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 each framework are explicated. It is argued that recent conceptions of the Soviet Union by Melotti (1977), Sweezy (1980), and Bahro (1978) tend to replicate the way of thinking of Kautsky, Stalin, and Trotsky.
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