R. Palme Dutt was born in the U.K. in 1896, and came of age during the lead up to World War I.  He was a conscientious objector, and after the war ended, he joined the newly-formed Communist Party of Great Britain.  He was a strong supporter of the Soviet Union, and was an important figure in the Comintern, where he eventually rose to leadership of the CPGB and also served as an advisor to the Communist Party of India.

In Fascism and Social Revolution Dutt places the emergence of fascism in Europe in the context of the capitalist liberal democracies that spawned it, and carefully lays out the conditions of its emergence and the functions it performs.  Drawing on Leninist ideas about Imperialism, Dutt sees fascism as another step in Capitalism’s degeneration.  Writing well before the Second World War and the atrocities that carved the word Fascism into history, Dutt’s analysis is prophetic, both for his time and our own.

This recording covers Part 1 of the reading for the Red Start discussion.

TIMESTAMPS

(00:03) Introduction
(11:26) Chapter 1 Summary
(12:23) Chapter 1
(13:41) Chapter 2 Summary
(14:27) Chapter 3
(17:22) Chapter 3 Summary
(18:27) Chapter 3, Section 3
(21:39) Chapter 3, Section 3 Summary
(24:50) Chapter 3, Section 4
(29:58) Chapter 3, Section 4 Summary
(32:30) Chapter 3, Section 5
(45:14) Chapter 3, Section 6
(53:22) Chapter 4
(56:55) Chapter 4, Section 1
(58:45) Chapter 4, Section 1 Summary
(1:03:45) Chapter 4, Section 2
(1:10:25) Chapter 4, Section 3
(1:21:22) Chapter 4, Section 4