Property and Power: Towards a Non-Marxian Historical Materialism

by Lesz Nowak

Overview

THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE: THE POLISH ROAD FROM SOCIALISM ON 1. The history of all hitherto existing societies is a history of class struggle - not only that between the exploited and the exploiters, but also that between the ruled and the rulers. And in modern times, there is in some societies a struggle between those who are exploited and oppressed at the same time and those who at the same time exploit and oppress. 2. The struggle between the owners and the direct producers results from the fact that the former exploit the latter, that is, they take from their labour more than they give back. It is possible since only they, the exploiters, have a monopoly of the disposal over the m~ans of production, and the major part of society must provide them with their labour force. Increasing exploitation finally leads to the revolution of the masses -and the owners are forced to make concessions in order to avoid re-occurrences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789027715951
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	05/31/1983
Series:	Theory and Decision Library , #27
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1983
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

I: On the Necessity of Socialism.- A. The Marxian Method.- 1. The Marxian Methodology — An Outline of the Idealizational Interpretation.- 2. To Surpass Marx with the Aid of His Methodology.- B. The Marxian Ambiguity. A Proposal for a Non-Marxian Theory of Socio-Economic Formation.- 3. The Ambiguity of Marxian Historical Materialism.- 4. The Marxian Ambiguity: An Attempt at a Solution. A Non-Marxian Theory of Socio-Economic Formation (Model I).- 5. The Peculiarity of Slavery: The Development through Luxury (Model II).- 6. The Peculiarity of Feudalism: The Double Cycle (Models III–IV).- 7. The Peculiarity of Capitalism: An Attempt to Pose the Problem.- C. The Limitations of Marx’s Discoveries. The Generalization of Historical Materialism.- 8. The Basic Limitation of Marxian Historical Materialism.- 9. An Attempt at a Marxist Theory of Power.- 10. Generalized Historical Materialism: Some Main Notions.- D. The Fundamental Mistake of Marx and the Theory of Socialist Evolution.- 11. Preamble.- 12. The People’s Struggle and the Supra-Class Struggle. The Role of the Political Momentum in the Motion of Socio-Economic Formation (Model IP).- 13. The Peculiarity of Capitalism: The Necessity for the Disappearance of the Working Class Struggle Leads to Socialism (Model VP).- 14. Conclusion. The Problem of Part II.- II: On the Necessity of Socialism in Russia. Towards the Materialist Reinterpretation of the Marxist Image of Russia’s History.- 15. Introduction. Socialism in Russia: Modern Dogmas.- 16. The Totalitarian Anomaly: The Breakdown of the Double Cycle in Russian Feudalism (13th–16th Centuries).- 17. Property and Power in Russian Feudalism.- 18. Tsarist Russia Was the Best Developed Capitalist Country.- 19. The February Revolution Was a Totalitarian Revolution.- 20.Totalitarian Society in Russia: March-October 1917.- 21. The October Revolution Was Not a Social Revolution at All. It Was instead the Result of Anti-Totalitarian People’s Movements.- 22. Conclusion: The Myth of the Communists.- References.- Index of Authors Cited.