Lenin held that the proletariat spontaneously develops only trade-union, not revolutionary, consciousness

Evidence

Lenin opposed to economism the theory of a vanguard party which would unite intellectuals and workers, and bring socialist theory “from outside” to the proletariat—which in the course of its own, spontaneous activity can only develop “trade-union consciousness”. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2156

Categorization

Category: Definitional Content

• DEFINE: Defines the Lenin–economism distinction and the vanguard-party doctrine of bringing theory from outside.
• XREF: Connects to Gramsci’s later organic-intellectual and hegemony concepts — the ‘from outside’ doctrine is what Gramsci complicates.

Related

• Lenin held that the working class alone could only achieve trade-union consciousness (similarity 0.90)
• Lenin defined economism as confining workers to economic struggle without politics. (similarity 0.85)
• Lenin replaced class consciousness with the vanguard party in revolutionary theory (similarity 0.82)
• Lenin’s vanguard-party doctrine excluded opposition from within the Left (similarity 0.81)
• Lenin derived his revolutionary program from reading Hegel’s Logic (similarity 0.79)
• A vanguard party represents future and national needs beyond its immediate class (similarity 0.79)
• Lenin linked national self-determination to voluntary proletarian union. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Lenin held that the working class alone could only achieve trade-union consciousness #corroborates (1.00) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1625