Jürgen Kuczynski (1904–1997)

Due volumi per raccogliere i saggi scritti per il Simposio "Il ruolo di Marx nello sviluppo del pensiero scientifico contemporaneo" con gli auspici dell'UNESCO a Parigi l'8-10 maggio 1968 a cura del Consiglio internazionale per la filosofia e le scienze umane e dal Consiglio internazionale di scienze sociali per il 150° anniversario della nascita di Karl Marx. Il primo è su filosofia e metodologa e il secondo su sociologia ed economia. Il primo volume conserva la sua freschezza e si possono leggere tutte le faglie che attraversano il marxismo negli anni che portano al '68, in specie per il rapporto con lo strutturalismo.… (mais)

16 Vorlesungen

Jürgen Kuczynski: 1904 Elberfeld - 1997 Berlin. 1922 - 1925 Studiumnder Finanzwirtschaft, Philosophie und Geschichte in Berlin, Heidelberg und Erlangen. 1925 Dr. phil., anschließend u.a Studienaufenthalt in den USA. 1930 Eintritt in die KPD; Wirtschaftsredakteur der »Roten Fahne«. 1933 im Widerstand. 1936 - 1945 Exil in London, dort Arbeit für die britische KP und den sowjetischen Geheimdienst. 1944/45 Statistiker in der US-Armee. 1945 Präsident der Zentralverwaltung für Finanzen in der SBZ. 1946 Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftsgeschichte an der Berliner Universität. 1947 - 1950 Präsident der Gesellschaft für Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft, 1949 - 1953 Präsident des Deutschen Wirtschaftsinstituts. 1949 -1958 Mitglied der Volkskammer. 1955 Ordentliches Mitglied der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften, dort 1956 Abteilungsleiter und 1960 Direktor desInstituts für Wirtschaftsgeschichte. 1969 Emeritierung. Mehrere Ehrendoktorate und Mitgliedschaft in wissenschaftlichen Akademien und Gesellschaften.… (mais)

Very slender (92 pages total) expanded essay by a noted German emigre communist economist; the multiple descriptors there are probably necessary to give a full idea of the angle from which this book comes. It's actually in two parts; the first part is a comparison of conditions for workers in the UK versus Germany. The second part then looks at conditions in Russia. While it is true that there was significant economic advancement in the 1930s for Russia as a whole, Kuczynski is wholly unconvincing in his analysis of conditions for workers in Russia. The analysis of freedoms in Russia is particularly risable, especially when you consider this book came out in the aftermath of the Great Purge era. Official statistics put out by Stalin's regime should be taken with a bag, not a grain, of salt. The first part of the book, the UK-German comparison, is more believable. The comment on Volkswagen being used as a funding tool for the government has been unshakeably proven elsewhere, and the conclusions he reaches regarding worsening and intensifying conditions for workers in Germany are simple and understandable. And yet, to the end, the German workers toiled for the Nazi regime. Kuczynski never really goes toward explaining this phenomenon. A quick read, well written, but not overly convincing or illuminating.… (mais)