Whose Millennium? Theirs or Ours?

Whose Millennium? Theirs or Ours?, by Daniel Singer. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1999. $45.00; paper, $17.50. Pp. 282.

Daniel Singer, the respected European correspondent for The Nation and articulate voice for socialism, has written an informed, principled and eloquent assessment of where the left has come from, where it finds itself, and - most important-where it should be going. Appearing as the triumphalism that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union is crumbling, Whose Millennium? seeks to identify the core issues that will shape the development of progressive politics in the coming period. If Margaret Thatcher confidently proclaimed that "there is no alternative," Singer wants to reaffirm the possibilities of political activity and direct democracy from below during a period of accelerating inequality, social decay, and political reaction. Equality, democracy and solidarity rest at the center of his view of the socialist project - a tripartite undertaking of critiquing our legacy, uncovering the roots of contemporary affairs, and articulating a "realistic utopian" future.

A ruthless criticism of "the heritage" stands at the center of Whose Millennium? and Singer's unflinching assessment of the Russian Revolution anchors his sense of present tasks and future prospects. The Soviet Union's development encouraged broad sectors of the left to identify socialism with state-building and breakneck industrialization in a backward and isolated peasant society. Lenin's unwavering commitment to a monolithic vanguard party and his tendency to regard thoroughgoing democracy as a luxury which could be deferred until after the revolution was consolidated set the conditions for Stalinism, says Singer. The undeniable achievements of the 1930s were won at an appalling cost, and the inefficiencies of an undemocratic system of command and control made it impossible for Soviet style socialism to adapt to the needs of a complex economy and an increasingly sophisticated population. But the problems went deeper than long...