Scientific_communism
Scientific communism
Ideological term used in the Soviet Union
Scientific communism (Russian: Научный коммунизм, nauchny kommunizm), is one of three major elements of Marxism. The communist literature defines it as "the science dealing with general socio-political laws and patterns, ways, forms and methods of changing society" along communist lines, according to the historical mission of the proletariat (the proletarian revolution); in other words, it is the science regarding the "working-class" struggle and the social revolution, about the supposed "laws behind the building of socialism and communism, and about the world revolutionary process as a whole."[1] In a broader sense, "scientific communism" can mean Marxism–Leninism as a whole; the "scientific expression of the radical interests and objectives involved in the struggle of the working class."[1][2] In other words, it was the Marxist-Leninist school of sociology.[3]
The term "scientific communism" has been already used by Marx, Engels, Lenin, and other early communists; however it was used in reference to their point of view on the socialist and communist movements in the world, rather than a separate entire scientific discipline.[3]
Mikhail Nemtsev points out that in the Soviet Union "social sciences" were seen as educational disciplines whose primary goal was forming the "correct", i.e. communist, worldview. It was an instrument for indoctrination, rather than for gaining objective knowledge.[3]