Beyond Perestroika

The changes taking place in the Soviet Union under Gorbachev have generated a host of interpretations. In this controversial book, Ernest Mandel shows that commentators have signally failed to provide lasting insight into Soviet society in the age of perestroika. To begin with, most were so dazzled by Gorbachev's charisma and his bold tactics that they failed to investigate the barriers to change which still existed, or to consider the social forces capable of bringing about a revolutionary transformation.Although glasnost has made spectacular advances, the power of the Soviet nomenklatura has so far survived intact. Despite the spread of democratic debate and the growth of nationalist movements, a formidable bureaucracy — based on the top levels of the Party, state administration and security forces — has never relinquished its grip. Mandel argues that, without broad popular involvement and a willingness to concede basic democratic rights like national seIf-determination, the whole pr