Imperialism and the National Question

by Vladimir Lenin, Thomas Meaney (Introduction)

Lenin's texts that break with Eurocentrism in the socialist movement

Fired up by the outbreak of the First World War and outraged by the capitulation of most socialist parties in the face of their respective national bourgeoisies, Lenin sought to understand the deeper roots of the crisis of the world movement. The result was a popular outline book, The Highest Stage of Capitalism, which went on to become a core text for the international communist movement.

But Lenin also sought to break with the Eurocentrism of the socialist movement that tended to look down with disdain at or simply reject struggles for self-determination especially by colonised peoples. This volume, introduced by the renowned abolitionist and anti-imperialist theorist Ruth Wilson Gilmore, brings together both the texts on imperialism and those on the national question to provide a window into Lenin's global vision of revolution.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Economics

304 pages, Paperback

Published January 16, 2024

About the author

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, leader of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks), statesman and political theorist. After the October Revolution he served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1924.

Reviews

[Sasha Grankin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starts off with some socialist arguing (which lenin is totally right on) on provisions for national self determination buttt without knowledge of the concrete historical context id imagine its easy to get lost in the sauce here, especially before yr hit with the central pamphlet in this book

BUT including Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism this book is TOTALLY worth reading and i found the extra material on national questions after this pamphlet's publication to be really interesting in how he applied those concepts to soviet state-building.

In general i think imperialism is a serious cornerstone of marxist work and is easily one of the most presient and influential pieces of political economy EVER. despite certain specifics changing up, lenins outline of a division between nations still resonantes today and this pamphlet is essential to understanding the birth of the phenomena and its tangible relation to the so revered "free market capitalism" bougie politicians like to wax poetic about. This pamphlet proves that financial domination and monopolies aren't abberations in our "late-stage" capitalism itself... but its Ultimate Tendency: a tendency which has continued uninterrupted for ⏱️over a century. Isnt that funny?

western Socialists and progressives NEED to understand their relation to imperial domination as members of oppressed groups/working class and socialist internationalism that denounces ANY nationalist moves on the part of oppressed nations only works to uphold imperial domination because relations ARENT equal. internationalism must be developed on EQUAL grounds and upholding imperialist internationalist relations in the name of "socialist internationalism" is Dumb As Shit.

[Matthew Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lenin juggles a lot of very difficult topics in such a flawless way that you know what he's saying just HAS to be true. More than anything, he excels at grounding everything in reality and keeping in mind the actual material situation (which, surprise surprise, I know)--a perfect example is towards the end when he laughs at the bourgeois idea of equality, in which oppressor and oppressed are said to have the same rights on paper instead of with regards to "relations in commodity production." Man this thing was so good that I'm itching to go down to Fremont and take a selfie with the dude right now.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book club pick with emphasis on economic conditions in 1900’s. I’m neither a fan-girl nor dismissive of the foresight in this book. While a lot is ‘inside baseball’ among leading Marxists of the time, the meat of this book is a strong critique of capital, monopoly and colonialism.

[Frank Vasquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

no notes, only encouragement that you read this and feel the echoes of the closing remarks of 1922 resonating and illuminating by words the dissonance of today.