Leninism

Leninism as ideological current within Marxism emerged after Lenin's death. Leon Trotsky coined 'Bolshevik-Leninism' to emphasise continuity between his theories and thoughts and Lenin. Leninism thus branched off into Marxism-Leninism (which would later develop into Stalinism by the 1970s) and "Bolshevik-Leninism" (or Trotskyism).

Leninist Theory

Lenin's political theory included the use of a vanguard party and the notion of 'trade union consciousness', democratic centralism, and imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism.

In his unfinished The State and Revolution, Lenin popularized what Marx named 'the first phase of communism' being called 'socialism'. As its name implies, in this work, Lenin describes how a proletarian Social revolution is to occur, arguing against Revisionism of Marxism by Bernstein and others, as well as how the Dictatorship of the Proletariat should operate, drawing on the experience of the Paris Commune.

Leninism as a distinct political current

It is much debated in Marxist circles as to what extend "Leninism" is truly Marxist or even based on Lenin. Some Marxists consider themselves pro-lenin but not "pro-leninist," in that they feel that Leninism is merely a distortion of what Lenin actually stood for (which they believe to be Orthodox Marxism that was determined by the circumstances of the Russian Revolution), based on soon-outdated texts such as "What is to be Done?" This work, these Marxists argue, was meant to be placed only in the context of 1905 Russia, and not to be applied to all socialist revolutions. The book that helped popularize this view was Lars T. Lih's Lenin Rediscovered: What is to be Done? In Context.

"Leninism," therefore, did not emerge until after his death with the Trotsky-Stalin split in the party, coming into being as a doctrine with Stalin's text Foundations of Leninism.

However, Marxist-Leninists and Trotskyists consider Leninism merely an extension of Marxism into the age of imperialism.

Main works in Leninism

Works by Vladimir Lenin

• Karl Marx
• The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism
• What Is To Be Done?
• One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
• The Right of Nations to Self-Determination
• Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism
• The April Theses
• The State and Revolution
• The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky
• Economics And Politics In The Era Of The Dictatorship Of The Proletariat
• “Left-Wing” Communism: an Infantile Disorder
• The Tax in Kind

Works by Joseph Stalin

• The Foundations of Leninism
• Trotskyism or Leninism?
• Marxism and the National Question
• History of the C.P.S.U.(B)
• Marxism and Problems of Linguistics
• Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR

Works by Leon Trotsky

• The Revolution Betrayed

External links

Lenin Internet Archive

"In Defense of Leninism" by John Molyneux