Hong Yan and Wang Shengzhen: The Generative Logic and Contemporary Value of Lenin's "Theory of Instillation"
The "theory of infusion" originated in the thought of Marx and Engels regarding communist education, was first proposed and enriched by Kautsky, and finally reached maturity within Lenin's theoretical explorations and practical realizations. However, since Lenin systematically proposed the theory of infusion, controversy within the academic community has never ceased. In particular, "in the early 20th century, through the interpretation of figures like Dewey, infusion evolved from a concept synonymous with education into education's antithesis, becoming a target of public denunciation by the contemporary Western mainstream pedagogical community." In the face of various criticisms, we must maintain a Marxist standpoint, understand Lenin's theory of infusion completely and accurately, return to its authentic connotation, and allow it to radiate new value for the times.
I. The Generative Logic of Lenin’s "Theory of Infusion"
Lenin's theory of infusion was proposed against the backdrop of the development of the international communist movement, specifically taking the reality of the Russian Social-Democratic revolution as its practical basis.
First, it arose from the developmental needs of the Social-Democratic Party. When the Russian Social-Democratic Party was first established, it was not yet strictly distinguished from other factions. Furthermore, two fundamentally opposed factions (by no means mere differences in local viewpoints) existed within the Party regarding the Russian workers' movement, which seriously affected the image and long-term development of the Russian Social-Democratic Party. This required a strict distinction in practice between the Russian Social-Democratic Party and other non-Social-Democratic parties; otherwise, it would lead to extremely deplorable consequences. Lenin pointed out: "Only short-sighted people can consider factional disputes and a strict differentiation of shades to be inopportune or superfluous." Aiming at the Russian "Economists" [1] who worshiped the spontaneity of the workers' movement and were obsessed with the "amateurish methods" [2] present in the organization of workers' movement work, Lenin launched a fierce critique: "Both these groups of people, the opportunists and the 'revolutionaries,' bow to the prevailing amateurish methods; neither believes that it is possible to get rid of them, and neither understands our primary and most imperative practical task to establish an organization of revolutionaries capable of lending energy, stability, and continuity to the political struggle." The Social-Democratic Party and the "Economists" had no common ground whatsoever on the issue of establishing an organization of revolutionaries. The Social-Democratic Party insisted on arming the whole Party with Marxist theory, strengthening the Party’s theoretical construction, formulating a unified program, and building a centralized and unified proletarian party to resolve the problem of spontaneity in the course of the workers' movement and to enhance its consciousness.
Second, it arose from the developmental needs of the Social-Democratic movement. The Social-Democratic movement is an international movement. Since every country has its own historical and cultural characteristics and specific national conditions vary, the Social-Democratic movements of various countries need to draw on and learn from each other. However, success is impossible through the simple mechanical copying of other countries' experiences. This required the Russian Social-Democratic Party to be adept at viewing these experiences with a critical attitude, testing them independently, and finally carrying out Marxist theoretical innovation in combination with the specific realities of Russia. Compared with developed capitalist countries, Russia was economically backward. When the world’s developed capitalist countries were advancing toward imperialism one after another, Russia had only just completed its industrial revolution; it belonged to the category of underdeveloped capitalism, and domestic social contradictions were acute. Under the impact of the developed capitalist countries of Western Europe, Russia stood at a crossroads of social development; which direction to develop in became a realistic problem Russia had to face. In this situation, Russia was like a powder keg packed with explosives that could erupt into revolution at any moment, desperately needing the guidance of revolutionary theory. Practice proved that revolutionaries like Lenin were the "igniters," while Marxist theory was the "spark" [3]; educating the Russian worker masses with Marxist theory was the concrete practice of "ignition." This is because "the spontaneous struggle of the proletariat will not become its genuine 'class struggle' until this struggle is led by a strong organization of revolutionaries."
Third, it arose from the need for Social Democrats to fulfill their national mission. Russia at that time was a country with a backward economy and culture. Looking at its class structure and the actual thinking of the masses, "a surging wave of the petty bourgeoisie swallowed everything, overwhelming the conscious proletariat not only in numbers but also in ideology"; petty-bourgeois political views infected and captured the broad masses of workers. The Russian workers' movement was prone to the "Economist" concept of the theory of spontaneity. At the same time, many people lacking theoretical cultivation joined the movement after seeing its practical results. This also caused the Russian workers' movement to be more susceptible to the cult of spontaneity. The root of the crisis in the Russian Social-Democratic Party was that the activity of the worker masses exceeded the activity of the Social Democrats; there was a lack of revolutionary leaders and organizers with sufficient theoretical cultivation, resulting in a situation where "we have not fulfilled our mission." The proletariat is the ideal audience for Marxist theoretical education; they most urgently need comprehensive and vivid political knowledge, and they are best able to transform political knowledge into active political struggle. Therefore, the task of infusing Marxist theory into the proletariat became even more pressing.
II. The Authentic Connotation of Lenin’s "Theory of Infusion"
The authentic connotation of "infusion" as spoken of by Lenin should be the organic unity of Marxist theoretical innovation and education, specifically including the fact that Social-Democratic consciousness is difficult to form spontaneously, and that Social-Democratic consciousness is a theory of conscious creation.
First, Social-Democratic consciousness is difficult to form spontaneously. Why is it difficult for the worker masses to generate Social-Democratic consciousness in the economic struggle? Lenin did not provide a systematic explanation, which left room for the academic community to question and negate Lenin’s "theory of infusion." Some scholars suggested that although Lenin "quoted Kautsky's viewpoint under special circumstances, he did so with reservations. Moreover, Lenin later seemed to correct the view that 'the proletariat itself cannot produce socialist consciousness'." However, the facts are definitely not so. It is impossible for workers to spontaneously form Social-Democratic consciousness because Social-Democratic consciousness is a class consciousness, not the individual consciousness of a single worker. Lukács clearly pointed out that class consciousness is a rational cognition reflecting a specific position in the production process; it is not the sum of what individual members of the class think and feel. "The historically significant actions of the class as a whole are determined in the last resort by this consciousness and not by the thought of the individual, and can be recognized only by grasping this consciousness. This determination establishes from the start the difference... between class consciousness and the empirically actual, psychologically describable and explicable ideas which men form about their situation in life." As a class consciousness, Social-Democratic consciousness cannot arise spontaneously in the social life of the individual. Without receiving external "infusion," individual workers in their daily lives find it difficult to spontaneously form Social-Democratic consciousness. Émile Durkheim believed that if we want to become the kind of people society requires, we must regulate our thoughts and behaviors according to social requirements; otherwise, "we cannot form a social personality, or even become truly human. Therefore, although this process is painful, it is necessary. If this is called infusion, then infusion is inevitable." From this, it can be seen that for the proletariat to form Social-Democratic consciousness, it must accept "infusion."
Second, Social-Democratic consciousness is a theory of conscious creation. Social-Democratic consciousness is the socialist doctrine that guides proletarian revolution and construction; it is an abstract theoretical doctrine that cannot arise spontaneously and must undergo theoretical innovation by cultivated intellectuals. As Lenin stated: "The theory of socialism, however, grew out of the philosophic, historical, and economic theories elaborated by educated representatives of the propertied classes, by intellectuals." In the view of Marx and Engels, human thoughts and ideas are not infused from the outside but are generated from one's own life, production, and social relations. Marx and Engels indeed said: "Consciousness can never be anything else than conscious existence, and the existence of men is their actual life-process." However, when Marx and Engels said that social existence determines social consciousness, they did not mean that social consciousness can arise spontaneously from social existence, but rather that the content of social consciousness comes from people’s real life and social existence, and that changes in social consciousness are determined by real life and social existence. Moreover, human consciousness is a reflection characterized by relative independence and creativity; it is the reflection of external material objects modified by the human brain. "Material things" that have been "modified" are clearly different from the external, objectively existing matter itself; rather, they are the "necessary sublimates" of people’s material life processes. Furthermore, social conscious activity is carried out with the aid of language. Social consciousness is the content of language, while language is the form of social consciousness. Only with the aid of language can humans carry out abstract generalization, reflect the essence and laws of things, and, based on concepts and the relationships between concepts, make judgments and inferences, thereby creating new theoretical systems.
In summary, it is impossible for the working class to spontaneously generate proletarian political consciousness. Proletarian political consciousness, as a conscious theory, requires intellectuals to carry out theoretical innovation and educate the proletariat for it to be formed—that is, what Lenin referred to as "infusing" it into the workers from the outside. Therefore, Lenin’s "theory of infusion" belongs to the category of proletarian ideological and political education practice; it is the organic unity of the propagandist "taking up the pen" to carry out Marxist theoretical innovation and the agitator "opening the mouth" to carry out Marxist theoretical education.
III. The Value of Lenin’s "Theory of Infusion" for the Times
Entering the New Era, we must draw sufficient nourishment from Lenin’s "theory of infusion," giving full play to its role as a cornerstone for continuously promoting Marxist theoretical innovation, its role as theoretical support for carrying out ideological and political education in the New Era, and its role as an important pointer for strengthening the Party’s ideological construction.
First, it is the foundation for continuously promoting Marxist theoretical innovation. Marxist theory is a developing theory; while infusing Marxist theory, we cannot view it as immutable dogma. Lenin repeatedly emphasized that young nations engaging in the socialist movement cannot simply copy the ready-made experiences of other countries, but must be adept at using a critical attitude to absorb and draw on the experiences of other countries, while simultaneously combining Marxism with the specific realities of their own country to carry out theoretical innovation and using the innovated theory to guide socialist revolution and construction—only then will victory be achieved. In this regard, we should constantly enrich and develop Marxist theory. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Xi Jinping as their chief representative, have persisted in "combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with China’s fine traditional culture." Standing at the historical convergence of the "Two Centenary Goals," the Communist Party of China has, in specific practice and specific historical environments, continuously "solved new problems facing China in the New Era and sought the correct answers to China’s realistic problems," putting forward original new viewpoints and concepts, founding Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and realizing a new leap in the Sinicization of Marxism. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Communist Party of China has led the broad masses of the people in overcoming various risks and challenges, tackling many long-standing difficult problems, accomplishing many major tasks concerning long-term interests, and achieving historical achievements that have attracted worldwide attention. The Communist Party of China has proved through practice that Lenin’s "theory of infusion" is not only not outdated, but is the "key" for the proletarian party to lead the broad masses in carrying out revolution and construction and continuously winning victories.
Second, it serves as the theoretical support for persevering in ideologico-political education in the New Era. Marxism holds that: "Theory also becomes a material force as soon as it has gripped the masses." Currently, the ideological struggle [4] both at home and abroad is exceptionally intense, and the great changes unseen in a century [5] are accelerating their evolution. Various hostile forces, domestic and foreign, attempt to infiltrate the broad masses of the people through various channels to force us to abandon our ideals and convictions in Marxism and communism and to "change flags and banners" [6]. "For a long time, various hostile forces have never stopped implementing the strategies of Westernization and fragmentation [7] against our country; they have never stopped subversive and destructive activities against the leadership of the Communist Party of China and our country's socialist system, and have always attempted to plot a 'color revolution' in our country." If we do not persist in taking Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as our guide and fail to carry out the necessary education in Marxist theory among the broad masses, it may result in bourgeois ideology and bourgeois elements quietly infiltrating the modernization construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics. For any belittlement of or departure from socialist ideology means the strengthening of bourgeois ideology. For a country and a nation to march toward victory, they must possess common ideals and convictions. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the Marxism of the 21st century and the ideological essence of the New Era. On the new historical journey, we must carry out education in Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era among the masses and continuously strengthen their "Four Confidences," [8] and we must never cultivate people who "have Chinese faces but not Chinese hearts, no Chinese sentiment, and a lack of Chinese flavor!"
Third, it provides an important pointer for comprehensively strengthening the Party’s ideological building. Lenin believed that the building of a proletarian party must achieve an organic unity of three principles: systematically persisting in the principle of ideological building guided by Marxist theory, the principle of strengthening Marxist theoretical education for Party members, and the organizational principle of strengthening the building of democratic-centralism within the Party. Lenin did not discuss the issue of Party building in isolation; rather, he systematically expounded the theory of Party building from the perspective of the mutual coordination and interconnection of economic, political, and theoretical struggles. The workers' movement can only achieve victory if it advances in a planned manner through the mutual coordination and interconnection of its theoretical, political, and practical-economic aspects. This is of great significance for the Party in strengthening its ideological building. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized many times that to govern the country, one must first govern the Party, and the Party must be governed strictly. "To forge iron, one must be strong oneself" [9]; the key to managing China's affairs well lies with the Party. In the New Era, to practice comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, we must pay attention to the systemic, holistic, and synergistic nature of Party building, and continue to do a good job in the Party's ideological building, organizational building, conduct building, discipline building, and institutional building. We must continuously enhance the Party's capacity for political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social mobilization. Strengthening the Party's ideological building in the New Era and persisting in arming the entire Party with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to guide the practice of socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics is a major political task for the whole Party today. To "clear the source and rectify the root" [10] ideologically, to "strengthen the foundation and cultivate the essence," [11] to "build a solid foundation for faith, replenish the 'calcium' of the spirit, and steady the helm of ideology" [12]—these constitute the ideological basis for Chinese Communists to maintain their political character, stand tall with spiritual backbone, and improve their levels of scientific, democratic, and law-based governance.