Stalinism in the post-Stalin Era. Here Socialist Action attempt an analysis of the historic sig nificance of Gorbachev's reforms. As the title suggests, this analysis locates the root of these reforms in the crisis of the command economy, the legacy of decades of Stalinist rule.
The conclusions that are reached as to the purpose of these reforms are unequivocal: not just a new historic compromise' or a partial marketisation, but the restoration of capitalism.
Volkov's short contribution consists of a forthright defence of the Trotsky's role in the leadership of the infant Soviet state,
and his later leadership of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International, reasserting the relevance of his ideas to the rapidly evolving situation in the USSR today.
Pierre Brou, author of a recent, and much acclaimed, biography of Trotsky, recounts the remarkable experience of speaking to a meeting of hundreds in Moscow, demanding the rehabilitation of Trotsky. He was joined by relatives of Trotsky's companions, such as Nadezdha Joffe, 82 year old daughter of Adolf Joffe, a leader of the Left Opposition.
Finally, a number of contributions explain the relevance of the national question, looking at state repression in Armenia under Gorbachev and at the historic tradition of revolutionary nationalism in the Ukraine,
Soviet tanks and troops crush the Prague spring in 1968 among others.
This is a useful book, that looks at the relevance of Trotskyism and the ideas of political revolution to the Soviet Union from a number of viewpoints. Though the variety of contributions perhaps detracts from the cohesion of the collection, the numerous contributions from leaders of Socialist Action provide a political framework that runs through the different sections of the book.
Though some of their conclusions may be controversial among marxists, it is increasingly clear that the historic altematives for the Soviet Union - of capitalist restoration or political revolution are no longer a longterm prognosis.
Patrick Baker Page 31
All that melts into air is solid: the