What Is to Be Done? Burning Questions of Our Movement

Synopsis

A basic consideration of the conditions and problems in the formation of a vanguard, revolutionary party. Lenin wrote this political pamphlet in 1901, after he had returned to St. Petersburg from three years of Siberian exile for advocating a Marxist revolution against the Tsar, who ruled Russia with an iron hand. In the pamphlet, Lenin argued that only a disciplined party of professional revolutionaries could bring socialism to Russia. He stresses the importance of theory and a revolutionary party guided by that theory. In this, he was at odds with other political groups that advocated a democratic movement toward socialism. He argued against the so-called "Economists," who held that workers were de facto at the forefront of the Marxist movement by virtue of their struggles with their employers over wage issues. In Lenin's view, this amounted to only "trade-union consciousness," which fell far short of the theoretical political consciousness he believed was needed if socialism was to succeed. The pamphlet also calls for a shift of emphasis from local to national work on revolutionary goals, which he would facilitate through communication via an all-Russia political newspaper.

Copyright:

1964

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Book Size:

191 Pages

Publisher:

Progress Publishers

Date of Addition:

10/28/16

Copyrighted By:

Progress Publishers

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Politics and Government

Submitted By:

Roger Loran Bailey

Proofread By:

Beverly Cory

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.