About the Book

An anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian introduction to the history of the USSR, China, and Cuba that asks: Were they actually on the road to communism?

Book Synopsis

Increasingly, people are responding to the contemporary crises underwritten by capitalism by exploring the politics of communism. Some have taken a sympathetic, even nostalgic, view of "actually existing socialist" (AES) societies past and present, including the USSR, China, and Cuba, and the Marxist-Leninist political tradition associated with them. They see these states as a powerful alternative to capitalism, governed by parties genuinely committed to socialism and staunchly resisting Western imperialism. But were these societies really in transition towards a classless, stateless society of freedom -- the original communist goal? Is Marxism-Leninism the political approach that should orient people on the left now?

Red Flags traces the path from the 1917 Russian Revolution to the construction of the world's first AES society: the USSR. It also looks at the post-revolution societies created along the same lines in China and Cuba. Using the intellectual tools of historical materialism, Red Flags argues that they were not in fact moving towards communism because the social relations remained fixed in class exploitation. The workers were never liberated.

At a time of burgeoning anti-communism from both conservatives and liberals, this book is an accessible, vibrant synthesis of the history of communism that draws on the latest research to develop a rigorous analysis of the contradictions and uneasy truths the left needs to confront if it is to build a genuinely liberatory alternative to capitalism.

Review Quotes

A stimulating contribution to the debate on how to move forward as socialists, and what lessons we can learn from the past.--Herman Rosenfeld "Canadian Dimension"

I grew up under a Stalinist regime in the West Bengal of the 1970s and '80s. I witnessed the courting of big business and the eviction of people from their land by the regime in the name of 'development.' We were encouraged to read Marx, but never encouraged to apply Marx to our reality. This dissonance between theory and practice also marked my observation of the regimes of the USSR and Eastern Europe. While capitalist states did not always justify their repression, so-called socialist states justified present repression in the name of a bright communist future.--Tithi Battacharya, Associate Professor, history, Purdue University, and editor of Social Reproduction Theory

Is a radical, democratic, and emancipatory socialism possible in these grim times? Yes, says David Camfield. In Red Flags, he invites us to settle for nothing less than a liberated future beyond capitalism, oppression, and ecological disaster. This thoughtful and hopeful book is essential reading for everyone who wants to change the world."--David McNally, Cullen Distinguished Professor of History & Business, University of Houston, and author of Blood and Money: War, Slavery, Finance, and Empire

Red Flagsexplains the attraction and influence of the ideas of the rulers of the former Eastern bloc and China, and why they are inadequate in the struggle for human liberation.--Ian Allinson, author of Workers Can Win: A Guide to Organising At Work

About the Author

David Camfield is a professor in the Labour Studies Program and the Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Manitoba. He is the author of Future on Fire: Capitalism and the Politics of Climate Change, We Can Do Better: Ideas for Changing Society, and Canadian Labour in Crisis: Reinventing the Workers' Movement and has written many articles on Marxism and left politics. He is on the editorial board and editorial advisory committee of Labour/Le Travail and the advisory board of Alternate Routes. He has long been involved in social justice activism, served on the executive of the Winnipeg Labour Council, and is active in the University of Manitoba Faculty Association. David is on the editorial board of Midnight Sun and hosts the podcast Victor's Children.