TwentiethCentury Marxism

1
Twentieth-Century Marxism

• Lecture Three Lenin and the Russian Revolution

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Russian immaturity (1)

• Plekhanov Russia stands at a crossroads on the
  way to capitalism and all other solutions are
  closed to her. In order to fight capitalism,
  only one way is left to help it grow as fast as
  possible (1881).

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Russian immaturity (2)

• Kautsky A revolution in Russia could not, for
  the present, establish a socialist regime. The
  countrys economic conditions are too immature
  for that. Initially, it would be able only to
  bring into being a democratic regime, behind
  which, however, a strong and impetuous and
  progressive proletariat would stand, pressing
  forward. (The Road to Power 1909, chapter 2)

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Uneven development

• Advanced capitalist states

• Less developed countries

• large working class
• parliamentary institutions
• strong state
• socialism reformist
• - able to get improvements
• - state too strong

• small working class
• autocratic rule
• weak state
• socialism revolutionary
• - not able to get reforms
• - state vulnerable

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How could the two intersect?

• Marx and Engels, 1882 Preface to the Russian
  edition of The Communist Manifesto
• Question could a communist revolution succeed in
  a relatively backward country like Russia?
• Yes, If the Russian Revolution becomes the
  signal for a proletarian revolution in the West,
  so that both may complement each other, in
  particular, such that Russia can benefit from the
  higher level of productive development in the
  West.

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Workers revolution in Russia?

• exploiting other disgruntled sections of the
  population, especially the peasantry, also
  subject nationalities
• making the revolution (contra Kautsky)
• building a revolutionary party
• practical tasks
• Ideological tasks

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Lenin, What is to be Done? (1902)

• Develops the idea of the party as the vanguard of
  the proletariat
• Contribution to the revisionist debate
  castigates Bernstein for oppportunism
• Also objects to economism
• reformist Social-Democrats
• revolutionary Social-Democrats (e.g. Luxemburg)
• 1903 Bolshevik / Menshevik split

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The Russian Revolution

• Antonio Gramsci the Russian revolution is a
  revolution against Capital (1917)
• But what about maturity?

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Why revolution elsewhere necessary

• to prevent counter-revolutionary invasion
• to offset the underdeveloped state of Russias
  productive capacities

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Lenin quote

• Speech at the Ninth All-Russia Congress of
  Soviets (1921)
• We speak of a flourishing large-scale industry,
  which is able to supply all the goods the
  peasants are in urgent need of, and this
  possibility exists if we consider the problem on
  a world scale, we see that a flourishing
  large-scale industry capable of supplying the
  world with all kinds of goods exists We make
  this the basis of our calculations.

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But...

• revolutions didnt succeed elsewhere
• even if they had, how would this have helped?
• were productive forces high enough elsewhere /
  globally?
• even if they were, how would this have helped?
• ? socialism in one country?
• ultimately, the return of capitalism and the
  vindication of Capital?

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Further Reading

• Marx K., Engels, F., Preface to the Russian
  Edition of the Communist Manifesto 1882, 45
  of Karl Marx Selected Writings, ed. D. McLellan
• Lenin, V. I., What is to be Done? 1902, various
  editions, incl. 1963 Oxford edition, ed. Utechin
  also available at http//www.marxists.org/
• Kolakowski, L., Main Currents of Marxism, vol. 2,
  chapters 16-18 vol. 3, chapters 1-5
• Cohen, G.A., Marxism after the collapse of the
  Soviet Union, The Journal of Ethics 3 (1999)
  downloadable, also reprinted in the 2nd edition
  of Karl Marxs Theory of History (2000) as
  chapter 15
• Paxton, S., The Communist Manifesto, Marxs
  theory of history and the Russian revolution,
  chapter 5 of The Communist Manifesto New
  Interpretations, ed. Cowling (1998)
• Salvadori, M., Karl Kautsky and the Socialist
  Revolution 1880-1938 (NLB 1979), chapter 8 The
  ideological crusade against Bolshevism