The idea of building socialism in one country alone was alien to Marx, Engels and Lenin. But after the latter’s death, Stalin and his supporters raised the possibility of constructing socialism in the USSR amidst a sea of capitalism. The Young Communist League – the youth wing of the Communist Party of Britain – recently advanced the theory of socialism in one country, as opposed to Trotsky’s Permanent Revolution. Where does the RCI stand on the matter? Was the USSR socialist? Is China today socialist? Is it possible to build socialism in a single country?

This week’s episode of Spectre of Communism Podcast welcomes Niklas Albin Svensson from our International Secretariat. He explains that the survival of the Russian Revolution was always dependent on a European and eventual world revolution. Lenin was under no illusions about this. The idea of building socialism in economically backward Russia reflected the narrow interests of the Stalinist bureaucracy, in a period of temporary defeat for the world revolution.

The notion of achieving socialism within any single nation’s borders – even a very advanced one – was and remains a utopian fantasy; as attested by the experience of the USSR: a workers’ state encompassing a huge geographical area and vast resources, that lasted far longer than expected, yet still ultimately collapsed.

Modern capitalist production is global: with supply chains and manufacturing processes for all manner of commodities, from smartphones to aeroplanes, distributed across the world. Socialism can only be built based on the highest possible level of productivity, harnessing the full potential of the international working class. Therefore, socialism being built anywhere depends on a victorious revolutionary process overthrowing capitalism in one counter after another!

While the YCL heavily quotes Lenin, the ‘theory’ of socialism in one country represents a total break with his ideas and the authentic traditions of Marxism. We must return to these traditions if we hope to overthrow capitalism and achieve socialism in our lifetimes!

Niklas’ article on socialism in one country is available in issue 47 of the In Defence of Marxism magazine, available to purchase now: https://marxist.com/magazine.htm

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