Vladimir Innit Lenin
21st March 2011, 18:57
I have to enquire as to the concept of the professional revolutionary, and the wider subject of class consciousness.
Has there been an historical attempt, ever, to define and categorise class consciousness and its associated stages?
By this I entertain the following idea:
Workers do not go from being politically/economically ignorant, un-educated and wholly unconscious of their political class character, to fervent revolutionaries participating in all manner of political organisational activities in one step. There are clearly many steps in between. It does not necessarily follow that, at the critical mass point of revolution, every single worker supporting revolution will be a professional revolutionary. Worker support may even be passive, as was often-times the case with the Russian Revolution.
But, is there any theoretical/quasi-scientific way of categorising the process by which workers become class conscious, and also conscious of their revolutionary potential? Revolutionary potential, that is, being their own individual ability to work for revolution. I was thinking about this idea in relation to myself earlier. I often castigate myself for not being more involved in the far-left movement, despite being a committed Socialist, a worker, an educated person and someone with a fair, though not advanced, understanding of the principles of Marxism. Yet then I thought that, for some of us, the work of a lifetime professional revolutionary (of the revolutionary party) is beyond some of us, or that not everybody is suited to that ability.
Then, having decided upon this hypothesis, I decided that, if it could be assumed that this hypothesis is not to be rejected, then there is a grand problem (I imagine DNZ will have a lot to say on this subject, or at least I hope). If it is the case that, of the class conscious working class (let us assume that the time frame is at the critical point of revolution, where the overwhelming majority of workers are class conscious and supportive of revolution), perhaps a significant minority or even a majority in some cases will be active supporters of the revolution ,in terms of political organisational activity, both voluntary and professional. However, it is unlikely that, of this body of active revolutionaries, any more than a small minority will be professional, seasoned revolutionaries (those who have held party form positions and have exposure in the left movement due to positions held, theoretical articles published etc). Thus, is there not a potential situation that could arise, during and post-Revolution, whereby the professional revolutionaries, with their revolutionary, theoretical and organisational experience, may be able to form a privileged power-strata themselves, taking up the important positions of government or whatever new political institutions replace the pre-existing bourgeois executive, legislative and judicial functions? Is this not exactly what happened in the USSR, post-revolution?
Any thoughts/additions/criticisms on this quite young and crude theory of mine would be appreciated.
Has there been an historical attempt, ever, to define and categorise class consciousness and its associated stages?
By this I entertain the following idea:
Workers do not go from being politically/economically ignorant, un-educated and wholly unconscious of their political class character, to fervent revolutionaries participating in all manner of political organisational activities in one step. There are clearly many steps in between. It does not necessarily follow that, at the critical mass point of revolution, every single worker supporting revolution will be a professional revolutionary. Worker support may even be passive, as was often-times the case with the Russian Revolution.
But, is there any theoretical/quasi-scientific way of categorising the process by which workers become class conscious, and also conscious of their revolutionary potential? Revolutionary potential, that is, being their own individual ability to work for revolution. I was thinking about this idea in relation to myself earlier. I often castigate myself for not being more involved in the far-left movement, despite being a committed Socialist, a worker, an educated person and someone with a fair, though not advanced, understanding of the principles of Marxism. Yet then I thought that, for some of us, the work of a lifetime professional revolutionary (of the revolutionary party) is beyond some of us, or that not everybody is suited to that ability.
Then, having decided upon this hypothesis, I decided that, if it could be assumed that this hypothesis is not to be rejected, then there is a grand problem (I imagine DNZ will have a lot to say on this subject, or at least I hope). If it is the case that, of the class conscious working class (let us assume that the time frame is at the critical point of revolution, where the overwhelming majority of workers are class conscious and supportive of revolution), perhaps a significant minority or even a majority in some cases will be active supporters of the revolution ,in terms of political organisational activity, both voluntary and professional. However, it is unlikely that, of this body of active revolutionaries, any more than a small minority will be professional, seasoned revolutionaries (those who have held party form positions and have exposure in the left movement due to positions held, theoretical articles published etc). Thus, is there not a potential situation that could arise, during and post-Revolution, whereby the professional revolutionaries, with their revolutionary, theoretical and organisational experience, may be able to form a privileged power-strata themselves, taking up the important positions of government or whatever new political institutions replace the pre-existing bourgeois executive, legislative and judicial functions? Is this not exactly what happened in the USSR, post-revolution?
Any thoughts/additions/criticisms on this quite young and crude theory of mine would be appreciated.