What Is To Be Done? (pamphlet)

What Is To Be Done? (pamphlet) is a seminal political pamphlet written by Vladimir Lenin in late 1901 and early 1902, published in March 1902 in Stuttgart. It was composed during a period of internal debate within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) and served as a foundational text for the emerging Bolshevik faction. The work systematically argues against Economism and trade unionist tendencies, advocating instead for a highly centralized, disciplined party of professional revolutionaries. Its doctrines on party organization and revolutionary theory profoundly shaped the course of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and Leninism.

Historical context and publication

The pamphlet was written against the backdrop of significant ideological ferment within the Russian Marxist movement following the arrest of many leaders of the Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class. Lenin, then in exile, sought to address what he saw as a dangerous drift toward "Economism" and "spontaneity" among social democrats, influenced by theorists like Eduard Bernstein and his work on Revisionism (Marxism). It was published by the Iskra newspaper's publishing house in Stuttgart, with the active involvement of Julius Martov and Georgi Plekhanov. The timing was crucial, appearing just before the pivotal 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903, where the split between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks would crystallize.

Core arguments and theoretical framework

Lenin's core argument centers on the necessity of bringing Socialist consciousness to the Working class from outside, contending that left to their own devices, workers would only develop a Trade union consciousness focused on economic gains, not revolutionary politics. He fiercely criticizes the "Freedom of criticism" slogan associated with Bernsteinism, viewing it as a cover for Opportunism and liquidationism. The pamphlet insists on the primacy of political agitation over purely economic struggles and advocates for an all-Russia political newspaper, like Iskra, to serve as a "collective organizer." This framework directly challenged the prevailing ideas within the Rabocheye Dyelo group and the St. Petersburg "Economists."

Impact on the Bolshevik faction and Russian Marxism

The pamphlet provided the ideological blueprint for the Bolshevik faction that formally emerged at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Its principles directly influenced the fierce debates over party membership rules, contributing to the split with Julius Martov's Mensheviks. By establishing the necessity of a vanguard party, it shaped the organizational structure of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks) and later the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The work became a canonical text of Leninism, essential for understanding the party's role in the October Revolution and the subsequent establishment of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Key concepts: consciousness, spontaneity, and the vanguard party

The pamphlet introduces and defines several pivotal concepts. "Class consciousness" is presented as something that must be introduced to the Proletariat by revolutionary intellectuals from the bourgeois intelligentsia. "Spontaneity" is treated with deep suspicion, seen as a force that leads inevitably to Bourgeois ideology and subordination to the Tsarist autocracy. The antidote is the "vanguard party" – a centralized, secretive organization of full-time professional revolutionaries, characterized by "Democratic centralism" and iron discipline. This party concept was a radical departure from the more decentralized, mass-party models envisioned by figures like Rosa Luxemburg or the Mensheviks.

Critical reception and legacy

Upon publication, the pamphlet was immediately controversial, criticized by Mensheviks, Economists, and later by left-wing communists like Rosa Luxemburg in her work "Leninism or Marxism?" for its authoritarian and Blanquist tendencies. Within the Communist International, it became a foundational text, its principles exported globally. After Lenin's death, the text was enshrined by Joseph Stalin in "The Foundations of Leninism" as a pillar of orthodoxy. Its influence extended to later revolutionary movements, informing the strategies of figures like Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, and Che Guevara, and remains a critical subject of study in analyses of Marxist theory and Totalitarianism.

Category:Political pamphlets Category:Works by Vladimir Lenin Category:1902 documents