Time and Revolution: Marxism and the Design of Soviet Institutions

by Stephen E. Hanson

Overview

Stephen Hanson traces the influence of the Marxist conception of time in Soviet politics from Lenin to Gorbachev. He argues that the history of Marxism and Leninism reveals an unsuccessful revolutionary effort to reorder the human relationship with time and that this reorganization had a direct impact on the design of the central political, socioeconomic, and cultural institutions of the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991. According to Hanson, westerners tend to envision time as both rational and inexorable. In a system in which 'time is money,' the clock dominates workers. Marx, however, believed that communist workers would be freed of the artificial distinction between leisure time and work time. As a result, they would be able to surpass capitalist production levels and ultimately control time itself. Hanson reveals the distinctive imprint of this philosophy on the formation and development of Soviet institutions, arguing that the breakdown of Gorbachev's perestroika and the resulting collapse of the Soviet Union demonstrate the failure of the idea.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807861905
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/09/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
Lexile:	1720L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Stephen E. Hanson, assistant professor of political science at the University of Washington, is coeditor of Can Europe Work?: Germany and the Reconstruction of Post-Communist Societies.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter One. Traditional, Modern, and Charismatic Time
Chapter Two. Time in the Works of Kant and Hegel
Chapter Three. The Theoretical Cycle: From Marx to the Second International
Chapter Four. The Political Cycle: From Lenin to the End of the NEP
Chapter Five. The Socioeconomic Cycle: From Stalin to the "Era of Stagnation"
Chapter Six. Gorbachev's Perestroika and the Charismatic-Rational Conception of Time
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A stimulating book which should enjoy a wide readership.—Slavic Review



This book has exceptional merits. For those who may think that nothing new and worthwhile can be said about the history of Soviet Marxism, Hanson's work demonstrates that such an assumption is mistaken. . . . It is encouraging to see the emergence of a talented new scholar in the fields of political science and Russian studies.—American Political Science Review



Hanson tackles the very difficult issue of nexus of ideology, philosophy, and history. . . . Hanson's approach of using time as the core element in the mutation of Marxism-Leninism has, to my knowledge, no analogue in theoretical literature and indeed shows profound originality which makes his contribution all the more important. The book's scholarship and intellectual depth is further enhanced by his attention to often-overlooked Bolshevik thinkers such as Georgii Zinoviev and even Stalin.—Ilya Prizel, Johns Hopkins University

Editorial Reviews

[S]hows profound originality which makes his contribution all the more important.

Ilya Prizel, Johns Hopkins University

ÝS¨hows profound originality which makes his contribution all the more important.

Ilya Prizel, Johns Hopkins University

"[S]hows profound originality which makes his contribution all the more important.

Ilya Prizel, Johns Hopkins University"

A stimulating book which should enjoy a wide readership.

"Slavic Review"

It is encouraging to see the emergence of a talented new scholar in the fields of political science and Russian studies.

"American Political Science Review"

From the Publisher