Stalinism and the Seeds of Soviet Reform

Moshe Lewin traces the principal protagonists in Soviet economic strategy - from the Bolshevik leaders in the 1920s, through Bukharin, the post-war debates, the reform economists of the 1960s and modern day reassessments. he shows how monolithic political control and state hierarchy stultified the development of a free society, as well as cramping its economic growth. He discusses the alternative theories devised by the reformists and concludes with an affirmation of political democracy as the best strategy for reconciling the conflicting claims of the diverse groups that comprise Soviet society. A revised and updated edition of Lewin's seminal work, Political Undercurrents in the Soviet Union, this book aims to demonstrate how past errors constitute an enduring source of tension, and a spur to authentic socialist reform.