It's Not Over: Learning from the Socialist Experiment by Pete Dolack | Goodreads

It's Not Over: Learning from the Socialist Experiment by Pete Dolack | Goodreads


It's Not Over: Learning from the Socialist Experiment
by Pete Dolack (Goodreads Author)
4.36 · 

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The path to a better world can t be found without knowledge of history. /It s Not Over/ analyzes attempts to supplant capitalism in the past in order to draw lessons for emerging and future movements that seek to overcome the political and economic crises of today. This history is presented through the words and actions of the men and women who made these revolutions, and the everyday experiences of the millions of people who put new revolutionary ideas into practice under the pressures of enormous internal and external forces. This is history that can be applied to today s struggles to shape our world, in which new ideas are emerging to bring about the economic democracy that is indispensable to a rational and sustainable future." (less)

Paperback, 992 pages
Published February 26th 2016 by Zero Books
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Popular Answered Questions
Is this book an accessible read for beginners attempting to understanding the history of socialism?

Pete Dolack As the author of the book, I sincerely hope it is. Although written with fellow activists in mind, I did seek to write in a style that would be accessible for any intelligent, intellectually open person and would not require prior knowledge. To that end, I purposefully avoided using jargon and specialized terminology. Doing so was good for me because taking that approach required me to explain things (and think about concepts) in clear language rather than using jargon as a short cut.

To be fair, however, it is really other readers who can best answer your question.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

4.36 · Rating details

Sep 07, 2017  Jack S.

rated it it was amazing

Don't be put off by the size of the book. I found it easy to read because it's very well written. Learned a lot from it.
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Nov 06, 2017Alex A rated it it was amazing

The history of the Soviet Union and other revolutions, such as the Sandinista Revolution, is difficult to understand because of the complexities involved and the layers of hostile literature against them, which inevitably colors our perceptions. I loved this book because it cuts through all that so well.

The author writes in a literary style making the book very easy and enjoyable to read, as if he was telling a story. The history is presented in a clear, accessible way that seems free of agendas. That is, the book looks at these events from the perspectives of those involved in them, and gives concrete reasons for what happened. I found it refreshing to be able to read about these events without the usual baggage and condemnations we are accustomed to.

You don't have to agree with the point of view of the author, or of the people involved in revolutions or the building of new societies, to find this book highly valuable. The sweep of history presented, and the follow-up chapter, which builds on the rest of the book to start a discussion (as the book puts it) on what better societies might look like. Not like the Soviet Union, but different from the capitalist societies of today.

I learned so much from reading this book and I can understand better why revolutions went the way that they did. (less)
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Mar 30, 2018  Pete Dolack rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

I suppose it is a conflict of interest to rate one's own book, but I did write what I wanted to read. I started this book as a project to understand why the Soviet Union had collapsed. But I found that I as I tried to understand one period, I needed to go back further in time to understand that period, until I arrived at the Paris Commune, which became the book's starting point.

I then decided I really needed to study alternative examples, and thus wrote chapters on Sandinista Nicaragua and Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, and because the foundation of the Soviet Union can't be understood outside an international context, the first chapter is as much about the failure of the German Revolution as it is about the survival of the October Revolution. The final chapter analyzes these histories, the structural problems of capitalism, and attempts to start a conversation on what the contours of a better world might look like.

I hope any reader who is open-minded about history will find this a useful and readable book, regardless of how much or little you might agree with the conclusions drawn. (less)
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Nov 22, 2017Paul Gilman rated it it was amazing
I just finished reading "It's Not Over: Learning From the Socialist Experiment." Pete Dolack's book is a serious look at what went right and what went wrong with the some of the revolutionary socialist experiments in the 20th Century. While the subject is way too big to cover in one book, by looking at the Soviet Union, the failure of the German Revolution (1919-1921), the Prague Spring, the Sandinista Revolution, and on to the collapse of the Soviet Union, while showing the depredations of finance capital throughout the world, enough territory is covered to understand a lot of the mechanics of what happened.

One of the most important themes of "It's Not Over," by comparing the different revolutions mentioned in the book, is that socialism does not have to follow the exact Soviet model. The myopic view of the Soviet leadership that it had a monopoly of Marxist understanding of revolution and socialism destroyed the advances in socialist practice in its own Eastern Bloc (the Prague Spring) was developing, prevented real solidarity with Third World anti-capitalist movements (the Sandinistas), and eventually lead to the destruction of the Soviet Union itself.

Dolack's critical examination of the Soviet Union, that is Stalinism and what followed it, is not a criticism of Marxism. Dolack is a Marxist. It's a criticism of turning Marxism into some sort of academic formula to create an orthodoxy. Marxism is a methodology, not a canon. Much of the Soviet version of Marxism was self-serving in order to cover up their own opportunism.

Dolack uses the narrow-minded orthodoxy championed by the Soviets as a mirror to explain its conflict with the narrow-minded orthodoxy of neoliberal economics as to how this world got to where it is today. In both cases the theory is alienated from reality. The difference is that Marxism is supposed to use dialectics to understand reality, and use that understanding in the cause of worldwide liberation of all of humanity, while neoliberalism is about justifying the brutality and inequality of the expropriation of surplus value by an elite through finance capital.

"It's Not Over" can help liberals and people with a hazy sense of dialectics learn about the contradictions that can arise with in socialism (Soviet Union), the problems of a mixed capitalist socialist economy (Nicaragua), and the possibilities that an advanced socialist proletariat can advance even beyond socialism itself (Czechoslovakia). Advanced Marxists can also use this book to fill in their own personal gaps of some of the history Dolack covers. 

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Grace Weaver
5.0 out of 5 starsTransformative Contribution !August 7, 2016
Format: Paperback
i’m over a third of the the way into this book, by pete dolack - “it’s not over” and though i’m not a prolific reader, i’m finding it simply delightful! one wouldn’t think that a long (yes it’s 900 pages +) history book could be a page turner - but this one is indeed. it’s so well written, so easy to read that i feel like i’m reading a novel or watching a soap opera. i can’t wait to find out what happens next, which is to say, it’s a very exciting read.

when i think of major events in history, such as the russian revolution, what usually comes to mind is an already formed picture. dolack takes that picture and transforms it, breaths life and depth into it, sets the stage with real characters, shows how they interact, how they face the circumstances of their day, how they react one to another - some scheming and plotting for power and continued despotism; others considering the needs of the masses, analyzing class forces and forming alliances to transform the economic and political relations in favor of equality, human rights, dignity for workers, peasants, soldiers, sailors, women and the oppressed masses.

dolack is a master at putting into simple words and context what at first glance might seem impossible to grasp. it’s obvious he’s done a tremendous amount of research. it’s clear he himself fully grasps the dynamics of these world shaking events.

i’m so glad i didn’t let the fact that the book is 900 + pages scare me from picking it up. though that might seem like a very long book, in actuality, the way the print is laid out and the size of the pages, makes it appear to be much longer than it really is. and it’s such an easy, enjoyable read, that the pages fly by without notice.

this book is essential reading for anyone who wants an accurate view of this critically essential piece of history; enjoys good story telling; sees the need for a whole new social system; wants to learn from one of the most important historical events of our times; and is determined to carry the movement forward to a brighter day.

bravo mr dolack! your book is quite an important accomplishment and a vital, transformative contribution to human understanding.

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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFive StarsMay 25, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
The jury's out


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Jerry
1.0 out of 5 starsThis is not a history book.January 4, 2017
Format: Paperback
Propaganda. I could have ended there, but it's not even well written propaganda, and that bothers me. I find it to be pretty bad when I am fighting the urge to grab a red pen right from the start.