The concept "independent mode of production" is examined to determine its theoretical, empirical, and political usefulness in Marxian analysis. The independent production unit is traced from its origin in the village commun ity to its fullest development in the early American social formation....

This paper examines the three original Marxist conceptions of the Soviet Union which correspond to the split of Marxism into its Kautskyist, Stalinist, and Trotskyist variants. The origin of the terminology used in each framework is examined. The background assumptions and way of thinking in...