Agitation outside of the working class?

  1. Hermes
    Hermes
    Sorry if this is the wrong place, I was recommended to post here instead of Learning since the entire group is dedicated to it. This is just a tiny continuation of a question I had there.

    When Lenin says that it's the job of the Social-Democrat Party to agitate outside of the working class, with the intelligentsia and etc (but not to collaborate), what would be some examples of this? As in, what would a form of it take today, and is the consciousness of the working class still in such a state that it would be necessary, or is it now an anachronism?

    Sorry again if this is a stupid question/the wrong place.
  2. l'Enfermé
    Where exactly does he say that comrade? I want to know the context.
  3. Hermes
    Hermes
    I think it's mostly in part III E, "The Working Class As Champion Of Democracy". The points where it is stated explicitly are,

    The Social-Democrat's ideal should not be a trade union secretary, but a tribune of the people, able to react to every manifestation of tyranny and oppression, no matter where it takes place, no matter what stratum or class of the people it affects;
    and,

    We must take upon ourselves the task of organizing a universal political struggle under the leadership of our Party in such a manner as to obtain all the support possible of all opposition strata for the struggle and for our Party
    and,

    And is it not clear that precisely for this work we need "allies in the ranks of the liberals and intelligentsia," who are prepared to join us in the exposure of the political attack on the Zemstvo, on the teachers, on the statisticians, on the students, etc.?
    Is he arguing that in order for the largest percentage of the working class to achieve the highest level of consciousness (Social-Democrat consciousness), it is first necessary to work with the opposition in the overthrow of autocracy?

    If so, is it still relevant today in countries which proclaim themselves democratic? Or have I got it entirely wrong?

    (also note that I'm not using Lenin Rediscovered so the translation may be a tad or even a large way off and I'd have on idea either way)

    --

    Sorry, forgot to put the quotes in tags to make them slightly easier to read.
  4. Zeus the Moose
    Zeus the Moose
    My understanding of Lenin's claim on this subject is that it orients around his perspective that, in Russia, the winning of political freedom is the most immediate task on the agenda for the workers movement. The working class needed to take the lead (ie vanguard) role in this struggle, but any protest against the bureaucracy and petty tyranny of the Tsarist state needed to be taken up by Social-Democrats in order to show that they were the most consistent fighters for political freedom.