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  • © 2018

The Palgrave Handbook of Leninist Political Philosophy

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution

  • Provides comprehensive and authoritative analysis

  • Encompasses a range of viewpoints including Marxist and Liberal

  • Captures the intellectual ferment that accompanied the Revolution

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
  2. Introduction

    • Tom Rockmore
    Pages 1-59
  3. Lenin and Political Philosophy

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 61-61
    2. Which Kind of Dialectician Was Lenin?

      • Vesa Oittinen
      Pages 63-88
    3. Lenin’s Philosophy in Intellectual Context

      • Daniela Steila
      Pages 89-120
  4. Lenin and Individual Figures

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 159-159
    2. Engels’ Co-option of Lenin

      • Norman Levine
      Pages 161-199
    3. Luxemburg and Lenin

      • Peter Hudis
      Pages 201-229
    4. Lenin and Trotsky

      • Michael Löwy, Paul Le Blanc
      Pages 231-256
    5. Lenin and Stalin, Theory and Politics

      • Wladislaw Hedeler
      Pages 257-280
    6. Lukács as Leninist

      • Tom Rockmore
      Pages 281-310
  5. Lenin and Problems

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 311-311
    2. Lenin’s Conception of the Party

      • Natasha Gómez Velázquez
      Pages 353-380
    3. Lenin and Imperialism

      • Alex Callinicos
      Pages 457-482
    4. Lenin and the New Economic Policy

      • Edward A. Rees
      Pages 483-506

About this book

This intellectually discomfiting, disturbingly provocative, yet still thoroughly scholarly Handbook reproduces the intellectual ferment that accompanied the Russian Revolution including the wholly polarising effect at that time of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The Palgrave Handbook of Leninist Political Philosophy does not settle for one safe interpretation of the thought of this world-historic figure but rather revels in a clash of viewpoints. Most interestingly it presents a contrast between the Western editors who emphasise pure democracy and Marxian humanism with many of the contributing scholars who take a more sanguine view of the Leninist political project. Perhaps reflecting the current Western political crisis, some of the volume’s other European and North American scholars more closely align with their colleagues from the Global South.

Key Features:

·         Places particular emphasis on the key elements of Lenin’s thought – the dictatorship of the proletariat (which is trenchantly defended), the nature of the dialectic and  the New Economic Policy

·         Additional comprehensive coverage includes the theory of the party, Bolshevism, imperialism, and the class struggle in the countryside

·         Examines the relation of Lenin’s thought to the ideas of his most influential contemporaries (including Luxemburg, Stalin and Trotsky) as well as the most eminent thinker to interpret Lenin since his death – György Lukács

This Handbook is essential reading for scholars, researchers and advanced students in political philosophy, political theory, the history of political ideas, economics, international relations and world history. It is also ideal for the general reader who wishes to understand some of the most powerful ideas that have shaped the modern world and that may yet shake the world again. 

Editors and Affiliations

  • Avignon, France

    Tom Rockmore

  • Independent scholar, USA

    Norman Levine

About the editors

Tom Rockmore is Distinguished Professor of Humanities, Professor of Philosophy and Member of the Institute of Foreign Philosophy in Peking University, China. His area of research encompasses all of modern philosophy, with special attention to aspects of German idealism. 

Norman Levine
 is an independent scholar who has published six books (three of which have been translated into Chinese) and 40 scholarly articles on Marxist thought. An annual invitee to lecture at Beijing University, China, he has also lectured at the University of Havana, Cuba.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access