K J Tarbuck - The Politics and Economics of The Transition Period

Routledge Library Editions

THE POLITICS AND
ECONOMICS OF THE
TRANSITION PERIOD

ECONOMICS

Routledge Library Editions Economics

ECONOMIC SYSTEMS/
COMPARATIVE ECONOMICS
In 5 Volumes

First published in 1979

Reprinted in 2003 by
Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Transferred to Digital Printing 2007

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

1979 K J Tarbuck and Oliver Field

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library

The Politics and Economics of the Transition Period
ISBN 0-415-31310-4
ISBN 0-415-31307-4
ISBN 978-1-136-50507-2 (ePub)

Miniset: Economic Systems/Comparative Economics

Series: Routledge Library Editions Economics

The Politics and
Economics of the
Transition Period

Nikolai Bukharin

Edited with an Introduction by

Kenneth J. Tarbuck

Translated by

Oliver Field

First published in 1979
by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park,

Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
270 Madison Ave,

New York NY 10016

Set in 11-point Imprint on 12-point
This edition and translation
K. J. Tarbuck & Oliver Field 1979
No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form without permission from the
publisher, except for the quotation of brief
passages in criticism

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Bukharin, Nikolai Ivanovich

The politics and economics of the transition period
1. Communism

I. Title II. Tarbuck, Kenneth John
335 HX56 78-41064

ISBN 0 7100 0114 2

Certain problems presented themselves in the editing of this work, and these fell under four headings.

First, Bukharins terse style sometimes leaves the precise meaning open, indeed he refers himself to his almost algebraic style at one point. To try to partially overcome this problem I have occasionally interpolated remarks of my own. These remarks have been clearly marked off by the use of square brackets and the reader will be well aware of my incursions, and that they are wholly my own interpretations. Such incursions have been kept down to an absolute minimum and I hope they do not mar the flow of the work.

Second, there is the authors rather careless use of references, sometimes only giving abbreviated ones or giving no publishers or date of publication. This problem has been more difficult to resolve and on more than one occasion I have not been successful. This has meant that certain entries in the bibliography are not complete. In the notes and references only short entries are used, the full ones being incorporated in the bibliography. Since there was, inevitably, a certain overlap in the use of standard works between the author and myself I have combined all full references into one bibliography. I have also, where possible, given references to English translations of works quoted by Bukharin.

Third, there was an over-lavish use of emphases and quotation marks in the original text which most readers would have found cumbersome and detracting from the flow of the work. I have tried to reduce this overemphasis without, I hope, losing the particular flavour of Bukharins style. In this respect it has often been necessary to reduce the emphasis from a whole sentence to one word which conveys the urgency which Bukharin wished to impart to his work. In this respect I have, where necessary, erred on the side of leniency in wielding the editorial function, since it was my wish to retain, as far as possible, the work in the form the author wrote it.

The fourth problem posed by Bukharins text was the copious nature of the footnotes. In many instances these could have been included in the body of the text by a little judicious re-writing on the part of the author. Unfortunately, Bukharin to our knowledge was never able to produce a second edition of his work, when such rewriting could have been done. Although sorely tempted, I had to acknowledge that such work was beyond the brief of an editor and, therefore, have left the footnotes as in the Russian edition. I should, however, warn the reader not to skip the footnotes since they form an integral part of the work and often carry Bukharins arguments a stage further than in the main body of the text.

In all these respects, the judgments and responsibility for making such changes that have been made in this English text are wholly mine.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Sidney Heitman, of Colorado State University, for his invaluable help in matters relating to material on or by Bukharin. Without his assistance my own work would have been that much more difficult. I would also like to thank my wife Marion for her unstinting efforts to ensure that I produced a finished work that was intelligible. My thanks also go to Professor F. Duchene of the Centre for Contemporary European Studies, Sussex University, who afforded me facilities to work undisturbed in a congenial atmosphere.

K.J.T.

The texts used for the translation of this edition are The Theory of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, first published in a collection of articles Oktiabrskii pererorot i diktatura proletariata, Moscow, 1919; and The Economics of the Transition Period: Part I General Theory of the Transformation Process, Communist Academy, Moscow, 1920. (Part II was never published.) Both texts are the first known publications.

I

The two items brought together in this book complement each other and form a unity for those who wish to study particular aspects of the early period of the Bolshevik revolution. Moreover, these two items enable one to locate a certain point in the development of the theoretical conception of Bukharin. In so far as Bukharin was considered to be one of the major theorists of Bolshevism this book will also shed light upon how the Bolsheviks viewed themselves in this period.