Leninism, scientific socialism, and democracy

During the twentieth century a number of accounts of Lenin’s theory and practice argued that Leninism is incompatible with democracy. In doing so, various scholars advanced the now popular belief, that the theory of scientific socialism defended by Lenin and prevalent in the Third International is u...

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Main Author: Pateman, Joe
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48194/
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author Pateman, Joe
author_facet Pateman, Joe
author_sort Pateman, Joe
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description During the twentieth century a number of accounts of Lenin’s theory and practice argued that Leninism is incompatible with democracy. In doing so, various scholars advanced the now popular belief, that the theory of scientific socialism defended by Lenin and prevalent in the Third International is undemocratic. Liberal and conservative critics of socialism are not the only proponents of this argument. Leninism has been criticised on this basis within the currents of Russian Bolshevism, Left Communism and Western Marxism. It is for this reason that the Marxism of Lenin and the Third International has been rejected as dogmatic, vulgar, and positivist: few contemporary Marxists condone dogmatism, vulgarity, or positivism. This dissertation examines and rejects the claim that Lenin’s theory of scientific socialism is anti-democratic. It argues that the Leninist conception of Marxism as a science is compatible with democratic practice, and promotes a democratic conception of socialism.
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spelling nottingham-481942025-02-28T12:00:36Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48194/ Leninism, scientific socialism, and democracy Pateman, Joe During the twentieth century a number of accounts of Lenin’s theory and practice argued that Leninism is incompatible with democracy. In doing so, various scholars advanced the now popular belief, that the theory of scientific socialism defended by Lenin and prevalent in the Third International is undemocratic. Liberal and conservative critics of socialism are not the only proponents of this argument. Leninism has been criticised on this basis within the currents of Russian Bolshevism, Left Communism and Western Marxism. It is for this reason that the Marxism of Lenin and the Third International has been rejected as dogmatic, vulgar, and positivist: few contemporary Marxists condone dogmatism, vulgarity, or positivism. This dissertation examines and rejects the claim that Lenin’s theory of scientific socialism is anti-democratic. It argues that the Leninist conception of Marxism as a science is compatible with democratic practice, and promotes a democratic conception of socialism. 2017-12-13 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48194/1/Leninism%20and%20democracy%20complete%20dissertation%20pdf%20version.pdf Pateman, Joe (2017) Leninism, scientific socialism, and democracy. MRes thesis, University of Nottingham. Leninism Scientific Socialism Democracy Dogmatism Positivism
spellingShingle Leninism
Scientific Socialism
Democracy
Dogmatism
Positivism
Pateman, Joe
Leninism, scientific socialism, and democracy
title Leninism, scientific socialism, and democracy
title_full Leninism, scientific socialism, and democracy
title_fullStr Leninism, scientific socialism, and democracy
title_full_unstemmed Leninism, scientific socialism, and democracy
title_short Leninism, scientific socialism, and democracy
title_sort leninism, scientific socialism, and democracy
topic Leninism
Scientific Socialism
Democracy
Dogmatism
Positivism
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48194/