The State and Revolution

by V. I. Lenin, Antonio Negri (Introduction)

Overview

Lenin's most important and controversial theoretical text

Lenin’s booklet The State and Revolution struck the world of Marxist theory like a lightning bolt. Written in the months running up to the October Revolution of 1917, Lenin turned the traditional socialist concept of the state on its head, arguing for the need to smash the organs of the bourgeois state to create a ‘semi-state’ of soviets, or workers’ councils, in which ordinary people would take on the functions of the state machine in a new and radically democratic manner.

This new edition includes a substantial introduction by renowned theorist Antonio Negri, who argues for the continued relevance of these ideas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781804292846
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	01/30/2024
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	305,467
Product dimensions:	5.11(w) x 7.77(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by the alias Lenin (1870–1924), was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He played a leading role in the Bolshevik revolution of October 1917.

Table of Contents

A Note on the Translation and Footnotes ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: A Beginner's Guide to State and Revolution 1

The State and Revolution: The Marxist Theory of the State and the Tasks of the Proletariat in the Revolution 35

Preface to the First Edition 37

Preface to the Second Edition 39

Chapter 1 Class Society and the State 41

Chapter 2 The Experience of 1848-51 59

Chapter 3 The Experience of the Paris Commune of 1871-Marx's Analysis 73

Chapter 4 Continuation: Supplementary Explanations by Engels 95

Chapter 5 The Economic Basis of the Withering Away of the State 121

Chapter 6 The Vulgarization of Marxism by the Opportunists 143

Chapter 7 The Experience of the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917 163

Postscript to the First Edition 165

Historical and Literary Chronology 167

Biographical and Organizational Glossary 173