Reinterrogating the Classical Marxist Discourses of Revolutionary Democracy

Contents Foreword. Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction. 2. From radical democracy to proletarian democracy. 3. Class party and forms of self organisation. 4. Revolutionary strategy and democracy. 5. Democracy in the proletarian dictature. 6. Vanguard party and revolutionary strategy Bolshevism before February revolution. 7. Bolshevism in 1917. 8. Bolshevism and the experience of Soviet power. 9. Bureaucratisation and Bolshevism. Bibliography. Index. The collapse of Stalinist socialism and the intensification of anti communist ideological offensives meant a widespread conviction based on common sense to the effect that Marxism had been an authoritarian political theory and practice. Mediated by a global campaign as well as a feeling of despair among those who had followed the bureaucratically ruled states as good socialist ones the anti Marxist claims were accepted even by many who had formerly claimed to be socialists or communists. This book seeks to re examine this common sense claim. There has been a clear gap between history and theory in conventional academic writings on Bolshevism and the Russian revolution and even on Marx. The first aim of this study is to bridge this gap by insisting on the historically specific ways in which Marxist theory was created and by arguing that historically it was liberalism that was hostile to democracy while Marxism including pre revolution Bolshevism was firmly aligned with democracy. At the same time the equation between Stalinist dictatorships of all varieties and classical Marxism has been questioned. A detailed study of the way the Bolsheviks wielded power in the early years has been made in order to examine the alternative arguments one claiming that authoritarianism was inherent in Bolshevism and the other locating the collapse of workers democracy in the civil war context. Finally an attempt has been made through the book to integrate gender concerns by integrating the gender issues in discussions on Marx Engels German Social Democrats and the Bolsheviks. 538 pp. …