Leninism Under Lenin

by Marcel Liebman, Brian Pearce (Translator)

Book by Liebman, Marcel

Genres: History, Russia, Politics, Nonfiction, Lenin, Soviet Union, Russian Revolution

471 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1985

About the author

Marcel Liebman (1929 - 1986) was a Belgian Marxist historian of political sociology and theory, active at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

An historian of socialism and of communism, he published a number of well known books, notably on the Russian Revolution, Leninism and the history of the labour movement in Belgium. He was also an early initiator of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. His intellectual methodology was engaged, critical and rigorous.

From 1962 to 1967, he was editor of the weekly journal La Gauche (The Left) and in 1968 founded the journal Mai (May) which existed until 1973.

In 1976, he participated in the creation of the Association Belgo-Palestinienne, with Naïm Khader and Pierre Galand, where he was General-Secretary.

A foundation under the directorship Mateo Alaluf was created at the Université Libre de Bruxelles upon Marcel Liebman's death in 1986. In December 2005, the foundation was converted into the Marcel Liebman Institute. This Institute aims to contribute to socialist thought and the study of the left, as well as a critical reflection on the practices of social movements.

Reviews

[##### · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong analysis of the Bolshevik party through, over, and under Lenin from the initial pre-1905 days until Lenin's death. Liebman does a good job of explicating the distinction between the Bolsheviks as they existed prior to 1917 and the tremendous transformation of the party during the revolutionary period up until the seizure of state power in October. Liebman's thesis is rather underwhelming and is not quite as organically connected to his presentation of Leninism's developments, reducing Lenin's significance essentially to the dialectical intensity achieved by his practice. Dialectics here as employed by Liebman is simplified into something akin to a political ethic or rationality. Rather what is presented is less a Lenin that sublimates the multiple forces at work newly created during the revolutionary period and those lingering from the Tsarist days and more a Lenin that is willing to undo Leninism itself. Lenin's ultimate triumph is his receptivity to the revolutionary masses--one which undoes the body it constructs for itself under situations and relations that no longer hold.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Narrates the terrain of Leninist politics in a refreshingly undogmatic fashion. Liebman is an advocate of Lenin, but documents clearly that "Lenin's party" had to overcome its sectarian past in order to navigate the terrain of 1917. Clearly separates Lenin from Stalin, without romanticizing Lenin's role. Provocatively uses the phrase "de-Bolshevize" to describe the process by which Lenin's party was transformed under the influence of the great mass movement of 1917.

[Mirza Sultan-Galiev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like an unintentional polemic in favor of Bonnano's opposition to formal organization.
The majority of the Bolshevik apparatus either lagged behind or actively opposed every revolutionary offensive, in 1905 even the emergence of the Soviets was too much for them!
Or as one party militant said in reference to the woman's demonstration which kicked off the February Revolution:
"I was angered by the behavior of the strikers...The previous evening I had called on the working woman to show restraint and discipline- and now, out of the blue,there was this strike."
Of course pure spontaneity is no solution and one does not get very far without tight and disciplined organization, but in terms of the specific internal articulation and dynamics of such organization, the Leninist model has little to recommend it.
Before 1917 Lenin often stood out as a "radical" within the conservative complacency of the centralized party structure he had contributed so much to creating.
As the author notes:
"A strong party, does not,however mean a rigid one. It must posses in equal measure both exceptional vigor and exceptional power of adaption."
This is of course, easier said then done.

[Joe Xtarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the book.

Still hate Lenin.

Liebman does an admirable job of documenting the rise and activity of Lenin and the Bolsheviks. He stays 90% objective, with a noticeable admiration for Lenin, which doesn't detract from the information provided. Definitely recommended.

[Alex T · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

[Ioannis Drakos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book which analyses Lenin's contributions to the Communist movement through the major achievements of his lifetime: the Bolshevik party and the Soviet state.

It covers both the historical context of Lenin's theoretical writings and the theoretical context behind his historical action.

It also serves as a fascinating and well-researched analysis of the nature of his party and his leadership, in addition to being a great albeit not exhaustive history of the first socialist state, importantly from a Marxist point of view.

It does not shy away from discussing the legacy of Leninism, positive and negative, in a nuanced and dialectical way. The end of the book, in the epilogue and conclusion, concerns itself over this and Lenin's final fight, summed up as two fronts: the fight against the bureaucratization of the workers' state, which, although a historical symptom of the devastation of the working class in the war and the failure of international revolution, Lenin nevertheless failed (and recognised this failure) to guard against it sufficiently in the time he had left. The second was the general policy direction of the soviet state, which he saw fossilizing itself and moved the living, dialectical Marxist nature of it, leading to the subsequent abandonment of internationalism, the imbalanced pragmatism and the coercive, monolithic and un-revolutionary nature of Stalin's rule.

No doubt, the mechanisms of extreme bureaucracy at least were germinated during Lenin's leadership and problematised by Lenin (almost alone). But the assumption that Stalinism is just the further, perfected application of Leninism is false. It is Leninism bastardised, "impoverished".

This book also successfully makes the case for the acceptance by Lenin at least implicity of Trotsky's theory of Permanent Revolution, which finds a home in the work, and is theoretically justified.

Overall, this book puts Lenin's, his party's, and his state's, successes and failures under the marxist microscope, a work of theory, history, and biography which succeeds brilliantly.

[Jacob Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

While insightful, that insight is interwoven into Liebman's account of Leninism. This necessitated close reading, which essentially retreads early Russian Revolutionary history (which, if already familiar, can drag) for long stretches. Dreadfully uninteresting for long periods at a time, there are many highlights, especially in the latter sections of the book. Liebman's study of revolutionary society and his conclusions are particularly valuable and interesting.

This is not to say the book isn't valuable; as a stand-alone work it is a good, sharp, and sympathetic work of historiography and theoretical analysis of Lenin's thought and work. I do still recommend it for those curious in the subject- I just didn't enjoy it. Liebman's writing is staid, if illuminating, though having read Serge, one can infer from him much of what Liebman cover explicitly.

[Naaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though this would have aged worse considering Liebman did not have accsess to the soviet archive that most modern scholars do. However it is a much more through and sober look than many other Marxist scholars of the time. Very good reading for my purposes, as I wanted to brush up on some of the movments of the early Russian revolution ontop of October. Worked through this mostly in a speed reading sense but would like to look at it again slower. As other reviews have said this is still quite a Lenin positive book but it also pushes back in intresting ways and I think for certain sections of the freshly post revolution Blosheviks it is very canny.

[John NM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great at discussing the incredibly interesting interactions between Lenin's evolving theory of change and the political moments. A bit too concerned with demarcating Leninism from Stalinism without seriously grappling with the historical conditions generating the later, so those sections feel incomplete.

[Marc Lichtman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book is kind of a play on the title of Alfred Rosmer’s ‘Moscow Under Lenin’ (which now has been reissued as Lenin's Moscow‘. Both books cut through the lies about the authoritarian Lenin, founder of a totalitarian state which are so common, although they have no basis. And both books are worth reading to learn about the Bolshevik Party, the great Russian Revolution, and the early years of the Soviet republics.

Another essential book is Lenin's Final Fight, which is the key writings and speeches of Lenin from 1922–23, when despite his disabling illness he began a fight against the bureaucratism, Great Russian chauvinism, and other policies that threatened the alliance of the workers and farmers, and the voluntary association of different nations which had been oppressed under the tsar along with Russia. It was at this time that he also called for the removal of Stalin as general secretary of the Communist Party. And along with that, one of the most important books by Leon Trotsky, who tried to continue Lenin’s fight—The Revolution Betrayed: What Is the Soviet Union and Where Is It Going?. Just be sure to keep in mind that Trotsky’s book was written at a time (1937) that the process he called Stalinism (which was not simply the cult of an individual, but the rationalizations of a privileged bureaucracy) had gone much further than the problems Lenin was dealing with. While there are three volumes of a series ‘The Challenge of the Left Opposition’ covering Trotsky’s writings from 1923–29, I recommend 'Revolution Betrayed' as a book that is easy to understand for people not used to reading the internal polemics of a Marxist party. This is also true for the most part of Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution.

There is no good full biography of Lenin, but reading these books, as well as History of the Russian Revolution. Trotsky on Lenin‘Trotsky on Lenin’ and ‘Reminiscences of Lenin by Lenin’s widow Krupskaya, which says a lot more than Stalin was comfortable with, although not everything that she would have wanted to say, will give you a good idea of the man.

I disagree with Liebman’s view that Lenin adopted Trotsky’s “theory of the permanent revolution,” and for anyone who wants to explore that question, I recommend Their Trotsky and Ours: Communist Continuity Today.

But more importantly I recommend that people explore a revolution which managed to avoid Stalinist degeneration—revolutionary Cuba. There are dozens of fine books on Cuba, but for people interested in the question of whether its Stalinist or not, I recommend starting with ‘Dynamics of the Cuban Revolution: A Marxist Appreciation by Joseph Hansen, a secretary to Trotsky and lifelong revolutionary, and Selected Speeches of Fidel Castro,which contains speeches that Hansen takes up the significance of. Also The First and Second Declarations of Havana, and To Speak the Truth: Why Washington's 'cold War' Against Cuba Doesn't End.

[Nathan Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excessively hagiographic (I like to say that no Marxist yet has lost an argument by accusing their opponent of being insufficiently dialectical, and Liebman’s reliance on that maneuver is tiresome) but still one of the more comprehensive studies.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A challenging book, paints Lenin too dogmatically and undercuts the democratic content of his work.