Re: What is praxis?
Bruce Robinson (bruce.rob who-is-at btinternet.com)
Thu, 6 May 1999 21:53:19 +0100
>One of Lenin's most significant contributions to the art of revolution,
>most explicitly articulated in What Is To Be Done? was the argument for a
>professional revolutionary party to lead the working class on its historic
>mission, the overthrow of capitalism, because the capitalist state would
>never allow the class to develop a revolutionary consciousness
>spontaneously (secret police, provocateurs, counterrevolutionary dirty
>tricks, etc, and the manipulation of Gramsci's ideological hegemony to
>create false consciousness) In Vygotsky's few political writings I see no
>rejection of Lenin's ideas.
Pete (or anyone else),
Which of Vygotsky's writings are you thinking of? The essay 'The Socialist
transformation of man'? (I'm not sure if that's the right title.)
In my more off the wall moments, I've wondered whether there aren't striking
parallels between Lenin, and particularly, Trotsky's accounts of the
development of political consciousness and Vygotsky's account of individual
psychological development. I do know Trotsky was cited by Vygotsky, but as
far as I know he only used his writings on the possibilities of humanity
changing in a socialist society. I'd be interested to know if there's any
evidence he ever used their more political writings.
Bruce Robinson