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Trotsky’s error: multiplicity and the secret origins of revolutionary Marxism

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 18:58 authored by Justin Rosenberg
Uneven and Combined Development uniquely incorporated societal multiplicity into Marxist theory. So why did its ?rst application end in Stalinist dictatorship? This paper seeks an answer by turning the idea back on itself, applying it ?rst to Trotsky’s doctrine of ‘permanent revolution’ and then to Marx’s original idea of revolution. Trotsky hoped that Russia’s ‘revolution of backwardness’ would be rescued by ‘advanced’ revolutions in the West, modelled on the French revolution. But what if – as this paper argues – that event too was ultimately a ‘revolution of backwardness’? Two implications follow. First, Trotsky’s ‘permanentist’ strategy was logically ?awed: if all modern revolutions have been internationally-generated catch-up revolutions, then the idea of Bolshevism being rescued by ‘advanced revolutions’ elsewhere fails. But second, the consequences of multiplicity reach even deeper than Trotsky realized: they underlie and explain the original political formation, and troubled history, of revolutionary Marxism itself.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Globalizations

ISSN

1474-7731

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

3

Volume

17

Page range

477-497

Department affiliated with

  • International Relations Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2019-09-11

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2021-04-01

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2019-09-09

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