Suchergebnisse

The article reviews the implementation of the perspective planning in the USSR during the period of the New Economic Policy — NEP, from methodological discussions to the development of five-year plans — sectoral and for the entire national economy. The article analyzes the discussion of the proposal of the first five-year plan submitted by S. Strumilin at the congress of planning bodies in March, 1927. It is shown that the sharp criticism of this plan for being imbalanced by the leading economists of the country, in particular, V. Bazarov and N. Kondratiev, is valid. The author points out the influence of political factors on the planning process. The popular cliche that the forced industrialization in the five-year plan was necessary to prepare for the war is refuted.

At the beginning of 1921, the Soviet state was in a very unfavorable situation in which the destructions of the First World War were added to those of the civil war, leading to a dramatic economic crisis. At the X Congress of the Russian Communist Party, Lenin explained for the first time the need to give the country a profound change in economic policy. Even for the defeat of the revolution in Western Europe, simultaneously with the turn of the Comintern towards the "United Front" and the direct support for anti-colonial struggles, it became necessary to develop socialism at the national level. The NEP meets the need for an organic alliance between the socialist economy and the peasantry, between industry and the countryside, necessary for the survival of the revolution itself. It should therefore be considered not only as a measure of economic policy, but as a hegemonic choice with a specific political objective: the economic and social alliance between the working class and peasants in the construction of socialism, with the aim of limiting as far as possible , the use of coercive means by Soviet power. Keywords: Lenin; New Economical Politicy; Hegemony; Socialist Transition.

The rate of material development of China over the last four decades is arguably unique in human history. With a good half of its economy capitalist, while at the same time the government maintains that its goal is "socialism with Chinese characteristics", this remarkable economic performance has reignited the debate among socialists as to whether "state capitalism" can be a possible road to transcend capitalism and build socialism. This presentation will not be a discussion of the theoretically very complicated issue of the evaluation of the nature of the process of social transformation going on in China today. Rather, it is intended as a contribution to the social discussion that is necessary, and is occurring, about the relation of "state capitalism" to the project of building a "desirable human-centered post-capitalist society". To refer to this society by a shorter name, and in line with what many currents of social thought have used for the last 200 years, I will refer to a desirable human-centered post-capitalist society as "socialist". The purpose of this brief presentation is to pose eight issues that this speaker feels need to be reflected on in discussing this subject of the relation between state capitalism and socialism. In line with the overarching theme of this conference, one part of the presentation will include looking back at Lenin's thoughts about the issue of state capitalism and socialism at the time of the introduction of the New Economic Policy, NEP, in the 1920s.