Withering away of the state
The phrase withering away of the state is used by Marxists to describe the process by which the state, in this case the dictatorship of the proletariat, dissolves itself, completing the transition into stateless society. A similar version of this phrase was said by Friedrich Engels in his 1877 work Anti-Dühring, when he stated: "State interference in social relations becomes, in one domain after another, superfluous, and then dies out of itself; the government of persons is replaced by the administration of things, and by the conduct of processes of production. The state is not 'abolished'. It dies out."[a][1] This understanding contrasts with the perspectives held by other tendencies such as anarchism which seek the immediate abolition of the state in all its forms.
The concept of the withering away of the state was further elaborated in Vladimir Lenin's 1917 piece The State and Revolution. In this work, it is detailed that the state — being a product of irreconcilable class struggle — exists with the purpose of oppressing one class for the benefit of another. Within the context of the proletarian state, it exists chiefly to suppress and fend off the overthrown capitalist exploiters. When socialism has triumphs globally and class divisions and inequities are rectified, the material conditions for the state disappears, prompting it to slowly dissipate until it ceases to be a separate body in society altogether.[2]
See also
- Communism, the mode of production under which this takes place
References
- ↑ Friedrich Engels (1877). Anti-Dühring, Part III: Socialism. Chapter II: Theoretical.
- ↑ Vladimir Lenin (1917). The State and Revolution, Chapter V: "The Economic Basis of the Withering Away of the State".
Notes
- ↑ German: "Der Staat wird nicht „abgeschafft“, er stirbt ab."
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 | Slavery | |
| Feudalism | ||
| Capitalism | ||
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