Incredible book and should be essential reading. It’s not a biography, as I heard it described a few years ago, but an unrelentingly thorough historical analysis of Joseph Stalin, his role in the USSR, and the various criticisms of him that have entered common discourse to the point where people who don’t know anything about history know that “Hitler and Stalin” are history’s greatest monsters. Losurdo looks at how this came to be and deconstructs anti-communist narratives using sources that even the most ardent anti-communist can’t deny are valid (capitalist historians, Stalin’s enemies, etc). It’s an incredible piece of scholarship that, by the end, demonstrates just how deeply our understanding of historical events and figures have been shaped by the specific ideology of capitalist power
I’ll try to remember that, comrade! But @utopologist@hexbear.net really sums it up nicely so far!
The general format so far has been to present an anti-Stalin trope as true, then do a surgical, thorough take-down of that trope. The initial example, which I hope I don’t spoil, is Khrushchev presenting to (I believe) the Communist party members behind closed doors. He presents a massive diatribe against Stalin and the “cult of personality” he claims surrounded Stalin and how it was completely unwarranted and Stalin was an ineffective military leader, political leader, etc. Then the author has been going essentially passage by passage refuting this “take-down” and highlighting Stalin’s profound leadership.
Really opening up my eyes to Stalin as a leader and his views of the Communist project
Would love to hear if he critiques him, too - like his role in mass deportations of ethnic minorities, political suppression, and the cult of personality.
The mass deportations were distinctly un-Marxist. I would say it’s the only valid criticism I’ve ever seen. Ironically, it’s not what libs obsess about. They’re always mad that he aggressively suppressed antisemitic right-wingers.
The deportations weren’t all the same and I think there was a better case for the deportation of Germans from Poland, etc. even if it was still in error.
By contrast, I think Stalin’s virulent homophobia and staunch opposition to any appeals for tolerance along Marxist lines is one of the most clear-cut cases of him being personally flat-out wrong.
That’s fair, coming from a Marxist. I’m not interested in hearing it from a liberal that doesn’t have any understanding of why all kinds of prejudices thrive under capitalism.
Please tag me in a short review of the book when you’re finished if you want, I’m interested in that book
Incredible book and should be essential reading. It’s not a biography, as I heard it described a few years ago, but an unrelentingly thorough historical analysis of Joseph Stalin, his role in the USSR, and the various criticisms of him that have entered common discourse to the point where people who don’t know anything about history know that “Hitler and Stalin” are history’s greatest monsters. Losurdo looks at how this came to be and deconstructs anti-communist narratives using sources that even the most ardent anti-communist can’t deny are valid (capitalist historians, Stalin’s enemies, etc). It’s an incredible piece of scholarship that, by the end, demonstrates just how deeply our understanding of historical events and figures have been shaped by the specific ideology of capitalist power
I’ll try to remember that, comrade! But @utopologist@hexbear.net really sums it up nicely so far!
The general format so far has been to present an anti-Stalin trope as true, then do a surgical, thorough take-down of that trope. The initial example, which I hope I don’t spoil, is Khrushchev presenting to (I believe) the Communist party members behind closed doors. He presents a massive diatribe against Stalin and the “cult of personality” he claims surrounded Stalin and how it was completely unwarranted and Stalin was an ineffective military leader, political leader, etc. Then the author has been going essentially passage by passage refuting this “take-down” and highlighting Stalin’s profound leadership.
Really opening up my eyes to Stalin as a leader and his views of the Communist project
Would love to hear if he critiques him, too - like his role in mass deportations of ethnic minorities, political suppression, and the cult of personality.
The mass deportations were distinctly un-Marxist. I would say it’s the only valid criticism I’ve ever seen. Ironically, it’s not what libs obsess about. They’re always mad that he aggressively suppressed antisemitic right-wingers.
The deportations weren’t all the same and I think there was a better case for the deportation of Germans from Poland, etc. even if it was still in error.
By contrast, I think Stalin’s virulent homophobia and staunch opposition to any appeals for tolerance along Marxist lines is one of the most clear-cut cases of him being personally flat-out wrong.
That’s fair, coming from a Marxist. I’m not interested in hearing it from a liberal that doesn’t have any understanding of why all kinds of prejudices thrive under capitalism.