The historic mission of the modern proletariat is to abolish class society and to build in its place a higher form of social organization: Communism. The first step in this direction is to overthrow the capitalist state and establish socialism under the dictatorship of the proletariat. As the most advanced and resolute representatives of the working class, the task of communists is to organize and lead the class struggle of the proletariat in all its manifestations. To do this we must fuse the workers movement with the communist movement. It is only when we have won the advanced workers to a class conscious standpoint that the two movements are combined into one invincible force It is only with this fusion that the working class achieves fully conscious, independent political expression and is able to wage a consistent political struggle for state power The Communist Party is the embodiment of this fusion.
The working class movement is the defensive struggle of the workers against their employers. It is an expression of the irreconcilable antagonism between the two great classes of modern society. But, it is not a conscious expression of that antagonism; it is only consciousness in embryo. At first this resistance takes the form of isolated outbursts, of smashing machines, of blindly striking out at the capitalists. But soon the individual workers learn that their oppression is common and that their resistance must be collective. At this point the workers combine into unions, the first, most immediate form of organization available to them. Through the unions the workers wage a united struggle of resistance, confront the capitalists with one voice, demand better wages and working conditions, test their strength through downing their tools, and wring concessions from the government for improved labour laws for the entire working class. Even when the trade unions are under rank and file control, they cannot on their own protect and advance the long-term interests of the working class, cannot touch the foundations of capitalist exploitation. The trade unions can bargain with the capitalists over wages, but they cannot bargain away the wage-system. They are geared only to look after the workers immediate interests, to wage a defensive, economic struggle. That is the limit of trade unionism in general. And this is the reason why the working class must have its own political organization, an organization which combines the struggle for the workers immediate interests with the struggle for the long-term interests of the entire working class into a consistently waged class struggle.
On its own, that is, spontaneously, the working class understands the necessity of combining into unions, of resisting the onslaught of capital, and of compelling the government to provide improved legislation. We call this spontaneous understanding trade union consciousness, since it struggles wholly within the boundaries of capitalism and accepts the dominant position of the capitalist class. Because it takes the subordination of labour to capital as its starting point, trade union consciousness is subordinated to the ideology of the bourgeoisie. As Lenin said “...the spontaneous working class movement is trade unionism and trade unionism means the ideological enslavement of the workers by the bourgeoisie.” As long as the workers’ struggle is confined to the narrow limits of trade unionism the power of capital over labour is guaranteed.
Within the working class there are varying levels of consciousness, depending upon the experience and political understanding of various workers within the class. The most backward workers are those who are caught up in the daily tedium of factory life, who are preoccupied with themselves and their families, and who at the most engage in the economic, trade union struggle for their immediate needs. The next level, the broad stratum of average workers, can see the limits of the trade union struggle, can see that the bourgeoisie controls the government, that the trade union bureaucrats need to be ousted, that the press and official society are solidly against the workers, and that fundamental change is needed. The average workers can grasp bits and pieces of capitalist society, but lack an integral understanding of the system as a whole and the role of the working class within it. When exposed to scientific socialism the average workers may participate in communist study circles and take an active part in the political movement. Individual workers from this stratum may raise themselves to the level of advanced workers, and become independent class conscious leaders of the class. The mass of average workers, lacking comprehensive understanding on their own, look to the advanced workers for guidance and inspiration.
The history of the international working class movement has shown that the industrial proletariat is the most stable and principled section of the class. It is the most organized, most concentrated in number, and most active in the trade union movement. Because of its role in social production, its daily exposure to the necessity of social labour and co-operation, to the organization and discipline of production, and its experience in collective organization for defense, it is in the best position to see the common interests of all workers. It is among this strata that the finest representatives of the working class, the advanced workers, are primarily situated. This numerically small stratum of advanced workers, who are a natural product of capitalism, are those
...who can win the confidence of the labouring masses, who devote themselves entirely to the education and organization of the proletariat, who accept socialism consciously and who even elaborate independent socialist theories. V.I. Lenin A Retrograde Trend in Russian Social-Democracy CW Vol. 4 p.280
They have seen by their own experience and the experience of their class that what is needed is a persistent political struggle against the bourgeoisie and that workers cannot end exploitation without putting an end to the whole of the capitalist system. These workers constantly seek answers to the questions before the workers movement, gravitate towards scientific socialism, towards Marxism-Leninism, for a clear line of march. Once these workers have acquired a truly scientific outlook they become fully independent, class conscious leaders of the political struggle for the emancipation of the entire working class.
Workers cannot on their own develop a truly scientific understanding of class society and the role of the working class within it. Such scientific understanding requires a thorough study of history, of social and productive relations, of the basic laws that guide social development. Such scientific knowledge is the fruit of the intelligentsia, of the petty bourgeois and bourgeois intellectuals, who have, at the expense of the working class, the necessary leisure time and academic background to pursue an all-round study. Only a very small portion of the intelligentsia is able to overcome their upper-class bias and prejudice and see the historical inevitability of the socialist revolution. Of that small portion, only a very small number actually cross class lines and wholly adopt a scientific, class conscious outlook. The founders of scientific socialism – Marx, Engels, and Lenin – were revolutionary intellectuals who completely rejected their bourgeois and petty bourgeois backgrounds, and gave themselves fully to the advancement of the revolutionary workers movement.
Both the spontaneous workers movement and scientific socialism are the product of modern economic relationships, but they arise side by side and each under different conditions. In order to transform the spontaneous workers struggle into a conscious class struggle, scientific socialism must be assimilated by the advanced strata of the proletariat. It is political knowledge, the knowledge of the collective experience of the working class, that the proletariat lacks and can never acquire from its spontaneous defensive struggle. Since scientific political knowledge develops outside the spontaneous struggle, it must be introduced into that struggle by the revolutionary intelligentsia. Political knowledge is brought to the working class from without.
But not all the intellectuals, ex-students and professionals who attempt to take political knowledge to the workers have a truly scientific understanding themselves. Thus, while consistent and scientific outlook is brought in by the most conscientious and dedicated elements of the socialist intelligentsia, the working class is also exposed to a wide variety of non-socialist and opportunist political lines. The opportunists in the communist movement are those petty bourgeois intellectuals who have not thoroughly transformed their world outlooks, have with the best of intentions tended towards the working class, but have got stuck along the way. They bring with them their narrow petty bourgeois class standpoint, give it a ’working class’ veneer, propagate it within the working class and try to create a following. If such a following is created, if a section of the working class falls under opportunist political leadership, this consolidates, despite the good intentions of the opportunists, the power of the bourgeoisie over the working class. It is absolutely essential that these opportunist lines be exposed before the working class, that the workers be forewarned about these false ’friends’ who attempt by one or another means to limit the workers’ struggle to reformism.
Only when the advanced workers are presented with consistent, truly scientific knowledge can they actively take up the tasks facing the working class movement. The communist movement can win the advanced workers to class consciousness only to the extent that it is firmly grounded in Marxist-Leninist principle, has resolved the burning questions of the day, and has exposed opportunist tendencies that attempt to divert the movement. The communist movement has the responsibility of developing revolutionary theory at the level of the advanced workers. This is inseparable from constant exposure of all attempts to lower the content of this theory or to divert the working class into reformism.
Communists must actively take the lead in establishing an independent working class movement, a movement independent of the bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie, a movement independent in its ideology, political line and organization. To attain this independence the working class must have its own political party, a Communist Party, to lead it in its struggle to smash the political power of the bourgeoisie and to create a workers’ state. The development of the communist movement, then, can only be development towards the Party. However, the composition of the communist movement at this stage is not {due to the degeneration of some elements during the process of Party-building and the influx of new elements) equatable to the composition of the Party. In relation to the Party, the communist movement can be said to pass through three broad phases.
At the very lowest levels of development of the movement, before a working knowledge of Marxist-Leninist principle has been established, before the burning questions have been properly posed and answered, while overall practical work is still scattered and unstable, the communist movement of necessity encompasses a very broad range of contending views and groups. At this level the movement includes all those who show concrete signs of motion towards a correct grasp and application of Marxism-Leninism, however primitive their formulations may be. As the movement matures, many of these elements get stuck along the way, consolidate into one or another form of opportunism, cease to develop towards Marxism-Leninism and so pass out of the movement. The number of groups this affects and the rate at which they are affected is determined by a combination of internal factors {the process of breaking with bourgeois and petty bourgeois outlook) and external factors (how long it takes before a consistent and principled leading centre is established). As well, some elements that have passed outside the movement may free themselves from opportunism and re-enter the movement.
As a principled leading trend develops, a trend which raises our ideological and practical tasks to the level of Marxism-Leninism, it begins to attract the finest, most consistent and most principled elements within the movement. In this second phase of transformation of the movement, there most often remains a definite distinction between the leading centre and the movement as a whole, both organizationally and in terms of line. There will be some groups and individuals who are developing concretely towards consistent Marxism-Leninism, who gravitate towards the leading centre, but who, because of lingering differences of line will remain outside the leading centre. In such a situation, the definition of the movement is narrowed to include only the leading Marxist-Leninist trend plus the elements which are in motion towards it. The establishment of the leading trend brings about this change in the movement’s composition simply by drawing, more clearly and decisively than hitherto, the line separating Marxism-Leninism from opportunism. Opportunist elements which could exist in the movement previously by glossing over that line, who could adapt themselves to the general ’drift’ of the movement in its primitive state, must now contend with the existence of an established Marxist-Leninist centre. The leading trend exposes these elements, strips them of their credibility, and forces them, by setting standards far higher than they can meet, outside the movement.
With the establishment of the Party, the definition of the communist movement is narrowed even more. The movement consists only of the Party and an immediate periphery of those who are becoming communist, who are rapidly turning towards the Party and are in the process of being absorbed into it. To the extent that a movement exists beyond the framework of the Party, then it cannot have an organized ideological or practical existence apart from the Party. It is composed only of those elements which are in transit towards the Party. Fluctuation in the composition of the Party occurs on the same general basis and in the same way as the movement prior to the Party, but its breadth is severely narrowed by the existence of a single guiding line, recognized and accepted leadership, and strict Party discipline.
Such is the general relation between the communist movement and the Party. But what is the relation of the Party to the working class? Who comprises the Party?
The Communist Party is the highest form of class organization of the proletariat. As vanguard of the working class, it must see further and clearer than the class as a whole. In representing the objective interests of the class, the Party must lead the class at all times in the struggle for the realization of these interests. Party work must continue and expand in both ’peaceful’, legal conditions and in the most repressive, illegal conditions. The Party must therefore be highly disciplined, organized, professional and operate under the strictest centralization and unity of will.
The Party is the organized expression of the fusion of the communist movement with the working class movement. This does not mean that the Party is comprised of the entire working class, for
...in the era of capitalism, when the masses of the workers are subjected to constant exploitation and cannot develop their human capacities, the most characteristic feature of working class political parties is that they can involve only a minority of their class. A political party can comprise only a minority of a class, in the same way as the really class conscious workers in any capitalist society constitute only a minority of all workers. We are therefore obliged to recognise that it is only this class-conscious minority that can direct and lead the broad masses of the workers. V.I. Lenin Speech on the Role of the Communist Party CW Vol. 3l p. 235.
The confidence of the class as a whole is secured by virtue of the correct leadership of this organized minority. The Party lays the line of march for a class-wide political movement, a line that is proven out before the masses of workers by their own political experience. It is precisely because the Party is comprised of the most steadfast, class conscious and disciplined representatives of the class, is free from vacillation and instability, that it is able to win the confidence of the class, become the vanguard leader of the class, and continually promote the most class conscious fighters into its rank .
On the one hand, the Party is made up of the best, most developed elements of the workers’ movement, those who have acquired a general understanding of what is to be done, who seek the most scientific outlook, and who continually strive to unite with the most principled and consistent sections of the communist movement. On the other hand, it is comprised of those in the communist movement, the revolutionary intellectuals from other classes who have wholly adopted the working class standpoint, who strive to unite with the workers’ movement. Only the fusion of the communist movement with the working class movement creates a durable basis for both and lays the foundation for a consistent class-wide struggle. Without it the communist movement remains isolated, one-sided and incapable of effecting any real change, while the working class movement remains narrow, bound to reformism, and a slave of the bourgeoisie and its supporters.
When this fusion takes place the class struggle of the workers becomes the conscious struggle of the proletariat to emancipate itself from exploitation by the propertied classes, it is evolved into a higher form of the socialist workers movement – the independent working class (communist) Party. V.I. Lenin A Retrograde Trend in Russian Social-Democracy CW Vol. 4 p.257
Engels lists three basic forms of the proletarian class struggle:
– economic, political, and theoretical – that is to say, trade union political and theoretical (scientific, ideological and philosophical). F. Engels cited by Lenin Letter to S.I. Gusev October 13, 1905 CW Vol. 34 p. 356
It is the task of communists to organize and lead the revolutionary workers movement and to correctly combine these three forms of struggle into one integral whole.
Our task in leading the economic struggle is not only to fight for better terms in the sale of labour-power, but to fight for the abolition of the capitalist system that compels the working class to sell themselves as wage-slaves. We must utilize the economic struggle to teach the workers that their fundamental economic interests can only be satisfied by the destruction of the entire capitalist system and the creation of a socialist society.
To limit the proletariat in any way to its spontaneous, economic struggle is to bind the workers to the bourgeoisie, is to deny the role of the advanced workers, is to deny the necessity of bringing political knowledge to the proletariat, is to deny the role of conscious leadership, is to degrade the tasks of communists to that of trade union secretaries, is to bow to the spontaneous element of the working class movement – in a word, is to fall into Economism.
Our task in leading the political struggle is to move the class towards and into taking state power, to point out the line of march, to draft the course of the working class through the ebb and flow of the class struggle, to analyse the balance of forces so as to take advantage of every move of the bourgeoisie, to exploit every antagonism amongst the various sections of the bourgeoisie, to expose, isolate and limit the influence of the bourgeoisie and its social props, and to teach the workers to understand the interests of all classes and social strata that try to influence the state.
Any attempt to wage a political struggle separate from the working class movement, from the economic struggle of the working class, is to limit the working class to its spontaneous struggle, is to separate socialism from the working class, is to sanctify the political domination of the bourgeoisie over the working class – in a word, is the complement of Economism, only giving it a “Left” form.
Our task in the ideological struggle is to imbue the proletariat with the teachings of scientific socialism, to apply this science to the objective conditions of our revolution, and to expose and combat every form of bourgeois ideology that attempts to divert the proletarian movement from its socialist path through altering, ’creatively applying’ or ignoring the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism.
Any attempt to separate proletarian ideology from the proletariat, to wage ideological debate in isolation from the working class, is to conceal from the workers the class content of the ideological differences, is to deny the necessity of ideologically winning over the advanced workers, of combating the bourgeois influences within the working class movement – in a word, is to engage in debate for debate’s sake, a pastime only suited to bourgeois intellectuals.
We must never for a moment forget
...the political struggle, the education of the working class in all the fullness of (communist) ideas, and the need to achieve a close, indissoluble connection between all manifestations of the workers movement for creating an integral, truly (communist) movement. V.I. Lenin Letter to S.I. Gusev CW Vol. 34 p. 356.
It is in this way that we combine communism with the working class movement.
At the same time, we cannot consolidate any advances on the ideological and political fronts unless we simultaneously develop our organizational work. In order to fully and systematically carry out communist work we must have organization. To develop our organizational work, always on the basis of unbreakable ideological and political unity, we must begin to lay the groundwork for the party apparatus now. We must form factory cells, establish workers study circles, create various forms of mass organizations under communist leadership, develop channels for propaganda and agitation establish the widest possible ties with other communists to consolidate practical work, develop secrecy techniques, division of labor, tighten the organization and discipline of the communist cadres, and so on.
Such are our three general tasks as communists.