Intensification of the class struggle under socialism
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Marxism–Leninism |
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The aggravation of the class struggle along with the development of socialism is a component of the theory of Stalinism.
The theory was one of the cornerstones of
A variation of the theory was also adopted by
Origin
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Stalinism |
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Stalin put forth this theory in 1929 in the special section of his speech "The
The dying classes are resisting, not because they have become stronger than we are, but because socialism is growing faster than they are, and they are becoming weaker than we are. And precisely because they are becoming weaker, they feel that their last days are approaching and are compelled to resist with all the forces and all the means in their power. Such is the mechanics of the intensification of the class struggle and of the resistance of the capitalists at the present moment of history.
Stalin believed that the class enemy could even worm its way into the
The notion of the aggravation of class struggle under socialism was not shared by many other prominent leaders, such as Nikolai Bukharin or Leon Trotsky, who argued that there was no longer any bourgeoisie in the Soviet Union to have to struggle with and that the very definition of socialism implies there are no longer antagonistic classes.[citation needed]
According to historian Timothy Snyder, the "theory" served the Stalinist regime both as self-justification for the failures of its policies of collectivization (which were to be blamed on saboteurs rather than on the implementation of the programme) and as an ideological tool for the continuation of mass repression:
Stalin had developed an interesting new theory: that resistance to socialism increases as its successes mount, because its foes resist with greater desperation as they contemplate their final defeat. Thus any problem in the Soviet Union could be defined as an example of enemy action, and enemy action could be defined as evidence of progress.[4]
Maoism
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Maoism |
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Mao Zedong's theory of class struggle in socialism changed over time, having some similarities with Stalin's theory but also differences with it.
In 1956, Mao criticized Stalin's theory and agreed with Khrushchev: "After the elimination of classes, the class struggle should not continue to be stressed as though it was being intensified, as was done by Stalin with the result that the healthy development of socialist democracy was hampered. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union is completely right in firmly correcting Stalin's mistakes in this respect."[5]
However, after China officially entered the primary stage of socialism in 1956–58, Mao's theory changed as he came into conflict with his rivals. Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping argued that since China was now socialist and the bourgeoisie was virtually nonexistent, class struggle was over. Mao instead warned against the small remaining bourgeoisie and lingering bourgeois ideas in society, and began speaking of class struggle in socialism, such as in the famous slogan "Never forget class struggle!" once plastered across China.[6][7]
Mao's greatest divergence with Stalin was during his radical phase in the 1960s when he said that there is the possibility of an entire
Criticism
Similarly,
The idea that the class struggle intensified during the period of the dictatorship of the proletariat was another case of historical falsification. [...] Prioritizing the idea of the aggravation of the class struggle served to exclude every factual theoretical discussion over the true nature of the political situation under Stalin. Russia was considered to be in a state of permanent civil war, government decisions were made on purely tactical grounds, and those who did not give their agreement were branded as open or hidden enemies of the state. It was not sufficient to logically refute such enemies, but they had to be morally defamed and socially stigmatized as "detrimental." The maintenance of the Stalinist system can easily lead to a renewal of the thesis of the aggravation of the class struggle and its attendant secret police state. If the powerful bureaucracy remains in place, and if this bureaucracy feels itself threatened, regardless of the falseness of the aggravation thesis, it can be renewed as a way of maintaining the power of the bureaucracy. The twentieth Party Congress rejected the aggravation thesis, but if the Stalinist structure of government remains intact it is possible that it can again be used.[11]
See also
References
- ^ Thesis and Report on Bourgeois Democracy and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat (4 March 1919). "Address to the Comintern". "The main thing that Socialists fail to understand—which constitutes their shortsightedness in matters of theory, their subservience to bourgeois prejudices, and their political betrayal of the proletariat—is that in capitalist society, whenever there is any serious aggravation of the class struggle intrinsic to that society, there can be no alternative but the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie or the dictatorship of the proletariat".
- ^ Stalin, J. V. (1954) [April 1929]. "The Right Deviation in the C.P.S.U.(B.)". Works. Vol. 12, April 1929 - June 1930. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House. pp. 1–113.
- Saltykov-Shchedrin in 1875 in the meaning of lack of principles, unscrupulousness. See "Большой словарь русских поговорок"(2007). Great Dictionary of Russian Proverbs.
- ^ Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin. p. 41.
- ^ Mao, Zedong (1956) [April 1956]. "MORE ON THE HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE OF THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT". The Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Peking: Foreign Languages Press. pp. 21–64.
- ^ "China's Struggle to Forget".
- ^ "Mao Zedong and the Class Struggle in Socialist Society".
- ^ Meisner, Maurice (1999) [April 1977]. Mao's China and After: A History of the People's Republic. New York: The Free Press. pp. 300–317.
- ^ Martemyan Ryutin. Stalin and the Crisis of the Proletarian Dictatorship. 7. "Классы и обострение классовой борьбы" (in Russian).
- ^ Nikita Khrushchev. The Cult of the Individual
- ^ Georg Lukacs, The Pure Alternative: Stalinism or Socialist Democracy