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orgtheory quiz #4: name the stalinist

Which prominent sociologist was responsible for these lovely words about Stalin?

Joseph Stalin was a great man; few other men of the 20th century approach his stature. He was simple, calm and courageous. He seldom lost his poise; pondered his problems slowly, made his decisions clearly and firmly; never yielded to ostentation nor coyly refrained from holding his rightful place with dignity. He was the son of a serf but stood calmly before the great without hesitation or nerves. But also – and this was the highest proof of his greatness – he knew the common man, felt his problems, followed his fate.

and

Three great decisions faced Stalin in power and he met them magnificently: first, the problem of the peasants, then the West European attack, and last the Second World War. The poor Russian peasant was the lowest victim of tsarism, capitalism and the Orthodox Church. He surrendered the Little White Father easily; he turned less readily but perceptibly from his ikons; but his kulaks clung tenaciously to capitalism and were near wrecking the revolution when Stalin risked a second revolution and drove out the rural bloodsuckers.

Answer below the fold…

W.E.B. DuBois. Hoo-boy…

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Written by fabiorojas

October 24, 2010 at 12:35 am

8 Responses

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  1. Wow. I saw a video recently of George Bernard Shaw talking about what a great fellow Mussolini was.

    David Hoopes

    October 25, 2010 at 4:02 pm

  2. I was reading the first part of this charitably along the lines of, well, there was the whole Popular Front thing and this statement might have been made before the Hitler-Stalin pact, and we should try to understand how goood-natured and intelligent people could have fallen into the “liberals in a hurry” or “seen the future and it works” fallacies, etc, etc. But then I got to the second passage and the part about the kulaks (aka, “rural bloodsuckers”) and I had a total OMFG reaction, this person sees how Communism is evil with perfect clarity and embraces it. To think that many people talk about Milton Friedman like he’s the antichrist because he once sent a memo to Pinochet about monetary policy.

    gabriel rossman

    October 25, 2010 at 4:18 pm

  3. Indeed, DuBois was in a very dark place near the end of his life. I can understand the disappointment with American race relations, but I still think it was crazy to turn to Stalin. By the 1950s, no one was under the illusion that he was anything but a thug and murderer. Definitely one of the worst chapters in our intellectual history.

    fabiorojas

    October 25, 2010 at 6:09 pm

  4. When Du Bois wrote this in 1953, there was still lingering admiration for the “accomplishments” of Stalinist USSR among intellectuals. Khrushchev didn’t wade in with the “Cult of Personality” speech until 1956. Even so, Du Bois was an apologist for Stalin longer than most.

    He remains a fascinating figure for his civil rights activism which complemented his scholarly work, but which led him to support Stalin, the Great Leap Forward, and the Japanese annexation of Manchuria. Does misplaced radicalism displace his deserved scholarly reputation?

    Randy

    October 25, 2010 at 8:31 pm

  5. Some brilliant people have had loathsome politics. I would still teach their work, even if I am revolted by some of their views.

    fabiorojas

    October 25, 2010 at 8:33 pm

  6. Heidigger?

    sd

    October 26, 2010 at 7:50 am

  7. Wow. I had no idea. Can’t be more articulate now.

    Jordi

    January 17, 2011 at 11:04 am

  8. [...] a comment » Previous quizzes: The Third Reich; Stalinists; Andorran Politics; world’s oldest firm; branches of the US armed [...]


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