SHARDS OF SHATTERED WORLD: NEO-STALINISTS AND NEO-TROTSKYISTS IN MODERN RUSSIA

Abstract

The article examines the emergence, development, and current state of two Russian radical leftist groups often overlooked by political scholars of Russia: neo-Trotskyists and neo-Stalinists. The genesis of the neo-Trotskyist and neo-Stalinist parties and groups was of a different nature. The neo-Trotskyist movements and groups (Revolutionary Workers' Party, Russian Socialist Movement, Socialist Alternative) originated from below, under the influence of international Trotskyist organizations, and consist mainly of young people. Most of these are organizations of democratic socialists that maintain a connection with the Marxist tradition. The neo-Stalinist parties, conversely, emerged as a result of the collapse of the CPSU (All-Union Communist Party of the Bolsheviks, Russian Communist Workers' Party) or the secession from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (Communist Party “Communists of Russia,” United Communist Party). The authors also analyze the factors that contribute to the marginalization of the Russian radical left. The socio-economic state of the Russian society is far from a severe economic crisis, which could have contributed to the popularity of left-wing radicalism. The demographic factor contributes to the decline of neo-Stalinist parties, but has little effect on neo-Trotskyist groups. The orientation towards the maximum preservation of the status quo, which is an imperative to Russian domestic policy also influences the marginalization of the Russian radical left. Perhaps one of the main factors blocking the development of the radical left in Russia is the adherence of a significant part of them to the Soviet experience and their ignorance of the experience of the Western left. The devotion to the Soviet experience allows the Russian left, both moderate and radical, to maintain its social base, however prevents them from keeping up to date and proposing new goals and new tactics to achieve them.

Keywords:

left radicals, communism, Trotskyism, neo-Stalinism, Left front