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Lenin in a Year The Tasks of the Proletariat in our Revolution

Marxist Theory · 2026-05-13

Core Argument

The central thesis of this article is that Lenin's method of political intervention in 1917 — specifically his insistence on breaking with petty-bourgeois illusions and rearming the Bolshevik Party with a clear class analysis — remains the essential template for revolutionaries today. The argument is that the fundamental political problem Lenin identified in April 1917 — the gap between the objective revolutionary potential of the soviets and the reformist leadership that held them back — is reproduced on a world scale in the present conjuncture. The article claims that the same transitional method is required: patient exposure of reformist leaders, winning the working class to a revolutionary programme, and preparing for the conquest of power.

Theoretical Grounding

The analysis draws on Lenin's theory of the revolutionary situation as developed in the crucible of 1917, particularly his understanding of dual power and the relationship between the soviets as organs of insurrection and the reformist parties that dominated them. It situates itself within the Bolshevik tradition's insistence that the working class cannot simply take over the existing state apparatus but must smash it and replace it with a new type of state — the theoretical foundation later elaborated in The State and Revolution.

The article also deploys the Leninist conception of the party as the organised vanguard that must intervene decisively in moments of revolutionary crisis, not merely reflect the spontaneous consciousness of the masses. This sits within the broader Marxist tradition's rejection of both reformism (the idea that capitalism can be gradually transformed from within) and tailism (the passive following of the most backward sections of the working class). The method of transitional demands — placing radical demands on reformist leaders to expose their bankruptcy — is explicitly drawn from Lenin's 1917 polemics.

Conjunctural Relevance

The article connects Lenin's analysis to the current moment by pointing to "revolutionary events impending" in specific locations: Sri Lanka and Kenya. These are presented as "foreshocks of the earthquakes to come" — moments where mass discontent has erupted but where the working class lacks revolutionary leadership capable of channelling it towards the conquest of power.

The argument is that the same structural problem Lenin identified in 1917 — reformist leaders who "sow illusions in reformism" and "guide the working class into safe channels for the bourgeoisie" — persists globally. The article implicitly argues that the current period of capitalist crisis, with its inflationary pressures, debt crises, and geopolitical instability, is creating the objective conditions for revolutionary situations to mature, but that the subjective factor — revolutionary parties armed with correct theory — remains underdeveloped.

Where the Argument Continues

This article is part of the "Lenin in a Year" series published by In Defence of Marxism, which systematically works through Lenin's key writings in the centenary year of his death. The article explicitly points forward to the next instalment, which will examine The State and Revolution. The broader corpus of IDOM material develops these themes through:

  • The biography In Defence of Lenin by Rob Sewell and Alan Woods, which provides the historical context for Lenin's development up to 1917.
  • Ongoing analysis of specific conjunctures (Sri Lanka, Kenya) where the method of transitional demands is being applied.
  • The theoretical elaboration of the Leninist party form in other IDOM articles and Against the Stream episodes.

The argument about the relationship between the objective revolutionary situation and the subjective preparation of the party is taken up in greater depth in Trotsky's The History of the Russian Revolution, which the article cites as the definitive account of how Lenin's intervention in September 1917 overcame the Central Committee's passivity.

Connections

This article should be read alongside:

  • Lenin's The Tasks of the Proletariat in our Revolution itself, which the article summarises.
  • Lenin's The State and Revolution, which develops the theoretical questions of the workers' state that the article flags as a continuation.
  • Trotsky's The History of the Russian Revolution, particularly the sections on the April and September crises.
  • The broader IDOM corpus on the Leninist party and the theory of the revolutionary situation.
  • Marx's The Class Struggles in France and The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, which provide the classical Marxist method for analysing revolutionary conjunctures.

Key Quotes

  1. "Without a grasp of the fundamental processes at play, it is possible even for sincere revolutionaries to lose their heads and become completely disoriented."

  2. "The leaders of the petty bourgeoisie 'must' teach the people to trust the bourgeoisie. The proletarians must teach the people to distrust the bourgeoisie."

  3. "The primary obstacle to the further advance of the revolution was precisely the gap between the class outlook of the leadership of the soviets, and the class nature of the soviets themselves."

  4. "The tasks in our revolution, which is approaching on the horizon today, will fundamentally be the same as in Lenin's day: to prepare the proletariat to break with capitalism and to construct the world socialist order."

  5. "Communists today must also use this transitional method, to teach the working class to distrust the bourgeoisie, to expose these petty-bourgeois leaders of the working class' organisations, and ultimately to replace them with proletarian class fighters."

  6. "The fundamentals do not give ready-made tactics for every given scenario. All serious revolutionaries should read this document thoroughly, as it gives an insight into the masterful method that Lenin applied."