Introducing this issue
THE TWO-year period from the autumn of 1989 to the end of 1991 was a turning point in the history of the post-capitalist states, and probably world history as well. The period which started with the revolt in East Germany and culminated with the attempted Soviet coup and the fall of Gorbachev radically changed the world situation. These events, finished illusions in Gorbachev's perestroika period in the USSR. Attempts to marketize the bureaucratic command economy failed. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and Gorbachev's demise, pro-capitalist leaderships seized power in all the republics of the ex-USSR.
The reasons for this turn of events will be debated for many years to come. For the moment socialists everywhere are discussing why events turned out this way. Why did East European revolts and the Soviet crisis not result in a powerful surge towards a democratic socialist alternative? Who now has the initiative? What is the future for the nascent workers' movements in Eastern Europe? What are the consequences for the future of the socialist project?
David Seppo here analyzes the post-perestroika situation in the ex-USSR in a clinical assessment of the movements from "below", contrasted with the attempts by the liberals, often re-cycled bureaucrats, to impose capitalism from above. Seppo's analysis, based on detailed first-hand experience of the workers' movement in the ex-USSR, is an important benchmark in debates on these questions. Also published here is the Fourth International's resolution in the wake of the August coup.
Any serious reflection on the curve of the development in Eastern Europe has to grapple with the evolving consciousness of the working class. Static and schematic analyses which see workers as staunchly socialist or irretrievably pro-capitalist fail hopelessly to capture the contradictions and the sudden leaps in consciousness which can really explain events. Here Jan Malewski, in a meticulous and innovative contribution, charts the dynamic of the consciousness of the Polish working class before, during and after Solidarnosc. An unusual interview with a woman activist, conducted on the spot by David Mandel, illustrates the contradictions that exist, especially for women, in the
4 International Marxist Review developing consciousness of new political activists in the ex-USSR
Michael Lowy is increasingly well-known in the English-speaking world for his writings on Marxist theory in general and the national question in particular. We are especially pleased to publish here his discussion of the new rise of nationalism in the ex-USSR and eastern Europe.
The national question has been at the heart of the civil war in Yugoslavia. In most countries the left has been divided on what attitude to take on the military conflict between Croatia and Serbia. Any assessment of this must be rooted in an historical account of the Yugoslav federation and the reasons for its demise. Catherine Samary here summarizes the issues at stake.
While world headlines in the past two years have focused on the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Gulf war, China has slipped from international attention. But in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square, the Chinese leadership under Li Peng and Deng Xiaoping has set its face firmly against any glasnost-style reforms. Instead, it has charted its own course, combing a limited marketization, especially of agriculture, together with an unyielding reinforcement of repressive control by the Communist Party and the bureaucratic apparatus. Will the Chinese succeed in resisting the fate of the Soviet Union? In this issue Livio Maitan addresses these questions.
Finally, we publish here an extended reply by Paul Clarke to Alex Callinicos' recent book on Trotskyism. Callinicos is a leader of the British Socialist Workers' Party and a prolific writer on Marxist theory. This latest book deals extensively with the "orthodox" Trotskyism of the Fourth International, and criticizes in detail the ideas of its leading theorists. Clarke concludes his article by addressing a series of questions to Callinicos and the SWP about the building of an international revolutionary movement in today's conditions. We have asked Alex Callinicos to reply in a future issue. Finally, we apologize to our readers for the somewhat irregular appearance of IMR in the past 18 months. With this issue we intend to regularize its appearance and make some changes in its coverage. Marxist theory is under strong attack, in the English-speaking world and beyond. In the current world crisis, the "battle of ideas" with reactionary intellectual currents is a vital task to arm and renew the revolutionary wing of the workers' movement. We therefore intend, while continuing our function of informing our readership of key resolutions and debates in the Fourth International, to widen our focus and engage more systematically in the theoretical debates animating the left internationally. To this end, our next issue will contain articles on post-modernism, contemporary debates in feminism, and the new rise of market ideology.
DAVID SEPPO