Critical Notes on Political Economy: A Revolutionary Humanist Approach to Marxist Economics

by Ernesto Che Guevara, María del Carmen Ariet García (Introduction)

The first publication in any language of Che Guevara’s controversial and critical analysis of the Soviet economic model. As minister for industry and head of Cuba’s National Bank, Che Guevara prepared this manuscript to compare the Cuban experience with that of the Soviet bloc. With extensive appendices, this is the complete anthology of Che Guevara on political economy.
 
Writing in 1965, Che explained his critique was necessary “because Marxist research in the field of the economy is proceeding along dangerous routes. The intransigent dogmatism of the Stalin era has been succeeded by an inconsistent pragmatism.” He justified what he described as his “heresy” by pointing to Marx’s statement in the first few pages of Capital, about “capitalism’s inability to criticize itself, using apologetics which now, unfortunately, can be applied to Marxist political economy.” He argued for doing away with capitalist concepts and formulas and concentrating instead on the motivation and development of individual human beings.
 
Published in association with the Che Guevara Studies Center in Havana.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Politics

440 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2002

About the author

Ernesto "Che" Guevara, commonly known as El Che or simply Che, was a Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, since his death Guevara's stylized visage has become an ubiquitous countercultural symbol and global icon within popular culture.

His belief in the necessity of world revolution to advance the interests of the poor prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara's radical ideology. Later, while living in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their movement, and travelled to Cuba with the intention of overthrowing the U.S.-backed Batista regime. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and played a pivotal role in the successful two year guerrilla campaign that topled the Cuban government.

After serving in a number of key roles in the new government, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and executed.

Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled "Guerrillero Heroico," was declared "the most famous photograph in the world" by the Maryland Institute of Art.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not only is it fascinating to see Guevara's personality (and sarcasm!) while commenting on the USSR Manual, but it's an incredibly helpful way to learn about the intricacies of 20th century state socialism and the problems therein. Seeing the manual lay out the USSR's argument and then Che respond passage by passage is really a perfect learning tool not only for the subject of political economy, but also for how to read a text critically.

It's obvious why this was suppressed until the mid-00s... Che is very critical of USSR, Lenin, and specifically Lenin's NEP which he characterizes as sort of an original sin of state socialism (trying to create a hybrid economy with capitalism). He points out clear propagandistic passages that are unsupported by real-world evidence, and he's also heavily skeptical of state socialism in general.

A large point of disagreement for Che is also in the USSR's emphasis on the proletariat and working class, giving them primacy in a socialist revolution/state over farmers/campesinos. This directly contradicts the experience of the Cuban, Chinese and Vietnamese revolutions and Che isn't shy about pointing it out. I don't know much about Maoism but my impression is that this puts Che solidly in the Maoist camp.

So far, my only disagreement with Che would be that he does not give sufficient consideration to the global context of USSR socialism, in which from their inception they were competing with capitalist superpowers (Germany, GB and the U.S.) in a literal existential struggle. Parenti refers to this as "siege socialism," and it's unclear if there was any pathway apart from something like the NEP to preserve both the nation and the revolution. I don't think Che fully takes that into account with his criticism of the NEP.

There was a lot in here that was over my head, especially Che's discussion of competing budgeting systems. Also I was only able to find a Spanish copy, so I'm sure I lost a lot of nuance by reading it in my second language. But those with more interest in economics will undoubtedly find those discussions and the meeting transcripts in the appendix to be fascinating as well. I highly recommend this to any Marxist who is especially interested in economic theory, and I wish you more luck than I had in finding an English copy!

Not Bad Reviews

@pointblaek