Syllabus

The History of Marxism, Communism, and Socialism

HIS 3995: Special Topics in History
HIS 6000: Studies in Comparative History
[Graduate track syllabus additions are in brackets]

Professor Ronald Aronson
Tuesdays, 6:00-8:45 pm, 1162 Old Main
Office Hours: Tues 4:30 - 5:30 and by appointment
Contact: ronald.aronson@wayne.edu; (248)548-7370


In this course students will have the opportunity to:

• learn about the key ideas of Marxism and historical materialism by reading the writings of Marx and Engels.
• reflect on how they described capitalist society and the paths for transforming it.
• analyze the ways in which Marxism’s predictions failed and the ways in which Marxism remains relevant today.
• decide whether Marxism was transformed beyond recognition both by revolutionaries and reformers.
• understand why the socialist movement split into reformist and revolutionary wings, and the conditions under which each wing flourished or failed.
• read one of the great works of historical understanding, Isaac Deutscher’s biography of Trotsky.
• understand the immediate as well as the long-term impact of the Bolshevik Revolution on socialists around the world.
• study the history of Communism throughout the world, including China, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, and Cuba.

Required readings: Robert C. Tucker, The Marx/Engels Reader (Norton), Isaac Deutscher, The Prophet Armed: Trotsky 1879-1921 (Vol. 1 of 3) (Verso); and Archie Brown, The Rise and Fall of Communism (Ecco). The “Communist Manifesto” is in Tucker, and the first two chapters are also posted on Blackboard. David Priestland, selections from The Red Flag, on Blackboard.


STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS

ENTERING CLASS AFTER THE FIRST WEEK OR WHEN REGISTERING LATE:

Although the University tolerates entering classes as late as the third week, students place themselves at a serious disadvantage by entering the class after the first week. All missed classes count as absences, no matter when you have enrolled. Late enrollees must immediately obtain the syllabus either directly or through Blackboard, contact the instructor to find out what you missed, obtain course books and come to the next class with the next assigned reading completed. Not doing any of these greatly increases your chances of failing the course.
In order to avoid getting off on the wrong foot, a student who for whatever reason misses class at the beginning of the semester must:
1. Contact the instructor immediately by phone or email (248-548-7370 or ronald.aronson@wayne.edu) to introduce yourself, explain the situation, and obtain a makeup assignment;
2. Go to Blackboard and download the syllabus;
3. Purchase the course texts at Marwil’s Bookstore;
4. Come to the next class with all reading and makeup assignments done.
5. Students registering late can enter the class no later than January 25. All late work must be handed in by the end of that week.


ATTENDANCE POLICY:

Attendance will be taken at every class. Any student who misses 4 classes for whatever reason will receive a final grade of F.


PLAGIARISM:

Plagiarism is not tolerated at Wayne State University; students who pass off the work of others as their own will automatically receive a failing grade. Whether you are quoting, summarizing, paraphrasing, or alluding, you must provide proper documentation of sources following the current editions of Trimmer's Guide to MLA Documentation or the MLA handbook. This course will operate with SafeAssign on BB; all outside papers are to be submitted there.


CELL PHONE, TEXTING, NON-CLASS INTERNET USE:

All of these are prohibited during class time; students violating this policy will have their grades lowered. No further warning will be given.


REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

Course Assignments:

In this course, assignments and grades are handled in a different way than in most classes. You select what work you complete, with three exceptions: introducing the week’s reading assignment, the essay assignment on Marxian theory, and the final essay/exam. Otherwise, you may choose from among the various assignments, bearing in mind two rules: 1) to receive credit for any assignment you must earn at least 50% of its possible points; 2) once the due date for an assignment is passed, that assignment cannot be completed. (The only exception to rule 2 is for late registrants during the first two weeks.) But note that if you are absent, you may email the assignment to the professor by class time and it will be accepted.


DEVELOPING A PLAN FOR THE COURSE:

Circle the assignments you are considering, and then total the points possible. Since each assignment will be graded, it is unlikely that you will get all the points possible for every assignment, so be realistic. Check your projected totals with the point totals needed for each grade. Then as the course goes on keep track of your actual points so that you will know if you need to add more assignments. This can be done via the “Evaluation Grade Center” on Blackboard.

NOTE: Emailed papers must be submitted in Word, WordPerfect or Open Office. For any other format, ask before sending. If you use Microsoft Works, papers must be saved and submitted in a Word format (NOT .wps).

• 7 quizzes, in-class essays = points 40 each

  280
• Participation in online discussions, two hits required for weekly credit, weeks 2-12, 20 points per week - you must elect by the first week of online discussion, and first posts are responses to the weekly discussion question.

   200
• All Students will present the readings at least once during the semester. 6000 students will present the specific 6000 readings. Students are encouraged to use Power Point. (REQUIRED) 100
• Paper on Marxian theory, due week 4

  100
• Paper on Deutscher’s Trotsky

  100
• 6-10 page paper due last week of class [6000 students will do a 10-12 page paper]. Possible themes include the comparative study of two countries, the case study of a single country, or exploration of Marxian theory in relation to Communist practice.

  250
• final exam on Marxism and communism’s rise and collapse REQUIRED

  150
• paper comparing the history of communism and socialism

  100
                                                        TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE 1280

Final grades will be calculated as follows:

A = 800 or over
A- = 770-799
B+ = 740-769
B = 710-739
B- = 680-709
C+ = 650-679
C = 620-649
C- = 590-619
D = 560-589
D- = 540- 559
F = 539 or below

SCHEDULE, READINGS AND OTHER ASSIGNMENTS:

January 11
Introduction to the course; discussion of “The Communist Manifesto,” chapters I and II.

January 18
Theme:

* What is Marxism?

Readings in Tucker: “Marx on the History of His Opinions,” 3-6; “Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right,” 16-25; “Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844,” 66-109. Archie Brown, The Rise and Fall of Communism, 9-25, “The Idea of Communism”

January 25
Themes:

* What is historical materialism?
* What did Marx mean by socialism?

Readings: “Theses on Feuerbach,” 143-5; “The German Ideology,” 146-200; “Wage-Labor and Capital,” 203-17; “The Communist Manifesto,” 469-500 [6000 students will report on additional reading in the chapters from “Capital” and the “Grundrisse”].

February 1
Themes:

* What shape did Marxism take in Marx’s later years?
* How did Marx act and think as a Marxist?

Readings: “Inaugural Address,” 512-9; “The Civil War in France,” 618-52; “Critique of the Gotha Program,” 525-41
Paper Due: topic to be announced. 4 pages (1000 words)

February 8:
Theme:

* How and why did Trotsky become a revolutionary?

Readings: Brown, 26-39, “The Early Years”; Deutscher, The Prophet Armed, vii-x, 1-96
February 15
Themes:

* What were the differences between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks?
* What is “Permanent Revolution?”
* What did World War I reveal about the path to socialism?

Readings: Deutscher, 97-205 [6000 students will compare this with another reading]

February 22
Theme:

* Was the Bolshevik Revolution a revolution or a coup d’état?

Readings: Brown, 40-77, Deutscher 206-86 [6000 students: comparison of Brown's account with David Priestland's on Blackboard]

March 1
Themes

* Was the Bolshevik revolution inevitable?
* Imagine the Bolshevik triumph without Lenin. . . Without Trotsky. . . Without Stalin

Reading: Deutscher 287-395

March 8
Theme:

* Why “Defeat in Victory”?
* What is “substitutionism”?

Reading: Deutscher, 405-36, Brown, 78-116
Paper due: topic to be announced, 4 pages (1000 words)

March 22
Theme:

* Why didn't revolution succeed elsewhere in Europe?
* What were the consequences of this failure?
* Why did Stalin rise to power? What was Stalinism?
* Why did revolution succeed in China?
* Why was the USSR was victorious over Nazi Germany?

Reading: Brown 117-226 [6000 students: compare David Priestland's account of industrialization with Brown's]

March 29
Themes:

* How did a reformist revolution in Cuba become a Communist one?
* How did the Vietnamese manage to defeat the United States?
* What was the role of the South African Communist Party and the Communist world in the struggle to end apartheid?

Reading: Brown, 222-367

April 5
Themes:

* How did resistance to Soviet Communism develop and eventually succeed in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia?
* How did China evolve into a capitalist society ruled by a Communist party after the death of Mao?
* Why did the Italian Communist Party fail to find a peaceful road to socialism?

Reading: Brown, 368-480

April 12
Themes:

* What were the Gorbachev reforms and why didn't they head off the collapse of Soviet Communism?
* How did Soviet Communism collapse?

Reading: Brown, 481-573

April 19
Theme:

* Explain the contrast between Marxism's vision and Communist Realities
* Is Communism over?
* Is Marxism over?

Reading: Brown, 574-618 [6000 students to compare Brown’s concluding reflections with Priestland’s]


May 3                         Final Exam, Final Paper Due