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The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism

Smith, Stephen Anthony (ed.)
Publisher:  Oxford University Press, Oxford
Year Published:  2014  
Pages:  672pp   ISBN:  978-0-19-960205-6
Library of Congress Number:  HX40   Dewey:  335.40904
Resource Type:  Book

A global history of communisim in the twentieth century.

Abstract:  The impact of Communism on the twentieth century was massive, equal to that of the two world wars. Until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, historians knew relatively little about the secretive world of communist states and parties. Since then, the opening of state, party, and diplomatic archives of the former Eastern Bloc has released a flood of new documentation. The thirty-five essays in this Handbook, written by an international team of scholars, draw on this new material to offer a global history of communism in the twentieth century.

In contrast to many histories that concentrate on the Soviet Union, The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism is genuinely global in its coverage, paying particular attention to the Chinese Revolution. It is 'global', too, in the sense that the essays seek to integrate history 'from above' and 'from below', to trace the complex mediations between state and society, and to explore the social and cultural as well as the political and economic realities that shaped the lives of citizens fated to live under communist rule. The essays reflect on the similarities and differences between communist states in order to situate them in their socio-political and cultural contexts and to capture their changing nature over time. Where appropriate, they also reflect on how the fortunes of international communism were shaped by the wider economic, political, and cultural forces of the capitalist world. The Handbook provides an informative introduction for those new to the field and a comprehensive overview of the current state of scholarship for those seeking to deepen their understanding.


Table of Contents

S. A. Smith: Towards a Global History of Communism

PART I: IDEOLOGY
1: Paresh Chattopadhyay: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels on Communism
2: Lars T. Lih: Lenin and Bolshevism
3: Kevin McDermott: Stalin and Stalinism
4: Timothy Cheek: Mao and Maoism

PART 2: GLOBAL MOMENTS
5: Jean-François Fayet: 1919
6: Tim Rees: 1936
7: Sergei Radchenko: 1956
8: Maud Anne Bracke: 1968
9: Matthias Middell: 1989

PART 3: GLOBAL COMMUNISM
10: Alexander Vatlin and S. A. Smith: The Comintern
11: Pavel Kolár: Communism in Eastern, Central, and South-Eastern Europe
12: Yang Kuisong and S. A. Smith: Communism in China
13: Anna Belogurova: Communism in Southeast Asia
14: Mike Gonzalez: Communism in Latin America
15: Anne Alexander: Communism in the Islamic World
16: Allison Drew: Communism in Africa

PART 4: COMMUNIST POLITIES AND ECONOMIES
17: Balázs Szalontai: Political and Economic Relations between Communist States
18: Geoff Roberts: Communism and the Peace Movement
19: Daniel Leese: Rituals of Power
20: Julia Strauss: Communism and Political Terror
21: Sheila Fitzpatrick: Popular Opinion under Communist Regimes
22: Mark Harrison: Communism and Economic Modernization
23: Felix Wemheuer: Collectivization and Famine
24: Paul Betts: Consumption in Communist Societies

PART 5: COMMUNISM AND SOCIAL RELATIONS
25: Marco Albeltaro: The Life of a Communist Militant
26: Jeremy Brown: Rural Lives in Communist Societies
27: Tuong Vu: Industrial Work in Communist Societies
28: Donna Harsch: Women in Communist Societies
29: Don Filtzer: Privilege and Inequality in Communist Societies
30: Adrienne Lynn Edgar: Nation-Building and National Conflict in Communist Societies

PART 6: COMMUNISM AND CULTURE
31: Richard King: Socialist Cultural Production
32: Mark Gamsa: Communism and the Artistic Intelligentsia
33: Dean Vuletic: Communism and Popular Culture
34: Richard Madsen: Communism and Religion
35: Robert Edelman, Anke Hilbrenner, and Susan Brownell: Communism and Sport
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