Western Marxism and the Soviet Union: A Survey of Critical Theories and Debates Since 1917

The Russian Question was an absolutely central problem for Marxism in the twentieth century. Numerous attempts were made to understand the nature of Soviet society. The present book tries to portray the development of these theoretical contributions since 1917 in a coherent, comprehensive appraisal. It aims to present the development of the Western Marxist critique of the Soviet Union across a rather long period in history (from 1917 to the present) and in a large region (Western Europe and North America). Within this demarcation of limits in time and space, an effort has been made to ensure completeness, by paying attention to all Marxist analyses which in some way significantly deviated from or added to the older theories.

"The amount of sources the author has studied is staggering...the book [has] an encyclopedic value and [is] accessible to all scholars interested in political history." —Martin Kragh, Stockholm School of Economics

"Since the Russian experience is still used to vilify the idea of socialism, the debate remains relevant. Van der Linden...has now produced a comprehensive scholarly account of the arguments." —Ian Birchall, London Socialist Historians Group

Marcel van der Linden (1952) is Research Director of the International Institute of Social History and Professor in the History of Social Movements at the University of Amsterdam.