MARXISM AND THE QUESTION OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION STUDIES IN SOCIAL HISTORY issued by the INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL HISTORY AMSTERDAM I. W.H. ROOBOL. Tsereteli - A Democrat in the Russian Revolution. A Political Biography. 2. ZVI ROSEN. Bruno Bauer and Karl Marx. The Influence of Bruno Bauer on Marx's Thought. 3. MARIAN SAWER. Marxism and the Question ot the Asiatic Mode ot Production. MARXISM AND THE QUESTION OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION by MARIAN SA WER II MARTINUS NI]HOFF I THE HAGUE I 1977 The publishing of this volume has been made possible by the financial support of the University of Adelaide and the International Institute of Social History. @ I977 by Maf'tinus Nijhotf, The Hague, NethfJ.rlands Soflcover reprint o/the hardcover 1st edition 1977 Allf'ights res61'Ved, including the right to translate 01' to reproduce this book Of' parts thereof in any form ISBN-13: 978-94-009-9687-8 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-9685-4 DOI: 10.1007/978-94-009-9685-4 CONTENTS Preface VII Abbreviations VIII INTRODUCTION I I. THE PREHISTORY OF THE MARXIAN CONCEPT OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION 4 The Legacy of Aristotle 5 Travellers' Tales 9 Oriental Despotism and French Politics, the First Phase: A Negative Model for Europe 12 Oriental Despotism and French Politics, the Second Phase: A Posi- tive Model for Europe 18 Empires Belonging to Space and not to Time 25 The Contribution of Political Economy: The Relation of Private Property to Progress 29 II. THE MARXIAN CONCEPT OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRO­ DUCTION Marx's Perception of the Non-Western World 40 Alternative Interpretations: The Question of the Continuity or Dis- continuity of Marx's Model of Asiatic Society 46 Marx's Analysis of Asiatic Society in the General Perspective of his Social Theory 51 The City in East and West 56 The Ancient East 59 The Asiatic Village System: Passport to the Future? 63 The Contribution of Engels to the Marxian Analysis of the Non- Western World 69 'Asiatic Feudalism' 75 The Asiatic Mode of Production and Sino-Soviet Relations 80 I. The Beginnings of the Debate:1925-I926 81 2. The Introduction of the Term Asiatic Mode of Production 83 3. The Peak of the Debate 1929-1931 91 4. The Arguments Used Against the AMP Concept 95 The Impact of the Sino-Soviet Rift 100 VI CONTENTS III. THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION IN RELATION TO THE PLACE OF GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS IN HISTORICAL MATE­ RIALISM Marx on the Role of Geographical Factors in Historical Develop- ment 104 Engels' Account of Laws of Nature 1I2 The 'Geographical Deviation': Plekhanov lI5 The 'Geographical Deviation': Wittfogel 125 Historical Materialism Versus Geographical Determinism: Stalin and Beyond 128 The Revolt of the Soviet Geographers against Stalin 129 The Reassessment of the Place of Geographical Factors in Historical Materialism 134 A Note on the Population Factor 136 IV. MARXIST PERSPECTIVES ON RUSSIAN HISTORY: THE PRAC­ TICAL ApPLICATION OF THE CONCEPT OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION 140 Marx's Conception of the Character of the Russian State: Russia Contrasted with Europe 140 Marx and the Service-State Theory of Russian History: A Parallel Theory of the Non-European Character of Russian History 146 Russian History in European Dress: The Orthodox Marxist Ap- proach 152 Plekhanov on Russian History: The Alternative Marxist Ap- proach 156 Modernisation in a Non-Western Milieu: Trotsky on Russia's Past and Present 178 V. THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION IN RELATION TO THE MARXIST ANALYSIS OF PROGRESS AND MODERNISATION 188 The Unilinear Schema of Social Development 188 The Hegelianised Version of the Unilinear Schema 198 Chronological and Logical Problems Associated with the Progressive Ranking of Socio-Economic Formations 203 The Multilinear Schema of History as Found in Marx 207 Variations of the Multilinear Schema as Applied to Pre-Capitalist Societies 209 The Dynamics of Modernisation in the Non-Western World: To- wards a New Marxist Historiography 218 VI. EPILOGUE 228 Select Bibliography 235 Works by Marx and Engels 235 Other Works Consulted 236 Index PREFACE Wherever possible in this monograph I have referred to English trans­ lations of works originally appearing in other languages. Where this has not been possible, for example with Russian material, I have followed the Library of Congress system of transliteration, but omitted the diacritics. I have also retained the conventional use of 'y' for the ending of certain Russian proper names (e.g., Trotsky not Trotskii). In accordance with the policy of using existing English translations, I have referred to the Martin Nicolaus translation of Marx's Grundrisse, which is relatively faithful to the text. (The Grundrisse, although the Dead Sea Scroll of Marxism, bear all the characteristics of a rough draft, characteristics which are preserved in the Nicolaus translation.) The term 'Marxian' has been employed in the conventional way in this book, to distinguish the views of Marx and Engels from those of their 'Marxist' followers. In preparing this work I have received bibliographical assistance from Professor Israel Getzler, now of the Hebrew University, and critical assistance from Mr Bruce McFarlane of the University of Adelaide and especially from Professor Eugene Kamenka of the Aus­ tralian National University. Professor Jean Chesneaux of the Sorbonne, as one of the leading participants in the more recent debates discussed here, provided me with some further insight into the issues, and Pro­ fessor K.A. Wittfogel of Columbia also supplied some valuable in­ formation. My thanks to Professor Shlomo Avineri of the Hebrew University, Professor Graeme Duncan of East Anglia, Dr T.H. Rigby of the Australian National University and Professor Maximilien Rubel of Paris for their comments on an earlier version. Finally, I am indebted to Mr Charles B. Timmer of the International Institute of Social History for his expert editorial guidance in the final stages. Remaining infe­ licities are all my own work. ABBREVIATIONS MEGA Marx and Engels, Historisch-kritische Gesamtausgabe, ed. D. Rjazanov/V. Adoratskij, Frankfurt/Berlin, Marx-Engels-Ar­ chiv Verlagsgesellschaft/Marx-Engels, Verlag, 1927-1932. Werke Marx and Engels, Werke, 39 vols., 2 supplementary vols., Berlin, Dietz, 1956-68. MESC Marx and Engels, Selected Correspondence, 2nd edn, Moscow, Progress, 1965. MESW Marx and Engels, Selected Works, 2 vols., Moscow, Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1951-55. Capital Marx, Capital: A Critique ot Political Economy, 3 vols., N.Y., International Publishers, 1967. EPM Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, 1844. Grundrisse Marx, Grundrisse. Foundations ot the Critique ot Political Economy (Rough Dratt), tr. Martin Nicolaus, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1973. Karl Marx on Colonialism and Modernization - Karl Marx on Colonialism and Modernization, ed. Shlomo Avineri, N.Y., Anchor Books, 1969. The Russian Menace to Europe - Marx and Engels, The Russian Menace to Europe, ed. Paul W. Blackstock and Bert F. Hoselitz, London, Allen and Unwin, 1953. N.Y.D.T. New York Daily Tribune. Ex Libris Ex Libris Marx und Engels; Schicksal und Verzeichnis einer Bibliothek, ed. B. Kaiser, Berlin, Dietz, 1967. Rubel M. Rubel, Bibliographie des Oeuvres de Karl Marx, Paris, Marcel Riviere, 1956; Supplement, 1960. Collected Works V.l. Lenin, Collected Works, London, Lawrence and Wishart, 1960- (Vol. 40 appeared in 1968). Selected Works V.l. Lenin, Selected Works, 2 vols., Moscow, Foreign Lan­ guages Publishing House, 1950-52. Sochineniia G.V. Plekhanov, Sochineniia, 2nd edn, 24 vols., ed. D. Ria­ zanov, Moscow, 1923-27. History G.V. Plekhanov, Istoriia russkoi obshchestvennoi mysli, Parts One and Two, Sochineniia, Vol. XX. IISG Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis, Amsterdam. AMP Asiatic Mode ot Production. C.E.R.M. Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Marxistes. .