The Soviet Transition

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.

This interdisciplinary study offers a comprehensive analysis of the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Providing full historical context and drawing on a wide range of literature, this book explores the continuous economic and social transformation of the post-socialist world. While the future is yet to be determined, understanding the present phase of transformation is critical. The book’s core exploration evolves along three pivots of competitive economic structure, institutional change, and social welfare. The main elements include analysis of the emergence of the socialist economic model; its adaptations through the twentieth century; discussion of the 1990s market transition reforms; post-2008 crisis development; and the social and economic diversity in the region today. With an appreciation for country specifics, the book also considers the urgent problems of social policy, poverty, income inequality, and labor migration. Transition Economies will aid students, researchers and policy makers working on the problems of comparative economics, economic development, economic history, economic systems transition, international political economy, as well as specialists in post-Soviet and Central and Eastern European regional studies.

Because of the recent transition in the Soviet Union's leadership, scholars worldwide have found it necessary to reevaluate Soviet domestic and foreign policy. In this volume, prominent Japanese, U.S., and European experts examine changes within the USSR as well as Soviet reactions to changes in the rest of the world. They assess the immediate implications of change for such areas as technology, energy policy, and economic reform and deliver commentaries on current policy directions and historical backgrounds of Soviet policies. To commemorate its silver jubilee and to add the valuable perspective of Japanese Soviet-studies scholars to Western analyses, the Japan Institute of International Affairs held the symposium on which this volume is based.

The collapse of the Soviet Union has engendered one of the most momentous and critical regional transformations of our times through formation and development of the post-Soviet states. This book explores the politics of post-Soviet transition and the problems which will continue to face these states in the twenty-first century as they struggle toward democracy, market reform, ethnic co-existence and integration into a new geopolitical post-Cold War world order. Richly illustrated with examples drawn from Russian and other post-Soviet primary sources, the book focuses upon three broad themes of transition: first, the progression from colonialism to post-colonialism and the consequences of such changes on national identity and the redefinition of national homeland; second, the movement away from totalitarian rule and the processes that both facilitate and challenge the prospects of a democratic future; third, the process of securing a successful place in the global capitalist economy. New theoretical ways are introduced to map out these themes, providing a framework from which to understand the geopolitical, economic and social processes that are likely to shape this transition into the twenty-first century.

First published in 1997 and written by two distinguished Russian scholars, this book examines the problems and prospects of democratic transition in Russia since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Specifically, it offers a compelling evaluation of the rise and fall of the 1990 Russian parliament. The problems of transforming what had been a regional assembly into a national parliament are analysed in the context of the failure of perestroika, the difficulties of generating pluralist politics, the strength of presidential power and the tensions between ideologies of reform, on the one hand, and the realities of economic crisis, on the other. The analysis allows them to evaluate the role of political upheaval and conflicts of legitimacy in Russian democratization. The book is divided into three sections. The first offers a theory of transition to modern democracy. This provides the framework for the second section, an account of the first parliament after the 1990 elections, its conflicts with presidential power and the reform agenda of the government and, finally, its fall. The third section examines three particular problems which were decisive in producing the crisis of Russian parliamentarianism and democratization: voting behaviour in a non-party parliamentary setting and its relationship to conflicts between legislature and executive; populism and representation; and the role of democratic values and procedures in the legislative process. Drawing on their unrivalled knowledge of issues, events and actors, Nikolai Biryukov and Victor Sergeyev gather and interpret much new evidence to explore their subject. In a path-breaking study, the authors draw on a variety of sources and traditions to produce an original theory of the problems of political stability set up by democratic transition in Russia.

"With an abridged translation of the Dictionary of Moscow Conceptualism."

Of course we watched it all on television, day by day, as the Evil Empire transmuted into the Circus Bear, but seeing it and knowing what to think about it are not the same. Scholars from eastern and western Europe and North America help out, in 14 papers from an April 1992 conference in Naples.

An accessible book covering the momentous changes that have occurred, and are still occurring, since the fall of the USSR in 1989. Contributions from an impressive collection of authors are drawn from the most recent and original research available and address political and social issues which impact on all levels of Russian society. The book consists of a selection of specially commissioned pieces which have evolved from the conference of the same name, held at Cambridge University in December 1994.