POL 315 MODULE 2
is simply to lead the masses in a revolutionary struggle. In the context
of revolutionary struggle, vanguardism is a strategy whereby the most
class-conscious and politically advanced section of
the proletariat becomes the apologists of the revolution.
The revolutionary party, based on the Leninist concept of the vanguard
party midwives the socialist project. For Lenin communist unity is
embodied in a Marxist-Leninist Party, which is guided by a dedicated
intelligentsia as the vanguard of the revolution. One of the greatest
contributions to Marxism since the death of Engels in 1895 was Lenin's
conception of the vanguard party as the organiser and director of
the proletarian revolution. In What Is to Be Done?, published in 1902,
Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov - better known as Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik
Revolution in Russia - accepts Marx's analysis of ideology.
Power and Vanguard Party
Of all the subjects on which he wrote, Marx is probably least clear in
discussing the political system that would exist after the revolution.
Basically, he conceived of the proletarian state as developing in two
steps. First, he expected that the proletariat would create a dictatorship.
The purpose of the dictatorship of the proletariat would be to eliminate
all but a single proletarian class. Since all human strife emanated from
social class differences, according to Marx, human harmony was
possible only if class differences were eradicated. This goal could be
achieved through a process of re-education. Although the purpose of
the dictatorship of the proletariat is quite clear, the exact nature of the
institution remains shrouded in ambiguity and has been the subject of
considerable debate.
Lenin, who took an elitist attitude, insisted that the dictatorship should
be over the proletariat as well as superior to all other elements in the
society. He argued that not only should the Communist Party (the
Bolsheviks) lead the revolution, but that it should also become the
dictator of the proletariat. Since Marx insisted on a democratic format in
all other things and since he never attempted to form a communist party,
as Lenin later did, it is highly unlikely that he meant to imply the model
Lenin employed. Marx expected that the overwhelming number of
people in society would be among the proletariat when the revolution
occurred.
Hence, if he meant that the dictatorship was to be by the proletariat, the
situation would indeed be different. The huge majority of people-the
proletariat-would impose its egalitarian policies on the tiny corps of
remaining capitalists. In numerical terms, at least, such a system would
be more democratic than that which Lenin ultimately put in place. In any
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