Witnesses To Permanent Revolution: The Documentary Record: Historical Materialism, Volume 21

(Paperback)

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The theory of Permanent Revolution has been associated with Leon Trotsky for more than a century since the first Russian Revolution in 1905. Trotsky was the most brilliant proponent of Permanent Revolution but by no means its sole author. The documents in this volume, most of them translated into English for the first time, demonstrate that Trotsky was one of several participants in a debate from 1903-7 that involved numerous leading international Marxists, including Karl Kautsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Franz Mehring, Parvus and David Ryazanov.

Reviews

Since the world is again in the midst of an economic crisis, the arguments here are not without contemporary relevance, even if from todays perspective it is a polemic where everybody is right. Summing up: recommended." A. Ezergailis, Choice "Sometimes reading debates between figures on the left, involving historical references readers may not be familiar with, can be a daunting or even demoralising experience. But the brilliant and precise annotating of this collection, along with a short introduction to each piece, makes every article accessible to a wide range of readersDay and Gaido have done a fantastic service with this immense collection. Witnesses to Permanent Revolution is a fascinating and thoughtprovoking book and one that genuinely sheds new light on past debates about socialism that can help to inform the future." Esme Choonara, International Socialism "Rather than being a rehash of long-standing debates, this title brings forth writings not available before in English as well as long-forgotten texts to produce a rich and nuanced picture. Proving that the wealth of intellectual debate surrounding the theory of permanent revolution is not merely a topic for specialists, Witness to Permanent Revolution is a most welcome addition to the literature of world Marxism. More than being of merely historical interest, this work will help clarify the thinking of all those who ponder the questions surrounding radical change. For those new to the debate, the editors provide a substantial introduction that puts the controversy in context." William Pelz , Critique: Journal of Socialist Theory
Since the world is again in the midst of an economic crisis, the arguments here are not without contemporary relevance, even if from todays perspective it is a polemic where everybody is right. Summing up: recommended." A. Ezergailis, Choice "Sometimes reading debates between figures on the left, involving historical references readers may not be familiar with, can be a daunting or even demoralising experience. But the brilliant and precise annotating of this collection, along with a short introduction to each piece, makes every article accessible to a wide range of readersDay and Gaido have done a fantastic service with this immense collection. Witnesses to Permanent Revolution is a fascinating and thoughtprovoking book and one that genuinely sheds new light on past debates about socialism that can help to inform the future." Esme Choonara, International Socialism "Rather than being a rehash of long-standing debates, this title brings forth writings not available before in English as well as long-forgotten texts to produce a rich and nuanced picture. Proving that the wealth of intellectual debate surrounding the theory of permanent revolution is not merely a topic for specialists, Witness to Permanent Revolution is a most welcome addition to the literature of world Marxism. More than being of merely historical interest, this work will help clarify the thinking of all those who ponder the questions surrounding radical change. For those new to the debate, the editors provide a substantial introduction that puts the controversy in context." William Pelz , Critique: Journal of Socialist Theory

Author Bio

Richard B. Day: Ph. D. (1970), University of London, is Professor of Political Economy at the University of Toronto, Canada. He has published extensively on Soviet economic and political history, including Leon Trotsky and the Politics of Economic Isolation (Cambridge, 1973). Daniel F. Gaido: Ph.D. (2000), University of Haifa (Israel), is a researcher at the National Research Council (Conicet), Argentina. He is the author of The Formative Period of American Capitalism (Routledge, 2006) and is currently working on the history of German Social Democracy.