• Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, and Mao Zedong are important figures in the tradition of Marxist theory due to their contributions to Classical Marxism.

• Antonio Gramsci is considered a key link between Classical Marxism and Neo-Marxism.

Lenin

• Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (pseudonym of V.I. Ulyanov) (1870-1924) was an eminent Russian Marxist and revolutionary leader of the Bolshevik Party in the Russian Revolution (1917).

• He led the establishment of the world’s first socialist state, the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR).

• Lenin’s interpretation of Marxism is known as Marxism-Leninism, which became the official ideology of the USSR and inspired many communist parties worldwide.

• Lenin is regarded as the principal figure in developing Marxism in the early 20th century.

• His major contributions to Marxian political thought focus on:

  • Role of the Party

  • Role of Ideology

  • Struggle against Imperialism

Role of the Party

• Lenin, in What is to be Done? (1902), distinguished the role of political parties in capitalist and socialist countries.

• Capitalist societies are class-divided (capitalists vs workers), resulting in competitive political parties, each representing a class or segment of a class.

• In socialist countries, class divisions are to be abolished, so there is no need for competing socialist parties. Only one party remains, representing the victorious proletariat.

• This party establishes the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ with functions to realize socialism’s goals and suppress counter-revolutionary forces, aiming to establish a classless and stateless society.

• Lenin emphasized the role of the Communist Party as distinct from Marx and Engels’ original idea of a party representing the whole working class.

• Lenin believed the entire proletariat would not rapidly develop class consciousness due to capitalist attempts to co-opt labor leaders with concessions.

• Therefore, a more enlightened, energetic, and committed section of the working class, called the ‘vanguard of the proletariat’, would lead.

• This vanguard forms the Communist Party, responsible for infusing class consciousness into the wider working class and leading the struggle against capitalism or consolidating socialism.

• The Communist Party also runs the government during the socialist phase.

• Before the proletarian revolution, the Communist Party acts as the vanguard in the fight against capitalism, opposes the established regime, and recruits and ideologically educates the masses.

• Unlike trade unions that accept small capitalist concessions, the Communist Party rejects such concessions and pursues revolutionary struggle without compromise.

• After the revolution, when the Communist Party assumes power, it operates as a monolith with no factionalism or groupism allowed.

• The party is organized on the principle of ‘Democratic Centralism’, meaning higher bodies of state power are elected by lower bodies, and lower bodies follow the directives of the higher bodies.

• This structure allows full discussion of policies internally, but once decisions are made, all members must follow them without deviation.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat

According to Marxism, ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ refers to a form of organization of the State that comes into existence when organized working class overthrows capitalism and assumes full control of political power. Under this system, all means of social production are placed under State ownership and control, work is made compulsory for all able-bodied persons, and all counter-revolutionary forces are sought to be suppressed. The State undertakes de novo planning of material production so as to serve social needs, provide an effective right to work, education, health and housing for the masses, and further development of science and technology so as to multiply material production in order to achieve greater social satisfaction.

Class Consciousness

Class consciousness refers to the state of awareness among the working class about their status as an exploited class, the consciousness of its identity as the victims of exploitation by the capitalist class, and their potential to organize their strength for overthrowing the capitalist system.

Democratic Centralism

Democratic centralism refers to the principle of organization of the socialist state as well as the communist party, as enunciated by V. I. Lenin (1870-1924). It implies (a) that the membership of each body in the political hierarchy (whether party or state) shall be decided by the vote of the lower body; and (b) that although free discussion on policy matters shall be allowed at the initial stage, any decision reached by the highest body shall be imposed rigidly at all lower levels in the hierarchy.