The downfall and future of socialism. Nature, society and thought. A Journal of Dialectical and Historical Materialism

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Does the dissolution experienced in socialist countries at the end of the 1980s mean the failure of Marxism-Leninism? Hans Heinz Holz, a Marxist and world-renowned philosopher from West Germany, argues otherwise in this work written shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. According to him, the defeat of socialism was a result of a departure from the essence of Marxism-Leninism due to various (both objective and subjective) reasons. Holz attempts to summarize the fundamental principles of Marxist-Leninist theory and discusses the reasons and consequences of straying from these principles. He evaluates the failures of the first socialist societies from a critical perspective, while also demonstrating the inadequacy of attempts to explain everything through "Stalinism." Additionally, in an article added for the Turkish edition, he focuses on the "revisionist turning point" in the Soviet Union. Holz concludes that capitalism, which is responsible for the problems of our time, is helpless in the face of these issues. The continuation of capitalism means a deepening of the problems and dangers facing the planet and humanity. As people recognize this reality, they will turn their faces back to socialism.