tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062509833711600070.post8492148188867161100..comments2024-01-19T04:00:42.885-05:00Comments on Permanent Revolution: Trotsky in New York 1917: A ReviewAlex Steinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09128453587484101609noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062509833711600070.post-73899171899713008192017-03-15T09:34:31.923-04:002017-03-15T09:34:31.923-04:00Alex!
Thank you for your thorough answer. Most of...Alex!<br /><br />Thank you for your thorough answer. Most of the books you mention are available free of charge on the www. My evenings have been filled with interesting reading. If other readers haven't read through your recommendations I warmly encourage this.Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09751574112926378002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062509833711600070.post-42602598120301133532017-03-06T14:56:26.702-05:002017-03-06T14:56:26.702-05:00Arthur,
There is quite an extensive literature on...Arthur,<br /><br />There is quite an extensive literature on the history of radicalism and more specifically Marxism in the U.S. One classic work is Theodore Draper's study of the origins of the Communist Party, <i>The Roots of American Communism</i>. Here is a link to a review of this book by James P. Cannon,<br /><br /><a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/cannon/works/1957/rootscpusa.htm" rel="nofollow"> Cannon review of Draper's Roots of American Communism</a><br /><br />Cannon also wrote his own first hand account of the origins of the Communist Party, <i>The First Ten Years of American Communism</i>.<br /><br />There is also the book I referenced in my review, <i>It didn't happen here</i> by Seymour Martin Lipset and Gary Marks. It is largely a history of the Socialist movement in the U.S. <br /><br />There are many other books as well, dealing with the the origins of Marxism in the U.S. One of the more recent ones that comes to mind is Paul Buhle's <i>Marxism in the United States: A History of the American Left</i>.<br /><br />There are in addition many other books dealing with specific topics such as the labor movement in the U.S. One that comes to mind is Art Preis's <i>Labor's Giant Step</i>. <br /><br />I think the <i>Trotsky in New York</i> book fills in some important gaps in our understanding of the history of Marxism in the U.S. while providing new insights into Trotsky's contribution to that development.Alex Steinerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09128453587484101609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062509833711600070.post-47827789164893147212017-03-05T03:11:41.868-05:002017-03-05T03:11:41.868-05:00Thank you for an excellent review. I learned a num...Thank you for an excellent review. I learned a number things that I hadn't ever really studied or investigated. Which books would you recommend for revolutionary history in the United States? Mitchel, interesting thoughts!Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09751574112926378002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062509833711600070.post-81808921759804705302017-02-24T14:18:03.384-05:002017-02-24T14:18:03.384-05:00Great overview, Alex! By the way, the movie "...Great overview, Alex! By the way, the movie "Reds" covers some of these same events with Louis Fraina and John Reed within the Socialist Party, and with the formation of the Communist Labor Party -- and the split between Reed and Fraina.<br /><br />Here's a question:<br /><br />Trotsky is quoted as saying:<br /><br /><i>"The Socialist Revolution is coming to Europe and America must be ready when it comes. Socialists were caught napping when war started but they must not be nodding when revolution comes."</i><br /><br />That brief statement opens onto a major issue in the Left for over a century: What is the role of a socialist party, particularly one that fancies itself a vanguard party.<br /><br />The socialist revolution is coming. Socialists must be ready for it when it comes. That doesn't sound as though Trotsky had yet absorbed the Leninist arguments that the socialist party catalyzes the revolution, helps to organize it. His picture -- at least as evidenced in this early 1917 quote -- is one of a revolution coming from ... from where?<br /><br />So what does Trotsky intend for the socialist party to do, here? Given those circumstances -- which differ significantly from Lenin's view as well as Rosa Luxemburg's (who sees more of an interplay between the party and the spontaneity of mass movements) -- does Trotsky at this stage in his political development formulate a set of principles for how the socialist party is to engage with the socialist revolution, which is coming, he implies, from outside of the involvement of the Party?<br /><br />Food for thought.<br /><br />Mitchel CohenMithel Cohennoreply@blogger.com