Lenin

Far from saying “goodbye” to Lenin’s legacy, we should confront and renew it. Lenin and his comrades offer too much of value to do otherwise, writes Paul Le Blanc.

Many of today’s Leninisms have little to do with Lenin’s writings, but their histories can help us better understand the distortions, errors and genius in Lenin’s legacy, writes Mark Baugher.

Leninism is not perfect nor should it be copied mechanically, but abandoning it for vague principles — as Dan La Botz proposes — leaves us without tools to confront the realities of power, contends Antony Teso.

Responding to his critics, Dan La Botz argues that Lenin’s decisions not only proved incapable of defending and advancing a democratic socialist revolution but contributed to the revolution’s failure.

Whether you are “for” or “against” “Lenin” and “Leninism,” John Marot contends that discussing these in their historical context is essential to gaining a better understanding of the issues.

Paul Le Blanc engages in a critical dialogue with Dan La Botz’s “Goodbye to Lenin and Leninism,” arguing we should continue to learn critically from Lenin’s experiences, successes, shortcomings, mistakes and unfinished tasks.

Responding to Dan La Botz’s “Goodbye to Lenin and Leninism”, Anthony Teso writes that what we need is neither a Lenin cult nor an anti-Leninist shortcut that confuses renunciation with strategy.

Leninists seldom asked themselves: if Lenin was always right, why did things go so wrong in Russia? Dan La Botz argues it is time to say goodbye to Lenin and Leninism.

Paul Le Blanc shares some thoughts on Leninism, democratic centralism, party organization and related matters for today’s socialist struggle.

Lisbeth Latham looks at criticisms of the labour aristocracy thesis, arguing that they rest on analytical errors worth examining carefully as they illuminate why the left struggles to explain working class support for One Nation.

Güney Işıkara and Patrick Mokre discuss imperialism’s multidimensional nature, Karl Marx’s value theory and why a value-theoretical framework for studying the global economy is urgently needed.

Raju J Das — There is a need to not only understand what Lenin said on the national question and political oppression, but also study his ideas in light of the current world conjuncture.