Boundaries of Utopia - Imagining Communism from Plato to Stalin

The idea that socialism could be established in a single country was adopted as an official doctrine by the Soviet Union in 1925, led by Stalin and Bukharin. Before this many had thought that socialism could only be secured on a wider scale, across all Europe or wider still. The book traces the debate from Plato onwards, arguing that although the prevailing view is that socialism was only considered possible if it was universal, in fact "socialism in one country" also had long roots.

The idea that socialism could be established in a single country was adopted as an official doctrine by the Soviet Union in 1925, Stalin and Bukharin being the main formulators of the policy. Before this there had been much debate as to whether the only way to secure socialism would be as a result of socialist revolution on a much broader scale, across all Europe or wider still. This book traces the development of ideas about communist utopia from Plato onwards, paying particular attention to debates about universalist ideology versus the possibility for "socialism in one country". The book argues that although the prevailing view is that "socialism in one country" was a sharp break from a long tradition that tended to view socialism as only possible if universal, in fact the territorially confined socialist project had long roots, including in the writings of Marx and Engels.