[13] Ralph Carter Elwood, "Lenin and the Social Democratic Schools for Underground Party Workers, 1909–11," Political Science Quarterly , vol. 81, no. 3 (1966), pp. 370–91.
[14] On Vpered in general see Krisztina Mänicke-Gyöngyösi, "Proletarische Wissenschaft" und "Sozialistische Menschheitsreligion" als Modelle proletarischer Kultur (Berlin, 1982), pp. 25–67; K. A. Ostroukhova, "Gruppa 'Vpered,' 1909–1917 gg.," Proletarskaia revoliutsiia , no. 1 (1925), pp. 198–219; "Vpered," in Bol'shaia sovetskaia entsiklopediia (Moscow, 1926–1947), vol. 13, columns 386–89; and N. Voitinskii, "O gruppe 'Vpered,' 1907–1917 gg.," Proletarskaia revoliutsiia , no. 12 (1929), pp. 59–119.
― 8 ―
nition from the Bolshevik faction only as a literary group, included a new element in their critique of Lenin and his politics: proletarian culture. In the Vpered platform, written by Bogdanov, they argued that the party had to look beyond narrow political and economic interests to prepare ideologically for the coming revolution.
There is only one conclusion. Using the old bourgeois culture, create a new proletarian one opposed to the old and spread it to the masses. Develop a proletarian science, strengthen authentic comradely relations in the proletarian milieu, devise a proletarian philosophy, and turn art in the direction of proletarian aspirations and experience.[15]
From this point on, proletarian culture became a major theme in Bogdanov's political writings. He made it clear that he did not mean art, science, or philosophy alone. Rather for Bogdanov proletarian culture meant a distinctive class ideology. It was the spirit of socialism already apparent in embryonic form within capitalist society and expressed through the proletariat's comradely collective working habits and organizational structures.[16] In his expansive use of the term, culture had the function of organizing human perception and hence shaping action in the world. Because of the existence of social classes, there could be no unified, common basis to human perception. It was the proletariat's task to create its own ideology, its own way to structure human experience. Because the working class was organized collectively through a labor process that enhanced comradely social relations, proletarian culture would contain a more unified, harmonious view of the world than the class cultures that preceded it.
Bogdanov's ideas on proletarian culture paralleled those of Marx on proletarian class rule. The proletariat was the "uni-
[15] "Platforma gruppy 'Vpered': Sovremennoe polozhenie i zadachi partii," reprinted in Sochineniia , by V. I. Lenin, 3d. ed. (Moscow, 1936), vol. 14, pp. 452–69, quotation p. 455.
[16] A. A. Bogdanov [Maksimov, pseud.], "Sotsializm v nastoiashchem," Vpered , no. 2 (1911), columns 59–71, esp. 70–71.
― 9 ―
versal class"; it alone embodied the values of the classless society. Proletarian culture, Bogdanov argued, would be the most universal and inclusive of all class cultures. It would provide a fundamental preparatory step toward the creation of a truly human, classless culture in the future.[17] He insisted that cultural transformation was not a frivolous enterprise; on the contrary, it was an essential prerequisite for a successful socialist revolution. Until the proletariat devised its own collective class ideology it would forever depend on the values of the bourgeoisie. Proletarian culture was the only way to insure the victory of socialism. It had to be nurtured and developed before the proletarian revolution in order for socialism to flourish.
To implement his ambitious ideas, Bogdanov looked to institutions like the Capri school. Such programs, which he called "proletarian universities," would be open to the most sophisticated representatives of the working class. They, in turn, were to form the basis of the new proletarian intelligentsia, which would then begin the task of organizing the broad mass of workers.[18] Thus Bogdanov's program was essentially an exclusive one; he was not proposing methods for mass education. Rather than abandoning the vanguardist principles of Bolshevism, he reassessed them to insure that the vanguard came from the proletariat itself.
Vpered was not a successful political group. The Capri school had only one brief sequel, in the socialist city of Bologna during the winter of 1910–1911. By then it had no official ties to the Bolshevik center. Vperedists fell victim to émigré infighting, and Bogdanov left the circle entirely by 1911.[19] His