In the context of revolutionary struggle, vanguardism is a strategy whereby an organization (usually a vanguard party) attempts to place itself at the center of the movement, and steer it in a direction consistent with its ideology. The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789 during the French Revolution. ... A vanguard party is a political party at the forefront, or that wants to be at the forefront, of a mass action or movement. ...

Often, following the overthrow of the previous order, vanguardist organizations will attempt to seize state power and use it in order to achieve its goals of reshaping society. The classic historical example of this is the Bolshevik-led October Revolution. A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern the people in one or more societies, having internal and external sovereignty over a definite territory. ... Bolsheviks (Russian: IPA , derived from bolshinstvo, majority) were members of the Bolshevik faction of the Marxist Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split apart from the Menshevik faction[1] at the Second Party Congress in 1903 and ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. ... Bolshevik (1920), by Boris Kustodiev. ...

Vanguardism continues to be used as a political strategy by Leninist parties of just about all varieties -- Trotskyist, Stalinist and Maoist. Doing so, they fulfill the concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat, by turning from a revolutionary organization into a form of bureaucracy that dissolves when the people are sufficiently empowered to rule themselves. Although most anarchists and radical libertarians reject vanguardism as inherently authoritarian, the practices of some anarchist groups have been criticized by their peers for constituting vanguardism of the intellectual, if not organizational, variety. Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin, and by other theorists who claim to be carrying on Lenins work. ... Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. ... Joseph Stalin. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The dictatorship of the proletariat is a term employed by Karl Marx in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Program that refers to a transition period between capitalist and communist society in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. The term refers to a... Anarchism is the name of a political philosophy or a group of doctrines and attitudes that are centered on rejection of any form of compulsory government (such as the state)[1] and support its elimination. ... Libertarian socialism includes a group of political philosophies that aims to create a society without political, economic or social hierarchies - a society within which individuals freely co-operate together as equals. ...

Vanguardism may more generally refer to cooperation between avant-garde individuals advancing in any field. Innovative writers and artists are often described as being in the vanguard in development of new forms and styles of art. A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ...

Notable Groups

• Aside from the entire Marxist-Leninist movement and its component communist parties
• The Guerrilla Girls, a group of anonymous feminist artists who promote women in the arts.
• United Anarchist Artists, a group of anarchists/artists who create short online videos, usually about politics and the George W. Bush administration.

Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ... A Communist party is a party which promotes Communism. ... The Guerrilla Girls are a group of feminist artists. ... Anarchists can refer to several things, among which: The movie Anarchists Supporters of the principles of anarchism The Anarchists (Les Anarchistes), a famous song from Léo Ferré A List of anarchists This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... An artist is someone who employs creative talent to produce works of art. ... Online means being connected to the Internet or another similar electronic network, like a bulletin board system. ... Politics is the process by which individuals or relatively small groups attempt to exert influence over the actions of an organization. ... The Bush administration includes President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Bushs Cabinet, and other select officials and advisors. ...

Further reading

Arts

• Burger, Peter. Theory of the Avant-Garde. Theory & History of Literature Series. 135 pages. University of Minnesota Press, February 1, 1984. ISBN 0-8166-1068-1.
• Forster, Merlin H. and K. David Jackson, compilers. Vanguardism in Latin American Literature : An Annotated Bibliographic Guide. Bibliographies and Indexes in World Literature Series. 232 pages. Greenwood Press, May 23, 1990. ISBN 0-313-24861-3.

Politics Washington Avenue Bridge at night The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, almost always abbreviated U of M, and sometimes referred to as The U by locals, is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system. ...

• Bakunin, Mikhail. Letter to Albert Richard. August 1870. Reprinted in Bakunin on Anarchy, translated and edited by Sam Dolgoff. A. A. Knopf, 1st edition, 1972. ISBN 0-394-41601-5. Retrieved May 17, 2005.
• Mandel, Ernst. Trotsky’s conception of self-organisation and the vanguard party. Originally published in French in Quatrième Internationale, No.36, pp.35-49. November 1989.Translated by Mike Murray, marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive. Retrieved May 24, 2005.
• Mitchell, Roxanne and Frank Weiss. Two, Three, Many Parties of a New Type? Against the Ultra-Left Line. Publisher: United Labor Press. 1977. Retrieved May 25, 2005.
• Slaughter, Cliff. What is Revolutionary Leadership?. Labour Review. Socialist Labor League. 1964?. Retrieved May 17, 2005.

Polemics Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (Russian — Михаил Александрович Бакунин, Michel Bakunin — on the grave in Bern), (May 18 (30 N.S.), 1814–June 19 (July 1 N.S.), 1876) was a well-known Russian revolutionary, and often considered one of the “fathers of modern anarchism. // In the spring of 1814, Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin was born... Sam Dolgoff (1902-1990) was an American anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist. ... The Workers Revolutionary Party was a Trotskyist political party in the United Kingdom. ... Polemic is the art or practice of disputation or controversy, as in religious, philosophical, or political matters. ...

• Mythology of the White-Led "Vanguard": A Critical Look at the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. Anarchist People of Color website. Retrieved May 17, 2005.
• Cooper, Nick. Critique of Revolutionary Communism . Belgium Indymedia. Sep. 23, 2004. Retrieved June, 3, 2005.