Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2016

Was Communism Doomed?

Human Nature, Psychology and the Communist Economy

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  • Combines theories of economics, politics and psychology to form an interdisciplinary and global overview of the topic

  • Provides readers with a global overview of the Communist economic system

  • Acts as a timely addition to Marxist revival literature

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
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

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
  2. Introduction

    • Simon Kemp
    Pages 1-4
  3. The Aims of Communism

    • Simon Kemp
    Pages 5-27
  4. A Short History of Communism

    • Simon Kemp
    Pages 55-92
  5. The Coordination Problem

    • Simon Kemp
    Pages 105-134
  6. Incentives

    • Simon Kemp
    Pages 135-166
  7. Psychological Ownership

    • Simon Kemp
    Pages 167-194
  8. Does Communism Empower Evil?

    • Simon Kemp
    Pages 215-240
  9. Conclusions

    • Simon Kemp
    Pages 241-255
  10. Back Matter

    Pages 257-277

About this book

This book explores whether the ideology of communism was doomed to failure due to psychological rather than structural flaws. Does communism fail because there is not enough individual incentive and does it discourage psychological ownership? If so, does it produce learned helplessness and therefore empower evil? This book considers such questions, both with respect to how communism actually functioned and how it could have functioned using examples from Eastern Europe and the USSR itself during the 20th century. It reviews both the ideology of communism and its history, as well as the basic but difficult question of how one might decide whether an economic system can be defined as successful or not. 

Authors and Affiliations

  • Dept of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Simon Kemp

About the author

Simon Kemp is Professor of Psychology at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, with long-standing interests in economic psychology and the history of psychology. His previous books include Public Goods and Private Wants: A Psychological Approach to Government Spending and Medieval Psychology. He has also been editor of the Journal of Economic Psychology

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
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