Vladimir Ilich Lenin

"State and Revolution" describes the role of the State in society, the necessity of proletarian revolution, and the theoretic inadequacies of social democracy in achieving revolution. It describes the inherent nature of the State as a tool for class oppression, a creation born of one social class's desire to control all other social classes. Whether a dictatorship or a democracy, the State remains in the control of the ruling class. Even in a democratic capitalist republic, the ruling class will never willingly relinquish political power, maintaining it via various strategies. Hence, according to this view, communist revolution is the sole remedy for the abolition of the state.

"State and Revolution" describes the role of the State in society, the necessity of proletarian revolution, and the theoretic inadequacies of social democracy in achieving revolution. It describes the inherent nature of the State as a tool for class oppression, a creation born of one social class's desire to control all other social classes. Whether a dictatorship or a democracy, the State remains in the control of the ruling class. Even in a democratic capitalist republic, the ruling class will never willingly relinquish political power, maintaining it via various strategies. Hence, according to this view, communist revolution is the sole remedy for the abolition of the state.

Lenin's original work on class-based revolution. In 1917, in the midst of two revolutions, Vladimir Ilich Lenin fled Russia for fear of persecution by the government. While in exile, he began work on one of his most important works, State and Revolution, an attempt to resurrect the purity of Marx's and Engels's socialist teachings, which Lenin claimed were subsumed and weakened by reformists who reduced the "great revolutionaries" into "harmless icons." In State and Revolution, Lenin posits that the traditional role of the state in society is to maintain the control of the powerful, thus enabling the rich to exploit the poor. Because the ruling class will never willingly give up their political influence, social democracy--including parliamentary elections--is a false promise, and only results in a new crop of rich overlords lining up to "repress and crush the people." The sole way to bring true freedom and self-determination to all citizens, and throw off the "yoke of capitalism," is through Communist revolution--to "smash the state." As a result, the state would "wither away," and its bureaucrats would perform the will of the proletariat. This seminal work provides a practical application of socialist principles and it has greatly influenced theories of global capitalist development. Italian philosopher Lucio Colletti called State and Revolution "Lenin's greatest contribution to political theory." This Echo Point Books edition has been enhanced with an index, not found in previous editions. To help understand Lenin's arguments in State and Revolution, you may also wish to read his treatise on the relationship between capitalism and colonialism, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, also published by Echo Point Books (978-1-63561-719-1 hardcover; 978-1-63561-727-6 paperback).

This is Lenin's seminal text on social revolution and how to achieve it, published some 16 years before Russia's October 1917 Revolution. His plan to overturn the Czar's ruthless autocratic regime proposes the establishment of a cadre of "professional revolutionaries" with the necessary skills and experience to counter the regime's secret police. Lenin derides trade unionists as "wretched amateurs," arguing that a struggle for simple economic betterment is not enough, nor are patchwork reforms - what is needed is the complete overthrow of the political system. Lenin's "professional revolutionaries" are not so much 'shock troops' of violent rebellion as educated activists who will awaken the workers' class consciousness, leading them to reject western-style political factions and to work within the Party to achieve the dictatorship of the proletariat. Essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the October Revolution and the ensuing upheavals of the twentieth century.