Join Hank Millstein for a discussion of a selection of Lenin’s writings from 1917, conveniently collected in Revolution at the Gates by Slavoj Zizek.  You can register here.

These writings chart Lenin’s course from relative political isolation (even within his own Bolshevik party) to leader of the Great October Socialist Revolution—a revolution that many of his close comrades thought impossible. We will explore the lessons that these writings and the political struggle they document have for us in the US 100 years later, avoiding easy parallels but also alert to connections and possibilities that may not seem obvious.

The articles by Lenin to be discussed in this class can also be found at marxists.org.  They are the following:

“Letters from Afar”
“The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution (April Theses)”
“On Slogans”|
“The Impending Catastrophe and How to Combat It”
“One of the Fundamental Questions of Our Revolution”
“The Bolsheviks Must Assume Power”
“Marxism and Insurrection”
“The Tasks of the Revolution”
“The Crisis Has Matured”
“Advice of an Onlooker”
“Letter to Comrades”
“Meeting of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies”