Main Currents of Marxism: Its Rise, Growth and Dissolutionvolume 3: The Breakdown

The third volume of Kolakowski's trilogy on the history of Marxism as a philosophic enterprise covers the decline of Marxism as a viable intellectual enterprise. Kolakowski presents the decline as occurring in two different ways. The first and most important is the development of Marxism in its Leninist-Stalinist form in which certain aspects of Marxism were emphasized by Lenin to develop the ideology that came to underpin the Soviet State and its Eastern European conquests. Kolakowski argues convincingly that the resulting ideology was not a "deformation" or distortion of Marx but rather a logical though far from inevitable interpretation of Marx's doctrines. With the articulation of the Soviet state and the cult of Stalin, this process involved the impoverishment of Marxist thinking, disconnection from other philosophical traditions, and ultimate evolution into a sterile ideology used solely to justify totalitarianism. Providing an accurate historical analysis of this phenomenon required Kolakowski to read not only figures of real importance like Lenin and Stalin but also the painful but necessary task of thoroughly reading a number of minor Stalinist ideologues. The second aspect of the Breakdown is Kolakowski's analysis of post-Stalinist Marxism including such varied figures as Gramsci, the School of Frankfort, and others. By and large, this is a depiction of an essentially decadent intellectual tradition though Kolakowski writes relatively sympathetically of figures for whom he has some respect such as Habermas and Gramsci. Kolakowski has a very evenhanded writing style but his treatment of some of these individuals is harshly critical without using hyperbolic language. His chapter on Marcuse is a textbook example of intellectual demolition without name calling. One of the most interest treatments in the book is that of Gyorgy Lukacs. Kolakowski presents Lukacs as someone melding both aspects of the breakdown. Kolakowski clearly respects Lukacs as man of considerable intellect. Lukacs' judgements on Marx, notably his analysis of the role of Marx's Hegelianism, his emphasis on alienation, the need to interpret history as a teleological process, and others, mirror Kolakowski's own analysis and may well have influenced the younger Kolakowski. Kolakowski also demonstrates as well that the essential thrust of Lukacs' work was to provide a sophisticated defense of Stalinism, a morally and intellectually bankrupt undertaking. Like the preceding volumes, this one is characterized by Kolakowski's remarkable erudition, clear writing, and sure judgement.

Although there is no biography in any volume of this work, I was able to find out a little about its author, Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, from an encyclopedia, which describes him as a Marxist revisionist. After being expelled from the Communist Party, he left Poland and began working on his three-volume 'handbook' of Marxism: "Main Currents of Marxism: Its Origin, Growth, and Dissolution," which was completed in the 1970s.This volume - the third and final in the work - looks at Marxism after the Russian Revolution. It begins with a discussion of the features and development of Stalinism and then presents a series of chapters concerning major Marxist writers and philosophers from the period 1920 - 1970. He traces the development of Stalinism in the 1930s and 1940s as well as the question of whether the Soviet Union abandoned Stalinism after Stalin's death. His conclusion is that the essential features of Stalinism (as defined by him) were largely kept in place by post-1953 Soviet leaders. In his view (one largely accepted today, but not necessarily when this was written in the 1970s) programs of reform by Khrushchev and others did not significantly alter the Stalinist foundations of the Soviet Union.After Stalin, Kolakowski turns to some less important Marxist figures of the twentieth century, including Trotsky, Gramsci, Lukacs, Marcuse and the Frankfurt School. In keeping with the title of this volume, "The Breakdown," most of these figures come in for harsh criticism. Trotsky is presented as a deposed-dictator-turned-democrat and the 'critical theory' of the Frankfurt School is characterized as a manifestation of the dissolution of Marxism.The final chapter is a long review of developments in Marxism since Stalin's death, which Kolakowski considered expanding into a fourth volume, but ultimately included here in condensed form. It features a discussion of reforms in Yugoslavia (especially attempts to set up workers' councils) as well as Maoism. Since Kolakowski was writing in the 1970s, his discussion here is severely dated and of relatively little use to present readers.As with the other volumes in this series, I was somewhat put off by the amount of philosophy in this work. I picked up "Main Currents of Marxism" out of an historical interest in Marxism and found myself somewhat unprepared for its philosophical aspects. It made for tough and occasionally frustrating reading for me, since I don't have an extensive background in philosophy. This volume considers less and poorer philosophy than the previous two, but I still can't give it all five stars. All in all, All in all, "Main Currents of Marxism" is a tough read, especially for those who aren't philosophically inclined. In the end, however, those who make it through will be rewarded with extensive knowledge of the breakdown of Marxism and the major Marxist philosophers of the mid-twentieth century.Contents:I. The First Phase of Soviet Marxism: The Beginnings of Stalinism