Description
The Permanent Revolution (1929): Written in exile after Stalin’s bureaucratic clique had used the theory of “socialism in one country” to justify the catastrophic betrayal of the Chinese Revolution, this work is Trotsky’s mature and definitive defense of his theory against both the Stalinist and Menshevik distortions. Trotsky demonstrates that in the epoch of imperialism, no bourgeoisie in a backward country is capable of resolving the fundamental democratic and national tasks — only the international working class, led by a revolutionary party, can do so, and only by fusing the democratic with the socialist revolution on a world scale.
Results and Prospects (1906): Written in the wake of the 1905 Russian Revolution, this foundational work establishes Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution, arguing that the Russian bourgeoisie was historically too weak and too tied to tsarism and imperialism to carry out democratic tasks — meaning the working class, in leading the democratic revolution, would be compelled to move directly to socialist measures and extend the revolution internationally. It is a devastating refutation of the Menshevik “stages” theory, which sought to subordinate the working class to liberal bourgeois leadership.
Taken together, these two texts form the theoretical backbone of the Fourth International’s program and remain indispensable for understanding why socialist revolution in the 21st century cannot be a national or “two-stage” project, but must be international and uninterrupted.
