Stalinism and Modernity
D.Phil. Thesis in Politics
by Malcolm McGrath
St Antony’s College, University of Oxford
Resubmitted Hilary term 2006
© Copyright by Malcolm McGrath, 2006
Abstract
The characteristics of spirit, freedom, activity, reason are transferred to matter, that is to say a spiritualization of matter is taking place. . . . Materialism is imperceptibly turning towards a peculiar sort of idealism and spiritualism.[1]
(Nikolai Berdyayev, on Stalinist ideology)
This thesis is an analysis of what Berdyayev referred to as the ‘spiritualization of matter’ in Stalinist ideology. More importantly it is also an analysis of the obverse of the same process which transferred the characteristics of ‘spirit, freedom, activity, reason’ out of humans. It is argued that this process infused Stalinist ideology with a sense of magical possibilities, and a belief in a cosmic lack of freedom of human agents.
The basis of the analysis is the construction of a new theory of disenchantment. The term is used in the same sense as Weber applied it, to describe the decline of magical thinking and the rise of rationalism in modern Western civilization. However, the approach focuses on forms of cognition, which Weber did not examine in detail; his focus was on forms of economic action and political domination.
The reason for developing a new theory of disenchantment is to compensate for a blind spot in modern social theory with respect to ‘semi-enchanted’ forms of thought. There is a significant theoretical literature on the ‘savage mind’ as well as on the nature of scientific and economic ‘rationalism’. There is little in the way of a theoretical bridge between these two extremes. As a result, modern social theory has trouble making sense of beliefs that contain both magical and rational elements.
The approach begins with a realist ontology of physical and social reality. Then, developments in cognitive science are used to show that humans are predisposed to enchanted forms of thinking. I argue that disenchanted thinking, like literacy, is a skill, which must be learned. It is an invention of modern Western culture.
On the basis of this theoretical approach the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin are examined. It is contended that Marx, Engels and Lenin were mostly disenchanted thinkers. However, it is also demonstrated that some of the concepts they employed were particularly prone to enchanted interpretations, even if they were not intended that way. And, given that neither Stalin, nor the majority of the Soviet population had an opportunity to learn the skill of disenchanted thinking prior to being inundated with Marxist ideology, it is argued that an enchanted understanding of Marxism would come to play an important role in Soviet history.
[1] Nicolai Berdyayev, The Origins of Russian Communism (London: Geoffrey Bles, 1948), 149.