Substitutionism

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}} {{short description|Term in Marxist theory}} {{Trotskyism|concepts}} '''Substitutionism''' is a term in Marxist theory which refers to the relationship between the revolutionary party and the working class, in which the party acts on behalf of the working class rather than through its direct participation. The concept is used by Marxist critics to describe a departure from the Marxist principle that the emancipation of the working class must be carried out by itself.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1879/09/17.htm|title=Strategy and Tactics of the Class Struggle|website=Marxist Internet Archive|last=Engels|first=Friedrich|author-link=Friedrich Engels|date=September 17–18, 1879|access-date=August 19, 2010}}</ref> The term was coined by Leon Trotsky in 1904 as a critique of Vladimir Lenin’s conception of the party, arguing that it risked sidelining the working class in favor of party leadership.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/cliff/works/1960/xx/trotsub.htm|title=Trotsky on substitutionism|last=Cliff|first=Tony|author-link=Tony Cliff|journal=International Socialism|issue=2|pages=14–17, 22–26|year=1960|access-date=August 19, 2010|issn=1754-4653}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}} {{Country study}} {{cite web |title=A Country Study: Soviet Union (Former). |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html|accessdate=2006-12-04}}

==Further reading== *{{cite book|last=Trotsky|first=Leon|author-link=Leon Trotsky|year=1904|chapter=Tactical Tasks: The content of our activity in the proletariat|title=Our Political Tasks|location=London|publisher=New Park Publications|oclc=657979984|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1904/tasks/ch03.htm}}

Category:Communist terminology Category:Political theories Category:Political parties Category:Trotskyism