Re: [CrashList] Leninism

["Tahir Wood" <twood@xxxxxxxxx>]

>>> CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 01/12 6:47 PM >>>
In saying what he did about intellectuals bringing socialist consciousness to the working masses, Lenin did not claim to be stating anything but the obvious, and he didn't claim to originate the idea. 

The significance of this point though is precisely what is getting lost here. If this point is correct then it has really not that much to do with Leninism, does it? It would be interesting to know what people DO regard as the essence of Leninism, if indeed such a thing exists. I think that, while Lenin's thinking on the party (together with his notions of strategy and tactics) is distinctive, his thinking on questions of democracy, nationalism, imperialism and the state might be more pertinent to an appraisal of his contribution. But I agree that the idea of revolutionary consiousness deriving from the study of marxism is not as remarkable as is sometimes made out. The question of science and scientism is somewhat more tricky: the philosophy of science has come a long way in the 20th century and the very idea of social science, where this is seen as something that is simply objective, does of course have its dangers.
Tahir