Here is the first comprehensive exposition of the theory of state capitalism. Using a Marxist theoretical approach, Buick and Crump show that private capitalism and state capitalism are equally suitable institutional arrangements for allowing capital to exploit wage-workers. State capitalism is examined in its Western form of selective nationalisation and in its full-scale form, as found in Russia or China. The origins of Russian state capitalism are traced back to the 1917 revolution and Lenin's ideology. Finally, Buick and Crump suggest the kind of changed social relationships which would allow world capitalism to be replaced by world socialism.