Liberalism and Expansion of the

Industrial Society
Key activity
Final Delivery

Ana Lorena Ortiz Loyola Solana

A01750283

Master. María Clara Beatriz Morales González

Delivery date: 30/04/20

 Creation of Research question

Research question

Lenin: hero or villain?

Process of defining it

We were intrigued by the ambiguity of Vladimir Lenin’s historical and sociocultural legacy.
From video games to political graffiti, Lenin is an inescapable landmark of leftist discourse.
We wanted to get a clearer picture of his true character, whatever that would turn out to be,
with the benefit that a modern, outside perspective could offer.
With the intent of maintaining objectivity, we based our work in the following guidelines:

1. Which were the beneficial actions that Lenin made in favour of the Russian people?

2. Which of his actions resulted in solely detrimental outcomes for Russia?

3. What of the new reforms that he put forward were suitable for Russia? Which were
not?

Justification

Our question relates history and Russia's current progress in terms of rights by striving to
solve the next key points:
● how the rise to power of Lenin had an impact on the creation of democratic and fair
institutions in Russia
● if human rights had existed by then, which of them would have been violated
● what progress was made towards safeguarding and guaranteeing the wellbeing of all
individuals
● whether people had a say under the rule of Lenin

We made our investigation within the framework of the UN. First, we determined that the
following human rights would have been violated:
● Art. 3- The right to life
● Art. 5- No torture
● Art. 9- No unfair detainment
● Art. 10- The right to trial
● Art. 18- Freedom of thought
● Art.19- Freedom of expression.
● Art. 20- The right to public assembly
● Art. 21- The right to democracy
 ● Art. 28- A fair and free world

Then, we also identified which Sustainable Development Goals, also known as SDG's,
would not have been met:
● 2- Zero hunger
● 16- Peace, justice and strong institutions

Sources Analysis

1. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: What is to be Done, 1902

A small compilation of the most important extracts of Lenin’s work ​What is to be Done.
Evidently, it is a primary source, and indeed, due to its shortening it offers an accessible
approach to the thoughts of the Russian socialist. Just as the page from which we retrieved
the text explains, the importance of its study relies in what can be conceived of it: some
authors regard it as set of precise remarks on how a gathering of revolutionaries should be
arranged while others think it pours scorn on the workers. It is a reliable source according to
the CARS checklist since the webpage is a project set up by the Fordham University; the
information was rectified last month; and lastly, it also includes the contact information of the
contributors.

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1902lenin.asp

2. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: State and Revolution, 1918

A gathering of ​State and Revolution extracts in which Lenin pinpoints what he makes out of
Marxism. And there, thus, comes the matter of our interest, how he proceeds to rule Russia:
with an iron grip. To keep it simple, one important statement of Marx is that inevitably the
division of classes in the State makes the class below the others the oppressed one. This
previous thought coupled with the concept of the means of production as “self-moving
machines” that carry societies through one stage to a better one (in this case from capitalism
to socialism) led him to the conclusion that once the workers took control of the assets
production the State would “wither away”, since the stacking of classes would disappear.
Lenin says that the seizure of power "can in no way take place in the form of a 'withering
away' ", meaning the necessary step for revolution is through the use of force (he further
develops this in the text). He also mentions that democracy is a form of State, hence, it
would also "wither away". Because this is from the same webpage as the one above it also
complies with the CARS checklist.

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/lenin-staterev.asp

3. Lenin’s implementation of Leninism in Russia and the changes made

An article about the aftermath of the Bolsheviks triumph that succeeds in identifying the
foremost political measures under Lenin's first years and focuses on their outcomes.
It is a tertiary source that exposes both the negative and the positive aspects of the newly
Communist country.
SAHO is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to "address unbiased" information about history
with a clear display of the contributors names and credentials; the content of the page was
updated five months ago.

https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/lenins-implementation-leninism-russia-and-changes-mad
e

4. Social reforms of 1917

An overview of the main decrees issued by the Bolsheviks, how they were either fostered or
criticized. This source gives special attention to the political implementations by Lenin's
party, as opposed to the previous one which analyses their results.
It is a secondary source because the author summarizes the many laws Lenin and Trotsky
intended to implement once they had control over Russia. The credentials of the author is
listed; no views are omitted and the site was updated on last December.

https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/russia-1900-to-193
9/social-reforms-of-1917/

5. Marx's Theory of Stages: The Withering Away of the State Under Socialism
An article analyzing Karl Marx´s ideologies and opinions around historical, social, and
political themes. This source informs about how the chief interpreter of Marxism, Lenin,
interprets communism and its impact on the future. This is a secondary source because it is
based on works made by Karl Marx and summarizing everything. The author is listed, the
web page can be contacted and it was last modified April of 2017.

https://mises.org/library/marxs-theory-stages-withering-away-state-under-socialism

6. Aportes de Lenin en la construcción del socialismo

This article helps us to understand in a detailed form the Leninism, and some of his
contributions to socialism. It will help us to get some insight on what Lenin had to contribute
to this political ideology and how well he tailored it for Russia's necessities.
It is a secondary source, because it does not include original materials. The credentials of
the author are listed; it also includes the contact information of the contributors, and ​no
views are omitted on the site.
https://www.aporrea.org/actualidad/a16007.html

7. Las ideas de Lenin

This articles gives us a detailed explanation of Lenin's ideas, it also offers a short relation
between his thoughts and Marx's. In this way, it will help us to identify whether the changes
Lenin made were for the betterment of his country or just for having a tighter control over the
people.
The author credentials are listed, the web page can be contacted and it was last modified
on May of 2015.

https://www.nuevatribuna.es/articulo/cultura---ocio/ideas-lenin/20150522113259116251.html

Reflection

Our approach to the development of a solution to our research question - Lenin: hero or
villain- was to gather as many reliable unbiased sources as we could find ​about Lenin's main
actions. This ensures that we take a stand until after all views have been considered.

As for the knowledge we attained, Lenin's general influence has been so complex but
definitive for the modern political landscape that reductive terms such as "hero" or "villain"
have a counter-effect, they flatten out events more than they clarify the issue. Like Marxism,
Leninism negative impacts have been used to demonize leftist movements, although it
should be noted that terrible negative aspects did happen for the Russian people under his
leadership. As in everything, history is distorted in each society accordingly, here, US has
always seen communism as a threat to its power.

However, socialism in its pure essence, so to speak, or as Marx originally developed it raises
several questions in its study. The utmost important attention to the following one should be
attached: whether the end justifies the means. As Marx put it: “There is only one way in
which the murderous death agonies of the old society and the bloody birth throes of the new
society can be shortened, simplified and concentrated, and that way is revolutionary terror.”
What he was referring to was in first place was that in no way bourgeois would cede power
to socialist parties. But by learning Marxism core ideas we can reach a better understanding
of this ideology, he thought that given humans -supposedly- have no inherent nature they
are molded by their surroundings: “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their
lives, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness.” Humans,
according to him, could not address matters through reasoning, but instead, by means of
force.
 Appendix

Here is presented the CARS checklist, the criterion tool we used for determining which
sources were suitable for our research.

Figure 1 Adapted version of Harris’ (2007) CARS checklist.

 References

Vladimir, L (1902) What is to be Done Retrieved from:

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1902lenin.asp

​ etrieved from:
Vladimir, L (1902) ​State and Revolution R
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1902lenin.asp

Sahistory.org.za. (2020). ​Lenin’s implementation of Leninism in Russia and the changes

made | South African History Online​. [online] Available at:
https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/lenins-implementation-leninism-russia-and-changes-mad
e [Accessed 8 Feb. 2020].

Historylearningsite.co.uk. (2020). [online] Available at:

https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/russia-1900-to-193
9/social-reforms-of-1917/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2020].

Borísov, Zhamin, Makárova. (s.f.). Diccionario de economía política. 07 de febrero de 2020,

de eumed.net Sitio web: ​http://www.eumed.net/cursecon/dic/bzm/l/Lenin.htm

Fernández, P. (2017). La Revolución de Lenin contra la Patria. 07 de febrero de 2020, de

Actuall Sitio web:
https://www.actuall.com/criterio/democracia/grandes-aportaciones-del-comunismo-la-revoluc
ion-lenin-la-patria/

Martorano, J. (2005). Aportes de Lenin en la construcción del socialismo. 07 de febrero de

2020, de aporrea Sitio web: ​https://www.aporrea.org/actualidad/a16007.html

Montagut, E. (2015). Las ideas de Lenin. 07 de febrero de 2020, de nuevatribuna.es Sitio

web:
https://www.nuevatribuna.es/articulo/cultura---ocio/ideas-lenin/20150522113259116251.html
 Lenin: hero or villain?

Either the liberator of a disrupted Russia or the one who paved the way for Stalin's
erratic rule, Lenin, without doubt, turned his country upside down. Throughout this
text I will further develop the idea of how within certain ideological frameworks there
is no space for democracy or human rights. To avoid leaving anything amiss or
biased in this respect, I did my work under the Human Rights and the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG's) guidelines.

To begin with, Russia under Tsar Nicholas by 1917 had a widely impoverished
population due to the Russo-Japanese War, and let alone its current fighting in
WWI. On March 2 of the same year, when riots grew on number and force, the Tsar
was forced to abdicate. Then came the struggle between Soviets and the Provisional
Government to hold power, and it was not until after the seizure of Petrograd by the
Bolsheviks that 1917 Revolution did succeed in overturning the Tsarist era, but for
what was it replaced other than more violence?

In this respect, it is essential to study the core principles of Leninism, which came to
be based on his notion of Marxism, given that analyzing the ideology of historical
figures tells us to what limitations (in terms of perspective) they were confined, what
they fought for, and how they did it.

As mentioned before, Leninism was not the system Marx had devised and Lenin
himself commented that Russia had just begun the path towards pure communism,
and yet, once it was reached it would be a type of communism on its own because
some adjustments would have to be made. Having that said, I can dive into breaking
down Lenin’s ideology, to which he drew up by taking Marx’s views that:

● Capitalism inevitably leads to the exploitation of the proletariat by the owners

of the means of production, since they shrink the wages of labourers as much
as possible in order to skim off a wide profit margin. So, Marx saw necessary
to get rid of the classes.

● The State would “wither away”, since the stacking of classes would disappear.
As Engels, foremost collaborator of Marx, puts it the State "the product of
Society at a certain stage of its development''. He further develops this by
saying: "The authority of government over persons will be replaced with the
administration of things and the direction of the processes of production.​"
(Engels, 1878)
In this sense, Marxism and thus also Leninism differ to other ideologies in the next
ways:
● Leninism at first, left space for democracy by erecting the Soviet Union.
precisely from soviets, which worked as democratic committees. However,
after they were disintegrated Leninism started to come really into tension with
democracy. As opposed to its counterpart, it was not the rule of the people but
rather of the Bolsheviks Party, which had the final say in determining “the
criminals of the country”.
● Despite Lenin’s initial aim of a stateless society, the State got more power
than ever before under his rule and it got even worse afterwards (although
that isn’t part of my work’s scope). He ended up forming a dictatorship as we
can see through the imprisonment, intimidation, and large scale murders of
the “nation’s enemies”.
● Unlike a monarchy, Lenin’s rule was not justified as a right granted by God,
nor was it a position intended to be inherited by Lenin’s heirs. However, it
resembled to in a sense since in these both types of government only a
handful of people had the power to direct the country.
● Since communism stems from socialism, it does relate to it regarding the
management of the resources. Nevertheless, while in socialism the
government takes control of the means of production, in communism it
controls how resources are going to be allocated (property is state-owned)

Although Lenin followed Marx’s dismiss of the ​Declaration of Rights of Man and the
Citizen, (the precursor document of the ​Declaration of Human Rights)​ (Lukes, 1985),
some human rights would have been promoted at the time:
- 1. We Are All Born Free and Equal/ 2. Don't Discriminate/ 15. Right
to a Nationality
A clear example from this appears in the ​Declaration of the Rights of
the Peoples of Russia,​ where all ethnicities from Russia were declared
equal in rights.
- 22. Social Security
Lenin set orphanages after the Civil War primarily for obvious reasons,
and to provide a source of jobs for women (Ball, 1994).
- 23. The Rights of Workers
- 26. The Right to Education
Rozycki, professor at the University of San Diego comments that “in
order to push the USSR into the industrial age” Lenin allocated
resources to the education of the masses and as a result, reduced
dramatically illiteracy. (Rozycki, 2020).

On the other hand, with regard to the human rights that would not have
been respected:
 - ​ . No Torture/ 9. No Unjust Detention/ 10. The Right to a Trial/ 11.
5
We Are Always Innocent Until Proven To The contrary/ 18.
Freedom of Thought / 19. Freedom of Expression/ 20. The Right to
Meet in Public/21. The Right to Democracy

With regard to the SDG's that would not have been met:
- 2- Zero hunger
During War Communism there were severe famines (Glaza, 2020).

- 16- Peace, justice and strong institutions

The Soviets maintained control through fear, by sending dissenters to
prison, labour camps, or even sentencing them to death, a common
practice of communist regimes (Brown, 2020). In this respect, the UN
acknowledges that the fight against actions that deprive anyone from
peace is still an ongoing process. Having that said, the UN continues
its efforts to bring “Strong, effective and accountable institutions” that
can “combat corruption (...) and prevent violence” through different
commitments, like joining forces with Goodwill Ambassador Forest
Whitaker, who recently launched ACT to Protect Children Affected by
Conflict campaign with the ​UN Office of the Special Representative for
Children and Armed Conflict​. Furthermore, “his numerous
participations in forums and conferences shed light on issues that can
have devastating consequences in fragile regions” (UN, 2019).

Side apart, Lenin won wide support across Russia for retreating from WW1.
However, bitter opposition against the Bolsheviks would bring the country into
another war. Christopher Trueman, professor at Sussex University, asserts that a
rigid and severe “combination of emergency measures and socialist dogma” was set
in place to sustain the cost of the war. War Communism, as it was denominated
later,
consisted in the introduction of various anti-capitalist policies which were applied
ruthlessly despite the famines it led to. Still, War Communism succeeded in its
primary goal of feeding the cities and the Red Army while securing the Bolshevik
government. (Trueman, 2020).

Surprisingly, at first democracy was a possibility in the Soviet Union as seen when
Lenin abolished death sentence, the Tsarist Cheka was disbanded, and the press
would be free. Unfortunately, all this was reinstated during the outspoken policy of
repression, the Red Terror. Measures that were supposed to be temporary became
permanent, such as the Cheka and the establishment of ​gulags or concentration
camps, all which downplayed justice and respect for human lives.
After the Bolsheviks victory over the Whites, Lenin had to give a solution to the
shattered economy to appease the recent uprisings, he named it the New Economic
Policy (NEP). As opposed to War Communism, this system did allow peasants to
exercise small scale trade and to have an extra portion of land, which improved their
living condition. In this way, Lenin accomplished to kickstart Russia’s economy and
end the famines at last (Glaza, 2020).

To sum up, since Leninism was derived from Marxism it also inherited most of its
limitations, such as its disregard to democracy and individual guarantees. Lenin
even laid inequality at the feet of Western values, which he and his party viewed as
part of threatening foreign meddling. In his effort of consolidating power, he also
downplayed the initial communist goal: a stateless and classless nation. But Lenin
himself did accept that full communist Russia was not yet reached, and his death
came too soon for him to prove that a real communist state is possible.So, we should
not seek to designate Lenin in a way or another - neither hero nor villain- because
we would be ignoring the other side of the coin. In any manner, however enticing
Lenin's promise of a classless society was, the path to it cost the misery and life of
thousands of people.

References
Vladimir, L (1902) What is to be Done Retrieved from:
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1902lenin.asp

Vladimir, L (1917) ​State and Revolution ​Retrieved from:

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1902lenin.asp

Sahistory.org.za. (2020). ​Lenin’s implementation of Leninism in Russia and the changes made | South
African History Online.​ [online] Available at:
https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/lenins-implementation-leninism-russia-and-changes-made
[Accessed 8 Feb. 2020].

Historylearningsite.co.uk. (2020). [online] Available at:

https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/russia-1900-to-1939/social-r
eforms-of-1917/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2020].

Borísov, Zhamin, Makárova. (s.f.). Diccionario de economía política. 07 de febrero de 2020, de

eumed.net Sitio web: ​http://www.eumed.net/cursecon/dic/bzm/l/Lenin.htm
United Nations Sustainable Development. 2020. ​Goal Of The Month | May 2019: Peace, Justice And
Strong Institutions - United Nations Sustainable Development​. [online] Available at:
<https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/goal-of-the-month-archive/goal-of-the-month-may-2019-
peace-justice-and-strong-institutions/> [Accessed 2 May 2020].
Fernández, P. (2017). La Revolución de Lenin contra la Patria. 07 de febrero de 2020, de Actuall Sitio
web:
https://www.actuall.com/criterio/democracia/grandes-aportaciones-del-comunismo-la-revolucion-lenin-
la-patria/

Fundacionfedericoengels.net. 2020. [online] Available at:

<https://www.fundacionfedericoengels.net/images/PDF/engels_antiduhring_interior.pdf>
[Accessed 2 May 2020].

Brown, R., & Brown, R. (2020). How Lenin manipulated the Russian Revolution to his own ends | The
Spectator. Retrieved 25 February 2020, from
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.spectator.co.uk/2017/03/how-lenin-manipulated-the-russian-revol
ution-to-his-own-ends/amp/

Marx's Theory of Stages: The Withering Away of the State Under Socialism | Ralph Raico. (2020).
Retrieved 27 February 2020, from
https://mises.org/library/marxs-theory-stages-withering-away-state-under-socialism

2020. [online] Available at:

<https://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_RFSP_623_0433--was-karl-marx-truly-against-human-rights.htm>
[Accessed 12 March 2020].

Glaza, H., 2020. Lenin's New Economic Policy: What It Was And How It Changed The Soviet Union.
[online] Inquiries Journal. Available at:
<http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1670/lenins-new-economic-policy-what-it-was-and-how-it-ch
anged-the-soviet-union> [Accessed 12 March 2020].

Stephenhicks.org. 2020. Marx’S Philosophy And The *Necessity* Of Violent Politics – Stephen Hicks,
Ph.D.. [online] Available at:
<http://www.stephenhicks.org/2013/02/18/marxs-philosophy-and-the-necessity-of-violent-politics/>
[Accessed 12 March 2020].

OF VLADIMIR ILYICH LENIN on Education. (2020). Retrieved 18 March 2020, from

https://newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Lenin.html

How the 'Red Terror' Exposed the True Turmoil of Soviet Russia 100 Years Ago. (2020). Retrieved 19
March 2020, from ​https://time.com/5386789/red-terror-soviet-history/

Isreview.org. 2020. Lenin’S Marxism | International Socialist Review. [online] Available at:
<https://isreview.org/issue/72/lenins-marxism> [Accessed 2 May 2020].
 Emma Watson is a UN Women Goodwill
Ambassador. She has, according to UN
Women's site,“visited Bangladesh and
Zambia as part of her humanitarian efforts.
(She has also) served as an ambassador
for Camfed International, a movement to
educate girls in rural Africa.”

UN Women. 2020. UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma

Watson. [online] Available at:
<https://www.unwomen.org/en/partnerships/goodwill-ambassadors/emma-watson> [Accessed 28
April 2020].
Liberalism and Expansion of the
Industrial Society
Key activity
Fourth Delivery

Ana Lorena Ortiz Loyola Solana

A01750283

Master. María Clara Beatriz Morales González

Delivery date: 30/04/20

Video links

https://drive.google.com/a/itesm.mx/file/d/1FV9rxGYDU2a3qurFS1qQETwY2OlOcTCZ/view
?usp=drivesdk

or

https://youtu.be/VfGibTNPnwY

Video citations
Bruk, D. (2020). Why do most Russian women hate feminism?. Retrieved 26 April 2020,
from
https://www.rbth.com/opinion/2014/03/08/whats_so_great_about_being_treated_like_a_man
_34907.html

Fitzpatrick, S. (2020). Sheila Fitzpatrick · Pessimism and Boys: the diary of a Soviet
schoolgirl · LRB 6 May 2004. Retrieved 26 April 2020, from
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v26/n09/sheila-fitzpatrick/pessimism-and-boys

기계형. (2008). Everyday Life and Gender Politics: Zhenotdel in early Soviet Russia,
1919-1923. Women And History, null(8), 121-168. doi: 10.22511/women..8.200806.121
 Reflection

Through my investigation and analysis of Lenin's debatable contribution to his homeland, I

could dive into current social issues in Russia that were not originally within my intended
scope.

For example, the common Russian outlook on feminism made no sense to me the first time I
heard about it, while talking with a Russian friend about feminism, and when I asked her
about the movement in her country she that the Russian feminist movement had no point in
existing and she went on to say that most of her friends thought likewise. As a result of our
talk, I felt prompted to know more about their culture.

After doing my research from a historical standpoint on the specific Sustainable

Development Goal I had already chosen time before - precisely the “Gender Equality” Goal-,
I could start to understand my friend’s point of view.

I learned that the Soviet Union (led firstly by Lenin) tried to gain a larger base of supporters
and force labour, under the statement that women could outgrow their “enslaving” traditional
roles and work outside the house. According to the Bolsheviks, the first step towards equality
was having left behind capitalism, because they argued this system depended largely on
women being put upon by their bosses or husbands who regarded them as a source of
cheap or even unpaid labour. In light of this, Lenin focused primarily on easing the access of
women to work and to a higher education. However, it was overseen that women now had a
double burden, since their male counterparts weren’t pushed to help in the domestic tasks.

Once women were no longer expected to have a job, after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
they accepted -even merrily- the traditional female roles. And well, my friend had a point,
they don’t need...our type of feminism. They already had many of the liberties we, as
Mexicans, were just beginning to fight for. Thus, they don’t need to be granted more
freedoms because they can exercise them to their full extent, but they do need to be freed
from all the stereotypes surrounding them since long time ago.

During my investigation, I came across a constant question: whether Communism is a viable

way of government: and my sudden (but short-lived) uncertainty aroused due to several of
Marx's claims. Nevertheless, I implemented the skills we have developed in the course to
solve this objectively, but the most important were: critical thinking -with which I observe the
elements involved in this ideology like the absence of democracy-, information literacy -by
searching through various reliable sources (according to the CARS checklist), and
organization -by checking what information was essential for my work.

This project has also taught me to reevaluate that historical figures, like any other person,
evolved in their actions, so we as interpreters of their actions should have an open mindset
and adapt it to the different circumstances we study. In this way, I will make use of the
knowledge I take from this work to analyze global challenges in terms of politics, culture and
society.