David Laibman

ABSTRACT

The Russian Revolution is being celebrated worldwide, at its 100th anniversary. There are, however, diverse interpretations of this historic event. Three of these are common among progressive scholars and activists: (1) “Dawn of a New Age,” which sees the Revolution as the beginning of a line of unbroken progress toward communism; (2) “Shangri-La,” the Revolution as an all-butimpossible dream of a working-class utopia, which may or may not ever reach fulfillment; and (3) “Inevitable Thermidor,” which views 1917 as a brief moment of working-class triumph that was then overturned and replaced by dictatorship and tragedy. Against all of these views, a fourth interpretation is possible: “October 1917 as Defining Moment.” The Revolution planted early socialist seeds, which bore fruit only much later. Despite the demise of the socialist states in 1989–1991, the early socialist system laid the foundations for the Chinese Revolution of 1949, the breakup of the old colonial systems worldwide, and for progressive gains yet to come. With due allowance for the failures and weaknesses of the Soviet experience, and for the retreats and complexities that occur along the path of social progress, the Russian Revolution still stands as a signal historic moment, with a direct link to the early socialist transformations of the twentieth century, and to the further steps toward human fulfillment that

are yet to come.

KEYWORDS

Russian Revolution; socialism; Soviet economic system

From: International Critical Thought 2018 8(1)

Editor: Wang Yi