Russia and the Long Transition from Capitalism to Socialism

by Samir Amin

Out of early twentieth-century Russia came the world’s first significant effort to build a modern revolutionary society. According to Marxist economist Samir Amin, the great upheaval that once produced the Soviet Union has also produced a movement away from capitalism – a long transition that continues even today. In seven concise, provocative chapters, Amin deftly examines the trajectory of Russian capitalism, the Bolshevik Revolution, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the possible future of Russia – and, by extension, the future of socialism itself.

Amin manages to combine an analysis of class struggle with geopolitics – each crucial to understanding Russia’s singular and complex political history. He first looks at the development (or lack thereof) of Russian capitalism. He sees Russia’s geopolitical isolation as the reason its capitalist empire developed so differently from Western Europe, and the reason for Russia’s perceived “backwardness.” Yet Russia’s unique capitalism proved to be the rich soil in which the Bolsheviks were able to take power, and Amin covers the rise and fall of the revolutionary Soviet system. Finally, in a powerful chapter on Ukraine and the rise of global fascism, Amin lays out the conditions necessary for Russia to recreate itself, and perhaps again move down the long road to socialism. Samir Amin’s great achievement in this book is not only to explain Russia’s historical tragedies and triumphs, but also to temper our hopes for a quick end to an increasingly insufferable capitalism.

This book offers a cornucopia of food for thought, as well as an enlightening means to transcend reductionist arguments about “revolution” so common on the left. Samir Amin’s book – and the actions that could spring from it – are more necessary than ever, if the world is to avoid the barbarism toward which capitalism is hurling humanity.

Genres: History, Economics, Russia, Soviet Union, Politics, Theory, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2016

About the author

The Arabic profile: سمير أمين

Samir Amin (Arabic: سمير أمين) (3 September 1931 – 12 August 2018) was an Egyptian-French Marxian economist, political scientist and world-systems analyst. He is noted for his introduction of the term Eurocentrism in 1988 and considered a pioneer of Dependency Theory.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

short little essays mostly focusing on russia and possible ways of getting out of capitalism. i mostly read this for the transitional stuff which was more interesting to me than when he talks about geopolitics etc. his interpretation of the ussr seems to owe a lot to charles bettelheim even though bettelheim isn't actually referenced anywhere

[Juan Francisco · Rating 1 out of 5]

Galimatías. Reflexiones perezosas. Se escribió con más interés editorial que de aporte reflexivo.

[‎ ‎ Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible! Few works are as clearsighted and illuminating as this.