Politics of Combined and Uneven Development - by Michael Löwy Paperback

About the Book

This edition published by Haymarket Books in 2010, has been abridged for length. Part two of the 1981 edition has been omitted.

Book Synopsis

Drawing on the prescient insights of Leon Trotsky, Lowy explores the contradictions of global economic development.

Review Quotes

"Thirty years ago Michael Löwy wrote a brilliant and accessible analysis of the emergence and application of Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution. This new edition of his book is even more relevant read in the context of the revolutionary uprisings in the Middle East today."
- Counterfire

"For newcomers and experienced scholars alike, the book serves as an effective short introduction to both the emergence of the [theory of permanent revolution], and it's longer-term consequences in the twentieth century."
- Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

"Reading The Politics of Combined and Uneven Development: The Theory of Permanent Revolution by Marxist sociologist/philosopher Michael Löwy was at first like trying to find my way through the Grand Canyon at night: with lost brainwaves traversing the echo-chasms of my mind, bouncing back and forth, unclaimed. But after a short season of intense acclamation to the Mensheviks, Bolsheviks, Bourgeoisie and Proletariat, I found myself secretly becoming a closet neo-Trotskyite. The book, first published in 1981 but shortened considerably for this latest version, is an in-depth look at Leon Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution and how it pertains to different Marxist revolutions through time."
- Karl Travis Chico News & Reviews

"A painstaking analysis of the opposing concepts of 'permanent revolution' and 'socialism in one country.'
- The American Historical Review

About the Author

Michael Löwy is Research Director in Sociology at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris. He is the author of many books, including The Theory of Revolution in the Young Marx and, with Olivier Besancenot, Che Guevara: His Revolutionary Legacy.