Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by BG19bot (talk | contribs) at 06:45, 17 March 2015 (WP:CHECKWIKI error fix for #52. Do general fixes if a problem exists. - using AWB (10839)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Part of a series on
Communism
Concepts Anti-capitalism Class conflict Class consciousness Classless society Collective leadership Communist party Communist revolution Communist state Commune Communist society Critique of political economy Free association "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" Market abolitionism Proletarian internationalism Labour movement Social revolution Stateless society Wage slavery Workers' self-management World communism World revolution Dictatorship of the proletariat
Economics Planned economy Gift economy Common ownership Socialization (Marxism) Economic democracy Use value
Variants Anarchist Marxism Leninist Libertarian Pre-Marxist Utopian Primitive Religious Christian
History Communist League First International Second International Third International Fourth International
Organisations Communist Parties WPC WFTU WFDY IUS WIDF WFSW IOR
People Mazdak More Meslier Babeuf Marx Engels Morris Kropotkin Malatesta Pannekoek Du Bois Lenin Luxemburg Kollontai Stalin Trotsky Lukács Thälmann Makhno Bukharin Ho Gramsci Tito Togliatti Benjamin Khrushchev Mao Pot Zhou James Padmore Sartre Hoxha Beauvoir Nkrumah Kim Hobsbawm Althusser Freire Pasolini Mandel Aidit Raja Fanon Castro Berger Guevara Guattari Debord Amin Berlinguer Negri Guzmán Badiou Sison Newton Ali Davis Holloway Hampton Zizek Sankara Öcalan Gordillo Gilmore Marcos Hardt Dean Graeber Lordon Kelley Fisher Prashad Hatherley Moufawad-Paul Saito
By region Britain Cambodia Colombia France India Kerala Korea Nepal Peru Philippines Poland Soviet Union Sumatra Vietnam
Symbols Hammer and sickle Red flag (politics) Red star "The Internationale" "Workers of the world, unite!"
Criticism Anti-communism Communist propaganda Criticism of communist party rule Criticism of Marxism
Related topics 21st-century communist theorists Anti anti-communism Anti-communist mass killings Anti-fascism Communitarianism Mass killings under communist regimes Internationalism Intentional community Left-wing politics Old Left New Left LGBTQ rights Marx's theory of alienation National communism Romania Red Scare Revolutionary socialism Socialist economics Socialist mode of production Trade union War communism Worker cooperative
Communism portal Socialism portal
v t e

Criticism of communism can be divided into two broad categories: those concerning themselves with the practical aspects of 20th century Communist states, and those concerning themselves with communist principles and theory. These two categories usually overlap because criticisms of the theory are usually supported by several 20th century examples. And most people who criticize communism are against both communist principles and policies.

Anti-communists typically argue that communist theory is directly responsible for the problems of 20th century "communism". communists typically argue that the theory is deeper than the practice. Therefore anti-communists tend to produce criticisms that connect theory and practice, while communists respond by dividing these criticisms into separate arguments about theory and practice.

However, one may agree with communist principles but disagree with many policies adopted by Communist states (this is quite common among Trotskyists), or, more rarely, agree with policies adopted by Communist states but disagree with communist principles.

The categories of criticisms mentioned above are discussed in separate articles:

• Criticisms of communist party rule is an article dealing with criticisms of the practical policies implemented by 20th century governments claiming to follow the ideology of Marxism-Leninism (these are usually called "Communist states" in the West).
• Criticisms of Marxism is an article dealing with criticisms of Marxist theory itself.

Regarding East Germany (GDR), German historian Jürgen Kocka in 2010 summarized the consensus of scholars:

"Conceptualizing the GDR as a dictatorship has become widely accepted, while the meaning of the concept dictatorship varies. Massive evidence has been collected that proves the repressive, undemocratic, illiberal, nonpluralistic character of the GDR regime and its ruling party."

Further reading

• Bosteels, Bruno. The actuality of communism (Verso Books, 2014)
• Blackmer, Donald LM, and Sidney Tarrow, eds. Communism in Italy and France (Princeton University Press, 2015)
• Priestland, David. The Red Flag: A History of Communism (Grove Press, 2009)
• Resnick, Stephen A., and Richard D. Wolff. Class theory and history: Capitalism and communism in the USSR (Routledge, 2013)
• Taras, Raymond C. The Road to Disillusion: From Critical Marxism to Post-communism in Eastern Europe (Routledge, 2015)

See also

• History of the Soviet Union
  • History of the Soviet Union (1964–1982)
  • History of the Soviet Union (1982–1991)
• Anti-communism
• Black Book of Communism
• Criticisms of Marxism
• Criticism of socialism
• Economic calculation problem
• Great Chinese Famine
• Great Leap Forward
• Mass killings under Communist regimes
• Post-Communism
• Revolutions of 1989
• Russian famine of 1921
• Soviet famine of 1932–1933
• Special Period
• Criticisms of communist party rule

Notes

1. Bruno Bosteels, The actuality of communism (Verso Books, 2014)
2. Raymond C. Taras, The Road to Disillusion: From Critical Marxism to Post-communism in Eastern Europe (Routledge, 2015).
3. Jürgen Kocka, ed. (2010). Civil Society & Dictatorship in Modern German History. UPNE. p. 37. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)

• Communism
• Marxism
• Criticisms of political philosophy