Alexander Bogdanovâs A Short Course of Economic Science (1897) or the Making of a Marxist
In: Historical MaterialismSearch for other papers by David G. Rowley in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
Alexander Bogdanov made three assertions regarding his adoption of Marxism: that the economic textbooks he first used had nothing in common with Marxism, that his worker-students prompted him toward Marxism, and that a work by Lenin was the decisive influence in that regard. Only the latter two statements are credible, since he must have first learned the economic doctrines of Capital from the textbooks that he later disparaged as âbourgeoisâ. His first work, A Short Course of Economic Science, is indebted to them for its basic economic concepts. It is also grounded on Marxâs critique of capitalism. Its constant foregrounding of labour reveals the influence of his students, and its historical perspective suggests the influence of Friedrich Engels. In blending these influences, Bogdanov created a quite original work that substantiates the two key principles of scientific socialism â the labour theory of value and the idea that existence determines consciousness.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Baron, Samuel H. 1963, Plekhanov: The Father of Russian Marxism, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
-
Belykh, A.A. 1990, âA.A. Bogdanovâs Theory of Equilibrium and the Economic Discussions of the 1920sâ, Soviet Studies, 24, 3: 571â82.
-
Belykh, Andrei 1998, âBogdanovâs Tektology and Economic Theoryâ, in Biggart, Dudley and King (eds.) 1998.
-
Biggart, John, Peter Dudley and Francis King (eds.) 1998, Alexander Bogdanov and the Origins of Systems Thinking in Russia, Aldershot: Ashgate.
-
Biggart, John, Georgii Gloveli and Avraham Yassour (eds.) 1998, Bogdanov and His Work: A Guide to the Published and Unpublished Works of Alexander A. Bogdanov (Malinovsky) 1873â1928, Aldershot: Ashgate.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 1899a, Osnovnye elementy istoricheskogo vzgliada na prododu [Basic Elements of the Historical View of Nature], Moscow: Knizhnyi Sklad A.M. Murinovoi.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 1899b, Kratkii kurs ekonomicheskoi nauki [A Short Course in Economic Science], Second Edition, St Petersburg: S. Dorovatovskogo i A. Charushnikova.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 1911, Kulâturnye zadachi nashego vremeni [The Cultural Tasks of Our Time], Moscow: Izdanie S. Dorovatovskogo i A. Charushnikova.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 1923a, âMoe prebyvanie v Tule [My Time in Tula]â, Revoliutsionnoe byloe, 2: 16â18.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 1923b, Kurs politicheskoi ekonomiki. Tom II, vypusk 4âI: Obshchaia teoriia kapitalizma; Kollektivisticheskii stroi [A Course in Political Economy, Volume II, Part 4: A General Theory of Capitalism; The Collectivist System], Second Edition, Moscow/Petrograd: Gosudarstvennoe Izdatelâstvo.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 1923c, Nachalânyi kurs politicheskoi ekonomii (vvedenie v politicheskuiu ekonomiiu) v voprosakh i otvetakh [An Introductory Course in Political Economy in Questions and Answers], Fifth Edition, Moscow/Petrograd: Gosudarstvennoe Izdatelâstvo.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 1925, âProletarskii universitet [Proletarian University]â, in O proletarskoi kulâture, 1904â1924 [On Proletarian Culture, 1904â1924], Leningrad: Izdatelâskoe tovarishchestvo âKnigaâ.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 2016, Philosophy of Living Experience: Popular Outlines, translated, edited and introduced by David G. Rowley, Historical Materialism Book Series, Leiden: Brill.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 2020, Empiriomonism: Essays in Philosophy, Books 1â3, translated, edited and introduced by David G. Rowley, Historical Materialism Book Series, Leiden: Brill.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 2022, Toward a New World: Articles and Essays, 1901â1906. On the Psychology of Society; New World, and Contributions to Studies in the Realist Worldview, translated, edited and introduced by David G. Rowley, Historical Materialism Book Series, Leiden: Brill.
-
Bogdanov, Alexander 2026, Toward the Scientific Defence of Historical Materialism: Basic Elements of the Historical View of Nature, Cognition from the Historical Point of View, The Science of Social Consciousness, translated, edited, and introduced by David G. Rowley, Historical Materialism Book Series, Leiden: Brill.
-
Clarke, Simon 1994, Marxâs Theory of Crisis, London: Macmillan.
-
Dzarasov, Saltan 1998, âPlan and Market in Bogdanovâs Tektologyâ, in Biggart, Dudley and King (eds.) 1998.
-
Emelianov, E.P. 2020, âProblema periodizatsii vseobshchei istorii v âKratkom kurse ekonomicheskoi naukiâ A.A. Bogdanova [The Problem of the Periodisation of Universal History]â, Vestnik Permskogo Universiteta, 3, 50: 56â66.
-
Engels, Friedrich 1947 [1878], Herr Eugen Dühringâs Revolution in Science, Moscow:Progress Publishers, available at <https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/anti_duhring.pdf>.
-
Figurovskaya, Nadezhda 1998, âThe Economic Ideas of Bogdanovâ, in Biggart, Dudley and King (eds.) 1998.
-
Gloveli, G. Dzh. 2017, âA.A. Bogdanov: Ot politicheskoi ekonomii k tektologii [A.A.Bogdanov: From Political Economy to Tektology]â, Voprosy politicheskoi ekonomiki, 1: 79â100.
-
Ivaniukov, I. 1891, Politicheskaia ekonomiia kak uchenie o protsesse razvitiia ekonomicheskikh iavlenii [Political Economy as a Theory of the Process of Development of Economic Phenomena], Third Edition, Moscow: Knizhnyi Magazin N.I. Mamontova.
-
Kalekina, Olâga 1957, Izdanie marksistskoi literatury v Rossii kontsa XIX veka, Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe izdatelâstvo politicheskoi literatury.
-
Karyshev, N. 1893, Ekonomicheskie besedy [Economic Conversations], Third, Corrected Edition, Moscow: Izdanie knizhnogo magazina A. Lang.
-
Kolakowski, Leszek 1978, Main Currents of Marxism. Volume 2: The Golden Age, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich 1960, Collected Works, Volume 1, Moscow: Progress Publishers.
-
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich 1962, Collected Works, Volume 4, Moscow: Progress Publishers.
-
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich 1968, Polnoe sobranie sochinenii [Complete Collected Works], Fifth Edition, Moscow: Izdatelâstvo Politicheskoi Literatury.
-
Lunacharsky, A.V. 1919, Velikii perevorot (Oktiabrâskai revoliutsiia) [The Great Revolution (The October Revolution)], Part 1, St Petersburg: Z.I. Grzhebina.
-
Maevsky, Vladimir 1998, âBogdanov and the Theory of Economic Evolutionâ, in Biggart, Dudley and King (eds.) 1998.
-
Markova, S.M. 2007, âVlianie obrazovatelânykh refeorm 60âx gg. XIX v. na deiatelânostâ tulâskoi muzhskoi classicheskoi gimnaziiâ, Nauchnye vedomosti, 39, 8, Part 4.
-
Marx, Karl 1887, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1, Moscow: Progress Publishers, available at: <https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Capital-Volume-I.pdf>, accessed 15 September 2021.
-
Parmenov, Victor 1998, âTektology and Economic Reconstructionâ, in Biggart, Dudley and King (eds.) 1998.
-
Plekhanov, G.V. 1956 [1895], The Development of the Monist View of History, Moscow: Progress Publishers, available at: <https://www.marxists.org/archive/plekhanov/1895/monist/index.htm>.
-
Plyutto, P.A. 1992, âAlexander Bogdanov on the Period of âWar Communismââ, Revolutionary Russia, 5, 1: 46â52.
-
Rowley, David G. 2021a, âAlexander Bogdanovâs Holistic World Picture: A Materialist Mirror Image of Idealismâ, Studies in East European Thought, 73, 1: 1â18.
-
Rowley, David G. 2021b, âThe Influence of Friedrich Engels on Alexander Bogdanovâs Basic Elements of the Historical View of Natureâ, Studies in East European Thought, 73, 4: 407â24.
-
Struve, P.B. 1894, Kriticheskie zametki k voprosu ob ekonomicheskom razvitii Rossii [Critical Notes on the Question of the Economic Development of Russia], St Petersburg: I.N. Skorokhodova.
-
Utechin, S.V. 1962, âPhilosphy and Society: Alexander Bogdanovâ, in Revisionism: Essays on the History of Marxist Ideas, edited by Leopold Labedz, New York: Praeger.
-
Valentinov, Nikolay 1968, Encounters with Lenin, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
White, James D. 1993, âTheories of Imperialism in Russian Socialist Thought from the First World War to the Stalin Eraâ, Coexistence, 30: 87â109.
-
White, James D. 1996, Karl Marx and the Intellectual Origins of Dialectical Materialism, London: Macmillan.
-
White, James D. 2018, Red Hamlet: The Life and Ideas of Alexander Bogdanov, Historical Materialism Book Series, Leiden: Brill.
-
White, James D. 2019, Marx and Russia: The Fate of a Doctrine, London: Bloomsbury Academic.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 517 | 517 | 42 |
| Full Text Views | 23 | 23 | 2 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 70 | 70 | 13 |
Alexander Bogdanovâs A Short Course of Economic Science (1897) or the Making of a Marxist
In: Historical MaterialismSearch for other papers by David G. Rowley in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Alexander Bogdanov made three assertions regarding his adoption of Marxism: that the economic textbooks he first used had nothing in common with Marxism, that his worker-students prompted him toward Marxism, and that a work by Lenin was the decisive influence in that regard. Only the latter two statements are credible, since he must have first learned the economic doctrines of Capital from the textbooks that he later disparaged as âbourgeoisâ. His first work, A Short Course of Economic Science, is indebted to them for its basic economic concepts. It is also grounded on Marxâs critique of capitalism. Its constant foregrounding of labour reveals the influence of his students, and its historical perspective suggests the influence of Friedrich Engels. In blending these influences, Bogdanov created a quite original work that substantiates the two key principles of scientific socialism â the labour theory of value and the idea that existence determines consciousness.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 517 | 517 | 42 |
| Full Text Views | 23 | 23 | 2 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 70 | 70 | 13 |
