice and occasional revolutionary action, Christian communism is predicated on profound criticism of the way of the world. The book begins with Karl Kautsky – the leading thinker of second-generation Marxism – and his oft-ignored identification of this tradition. From there, it offers a series of case studies that deal with European instances, the Russian Revolution, and to East Asia. Here we find the emergence of Christian communism not only in China, but also in North Korea. This book will be a vital resource for scholars and students of religion and the many aspects of socialist tradition.

Stalin - the Enduring Legacy

Stalin - the Enduring Legacy
Author: Kerry Bolton
Publisher: Black House Publishing
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2012-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9781908476425

Stalin: The Enduring Legacy considers the 'Man of Steel' in a manner that will outrage dogmatists of both Left and Right. Stalinist Russia is reassessed as a state that transcended Marxism, and proceeded on a nationalist and imperial path rather than as the citadel of 'world revolution'. Stalin reversed many early Bolshevik policies re-instituting, for example, the traditional family. He abolished the Communist International, championed 'realism' in the arts and rejected post-1945 US plans for a 'new world order'. Despite so-called 'de-Stalinization' after his death, the Soviet bloc continued to oppose globalism, as does Putin's Russia. Stalin: The Enduring Legacy, examines the anti-Marxist character of Stalinism, the legitimacy of the Moscow Trials against the 'Old Bolsheviks', the origins of the Cold War, the development of Trotskyism as a tool of US foreign policy, the question of Stalin's murder, and the relevance of Russia to the future of world power politics. 'Dr. Bolton's book Stalin: The Enduring Legacy is a major contribution to the proper understanding of Russian, as well as American, politics and society in the twentieth century. It brushes aside the anti-Stalinist biases of the Trotskyist American chroniclers of this historical period to reveal the unquestionable integrity of Stalin as a nationalist leader. At the same time, it highlights the vital differences between the Russian national character rooted in the soil and history of Russia, and its opposite, the rootless Jewish cosmopolitanism that Trotskyist Marxism sought to impose on the Russians - as well as on the rest of the world'. - Dr Alexander Jacob

Communism: A Very Short Introduction

Communism: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Leslie Holmes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2009-08-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0199551545

The collapse of communism was one of the most defining moments of the twentieth century. This Very Short Introduction examines the history behind the political, economic, and social structures of communism as an ideology.

The Total Art of Stalinism

The Total Art of Stalinism
Author: Boris Groys
Publisher: Verso Books
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2014-05-27
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1844678091

From the ruins of communism, Boris Groys emerges to provoke our interest in the aesthetic goals pursued with such catastrophic consequences by its founders. Interpreting totalitarian art and literature in the context of cultural history, this brilliant essay likens totalitarian aims to the modernists’ goal of producing world-transformative art. In this new edition, Groys revisits the debate that the book has stimulated since its first publication.

Socialism in Power

Socialism in Power
Author: Roland Boer
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2023-03-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9811954143

This book examines the historical development—in practice and theory—of governance in socialist systems. With more than a century of such development from many parts of the world, including the Soviet Union, China, and the DPRK (North Korea), it is possible to gain much from careful study of their political systems.But what is the nature of this socialist governance? It is abundantly clear that the type of governance in socialist countries had never before been seen in human history. How does this governance work? What was the political theory that arose from the practice? How did this type of governance develop over time and in light of specific conditions?These are the questions that Socialism in Power sets out to answer. It does so not by using methods developed for studying Western liberal nation-states, but by deploying Marxist-Leninist analysis. Not an abstract Marxism, but concrete Marxism, as it was applied and developed in light of the particular historical conditions of the countries in question.The book begins with careful analysis of the works of Marx and Engels, with a particular emphasis on Engels, who was crucial in establishing the basic principles of socialist governance. Next, the book focuses on the Soviet Union, which was the first country in human history to experience socialism in power. The rarely studied DPRK (North Korea) comes next, as a transition to East Asia, followed by a number of chapters on China, which arguably has the most developed form of socialist governance.

Apostles of Revolution? Marxism and Biblical Studies

Apostles of Revolution? Marxism and Biblical Studies
Author: Christina Petterson
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 86
Release: 2020-04-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004432205

In Apostles of Revolution? Marxism and Biblical Studies Christina Petterson sheds light on the collaboration between Biblical studies and liberal ideology. Marxist analysis of the bible is spreading, but clarity about what constitutes Marxist readings and Marxist categories of analysis is lacking – a lack of clarity compounded by the different strands within Marxist politics, and its subtle resonances in biblical scholarship. The author examines the interplay between Biblical studies and liberal ideology in two ways. First, by presenting and discussing some of the central Marxist categories of analysis, namely history, ideology and class, and how these categories have been co-opted into biblical studies and in the process lost their radical edge. Second, by discussing the emergence of the discipline of biblical studies during the Enlightenment, and to what extent the containment strategies of biblical studies overlap with those of capitalism.

Biopolitics of Stalinism

Biopolitics of Stalinism
Author: Sergei Prozorov
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2016-02-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1474410553

Western theories of biopolitics focus on its liberal and fascist rationalities. In opposition to this, Stalinism is oriented more towards transforming life in accordance with the communist ideal, and less towards protecting it. Sergei Prozorov reconstructs this rationality in the early Stalinist project of the Great Break (1928-32) and its subsequent modifications during High Stalinism. He then relocates the question of biopolitics down to the level of the subject, tracing the way the 'new Soviet person' was to be produced in governmental practices and the role that violence and terror would play in this construction. Throughout, he engages with the canonical theories of Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben and Roberto Esposito, and the 'new materialist' theories of Michel Henry, Quentin Meillassoux and Catherine Malabou to critique the conventional approaches to biopolitics