ABSTRACT

The class paradigm has received little interest as an explanation of the collapse of state socialism and the transition to capitalism. Traditional Marxist class analysis, it is quite true, does not explain the class forces leading to the transformation from state socialism. One of the few books to consider post-Soviet transformation from a Marxist standpoint considers the "upheavals" as "revolutions," but they are political ones. The transformation is considered to be a shift between two types of capitalism (state to multinational) and therefore is not an example of a revolution in an analytical sense. State socialism was characterized by two major overlapping classes: one with administrative control of economic assets and the other constituted of individuals with personal skill assets. The most pervasive tool to analyze the dynamics of social and political change from state socialism to capitalism has been the elite paradigm, which features prominently in actor-directed theories.