Autocracy, Capitalism and Revolution in Russia

The introduction to Autocracy, Capitalism, and Revolution in Russia explores the unique social, economic, and political dynamics that shaped the 1917 Russian Revolution, focusing on the role of the emerging industrial proletariat and the interplay of proletarian uprisings, peasant revolts, and bourgeois revolts against autocracy. The book argues that the revolution cannot be understood without considering the contradictions of autocratic capitalism, which hindered reform and radicalized the labor movement. It integrates structural and agency-based perspectives to show how social movements both emerged from and shaped these contradictions.

Format: Hardback
Length: 512 pages
Publication date: 13 May 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

The introduction to Autocracy, Capitalism, and Revolution in Russia explores the unique social, economic, and political dynamics that shaped the 1917 Russian Revolution. Unlike other modern revolutions, such as the French or English cases, where industrialization played a secondary role, the Russian Revolution was heavily influenced by its emerging industrial proletariat. Concentrated in urban centers like Petrograd and Moscow, this working class became a pivotal revolutionary force despite its relatively small size. The revolution itself was multifaceted, encompassing a proletarian uprising against capitalism, a peasant revolt against landowners, soldiers' rebellions, and even elements of a bourgeois revolution against autocracy. The interplay of these forces created a complex revolutionary process, with labor militancy at its core. Severe repression under tsarist autocracy stifled formal worker organizations, but this repression also fueled sporadic bursts of radical action, making the Russian labor movement distinctly revolutionary. The book argues that the Russian revolution cannot be understood without considering the contradictions of autocratic capitalism, which hindered reform and radicalized the labor movement. It integrates structural and agency-based perspectives, showing how social movements both emerged from and shaped these contradictions. The inability of the tsarist regime to allow for moderate worker organizations or adapt to modern industrial capitalism undermined its legitimacy and set the stage for the Bolshevik victory. However, this outcome was not inevitable but one of several possible resolutions to the crises of the old regime. By analyzing the labor movement's development, its interactions with the state, and its role in the revolution, the study highlights the importance of understanding the complex dynamics of social and political change.

Weight: 907g
Dimension: 234 x 156 x 33 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520360785