Late Marx and the Russian Road. Теодор Шанин
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу Late Marx and the Russian Road - Теодор Шанин страница 19
Название: Late Marx and the Russian Road
Автор: Теодор Шанин
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Социальная психология
Серия: Monthly Review Press Classic Titles
isbn: 9781583678084
isbn:
Meanwhile Marx advanced his Russian studies a step further. In the fall of 1879, he read M.M. Kovalevskii’s new book, Communal Ownership of Land – The Causes, Process and Consequences of its Dissolution, Part I (Moscow, 1879) and left a very detailed note of it.62 By comparing Marx’s note with the corresponding passage of the original text of the book, we can clearly see that Kovalevskii’s resentment towards the land policy of colonizers who accelerated the dissolution of communal ownership of land was emphasized even more strongly by Marx. Take, for instance, the following pair of excerpts:
Kovalevskii: Relying on their testimonies [i.e. testimonies of the government officials in India], the British critics took a calm attitude toward the dissolution of this social form which appeared archaic in their eyes. If some of them on some occasions expressed their regret about its decaying too fast, they did so simply out of considerations of an academic nature … it occurs to nobody that the British land policy should be regarded first of all as the offender responsible for the dissolution of communal ownership of land.63
Marx: British officials in India, as well as critics like Sir Henry Maine who rely on them, describe the dissolution of communal ownership of land in Punjab as if it took place as an inevitable consequence of the economic progress in spite of the affectionate attitude of the British toward this archaic form. The truth is rather that the British themselves are the principal (and active) offenders responsible for this dissolution…. [emphasis original]64
At about the same time as he read Kovalevskii’s book, Marx read an article by N.O. Kostomarov, ‘The revolt of Sten’ka Razin’, and made a very detailed note on it.65 It may be that he turned to this article hoping to find out about the potential capabilities of the Russian peasants. Important among other Russian books which Marx read around that time is Collection of Materials for Studies on the Rural Land Commune, Volume 1, published jointly by the Free Economic Society and the Russian Association of Geography in 1880. Out of this book, Marx made a note only on the article by P.P. Semenov. This note has attracted the attention of scholars in the Soviet Union since, commenting on the social differentiation of peasant households, Marx ironically states: ‘The consequence of communal ownership of land is splendid!’66 What is still more important about Semenov’s article is that in passages beyond the point where Marx’s note ends, Semenov talks about communal use of land.67 Semenov notes that in most cases the Russian peasants practise a collective form of production in the meadowlands and distribute the grass mowed there equally among themselves. This description by Semenov left a profound impression on Marx, as can be inferred from his ‘Letter to Zasulich’.
Marx’s theory of Russian capitalism took shape in this period through his discussions with Danielson. To be more precise, Marx wrote a well-known letter on 10 April 1879, in reply to Danielson who in his long letter (dated 17 February 1879) pointed out to Marx that the peasants, because of the heavy burden of taxes, were forced to sell the cereals necessary for their own subsistence, and that railways and banks were accelerating these grain transactions, thereby further impoverishing the peasants.68 In his letter of response, Marx elaborates on Danielson’s description of the destructive functions of railways and generalizes this as a phenomenon characteristic of capitalist development in backward countries everywhere.69 We might suggest that this shows that Marx was beginning to perceive the structure unique to backward capitalism.
Encouraged by the support he received from Marx, Danielson further developed his idea into an article, ‘Outlines of our country’s society and economy after reform’, which was printed in the October 1880 issue of the Slovo. Marx’s assessment of this article as a whole was quite high, even though he was not satisfied with Danielson’s assessment of the abolition of serfdom or with his thesis on the absolute crisis of Russian capitalism.70 There is no denying that Marx owed much to Danielson.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.