Discussion

On the Revolutionary Theory and Practice of Leninism - Part 3: The Leninist Method

There are those who claim that the essence of Leninism (and of Marxism as well) is its "methodology". This makes as much sense as saying that the essence of physics is the scientific method. It is an attempt to strip Leninism of its theoretical content, its revolutionary transformative power, and reduce it to a series of steps and formulas. At the same time, just as physics without the scientific method would be reduced to speculation, so too, Leninism without the Leninist method would be reduced to a dogma, an article of faith.

What is the Leninist method of work? In a general sense, it is the application of the scientific method of the natural sciences to the field of social science. More specifically, it is the application of science to the solution of the problems of overthrowing capitalism through revolution and building socialism.

The scientific method begins with observation, that is with the world as it actually exists, rather than beginning with a set of pre-conceived notions about how the world ought to be. The data compiled through observation is then analyzed and a theory is developed to explain both the phenomenon being studied and its relationships to other phenomena. That theory is then tested to determine if it has any real predictive power and the results are subjected to rigorous critique. The development of this method gave rise to the scientific/technological revolution that has seen human society advance more in the past two centuries that it did in the previous tens of thousands of years.

To understand how the Leninist method developed, it is necessary to understand the political situation prevailing in the socialist/communist movement at the turn of the 20^th century. Following the death of Frederick Engels, the Second (Socialist) International entered a period in which it was dominated by opportunism. Successes by the socialist parties in electoral politics and in trade union organizing led many socialist leaders to openly abandon revolutionary politics and to adopt a program of "democratizing" capitalism and achieving socialism through peaceful and parliamentary means. Others, while paying lip service to Marxism and uttering Marxist-sounding slogans, conciliated with the opportunists in the interest of "unity".

The method of work of the opportunist parties reflected their anti-revolutionary politics. In place of a coherent revolutionary theory, they substituted speculation and dogmas. In place of a revolutionary program, they substituted parliamentary manoeuvring and deal-making. Instead of learning from their mistakes, these parties engaged in wholesale cover-ups of their errors. Rather than paying serious attention to educating the working class through their actual experience in waging class struggle, these parties engaged in grandstanding, sloganeering and the self-promotion of various "leaders". Furthermore, within these parties the leadership had total power and did whatever it pleased, with absolutely no regard for the wishes of the membership. All of these features can still be seen today in the descendants of the Second International - the social democratic parties - as well as in various opportunist trends within the socialist/communist movement.

Leninism emerged in the course of a life and death struggle against this political opportunism in the socialist movement. As has already been pointed out, during this period capitalism was being transformed into a new form of imperialism based on the global domination of finance capital. The old forms of working class organization - parliamentary politics and trade unionism - were no longer adequate to even defend the working class against the onslaughts of capital, let alone to open a path for the revolutionary transformation of society. Leninism solved that problem by developing new methods of work adequate to the new conditions.

The Leninist method required, first and foremost, the testing of all theories and dogmas in the crucible of the revolutionary struggle of the working class and people. In other words, Leninism restored the link between theory and practice which had been severed by the opportunists. In this way, Leninism recognizes the true power of theory as a guide to action and as a tool for predicting the future direction and actions of various social forces.

Secondly, Leninism insisted on the testing of the policies of various parties, especially the revolutionary parties, not on the basis of what these parties said, but on the basis of their actual deeds. This is extremely important as a means of raising the prestige of politics and of building the confidence of the people in the revolutionary party.

Thirdly, Leninism insisted on the reorganization of all work of the revolutionary party with the aim of training and preparing both the cadres of the party and the working people for revolutionary struggle.

Fourthly, Leninism introduced the scientific method of criticism/self-criticism into the revolutionary party, the practice of educating and training the party and its cadres on the basis of learning from their own mistakes. Criticism/self-criticism is probably one of the most misunderstood and abused principles of the Leninist method. In many cases, it is actually turned on its head by individualizing and personalizing criticism, essentially converting it from a method of learning to a method of assigning blame for mistakes. This is typical of bourgeois and opportunist organizations in which the role of the collective is denied and the role of individual leaders is exaggerated.

In any organization based on the principle of collectivity, all errors (or advances for that matter) are the responsibility of the collective. Generally speaking, in a political sense here is no such thing as an individual error. If an individual makes a mistake in implementing the collective work, this signifies a failure of the collective as a whole - a failure to train its cadres properly, a failure to clearly set the tasks, a failure to assign the proper forces to a task, or possibly a failure to properly analyze the objective situation. Attacking an individual for making a mistake, assigning personal blame and questioning an individual's motives have no place in a Leninist party. It would be ridiculous to take such an attitude towards a physicist who makes a mistake in an experiment; why should it be any less ridiculous in a political organization? Even if the motives of an individual are a factor, this signifies a weakness on the part of the entire collective in applying the proper criteria for membership. This is the main political problem which must be addressed if a revolutionary organization is to advance, while the motivation of individuals is a secondary concern..

Finally, extending the principle of criticism/self-criticism to the realm of ideas and opinions is not only fraught with dangers, but is also a distortion of the Leninist method. First, criticizing an individual for having bad ideas or bourgeois ideology adds absolutely nothing to understanding a problem; it is merely applying a label to the problem. Secondly, permitting criticism of an individual's ideas constitutes a violation of the right to conscience, a right which progressive people have been fighting to establish for the past several centuries. How can a communist party deny itself that which it strives to achieve for the entire society? Thirdly, criticizing an individual's ideas usually does not change the ideas, but merely drives them underground and creates an undercurrent of disunity and resentment.

Thorough, rigorous, scientific discussion, which is essential to the internal health of a revolutionary organization, is impossible in an atmosphere where ideas or individuals become the target of criticism. Those who advocate such a practice are idealists in the true sense of the word; they believe in the primacy of ideas, that in order to change an individual's social practice one must first change their ideas. A materialist, on the other hand, believes in the primacy of the material world, that to change an individual's ideas one must first change their social practice. For all of these reasons, the Leninist method of criticism/self-criticism must only be directed towards the work of the organization and its cadres, not towards "correcting" erroneous ideas and opinions.

The history of the international communist movement over the past 100 years confirms the correctness of the Leninist method, albeit in a negative way. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to state that the failure of the communist movement to maintain and renew itself, its failure to sustain socialism and its failure to achieve the final overthrow of capitalism, has resulted primarily from the failure of many communist parties to practice the Leninist method in a living way and their adoption instead of the methods of the very opportunists that Lenin struggled against.