| Popis: |
Castoriadis’ political and theoretical trajectory started as an immanent critique of Marxism, namely working with Marx and against the theoretical and practical consequences of orthodox Marxism. Defending Marx’s thought from its vulgar interpretations and realizations, Trotsky’s analysis of the class character of the USSR was considered to be unsatisfactory, and Trotsky’s positions and ideas were put into question. This led Castoriadis to a reinvestigation of the Soviet social formation and a critique of Lenin. In a parallel way, however, fundamental elements of his critique on Trotsky, the USSR and Lenin later on became the basis of his critique of Marx. According to Tormey and Townshend, the critique developed on Marxism by Castoriadis ‘moved from the concrete analysis of the forms and modalities of Marxism as a governing doctrine towards a critique of the theoretical and political premises of Marx’s work itself’.1 The first section of this chapter focuses on the effort made by Castoriadis and Lefort to criticize Trotsky’s ideas and contrast them with Marx’s fundamental positions. The next section discusses the logical implication of the above critique. Trotsky’s contradictions and his inability to explain the phenomenon of Stalinism led Castoriadis to undertake a more thorough and systematic critique of bureaucracy and the Soviet regime. |
