Presentation: C. Bettelheim, Mao Zedong, and the “third stage” of marxism

Abstract

Charles Oscar Bettelheim (Paris, November 20, 1913 – Paris, July 20, 2006) was a French Marxist economist known primarily for his studies on economic planning in state-capitalist (so-called socialist) countries and in developing countries, as well as for his research on the socialist transition. The Portuguese version of “Reflections on Dialectics and Mao Zedong,” which Crítica Marxista is now making available to its readers, sheds light on some of Charles Bettelheim’s ideas regarding what the author characterized as the “third stage” of Marxism. The article actually consists of two commentaries (published in the Italian newspaper Il Manifesto) on an article by the Italian journalist and writer Rossana Rossanda, also published in that same newspaper. Learning a little about Charles Bettelheim’s intellectual and political journey will help us understand the place this text occupies in a decisive phase of that journey.