Socialism Many socialists with a
class struggle viewpoint see working-class culture as a vital element of the
proletariat which they champion. One of the first organisations for proletarian culture was
Proletkult, founded in Russia shortly after the
February Revolution, supported by
Alexander Bogdanov, who had been co-leader of the
Bolsheviks with
Vladimir Lenin. The group included both Bolsheviks and their critics, and Bogdanov struggled to retain its independence following the
Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917. His erstwhile ally
Anatoly Lunacharsky had rejoined the Bolsheviks and was appointed
Commissar for Education. In
Literature and Revolution, Trotsky examined aesthetic issues in relation to class and the Russian revolution. Soviet scholar Robert Bird considered his work as the "first systematic treatment of art by a Communist leader" and a catalyst for later, Marxist cultural and critical theories. Trotsky presented a critique of contemporary literary movements such as
Futurism and emphasised a need of cultural autonomy for the development of a socialist culture. According to literary critic
Terry Eagleton, Trotsky recognised “like Lenin on the need for a socialist culture to absorb the finest products of bourgeois art”. Trotsky himself viewed the proletarian culture as “temporary and transitional” which would provide the foundations for a culture above classes. He also argued that the pre-conditions for artistic creativity were economic well-being and emancipation from material constraints. Political scientist Baruch Knei-Paz characterised
his view on the role of the party as transmitters of culture to the masses and raising the standards of education, as well as entry into the cultural sphere, but that the process of artistic creation in terms of language and presentation should be the domain of the practitioner. Knei-Paz also noted key distinctions between Trotsky’s approach on cultural matters and
Stalin's policy in the 1930s.
Marxist–Leninist states have declared an official working-class culture, most notably
socialist realism, whose constant aim is to glorify the worker, in contrast to typical independent working-class cultures. However, Lenin believed that there could be no authentic proletarian culture free from
capitalism and that high culture should be brought to the workers. The
millenarian nature of socialist working-class art is evident in the goals espoused by the leaders of revolutionary movements. The art forms for the masses were meant to shape a new consciousness and form the basis of a new culture and new man.
Working-class culture and the American Dream Many Americans falsely believe the U.S. is a "Land of Opportunity" that offers every child an equal chance at
social and
economic mobility. The idea of Americans rising from humble origins to riches has been called a "civil religion", "the bedrock upon which the American story has been anchored", and part of the American identity (the
American Dream) This theme is celebrated in the lives of famous Americans such as
Benjamin Franklin and
Henry Ford,). == See also ==