The Marxism of Leon Trotsky

Description

Kunal Chattopadhyay offers a new interpretation of the political thought of Leon Trotsky that is clearly written, well documented, critical-minded – “engaged scholarship” at its best. The author is refreshingly unapologetic in his commitment to a democratic-revolutionary “socialism from below” – which, far from distorting his scholarship, helps to drive it forward in a manner that throws considerable light on a variety of topics. Challenging standard accounts and opening new pathways, Chattopadhyay’s rigorous and nuanced contribution will stand as one of the works that anyone concerned with Trotsky and revolutionary history must take into account. It will have value for those wishing to comprehend both past and contemporary realities, and – perhaps – to help shape a better future. Paul Le Blanc, Associate Professor of History, La Roche College, Pittsburgh; author of Lenin and the Revolutionary Party Kunal Chattopadhyay’s remarkable essay is a good example of how a partisan and polemical book is much more interesting than the dull and " neutral " literature so often produced by Academia. Written from the viewpoint of a Third-World internationalist scholar, it goes against the grain of so much West-oriented writings on Socialist theory. Discussing Trotsky's Marxism, it highlights its originality, its dialectical quality, and well as its democratic-revolutionary tendency, which inspired not only his opposition to Stalinism, but already, in his early writings, a critique of organisational fetishism in the revolutionary movement. Michael Löwy, Research director in Sociology, National Center for Scientific Research, Paris, France; author of The Politics of Combined and Uneven Development, and The Marxism of Che Guevara It is entirely appropriate that a country where the Stalinist and Maoist traditions remains so strong should also be home to this courageous and important work reclaiming the great legacy of thought and action of Leon Trotsky. This is a careful, detailed, comprehensive and scholarly study which is at the same time a committed political intervention, motivated by the belief that it is only by becoming contemporary with the best of our past that we can hope to build a genuinely democratic and socialist future. Achin Vanaik, Professor of Political Science, Delhi University; author of Communalism Contested and Co-author (with Praful Bidwai) of South Asia on a Short Fuse. NEW COVER 1 Kunal Chattopadhyay Introduction PART-I : The Foundations PART - II : The Strategy of Revolution PART - III : The Revolutionary Process PART - IV : Proletarian Internationalism CHAP1 UPART - I UTHE FOUNDATIONS UCHAPTER - I UCLASSICAL MARXISM AND “ORTHODOX” MARXISM I. UIntroduction II. UThe Principles of Classical Marxism III. UBourgeois Revolution in a Backward Country IV. UEconomism and Class Struggle V. UThe Permanent Revolution: Summing Up VI. UProspects of a Russian Revolution VII. UClass and Party VIII. UThe Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Transition to CommunismU: IX. UMarxist ‘Orthodoxy’: Basic Postulates X. Russian Social Democracy and the “Marxist Orthodoxy”P148F XI. UTrotsky and the Break with Orthodox CHAP2 Table II-1 Table 2-ii Table 2-iii CHAPT3 CHAPT4 CHAP5 I. Self-Organisation: II. Worker’s Councils Table 5-i Table 5-ii Table 5-iii CHAP6 CHAP7 CHAP8 CHAPTER9 I. Introduction SPECIAL NOTE - A SPECIAL NOTE-B U SPECIAL NOTE - B Special Note C Special Note - C Socialist Construction and the Struggle against Patriarchy Special Note - D Zinoviev’s Leninism and the Myth of Defeatism Lenin During World War I: The Many Faces of Revolutionary Defeatism Bibliography UBibliography Index Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T Trotsky, L – 1( fighting counter-revolution, self assessment, classical Marxist thinker), 2 (idea of revolution), 3 (understanding of imperialism, permanent revolution, against “orthodox” Marxism), 12 (on Marx’s understanding of the revolutions of 184... U Y Z Blurb