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Title:
Communism and development
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Publication Information:
London : Methuen, 1985
ISBN:
9780416734201

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30000001581234 HX517.8.B52 1985 Open Access Book Book
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Reviews 1

Choice Review

This ``radical reappraisal of ... diverse communist development strategies'' is neither radical nor truly a reappraisal. After comparing alternative roads to socialism/communism proposed by Herzen, Bakunin, Marx, Engels, Lenin, and others (4 of the 12 chapters reviewing, in fact, the Soviet ``industrialization debate'' of the 1920s), the remainder of the book discusses actual development strategies and experiences of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China, Cuba, North Korea, North Vietnam, and, in passing, some other countries. If the book has any focus, it is the role and performance of the rural community in the development process. Bideleux (University College of Swansea, UK) tries to demonstrate the superiority of a development approach based on decentralized village communism or market socialism. However, all important points regarding collectivization, forced industrialization, and overcentralization have been made before in the literature, the extent of which is reflected in a 37-page bibliography. The text and a 50-page appendix contain a wealth of statistical information of interest to the research specialist. The author's penchant for interspersing his narrative with personal commentary is irritating. Recommended for libraries with comprehensive collections in the history and economics of socialism.-H.D. Renning, California State University, Stanislaus