重温吉拉斯的“新阶级”理论——兼评项佐涛《米洛万·吉拉斯的政治思想演变研究》

文章是对项佐涛《米洛万·吉拉斯的政治思想演变研究》(中央编译出版社2012年版)一书的评论,但更多地表达了评论者本人对吉拉斯,特别是对他的《新阶级》一书的看法.吉拉斯的《新阶级》对苏联官僚制度的批判是立足于经典马克思主义的历史与社会分析方法之上的.工业文明的全球性压力迫使俄国这样的“不发达国家”走上了以社会主义为手段加速实现工业化的道路.软弱的资产阶级不足以领导工业化,工业化的任务不得不由一个革命党承担起来.这个党在条件还未充分具备的时候去建立新社会,它就不能不依靠特殊的革命者集团去进行革命,夺取政权,掌握全部国家力量在“空地上”创造出一个工业化社会,从而必然导致“新阶级”的产生.     

国际共运史上的一种"异端"现象——吉拉斯的"新阶级"理论剖析

1957年,吉拉斯宣称他用马克思主义的方法在社会主义国家中发现了新的剥削阶级,即通过权力垄断而使用、管理和控制国家财产的官僚特权阶层。据此,他提出了“新阶级”的概念。受意识形态的影响,长期以来东西方学者鲜有站在公允的立场上对“新阶级”概念进行分析和研究的。实际上,“新阶级”概念既不像西方恶意攻击共产主义的学者所说的是“把共产主义理论基础炸得粉碎的定时炸弹”,也并非如苏东社会主义国家简单宣称的是“政治春宫图”。吉拉斯提出“新阶级”概念有非常复杂的背景和原因,而这个概念本身也包含着难以调和的矛盾。     

李克农与“王实味案”

60多年前，延安曾发生了轰动一时的“王实味案”：1942年，延安中央研究院特别研究员王实味，出“托派分子、国民党特务、反党集团成员”罪，被开除党籍；翌年4月，康生下令中央社会部将其逮捕；1947年暮春，晋绥行政公署公安总局在山西省兴县蔡家崖将王实味秘密处决。王实味是党史上第一个由于文艺问题而最终遭致悲惨结局的党内知识分子。     

论点摘编

发展中国家的"管理资产阶级" 对发展中国家的研究一般强调官僚阶级和企业家阶级之间的矛盾,并有很多人认为官僚资产阶级是主导力量,它阻止公司资产阶级的发展。但是,事实上在大多数发展中国家中,私人企业得到了国家的大力保护和支持,而不是阻碍。因此应该把工     

从海湾战争看国家的历史责任

国家是一个阶级压迫另一个阶级的机关,剥削阶级国家和社会主义国家的对内对外职能有着本质的不同。但作为国家政治实体来说,都还有着共同的三个方面:维护本国的生存与繁荣,在国际关系中遵守国际关系准则,在国家行为时考虑全人类的利益。我们就把这种国家都得履行的三个责任叫做国家的历史责任。海湾战争各国之行为表现为我们提供了认识国家历史责任的范例。     

『礼』的延续

中国人重“礼”，因为几千年间中国社会都是一个等级森严的专制社会。为了维系这个社会制度，就得有“礼”，借以处处体现上下尊卑的社会秩序。大到官制设定，小到婚丧觐宴、穿衣吃饭，依人分等，都有规定。所谓“经礼三百，曲礼三千”，足见繁琐。因为繁琐，所以古代官僚或候补官僚都要专门学习，以“礼”事上，以“礼”治下，免得举措失当，乱了规矩。今天，除了为研究古代官制及文化风习，     

信息窗

国外对“知识分子”作用的争论国外学术界围绕知识分子问题出现了激烈的争论。应当怎样估价知识分子的作用?西欧的许多学者特别强调知识分子在社会生活中的地位,认为知识分子“发挥了异常杰出而重要的作用”。有的学者甚至认为知识分子已经形成了一个新的阶级,而且是领导阶级。苏联和东欧的学者对此持反对意见。他们认为知识分子不是独立阶级,而是一个社会阶层,是依附于一定阶级,为一定阶级利益服务的。然而,随着现代科学技术的广泛应用,他们也愈益强调知识分子在发展国民经济中的地位和作用。     

嘴巴上热闹

中国人重“礼”，因为几千年间中国社会都是一个等级森严的专制社会。为了维系这个社会制度，就得有“礼”，借以处处体现上下尊卑的社会秩序。大到官制设定，小到婚丧觐宴、穿衣吃饭，依人分等，都有规定。所谓“经礼三百，曲礼三千”，足见繁琐。因为繁琐，所以古代官僚或候补官僚都要专门学习，以“礼”事上，以“礼”治下，免得举措失当，乱了规矩。今天，除了研究古代官制及文化风习，我想是无须修习这些劳什子的。     

马克思国家学说的一个重要问题——“打碎旧的国家机器”思想研究

马克思恩格斯所谓的"旧的国家机器"特指官僚政治下的官僚制和常备军.官僚制与普选制相对立;常备军制与全民武装相排斥."旧的国家机器"是一种与封建主义相联系、与专制主义相伴生的政治机构,而非资本主义政治制度的普遍形态."打碎旧的国家机器"原本是作为资产阶级民主革命的任务提出来的,其目标是建立巩固的资产阶级民主共和制,防止专制主义复辟.但马克思主义创始人和共产主义运动理论家们一度认为它是资产阶级无力完成而只能由无产阶级完成的任务.马克思恩格斯的这些见解是同他们关于"旧的国家机器"与封建主义、专制主义的关系,欧洲近代史的历史分期,欧洲近代专制主义的特点 ,资产阶级和无产阶级的阶级特点等一系列复杂的理论观点相联系的.十月革命前,列宁的观点与马克思主义创始人的观点基本是一致的;十月革命后,迫于现实条件的压力,列宁逐渐放弃他在十月革命前坚信不移的观点,在苏俄重建了作为旧的国家机器显著特征的官僚制和常备军.在已经实现了民主宪政的当代西方国家,打碎旧的国家机器的主要任务之一,即消灭作为凌驾于社会之上享有特权的官僚阶层的任务早已完成.作为旧的国家机器另一个显著特征的常备军仍然存在,但是,第一,它不仅存在于资本主义国家,而且存在于包括社会主义国家在内的世界上大多数国家;第二,世界近现代政治史表明,在健全的民主制度下,常备军制度不会导致专制主义的复活.至少在可预见的历史时期内,以全民武装代替常备军的主张是国际共产主义运动中的政治空想主义.     

国际金融经济危机与资本主义的走向:阶级分析的视角

阶级分析方法是马克思主义经济学的重要分析方法,也是正确认识资本主义社会问题的重要视角。以此分析危机前后资本主义国家阶级结构的新变化,为我们认识危机后资本主义制度的发展趋势提供了一个新视角。危机前的阶级结构是:以金融资本家为代表的资本家阶级力量膨胀,劳工力量被削弱,中产阶级被挤压;危机后的阶级结构是:金融资本家未受实质打击,力量继续膨胀,中产阶级继续萎缩,民众在觉醒,劳工力量在壮大,但是没有形成实质性的挑战资本的力量。基于以上阶级分析,西方资本主义国家短期内不会走二战后的社会民主主义之路,大资本将进一步右转,但是超越资本主义是历史的大趋势,社会主义运动将最终壮大。     

Illegally denied: manipulations related to the registration of the Veps identity in the late Soviet Union

This article raises questions about the relationship between theory and practice, legality and illegality in the late Soviet nationalities policy, and the role played by various branches of power. It focuses on the Veps, an indigenous ethnic minority in the northwest of Russia. In the Brezhnev era, quite a few officials and census takers refused to register the Veps nationality in personal identification documents and during censuses, claiming, incorrectly, that the Veps were not in the official list of nationalities or that they were a people (narodnost’), not a nationality (natsional’nost’), and hence could not be registered as one. The Veps were counted as Russians instead. These bureaucratic practices, widespread in Leningrad and Vologda oblasti, but not in Karelia, contradicted official nationalities policy, passport regulations, and census instructions. It seemed that the Soviet state no longer recognized the Veps as an ethnic community. The article claims that the mass refusal to register the Veps nationality was intentional and directed by the regional authorities. The goal was to accelerate the assimilation of the Veps, a policy that worked well. The official number of Veps decreased extremely rapidly in the 1970 and 1979 censuses, only to recover in 1989, after the manipulations had ended.     

Reconciling public administration and democracy: the role of the responsible administrator

This article considers whether the individual responsibilities of bureaucratic officials provide a useful means for reconciling the tension between democracy and bureaucracy. Three questions central to the proper definition of bureaucratic responsibility are examined: (1) What is the relation of bureaucratic responsibility to the view that proper bureaucratic conduct is essentially a matter of ethics and morality? (2) If the appeal to moral values does not ordinarily offer an acceptable guide to proper bureaucratic conduct, upon what principles does a theory of bureaucratic responsibility rest? (3) What issues arise in putting responsibility into practice within a complex organizational setting? The article concludes that a democratic, process-based conception offers the most useful way of thinking about the responsibilities of bureaucratic officials.

The tension between democracy and bureaucracy has bedeviled public administration. However one defines democracy, its core demand for responsiveness (to higher political authorities, the public, client groups, or whatever the presumed agent of democratic rule) does not neatly square with notions of effective organization of the policy process and efficient delivery of goods and services, which are central to the definition of bureaucracy. Responsiveness need not guarantee efficiency, while bureaucratic effectiveness and efficiency often belie democratic control.

This tension between democracy and bureaucracy persists, but that it is the individual administrator who directly experiences the tension is especially important as a guide toward a resolution of this conflict. Since divergence is central to this tension between democracy and bureaucracy, speculation about the responsibilities of bureaucratic officials—their individual places within the bureaucracy, particularly the administrator's thoughts, choices, and actions—provides fruitful terrain for resolving the question of bureaucracy's place within a democratic system of rule.

Three questions need to be addressed if one accepts the premise that individual responsibility is central to locating the place of bureaucracy in a democratic order. First, what is unique about bureaucratic responsibility, especially in contrast to the view that these are largely ethical problems that can be resolved by appeal to moral values? Second, if dilemmas of bureaucratic conduct are by and large not resolvable through appeal to moral values, upon what other principles does a theory of bureaucratic responsibility rest? Third, what issues arise in putting responsibility into practice, especially within a complex organizational setting? This list of questions is not meant to be exhaustive but only a starting point for discussion.     

The ‘Mingrelian Question’: Institutional Resources and the Limits of Soviet Nationality Policy

Based on primary source materials from the Georgian Party archive and periodical press, this article examines the conflict between central and local elites in the Soviet Republic of Georgia over whether or not to grant linguistic and territorial rights to residents of one of its regions. The case demonstrates how the promises and aspirations of Soviet nationality policy were actually negotiated and interpreted on the local level in the early years of Soviet power, and how actors attempted to make use of nationality policy in order to mobilise the institutional resources available to them.     

Citizen participation and the redistribution of public goods

This study investigates whether citizen participation in public budgeting resulted in increased redistributive outcomes when compared with bureaucratic decision‐making. We focused on a specific budget item (i.e., the installation of surveillance cameras for crime prevention) and examined whether participatory budgeting yielded larger budget allocations to low‐income neighbourhoods. Results indicate that such participatory budgeting results in larger budget allocations for low‐income neighbourhoods when compared with allocations produced by bureaucratic budgeting practices. The results also indicate that budgets allocated through citizen participation may be no more or even less effective for advancing public goals. These findings suggest a potential trade‐off between equity and public service effectiveness. Citizen participation improves budget equity, but may be less effective for achieving public goals than bureaucratic decision‐making. To explain this, we offer the ‘social pressure hypothesis’, which posits that social pressure during public‐forum discussions can influence participating citizens to make redistributive decisions.     

The ghost of essentialism and the trap of binarism: six theses on the Soviet empire

This article endeavors to open a new critical space for Soviet studies and for nationalities studies more generally. Through analyses of recent trends in Soviet studies, the article dismantles the frequently used opposition between subjective and objective approaches to Soviet empire and suggests instead that truths and categories, whether considered “subjective” or “objective,” are constructed discursively, through legitimizing certain interpretive models over the others. The article also argues against disciplinary avoidance of “what is” questions (e.g. “what is a nation?”) and claims that an excessive concern for (re)producing essentialism should not hinder scholarly inquiry. Several new lines of inquiry for the study of the Soviet empire are suggested and also applicable in nationalities studies more generally: research on the role of symbolic violence in manufacturing consent and research concerning the role of affect in producing linkages between the performative life of a singular human being and the pedagogical discourse of a nation or empire. The article also offers an analysis of the Soviet Union as an empire in becoming and it advocates for postcolonial approaches within Soviet studies. The practical dimensions of Soviet rule are exemplified with data from the Baltic borderlands in the postwar years.     

Divergence and dispersion in the Russian economy

While post-war economic development In market economies was characterised by geographical concentration of economic activity, this was not the case in the Soviet Union. Soviet economic development resulted in a highly dispersed economic landscape with mono-industrial towns scattered around the country. One plausible reason for this was low perceived transport costs as seen by Soviet planners. Another reason was that political and not only economic motives governed industrial location (Maurseth, 2001a). In addition to the sheer size of the country, these factors made the Soviet Union one of the most transport-intensive economies in the world. The post-Soviet Russian economic geography faces Russia with important challenges. Production, population and employment patterns are likely to change dramatically. There are at least four reasons for this hypothesis. The first is structural change in the Russian economy. Production patterns in Russia were highly distorted. In the future industrial production, and in particular heavy industry, will represent a smaller share of total production while consumer industry and services will probably experience relatively higher growth rates. The second reason to expect a changing economic geography is that transport costs are likely to increase. While the Soviet Union implicitly subsidised transport heavily, Russia now faces important challenges due to increasing transport prices. The third reason for expecting change is population changes. Recently, migration from the climatically least hospitable areas has been growing. In the future, these trends are likely to continue. Fourth, and partly as a consequence of the above-mentioned factors, market access will probably become more important for location of Russian industry. The Russian economic landscape is therefore likely to become more concentrated in the years to come.     

Economic ideas and institutional change: Evidence from soviet economic debates 1987–1991

The article analyses the shift in ideas that took place in Soviet economic thought between 1987 and 1991 and its relation to the changes in the real economy. The main focus of the article is on the issue of whether the evolution of Soviet economic thought in the analysed period changed in a gradual, path-dependent manner, or in a discontinuous, revolutionary fashion. Following the approach of Imre Lakatos, I argue that the conviction of being on the road to the ‘wholesome society’ formed the hard core of Soviet ideology, while ‘democratic centralism’ and the centralised economy provided its protective belt. Perestroika was the last attempt to save the hard core of Soviet ideology by adjusting the protective belt. This attempt failed, and the economic debates, which at first had been restricted to the protective belt, more and more approached its hard core, until it finally cracked. In this sense there was certainly a paradigm shift in Soviet economic thought. However, the notion of history as a purposeful process was not given up even by the Soviet adherents of monetarism. The utopian liberalism which became fashionable among Russian economists for a short period of time, it is argued, provides evidence that paradigm shifts and path-dependence in the evolution of economic ideas are not mutually exclusive.     

The Politics of Soviet and Nazi Genocides in Orange Ukraine

This article examines policies and public attitudes concerning the issue of Soviet and Nazi genocides in Ukraine after the ‘Orange Revolution’. The central question is whether such factors as regional political culture affect contemporary policies and public attitudes towards these important historical issues. The article uses a 2008 survey conducted for this study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology to analyse determinants of public attitudes concerning the question of whether Soviet and the Nazi policies were genocidal. It finds that regional political culture is the most significant factor affecting policies and attitudes towards the Soviet genocide in Ukraine.     

“回归亚洲”——中苏关系正常化与中国印度支那政策的演变(1979—1989)

中国在20世纪的后期是否有东亚地区战略或政策,在学术界是有争议的。在1979年到1989年中苏实现正常化的十年中,中国的印支政策如何在中苏博弈中逐步摆脱国际反苏统一战线的窠臼,并最终回归到东亚地区政策的范畴。从20世纪80年代中期起,中国开始逐步形成了对东亚地区的政策。