revolutionary organisation
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.
Lenin, moral liberalism and the voluntarist premise
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.
Lenin versus democracy: A reply to critics of ‘Goodbye to Lenin and Leninism’
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.
Against the tribunal left: DSA, moralism and the problem of socialist discipline
Fights inside the Democratic Socialists of America over “cancel culture,” “political correctness” and “call-out culture” are not side dramas. They are symptoms of a deeper organisational sickness, argues Anthony Teso.
Trade unions, mass organisations and the left: From historical necessity to reassessment and renewal
The past decades have witnessed fundamental transformations in the way people think and organise, which the left cannot afford to ignore, writes Rezgar Akrawi.
Class struggle today: Fragmentation and the crisis of political form
The problem facing the left is not the absence of class antagonism but the absence of forces capable of organising it. If we fail to confront the question of political form, mobilisation will continue to substitute for class, writes Sushovan Dhar.
DSA’s future: Socialism, elections and the limits of relying on the ballot line
The issue is not whether the Democratic Socialists of America matters — it clearly does, writes Anthony Teso. The question is can it evolve beyond a project aimed at moving the Democratic Party to the left within the existing political system.
The rise and fall of ‘Leninism’
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.
Defining Democratic Socialists of America
Paul Le Blanc reviews ‘A User’s Guide to DSA’, which connects readers with the largest organisation on the US left while drawing them into a series of debates among committed party members.
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.
Lenin, democracy and the anti-Leninist shortcut
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.
