In this follow-up to his acclaimed The Thinking Reed, Boris Kagarlistky presents an incisive analysis of the interplay between reform and revolution in Western and Eastern Europe in the twentieth century. At once theoretical and polemical, the book attempts to develop a dialogue between the emergent Soviet Left - of which he is a key figure - and radical forces in the West, in pursuit of a coherent and consistent strategy of change.

The first part of Kagarlitsky's endeavour takes us from a re-examination of the Marxist classics - via the dogmatism of the Second International, and the more fertile ideas of Jaures, Luxemburg and Gramsci - to the actual practice of postwar socialist governments in Western Europe. He shows how these governments , influenced by Keynesian and Galbraithian technocratic reformism, have been unable to transcend the confines imposed by capitalism and develop alternative working-class strategies - eventually succumbing to the monetarist counter-offensive.

In a counterpoint to the Western experience Kagarlitsky then turns his attention to the failures of technocratic reformism in Eastern Europe. He reviews the crucial lessons of the emergence of Solidarity in Poland, and the Brezhnev period of 'stability', corruption and stagnation, against the backdrop of profound social changes - changes which render the question of Gorbachev's democratization and reform vital for the future of both the Soviet Union and the world.

About the Author
Boris Kagarlitsky is the author of The Thinking Reed, The Dialectic of Hope, and The Mirage of Modernisation. He has been arrested twice for his activism, once in 1982 under Brezhnev, and in 1993 under Yeltsin.

Reviews
...one of the best poltitical analysts in the new generation. -- Jonathan Steele * The Guardian *



Book Information
ISBN 9780860919735
Author Boris Kagarlitsky
Format Paperback
Page Count 404
Imprint Verso Books
Publisher Verso Books
Weight(grams) 697g
Dimensions(mm) 236mm * 155mm * 33mm