Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 20:44:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Paul Zarembka <zarembka-AT-acsu.buffalo.edu>
Subject: M-I: Who is R.C. Tucker and is he a pro-imperialist anti-Stalinist?


After I cited a number of quotes from R.C. Tucker, STALIN IN POWER, Bob
Malicki responded that I should not read "pro-imperialist
anti-Stalinists".    I replied asking Bob to defend his statement.  Now it
occurs to me that R.C. Tucker may not be known in northern Sweden and for
some others on this list.  I supposed this occured to me because Bob
hasn't answered and I know he usually isn't afraid of jumping right in.

Tucker is best known to students in the U.S. for his edited book THE
MARX-ENGELS READER, widely used in Marxist classes at universities.  He
has also written, PHILOSOPHY AND MYTH IN KARL MARX, THE SOVIET POLITICAL
MIND, THE MARXIAN REVOLUTIONARY IDEA, STALIN AS REVOLUTIONARY: A STUDY IN
HISTORY AND PERSONALITY, POLITICS AS LEADERSHIP, and POLITICAL CULTURE AND
LEADERSHIP IN SOVIET RUSSIA: LENIN TO GORBACHEV, as well as edited THE
LENIN ANTHOLOGY, STALINISM: ESSAYS IN HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION, and THE
GREAT PURGE.

If Bob thinks that Tucker is a pro-imperialist from having read him, well,
I cannot figure it out myself.  Tucker is certainly anti- Russian
imperialism.  Does he favor Sweden imperialism, U.S. imperialism, Japanese
imperialism, German imperialism, Indonesian imperialism or what?

A close reading of STALIN IN POWER shows that Tucker sharply separates
Marx and Lenin from Stalin, and it also shows that he is no novice about
revolutionary theory.  A close reading also leaves a bit of void in my
understanding of what Tucker's materialist theory of the Stalin
counter-revolution is.

Now I am open to evidence that Tucker is someone other than he appears to
be from his writings.  But I haven't seen pro-imperialism, but rather deep
intelligence and humanity.

If there was one person who Tucker respected the most among the Old
Bolsheviks it would seem to be Bukharin (see pp. 497-500) but I don't
think this makes Tucker a Bukharinist or whatever.

In sum, until someone comes up with something other than name-calling,
I'll stand by the importance of quoting R.C. Tucker on Stalin and Stalin's
counter-revolution.

Paul

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Paul Zarembka, supporting the  RESEARCH IN POLITICAL ECONOMY  Web site at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PZarembka,  and using OS/2 Warp.
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