Russia and the Long Transition from Capitalism to Socialism

Out Of Early TwentiethCentury Russia Came The WorldS First Significant Effort To Build A Modern Revolutionary Society. According To Marxist Economist Samir Amin, The Great Upheaval That Once Produced The Soviet Union Also Produced A Movement Away From CapitalismA Long Transition That Continues 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 RussiaAnd, By Extension, The Future Of Socialism Itself. Amin Manages To Combine An Analysis Of Class Struggle With GeopoliticsBoth Crucial To Understanding RussiaS Complex Political History. He First Looks At The Development (Or Lack Thereof) Of Russian Capitalism. He Sees RussiaS Geopolitical Isolation As The Reason Its Capitalist Empire Developed So Differently From Western Europe, And The Reason For RussiaS Perceived Backwardness. Yet RussiaS 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 AminS Great Achievement In This Book Is Not Only To Explain RussiaS Historical Tragedies And Triumphs, But Also To Temper Our Hopes For A Quick End To An Increasingly Insufferable Capitalism.