Rev Left Radio

[BEST OF] What Is To Be Done? - V.I. Lenin

Jun 25, 2023

01:29:55

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Episode notes

Introduction

2min

Lenin's Arguments in the Russian Revolution

4min

Lenin's Disagreement With the Professional Revolutionary

5min

The Trojan Horse of Liberalism

2min

Lenin's Defense of Marxism

3min

Lenin's Theoretical Mistake in Economism

5min

Lenin's Arguments for Trade Unionism

2min

Lenin's Vision of a Working Class

4min

The Importance of Spontaneity in Organization

3min

10.

Lenin's Argument for Economism, Terrorism, and the Spontaneity of Mass Movements

2min

11.

The Party of Lenin

3min

12.

The Leninist Concept of Revolutionary Leaders

5min

13.

The Superiority of the Party Forum Over Spontaneity

2min

14.

The Pros and Cons of Lenin's Arguments

5min

15.

The Importance of Podcasts and Videos in Organizing

3min

16.

The Future of Social Media in the US

2min

17.

Lenin's Vision of the Communist Party

6min

18.

The Importance of Ideological and Theoretical Struggles in Political Organizations

2min

19.

The Importance of Theory in the Left

1min

20.

The Importance of Spontaneity in Revolutionary Movements

5min

21.

The Left's Failure to Understand Spontaneity

3min

22.

The Importance of Participation in the Struggle

6min

23.

The Pros and Cons of the Yellow Vest Movement

2min

24.

The Predictive Power of Marxism

2min

25.

The Importance of Verticality in Organizations

5min

26.

The Task in the United States Is to Develop a Party to Overcome Capitalism

2min

27.

Lenin's What Is to Be Done

4min

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Apr 20, 2019

What is to be Done? is a classic work on the role and organisation of the revolutionary party in the communist movement. Lenin criticises economism, revisionism and spontaneity, and argues persuasively for a centralised and professional vanguard of the proletariat.

On this episode of Red Menace Alyson and Breht explain and reflect on the text, and then extract the core lessons for revolutionaries today.

What Is To Be Done? by V.I. Lenin

Full text here: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/

The video episode can be found on youtube at: https://youtu.be/1lRM_fsjanE

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