Trotskyism (Concepts in Social Thought) by Alex Callinicos

by Alex Callinicos

In the wake of the popular revolutions which have overthrown Stalinist regimes in Eastern Europe, Alex Callinicos reconsiders the socialist tradition founded in opposition to Stalinism by Trotsky. Trotsky argued that Stalinism represented a betrayal of the principles of the October Revolution and sought to create a movement capable of rescuing the Marxist tradition.l Alex Callinicos traces the intellectual history of this movement from its origins in Trotsky's own thought to the crisis of the Trotskyist Fourth International provoked by the apparent strength and stability of Western capitalism and Stalinism. This book traces the various strands of Trotskyist theory and takes a different look at its analysis of the Eastern Bloc which rejects both the market and bureaucratic command economies.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, History

Mass Market Paperback

First published November 28, 1990

About the author

Alexander Theodore Callinicos, a descendant through his mother of Lord Acton, is a political theorist and Director of the Centre for European Studies at King's College London. He holds both a BA and a DPhil from Oxford University.

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to reconcile my fondness for some authors associated with Trotskyism (Mike Davis, Perry Anderson, Kim Moody, CLR James, Grace Lee Boggs) and at the same time why self-identified Trotskyists are so divisive and dogmatic. I also wanted to see if there were any promising variants. This book sufficiently answered my questions.

The Pablo lineage is the origin of the divisive “substitutionist” trots. The Deutscher lineage (which includes Anderson and NLR folks), the state capitalism lineage (James, Boggs, Cliff, Callinicos), and Draper lineage (Moody, sorta Davis) as defined here each have promising analytic and strategic elements but this book was too short to flesh them out.

My main takeaway from reading this, however, is that whether a person or claim is “Trotskyist” is irrelevant since there are no shared valid beliefs (a “socialism from below” platitude is not enough) that separate this tradition from other Marxist traditions.

[Levi · Rating 1 out of 5]

The terseness exudes an impression that this is meant to be a pamphlet; yet, many ideas, sudden refutations, apologies and jargonizing were crammed into place. Many arguments are not that convincing, especially the ones that require deft and precise polemics. The language used is not much difficult, but it seems to me that this book was created for Trotskyists rather than for casual pedestrians and their bedfellows.

[Barış Yıldırım · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okuduktan sonra Troçkist olmadığıma tekrar memnun olduğum kitap. Sosyalist hareketin toplamı içindeki epey küçük oranına rağmen özellikle küçükburjuva entelektüeli çevrelerde önemli bir etki doğuran Troçkizm içindeki akımları ana hatlarıyla ortaya koyan kitabın özellikle giriş kısmındaki Marksizm-Leninizm için dallanmaları anlattığı kısım önemli.

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

cute little history of the trotskyist movement. breaks everything out into a slick centerfold chart--very necessary, as this is really confusing stuff, all of the workers' parties and vanguards to restore the international, and so on.

[Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dense but laconic, Callinicos fits a lot of history inside one very small work. This is sure to be of interest to the die-hard Trostykist or the historian with an interest in Marxist praxis, but surprisingly little of this book on the concept of Trotskyism unpacks Trotskyism. This is a history of Trotskyism and its many branches; this is not a guide to theory.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

It provides a good outline of the development of Trotskyist thought, however it seems lacking in certain areas. For example it seems like Callinicos could have easily elaborated on the finer points of the theories he was trying to counter. It would have also been better if it didn't turn into Callinisco writing more about Cliff and his theory of state capitalism than all the other analyses of the Soviet Union combined. Other than that, the brief but barely sufficient explanations of these other theories does offer a basis for further learning on the topic, although the topics probably could have been better explained in 200 or 300 pages, rather than a measly 100.

[Steve Lawless · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent summary of post-World War II Trotskyism. It a fairly tackles the problems of Trotsky's predictions that failed to materialise. It also tackles the dilemma of so-called socialist states where ownership of the means of reduction is nationalised but where the working class is not really in power. Various strands, splits and analysis are laid out. Not unsurprisingly the emphasis is on the Tony Cliff, SWP analysis.

[Wayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Callinicos' summary of the history of Trotskyism is a good, short read. It tends to breeze through what should be more in-depth criticisms of orthodox Trotskyist thought, and tends to be more than a little partisan for Tony Cliff's theory of state capitalism, but is a decent baseline of the intellectual history of Trotsky's followers.

[Dan Sharber · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book explaining what happened to trotsky after he was exiled from russia as well as what happened to all the trotskyist sects from then until now.

[philosophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a great book about trotsky's life, after he was exiled from russia, and the history of trotskyism. i really enjoyed callinicos's writing style. Moreover, i found his book highly informative.