University of Glasgow

Lenins Theorie des Imperialismus, Teil I: Grundlagen und Voraussetzungen by Hans WernerKettenbachReview by: Alfred G. MeyerSoviet Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Jul., 1967), pp. 134-135Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/149240 .

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the very thing he was to combat and destroy during his remaining years, revolutionary anarchy.' Why 'greatness'? At that time, in the middle of I917, the 'revolutionary anarchy' that Lenin was advocating was one which allowed him and his party to organize an armed insurrection; that which he later destroyed with all the force of the state was one in which others might still be permitted at least a voice, let alone a chance to bid for power. It is hardly accurate, therefore, to speak of 'the very thing' when it was in Lenin's eyes the very opposite thing.

None the less, this is a work of great character and originality and, despite its lack of a bibliography, will take its place among the rare standard works on this subject.

HAROLD SHUKMAN St. Antony's College, Oxford

Hans Werner Kettenbach, Lenins Theorie des Imperialismus, Teil I: Grundlagen und Voraussetzungen (Abhandlungen des Bundesinstituts zur Erforsclhung des Marxismus- Leninismus, Institut fur Sowjetologie, Band X). K6ln, Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, I965. 350 pp.

MANY readers doubtless know that old joke about the international congress of elephantologists, where scholars from many nations showed each other their writings, including such books as L'elephant et ses amours, Klassiki marksizma-leninizma o slone, How to Grow Bigger and Better Elephants, and the six-volume work called Die Idee des Elefanten: Zur Wesensbestimmung eines Begriffs. Substitute imperialism for the elephant and reduce the six volumes to two, and you would have a suitable title for Mr. Kettenbach's book, of which the first volume is under review here. The book is an exercise in Begriffsgeschichte. It might suitably be described as one big 3 50-page footnote (or half a footnote, because volume II is still to come), with I666 supporting footnotes of its own. It is obviously written for scholars; in fact, it can be read only by people having a reading knowledge of German, French and English, and one wonders why he has translated the Russian passages into German. The style of the work, sprightly on the whole, shows occasional tendencies to lapse into ponderousness. Still, this is a very interesting contribution to knowledge.

The publisher's blurb on the dust-jacket puts the reader on his guard, because it advertises the book as an anti-Lenin tract devoted to the deflation of communist claims that Lenin's theory of imperialism was original. In fact, such a polemic is not the author's central concern. He is simply tracing, in quite straightforward fashion, the many uses of the term 'imperialism' and of some related concepts, such as caesar- ism, chauvinism and others. To this task he brings broad erudition as well as careful judgement, together with high respect for the contributions made by the founding fathers of Marxism.

The generalizations emerging from the study might be summarized as follows: (x) Lenin's theory of imperialism is far less original than some communist spokesmen claim. Obviously aware that Western scholarslhip has not accepted these claims anyway, the author wisely refrains from wasting much effort on killing this dead dragon. (2) The notion of imperialism has many components; some of these, such as jingoism, militarism, chauvinism and the like, were widely accepted stereotypes in the late nineteenth century. (3) The word 'imperialism' itself was used, in the late nineteenth century, in a variety of meanings, depending on national or political conventions. Indeed, the author might have pointed out that Lenin himself, in his

the very thing he was to combat and destroy during his remaining years, revolutionary anarchy.' Why 'greatness'? At that time, in the middle of I917, the 'revolutionary anarchy' that Lenin was advocating was one which allowed him and his party to organize an armed insurrection; that which he later destroyed with all the force of the state was one in which others might still be permitted at least a voice, let alone a chance to bid for power. It is hardly accurate, therefore, to speak of 'the very thing' when it was in Lenin's eyes the very opposite thing.

None the less, this is a work of great character and originality and, despite its lack of a bibliography, will take its place among the rare standard works on this subject.

HAROLD SHUKMAN St. Antony's College, Oxford

Hans Werner Kettenbach, Lenins Theorie des Imperialismus, Teil I: Grundlagen und Voraussetzungen (Abhandlungen des Bundesinstituts zur Erforsclhung des Marxismus- Leninismus, Institut fur Sowjetologie, Band X). K6ln, Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, I965. 350 pp.

MANY readers doubtless know that old joke about the international congress of elephantologists, where scholars from many nations showed each other their writings, including such books as L'elephant et ses amours, Klassiki marksizma-leninizma o slone, How to Grow Bigger and Better Elephants, and the six-volume work called Die Idee des Elefanten: Zur Wesensbestimmung eines Begriffs. Substitute imperialism for the elephant and reduce the six volumes to two, and you would have a suitable title for Mr. Kettenbach's book, of which the first volume is under review here. The book is an exercise in Begriffsgeschichte. It might suitably be described as one big 3 50-page footnote (or half a footnote, because volume II is still to come), with I666 supporting footnotes of its own. It is obviously written for scholars; in fact, it can be read only by people having a reading knowledge of German, French and English, and one wonders why he has translated the Russian passages into German. The style of the work, sprightly on the whole, shows occasional tendencies to lapse into ponderousness. Still, this is a very interesting contribution to knowledge.

The publisher's blurb on the dust-jacket puts the reader on his guard, because it advertises the book as an anti-Lenin tract devoted to the deflation of communist claims that Lenin's theory of imperialism was original. In fact, such a polemic is not the author's central concern. He is simply tracing, in quite straightforward fashion, the many uses of the term 'imperialism' and of some related concepts, such as caesar- ism, chauvinism and others. To this task he brings broad erudition as well as careful judgement, together with high respect for the contributions made by the founding fathers of Marxism.

The generalizations emerging from the study might be summarized as follows: (x) Lenin's theory of imperialism is far less original than some communist spokesmen claim. Obviously aware that Western scholarslhip has not accepted these claims anyway, the author wisely refrains from wasting much effort on killing this dead dragon. (2) The notion of imperialism has many components; some of these, such as jingoism, militarism, chauvinism and the like, were widely accepted stereotypes in the late nineteenth century. (3) The word 'imperialism' itself was used, in the late nineteenth century, in a variety of meanings, depending on national or political conventions. Indeed, the author might have pointed out that Lenin himself, in his

REVIEWS REVIEWS I34 I34

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comments on the Boxer rebellion, employs the word in a conventional nineteenth- century connotation different from that which it acquired in Hobson's writings. (4) The emergence of an economic theory of imperialism, as we know it from Hobson, Luxemburg, Lenin and others, pre-dates Hobson's work. Kettenbach traces these beginnings of the economic theory of imperialism to socialist writings about mili- tarism and colonialism in the last decade of the nineteenth century. He adduces discussions from such writings and from the minutes of socialist congresses which read remarkably like passages from Hobson or Lenin. What emerges from this is the realization that Lenin, with his theory, was in the mainstream of radical thought around the turn of the century. His ideas about imperialism must be seen as an able summary of assumptions made quite generally among radical socialists.

(5) An interesting and neglected source of Lenin's theory is unearthed by the author; it is the controversy between Narodniks and Marxists, in the early and middle I89os, about the possibility of capitalist development in a backward country like Russia-that discussion which focused on the problem of the absence of an internal market. Mr. Kettenbach convincingly shows how even these earliest economic essays of Lenin are basically consistent with the theory he elaborated two decades later. (6) Finally, the author demonstrates that surprisingly many elements of later theories of imperialism were expressed already by Marx, even though the basic structure of Marxist thought prevented their full elaboration. At the same time, he argues that only death prevented Engels from elaborating a theory that might have looked similar to Hobson's.

The general appraisal of this book, in short, must be positive. It is a careful and erudite contribution to Begriffsgeschichte. Final judgement about the author's methods and sources, however, must be reserved pending the publication of volume II. This reviewer, for instance, missed a number of essential works in the notes and biblio- graphy, but is aware that they might be fully exploited in the companion volume.

ALFRED G. MEYER

University of Michigan

Mohamed Dowidar, Les Schemas de reproduction et la methodologie de la planification socialiste. Avec une introduction du Professeur Ch. Bettelheim. Algiers, Ed. Tiers- Monde, I964. 447 pP.

THE purpose of this book is to ascertain the influence of the 'schemes of reproduc- tion' of Quesnay and Marx on Soviet planning methodology and on input-output analysis. It is divided into three parts-Part I: 'The schemes'; Part II: 'From theory to practice'-the elaboration of Soviet plans; Part III: 'Back to theory'-input-output analysis and general conclusions. The questions raised are significant and controver- sial, and they deserve a fresh and thorough examination. It is unfortunate, therefore, that the book is not adequate to its objectives.

After an exordium on the circular flow in Quesnay, and on dialectical materialism, dialectical logic and methods in Marx, the author presents the famous Marxian schemes of 'simple and enlarged reproduction', i.e., the Marxian two-sector model portraying mutual relationships between producer and consumer goods sectors in conditions of either zero or positive net investment.

For anyone familiar with both the two-sector model and Soviet practice in social accounting, pricing, investment allocation, the relationships between Marx's model

comments on the Boxer rebellion, employs the word in a conventional nineteenth- century connotation different from that which it acquired in Hobson's writings. (4) The emergence of an economic theory of imperialism, as we know it from Hobson, Luxemburg, Lenin and others, pre-dates Hobson's work. Kettenbach traces these beginnings of the economic theory of imperialism to socialist writings about mili- tarism and colonialism in the last decade of the nineteenth century. He adduces discussions from such writings and from the minutes of socialist congresses which read remarkably like passages from Hobson or Lenin. What emerges from this is the realization that Lenin, with his theory, was in the mainstream of radical thought around the turn of the century. His ideas about imperialism must be seen as an able summary of assumptions made quite generally among radical socialists.

(5) An interesting and neglected source of Lenin's theory is unearthed by the author; it is the controversy between Narodniks and Marxists, in the early and middle I89os, about the possibility of capitalist development in a backward country like Russia-that discussion which focused on the problem of the absence of an internal market. Mr. Kettenbach convincingly shows how even these earliest economic essays of Lenin are basically consistent with the theory he elaborated two decades later. (6) Finally, the author demonstrates that surprisingly many elements of later theories of imperialism were expressed already by Marx, even though the basic structure of Marxist thought prevented their full elaboration. At the same time, he argues that only death prevented Engels from elaborating a theory that might have looked similar to Hobson's.

The general appraisal of this book, in short, must be positive. It is a careful and erudite contribution to Begriffsgeschichte. Final judgement about the author's methods and sources, however, must be reserved pending the publication of volume II. This reviewer, for instance, missed a number of essential works in the notes and biblio- graphy, but is aware that they might be fully exploited in the companion volume.

ALFRED G. MEYER

University of Michigan

Mohamed Dowidar, Les Schemas de reproduction et la methodologie de la planification socialiste. Avec une introduction du Professeur Ch. Bettelheim. Algiers, Ed. Tiers- Monde, I964. 447 pP.

THE purpose of this book is to ascertain the influence of the 'schemes of reproduc- tion' of Quesnay and Marx on Soviet planning methodology and on input-output analysis. It is divided into three parts-Part I: 'The schemes'; Part II: 'From theory to practice'-the elaboration of Soviet plans; Part III: 'Back to theory'-input-output analysis and general conclusions. The questions raised are significant and controver- sial, and they deserve a fresh and thorough examination. It is unfortunate, therefore, that the book is not adequate to its objectives.

After an exordium on the circular flow in Quesnay, and on dialectical materialism, dialectical logic and methods in Marx, the author presents the famous Marxian schemes of 'simple and enlarged reproduction', i.e., the Marxian two-sector model portraying mutual relationships between producer and consumer goods sectors in conditions of either zero or positive net investment.

For anyone familiar with both the two-sector model and Soviet practice in social accounting, pricing, investment allocation, the relationships between Marx's model

REVIEWS REVIEWS 135 135

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