Essays written over 2010–14, collected here, deal with the legacy bequeathed to the contemporary revolutionary left by four key historical experiences: the Russian Revolution, the Comintern’s first experiment in ‘anti-imperialism’ in the early years of the Turkish Communist Party (1917–25), the failings of anarchism in the Spanish Revolution/Civil War (1936–9) and the failure of the Trotskyist Fourth International in the run-up to the Bolivian Revolution (1952) and beyond. In short, they probe the theoretical and practical legacies bequeathed to us as Leninism, anti-imperialism, anarchism and official Trotskyism, as it evolved after Trotsky’s assassination in 1940.
Contents
Introduction
1. The Agrarian Question in the Russian Revolution: From Material Community to Productivism, and Back
2. 'Socialism in One Country' Before Stalin and the Origins of Reactionary 'Anti-Imperialism': The Case of Turkey
3. The Spanish Revolution, Past and Future: Grandeur and Poverty of Anarchism; How the Working Class Takes Over (or Doesn't), Then and Now
4. Anti-Capitalism or Anti-Imperialism? Interwar Authoritarian and Fascist Sources of a Reactionary Ideology: The Case of the Bolivian MNR
References
Index
Comments
Goldner Takes up the theme of
Goldner Takes up the theme of 'Russia and the agrarian question with reference to the Mir' in his earlier text on this site with this collection of essays looking at past stalled or defeated potential revolutionary movements in Russia, Turkey, Spain and Bolivia. Haven't read the whole collection yet which is reviewed by three others here that give us a brief sympathetic but critical insight into Lorens' theme:
http://insurgentnotes.com/2018/06/review-loren-goldner-revolution-defeat-and-theoretical-underdevelopment-russia-turkey-spain-bolivia-2017/
https://anticapital0.wordpress.com/impermanent-revolution/
https://www.anarkismo/net/article/31065