Socialism 81. Trotsky, Stalinism and the ‘degenerated workers’ state’
How did Trotsky explain the rise of Stalinism?
The Russian Revolution began as a mass movement with democratic control of society by the workers and poor. But it ended as a brutal police state which collapsed under its own inefficiency.
What caused this complete reversal? Do revolutions inevitably end in treacherous dictatorship? Was the Soviet bureaucracy the same as a capitalist class? What are a ‘degenerated workers’ state’ and a ‘deformed workers’ state’? And what can it all tell us about fighting for socialism today?
This episode of Socialism looks at the revolution betrayed: Trotsky on Stalinism and the ‘degenerated workers’ state’.
Further reading
Leon Trotsky's struggle against Stalinism: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/art...
USSR 1989 - the collapse of Stalinism: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/art...
What About Russia? https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/rus...
Lenin: the original dictator? http://socialismtoday.org/archive/80/...
From Stalinism to New Labour: http://socialismtoday.org/archive/230...
Lessons of October (Trotsky): http://leftbooks.co.uk/epages/9500026...
The Revolution Betrayed: What is the Soviet Union and Where is it Going? (Trotsky): https://www.marxists.org/archive/trot...
Stalin - An Appraisal of the Man and His Influence (Trotsky, unfinished): https://www.marxists.org/archive/trot...