Lenin and the Universalist Legacy of the October Revolution

Authors

  • Darlan Montenegro Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ)
  • Tamyres Ravache de Marco Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23925/ls.v21i38.33252

Keywords:

Russian revolution, Lenin, Universalism, Emancipation.

Abstract

This article examines the political legacy of the October Revolution, guided by the universalist conception of revolutionary action proposed by Lenin in What is to be Done?, which constituted one of the defining characteristics of the Bolshevik Party. Based on the hypothesis that the origins of the revolutionary project are outside of class and go beyond the immediate interests of the economic struggle, we suggest that, despite the enormous difference in historical contexts, Lenin’s conflict with the so-called “economicists” prefigures the disagreements that divide the left today, between projects of universal emancipation, on the one hand, and the fragmentary and particularistic logic characteristic of important social movements, on the other.

Author Biographies

Darlan Montenegro, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ)

Doutor em Ciência Política pelo Iuperj. Professor de Teoria Política da Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Seropédica-RJ, Brasil.

Tamyres Ravache de Marco, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)

Doutoranda em Ciência Política no Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Políticos da Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brasil.

Published

2017-06-13

How to Cite

Montenegro, D., & de Marco, T. R. (2017). Lenin and the Universalist Legacy of the October Revolution. Lutas Sociais, 21(38), 179–191. https://doi.org/10.23925/ls.v21i38.33252