Published:
Source:
Lenin
Collected Works,
Progress Publishers,
1977,
Moscow,
Volume 41,
pages 38.2-53.1.
Translated: Yuri Sdobnikov
Transcription\Markup:
R. Cymbala
Copyleft:
V. I. Lenin Internet Archive (www.marxists.org)
© 2004
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terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
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§ 11. Supervision by the organs of local self-government with the
participation of workers’ delegates over the sanitary state of the living
quarters provided for workers by their employers, over the internal
regulations on these premises and the terms of their lease, to safeguard
wage-workers against intervention by employers in their life and activity
as private persons and citizens.
§ 12. Correctly organised all-round sanitary supervision of working conditions at all enterprises employing wage labour.
13. Extension of supervision by factory inspectors to all the trades, handicrafts and cottage industries, and also to government enterprises and agricultural enterprises employing wage labour.
A g r a r i a n.
With the aim of eliminating all the remnants of our old serf-owning system,
the Social-Democratic Labour Party demands:
1) cancellation of redemption payments
2) freedom of withdrawal from commune
3) reduction of rents through the courts
4) cut-off
lands.{12})
}
{
Axelrod and Berg: “facilitating the struggle by the
p e a s a n t
m a s s
against capitalist relations (or certain capitalist tendencies)”.
}
| First published in 1959 in Vol. 6 of the Fifth Russian edition of the Collected Works | Printed from the original |
I. Domination of capitalist relations: the means of production in the hands of the capitalists, and the property-less proletarians=wage-workers—2.{1}
II. Expansion of the sphere of domination of capital: growing economic importance of the big and decline of the small enterprises—1.
III. Capitalist relations weigh more and more heavily on the working class: occasioning a relative reduction in demand simultaneously with an increase in supply—4.
IV. Reduction in the price of labour-power. Growing social inequality—3.
+ consequently (capitalism causes??) the growth of social inequality, the growing gulf between the propertied and the propertyless (? + ?)
VI. Growing discontent of the working class, sharpening struggle ± growing realisation of the need for social revolu tion, i.e.
(explanation of it)—6.
VII. Social revolution in the interests of all oppressed mankind—7.
VIII. In order to substitute socialist for commodity production the proletariat must have command of political power—dictatorship of the proletariat—8.
IX. The working-class movement has become internation al—10.
X. Russian Social-Democracy is part of international SoiAal-Democracy—11.
XI. Russian Social-Democracy pursues the same ultimate aim. The task of Russian Social-Democracy is to
{
expose the irreconcilable character of the interests
explain the importance of the social revolution
organise the workers’ forces
} —9.
XII. The immediate aim is modified by the remnants of the serf-owning system (a burden on the entire working population + the main obstacle hindering the working-class movement).
XIII. It is necessary to work for juridical institutions constituting a complement to capitalism.
XIV. Autocracy—a remnant of the serf-owning system, the bitterest enemy; hence the immediate task is to over throw the monarchy.
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III. [The capitalist production relations weigh more and, more heavily on the working class, asi technical pro- |
III. Technical pro gress (by increasing the productivity of labour?) not only gives the capitalists the material pos- |
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gress, [by increasing the productivity of la bour,] not only, etc. {instead of occasioning—engendring) + The growth of unemployment, pover ty, degradation and oppression is the ine vitable result of this basic tendency of capi talism. |
sibility of intensifying their exploitation of the workers, but converts this possibility into rea lity, engendering a rela tive reduction in the demand for labour-power simultaneously with a relative and absolute increase in Its supply. The growth of unemploy ment, poverty, oppres sion and degradation is the inevitable result of this basic tendency of capitalism. |
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IV. Thus, the development of the productive forces of social labour is attended by the monopolisation of all the advantages of this development by a negligible minor ity, with the growth of social wealth proceeding side by side with the growth of social inequality, with the gulf between the propertied and the propertyless, between the class of property-owners and the class of the proletariat, growing. |
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V.{2} An even greater worsening of the condition of the working class and the petty producers is engendered by the |
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industrial crises, which are the inevitable outcome of the said contradictions of capitalism, |
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in the absence of social control over production and owing to the con stantly growing |
owing to the lack of balanced devel opment of pro duction, and the growth of rivalry |
With such a state of affairs in society, in the ab sence of balanced development of pro- |
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rivalry among the capitalist countries on the world market.{3} |
among the capitalist countries on the world market. The poverty and destitution of the masses are accompanied by a waste of social wealth because markets are not to be found for the commodities produced. |
duction, with the constantly growing rivalry among the capitalist countries on the world market, the sale of commodities necessarily lags behind their = production.{4} |
| Written not later than January 8 (21), 1902 | Printed from the original |
| First published in 1924 in Lenin Miscellany II |
I. The capitalist mode of production is the economic foundation of contemporary bourgeois society, under which the most important part of the means of production and circulation of products, made in the form of commodities, is the private property of a relatively small class of persons, whereas the majority of the population cannot subsist except by selling their labour-power. In consequence of this, they find themselves in the dependent condition of wage-workers (proletarians) by their labour creating the income of the owners of the means of production and the circulation of commodities (capitalists and big landowners).
II. The sphere of domination of the capitalist mode of production is expanding, as the continuous technical progress increases the economic importance of the big enterprises and thereby decreases the role of independent small producers in the economic life of society, depressing their living standard, displacing some into the ranks of the proletariat, and turning others into direct or indirect vassals and tributaries of capital.
* *
*
I (?). Russia’s economic development is leading to an ever greater spread
and ever greater domination within her of capitalist relations of
production.
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| Written not earlier than January 8 (21), 1902 | Printed from the original |
| First published in 1959 in Vol. 6 of the Fifth Russian edition of the Collected Works |
INITIAL FORMULATION |
AMENDED FORMULATION |
||
| A. |
I. Russia’s economic
development and her
increasing (intensified)
involvement in interna-
tional trade are leading
to an ever greater spread
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I. Russia’s intensified involvement in inter- national trade and the growth of commodity pro- duction inside the country are leading to ever fuller domination within her of the capitalist mode of production, which is dis- tinguished by the following basic features. |
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II.{5} Continuous technical progress is increasing the economic importance of the big enterprises and reducing the role of the independent small producers (peasants, artisans, handicraftsmen, et al.) in the country’s economic life, depressing their living standard, turning some of them into direct or indirect vassals and tribu |
III. Continuous technical progress is increasing the number, size and economic importance of the big capitalist enterprises, and is depressing the living standard of the independent small producers (peasants, artisans, handicraftsmen), turning some of them into vassals and tributaries of capital, totally ruining others and displac |
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taries of capital, and dis placing others into the ranks of the propertyless class (the proletariat), which is de prived of the means of produc tion. |
ing them into the ranks of the propertyless class (the proletariat), which is de prived of the means of pro duction. |
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III. The most important part of the means of production and the circulation of commodities is increasingly concentrat ed in the hands of a relatively small class of persons, whereas an ever growing majority of the population are unable to maintain their existence otherwise than by SOlling their labour-power. In consequence of this, they find themsel ves in the dependent condition of wage-workers (proletarians), who by their labour create the income of the owners of the means of production and the circulation of commodities (capitalists and big landowners).
IV. fly increasing the productivity of labour, technical progress enables the capitalists to intensify their exploita tion of the workers, engendering a relative reduction in the demand for labour-power (that is, the increase in demand is not proportional to [lags behindi the increase in capital) simultaneously with a relative and absolute increase in its supply. This, together with the above-mentioned basic tendencies of capitalism, leads to a growth of unemployment, poverty, exploitation, oppression and degradation.
V. The condition of the working class and the small producers is even further worsened by the industrial crises, which are the inevitable outcome of the said contradictions of capitalism, by the lack of balanced development of pro duction, which is intrinsic to it (and which no associations of industrialists can eliminate), and by the growth of rivalry among the capitalist countries on the world market. Poverty and destitution of the masses exist side by side with a waste of social wealth in consequence of the impos sibility of finding markets for the commodities produced.
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VI. Thus, the devel-
opment of the produc-
tive forces of social
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VI. Thus, the gigantic development of the pro- ductive forces of social and increasingly socialised la- bour is attended |
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by the monopolisation of all the principal advantages of this development by a negligible minority of the population, with the growth of social wealth proceeding side by side with the growth of social inequality, with the gulf between the propertied and propertyless, between the cltss of pro perty-owners (the bourgeoisie) and the class of the prole tariat, growing. VII. But as all these inevitable contradictions of capi talism increase ˜and develop, |
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the discontent and indigna- tion of the working class also grow, and its solidari- ty increases, in virtue of the very conditions of the capitalist mode of produc- tion, |
the number and the solidari- ty of the proletarians, their discontent and indignation grow, |
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the struggle between the working class and the capitalist class becomes sharper and the urge to throw off the intol erable yoke of capitalism mounts. |
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VIII. The emancipation of the workers must be an act of the working class itself. If the yoke of capi- talism is to be thrown off, there must be a social rev- olution, that is, |
VIII. The emancipation of the workers must be an act of the working class itself, because all the other classes of present-day society stand for the preservation of the foundations of the existing economic system. The real emancipation of the working class requires a social revolution, naturally flowing from the entire de- velopment of the capitalist mode of production, that is, |
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the abolition of private ownership of the means of pro duction, their conversion into public property apd the replacement of the capitalist production of commodities by the socialist organisation of the production of commodities by society as a whole, with the object of. ensuring full well-being and free all-round development for all its members. |
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IX. To effect this social revolution the proletariat must win political power, which will make it master of the situa tion and enable it to remove all obstacles along the road to its great goal. In this sense the dictatorship of the pro leta nat is an essential political condition of the social revolution. X. The revolution of the proletariat will mean the eman cipation of all the now oppressed and suffering mankind, because it will put an end to all types of oppression and exploitation of man by man. XI. Russian Social-Democracy undertakes the task of disclosing to the workers the irreconcilable antagonism between their interests and those of the capitalists, of explaining, to the proletariat the historical significance, nature and prerequisites of the social revolution it will have to carry out, and of organising a revolutionary class party capable of directing the struggle of the proletariat in all its forms against the present social and political system. XII. But the development of international exchange and of production for the world market has established (created) such close ties among all the nations of the civilised (?) world, that the great aim of the proletariat’s emancipation struggle can be achieved only through the joint ?fforts of proletarians in all countries. That is why{6} the present-day working-class movement had to become, and has long since become, an international movement, and Russian Social-Democracy regards itself as one of the detachments of the world army of the proletariat, as part oj international So cial-Democracy. |
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I. The immediate aims of Russian Social-Democracy are, however, considerably modified by the fact that in our country numerous remnants of the pre-capitalist, serf-owning, social system retard the development of the pro ductive forces in the highest degree, and lower the working population’s standard of living; they are responsible for the Asiatically barbarous way in which the many-million- strong peasantry is dying out, and keep the entire people in a state of ignorance and subjection, denying them all rights. The Russian Social-Democrats still have to work for the free civic and political institutions which already exist in the leading capitalist countries and which are undoubtedly necessary for the full and all-round development of the proletariat’s class struggle against the bourgeoisie.{7} |
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II. The most outstanding of these remnants of the serf-owning system and the most formidable bulwark of all that barbarism and all the calamities of which the politically free countries are already rid, is the tsarist autocracy; it is the bitterest and most dangerous enemy of the proletarian emanci pation movement. |
The tsarist autocracy is the most outstanding of these remnants of the serf-owning system and the most formi dable bulwark of all this barbarism. It is the bitterest and most dangerous enemy of the proletarian emancipa tion movement and the cul tural development of the entire people. |
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For these reasons Russian Social-Democracy advances as its immediate political task the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy and its replacement by a republic based on a democratic constitution that would ensure: |
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| Written between January 8 and 25 (January 21 and February 7), 1902 | Printed from the original |
| First published in 1924 in Lenin Miscellany II |
| Written between January 8 and 25 (January 21 and February 7), 1902 | Printed from the original |
| First published in 1924 in Lenin Miscellany II |
Besides, the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party demands:
The Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party believes that the complete, consistent and lasting implementation of the indicated political and social changes can be achieved only by overthrowing the autocracy and convoking a con stituent assembly, freely elected by the whole people.
| Written not later than January 25 (February 7), 1902 | |
| First published in 1959 in Vol. 6 of the Fifth Russian edition of the Collected Works | |
| Printed from the original |
Commodity production is ever more rapidly developing in Russia, her participation in international trade is increasing{8} and the capitalist mode of production is becoming increasingly dominant.
A growing majority of the population are unable to main tain their existence otherwise than by selling their labour-power. In consequence of this they find themselves in the con dition of wage-workers (proletarians) dependent on a relatively small class of capitalists and big landowners, who hold the most important part of the means of production and circu lation of commodities.{9}
The most important part of the means of production is becoming concentrated in the hands of an insignificant minority of capitalists and big landowners as their private property. Ever greater numbers of working men losing their means of production are forced to resort to the sale of their labour-power. In this way they find themselves in the depend ent condition of wage-workers (proletarians), who by their labour create the income of the property-owners.
The development of capitalism is increasing the number, size and economic importance of the big enterprises, and is depressing the living standard of the independent small producers (peasants, artisans, handicraftsmen), turning some of them into vassals and tributaries of capital and displacing others into the ranks of the proletariat.
The higher the level of technical progress, the more the growth of the demand for labour-power lags behind the growth of its supply, and the greater are the opportunities for the capitalists to intensify exploitation of the workers.
This process is still more aggravated by industrial crises, which are the inevitable outcome of the said contradictions of capitalism. Poverty and destitution of the masses exist side by side with a waste of social wealth in consequence of the im possibility of finding markets for the commodities produced.
Thus, the gigantic development of the productive forces of social and increasingly socialised labour is attended by monopolisation of all the principal advantages of this development by a negligible minority of the population. The growth of social wealth proceeds side by side with the growth of social inequality; the gulf between the class of property-owners (the bourgeoisie) and the class of the proletariat is growing.
(A) § III. Small-scale production is being ousted to an ever greater degree by large-scale production. The independ ent small producers (peasants, artisans and handicraftsmen) are being turned either into proletarians or vassals and tributaries of capital.
As the result of continuous technical progress small-scale production is being ousted to an ever greater degree by large-scale production. The most important part of the means of production (of the land and factories, tools and machinery, railways and other means of communication) is becoming concentrated in the hands of a relatively insignificant number of capitalists and big landowners as their private property. The independent small producers (peasants, artisans and handicraftsmen) are being ruined in growing numbers, losing their means of production and thus turning into proletarians or els˜ becoming servants and tributaries of capital. Increasing numbers of working people are com pelled to sell their labour-power.
Commodity production is ever more rapidly developing in Russia, the capitalist mode of production becoming increasingly dominant.
The most important part of the means of production (of the land and factories, tools and machinery, railways and other means of communication) is becoming concentrated in the hands of a relatively insignificant number of capitalists and big landowners as their private property.
The development of capitalism is increasing the number, size and economic importance of the big enterprises, is worsening the condition of the independent small producers (peasants, artisans, handicraftsmen), turning some of them into vassals and tributaries of capital, and displacing others into the ranks of the proletariat.
The higher the level of technical progress, the more the growth of the demand for labour-power lags behind the growth of its sppply, and the greater are the opportunities for the capitalists to intensify exploitation of the workers. Insecurity of existence and unemployment, the yoke of exploitation, and humiliation of every kind are becoming the lot of ever wider sections of the working population.
This process is being still more aggravated by industrial crises, which are the inevitable outcome of the basic contradictions of capitalism. Poverty and destitution of the masses exist side by side with a waste of social wealth in consequence of the impossibility of finding markets for the commodities produced.
Thus, the gigantic development of the productive forces of social and increasingly socialised labour is attended by monopolisation of all the principal advantages of this development by a negligible minority of the population. The growth of social wealth proceeds side by side with the growth of social inequajity; the gulf between the class of property-owners (the bourgeoisie) and the class of the prole tariat is growing.{10}
| Written between January 25 and February 18 (February 1 and 3), 1902 | |
| First published in 1924 in Lenin Miscellany II | |
| Printed from the original |
“But with a view to eradicating the remnants of the old serf-owning system It will work for.”
Perhaps we should insert “and in the interests of free development of the class struggle in the countryside”.
This is prompted by the fact that at this point, too, we must resolutely draw a line between ourselves and bourgeois democracy, whose every shade will, of cours& willingly subscribe to the former motivation alone.
* *
*
NB: add to the factory section:
that the law should establish weekly payments for workers
under all manner of
labour contracts.
| Written between January 25 and February 18 (February 7 and March 3), 1902 | Printed from the original |
| First published in 1959 in Vol. 8 of the Fifth Russian edition of the Collected Works |
{1} The figures in the MS. are in blue pencil and apparently indicate a desirable rearrangement of the text.—Ed.
{2} “An even greater sharpening of these contradictions” is crossed out as an opening phrase in the MS.—Ed.
{3} This variant is crossed out in the MS.—Ed.
{4} [DUPLICATE "*"] This variant is crossed out in the MS.—Ed.
{5} In the original § II and § III are transposed in blue pencil.—Ed.
{6} The words “the great aim of the proletariat’s emancip˜ation struggle can be achieved only through the joinf efforts of proletarians in all countries. That is why” are crossed out in the MS.—Ed.
{7} This sentence is crossed out in the MS.—Ed.
{8} The words “her participation in internatiosl trade is increasing” are crossed out in the MS.—Ed.
{9} This paragraph is crossed out in the MS.—Ed.
{10} On the back of the original is the following pencilled note: “...emphatically rejecting all those reformist plans which are connected with any extension or consolidation of tutelage of the working masses by the police and officialso” This formulation was propo˜d by Lenin as an amendment to the concluding part of the Draft Prog ramme of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (see present edition, Vol. 6, p. 33). —Ed.
{11} The Party Programme adopted by the Second Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. in 1903 was worked out by the Editorial Board of Lenin’s Iskra at the end of 1901 and the first half of 1902. Lenin played an outstanding part in working out the draft. The preparatory material dates from January-February 1902; it is a reflection of key moments in the working out of the draft programme by the Iskra Editorial Board: Lenin’s study of the first draft of Plekhanov’s programme; his work on his own draft of the theoretical section of the programme and his participation in writing the collective draft of the practical section of the programme. All materials are printed from the originals, with variants of para graphs or parts of paragraphs printed side by side to facilitate comparison. For the preparatory material for the R.S.D.L.P. Programme see present edition, Vol. 6, pp. 17–78. p. 38
{12} Cut-off lands—lands cut oil from peasants’ allotments in favour of landowners during the Peasant Reform in Russia in 1861. As a rule, the peasants were deprived of their best lands, which is why the cut-off lands were a means used by landowners to enslave the peasants, and slowed down the elimination of feudal relations in land tenure. p. 39
{13} Royal demesnes are lands which belonged to the royal family. p. 48
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