Trotskyism: Difference between revisions

Other figures such as [[The Social and Political Thought of Leon Trotsky|Baruch Knei-Paz]] acknowledge some affinities with Stalinism in regards to the use of coercion but have also recognised clear differences between Trotsky and Stalin. On the [[culture|cultural field]], he highlighted their contrasting attitudes towards matters such as the [[arts]] and [[sciences]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Knei-Paz |first1=Baruch |title=The social and political thought of Leon Trotsky |date=1978 |location=Oxford [Eng.] |publisher= Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-827233-5 |pages=289–301 |url=https://archive.org/details/socialpoliticalt0000knei/page/300/mode/2up?q=proletarian+culture}}</ref> According to Knei-Paz, it does not seem credible that Trotsky would have treated [[Culture of the Soviet Union|culture and society]] with the same total, brutal disregard as Stalin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Knei-Paz |first1=Baruch |title=The social and political thought of Leon Trotsky |date=1978 |location=Oxford [Eng.] |publisher= Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-827233-5 |pages=289–301 |url=https://archive.org/details/socialpoliticalt0000knei/page/300/mode/2up?q=proletarian+culture}}</ref> He also argued that Trotsky sought [[International trade|far-reaching economic, commercial relations with European countries]] which was at variance with the policy of [[isolationism]] and harsher measures pursued under Stalin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Knei-Paz |first1=Baruch |title=The social and political thought of Leon Trotsky |date=1978 |location=Oxford [Eng.] |publisher= Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-827233-5 |pages=289–301 |url=https://archive.org/details/socialpoliticalt0000knei/page/300/mode/2up?q=proletarian+culture}}</ref> Biographer Geoffrey Swain believed that the Soviet Union under the leadership of Trotsky would have been far more [[technocratic]] due to his much higher reliance on "[[technicians|bourgeois experts]]" in the [[Economic planning|planning process]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Swain |first1=Geoffrey |title=Trotsky and the Russian Revolution |date=24 February 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-81278-4 |page=118 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Trotsky_and_the_Russian_Revolution/_a3pAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=trotsky%27s+soviet+union+would+have+been+far+more+technocratic&pg=PA118&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref> Swain also expressed the view that the Soviet Union under Trotsky would certainly have been [[Excess mortality in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin|a less terrorised society]] yet was critical of his military methods [[barrier troops|in relation to desertion]] and hostage taking during the Civil War.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Swain |first1=Geoffrey |title=Trotsky |date=22 May 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-86876-7 |pages=3,211 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Trotsky/P-ahAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=trotsky+less+terrorised+society&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref>