Yakhot describes the flourishing of philosophical discussion in the newly-established Soviet Union, and its subsequent destruction by Stalin. Rare among works dealing with this period, this is an objective account of the theoretical role of the major figures in the early Soviet Union, including that of Leon Trotsky, co-leader with Lenin of the Russian Revolution of October 1917.
Lenin introduces the reader to the essential concepts of Marxism, an "integral and harmonious" scientific theory based on a dialectical and historical materialist understanding of society and the development of social knowledge. He provides a brief exposition of Marx's development of the labor theory of value, the theory of the class struggle, and Marx's most significant contribution to political economy, the theory of surplus value.
The polemical essays in this volume examine the complex interaction between history, philosophy and politics. The author defends historical materialism against contemporary anti-Marxist philosophical tendencies related to the Frankfurt School and postmodernism.
The author argues that the rapid growth of social inequality, rooted in the historic crisis of the capitalist system, will bring on titanic class struggles internationally. The complete breakdown of democratic forms of government, the turn to the far-right by today's ruling elites, the mad pursuit of escalating wars, and the emergence of working class struggle, all provide further confirmation that far from being at an end, "History" is very much with us.
Marxist Economics Bundle This set contains essential writings by Karl Marx on economics, as well as an essay by noted Soviet economist E.A. Preobrazhensky on the problem of socialist construction in the USSR. The titles included are Capital, Vol. 1 Ch. 1; Grundrisse: Introduction to the Critique of Political Economy (unabridged); The Forms of Value; and From NEP to Socialism. All titles are also on sale individually.
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