Question

The role of individual and society in historical devlopment

Answer 1

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Answer 2

There are many bourgeois historians who believe that history is made by “Great Men and Women”, kings and queens, statesmen and politicians. It is this unscientific approach that Marxism is opposed to. However, Marxists do not deny the role of individuals in history. History is made by people. But we need to uncover the dialectical relationship between the individual (the subjective) and the great forces (objective) that govern the movement of society and see this role in its historical context.

Alan Woods in his book on the Venezuelan Revolution recalls a conversation he had with Hugo Chavez, the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution. “I read a book by Plekhanov a long time ago”, commented President Chavez, “and it made a big impression on me. It was called The Role of the Individual in History.” The President pondered the title and said: “Well, I know none of us is really indispensable.” Alan interjected, however, and corrected the Venezuelan President on this point: “There are times in history when an individual can make a fundamental difference.” A case in point is Hugo Chavez himself.

Hugo Chavez has come to personify the Bolivarian Revolution unfolding in Venezuela. He is connected with the forces unleashed by the revolution, namely the oppressed masses. Chavez personifies their hopes and aspirations. He influences them and they influence him. He is totally identified with them. In the eyes of the masses, he has the necessary authority to potentially see the revolution through to the end. It is a graphic example of the role of the revolutionary leader in history, described by Plekhanov.

In the past, the role of the individual in history (the “subjective factor” in Marxist terminology) has been the subject of heated debate. There are many bourgeois historians even today who believe that history is made by “Great Men and Women”, kings and queens, statesmen and politicians. Supposedly through their force of character, they have shaped history while the masses play little or no role. Thus, Hitler started the Second World War and the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand began the First. Little attention is played to economic, political or social forces which operate largely behind the scenes.

There are those who argue that individuals determine nothing, but are thrown about by the greater objective forces of history. This school of thought represents fatalism, where individuals act as mere marionettes, their strings pulled by some invisible hand. This idea is derived from a Calvinist doctrine that all human action is divinely predestined, like some lunar eclipse. It is the frame of mind expressed in Luther’s words, “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.” The domination of Fate rules out any idea of individual freedom and the independent activity of the masses. We are all reduced to the role of pawns.

This is however not the case. History is made by people. Marxists, unlike the superficial fatalists, do not deny the role of the individual, his initiative or audacity (or lack of it), in the social struggle. It is the task of Marxism to uncover the dialectical relationship between the individual (the subjective) and the great forces (objective) that govern the movement of society. Historical materialism does not dismiss the role of the individual, of personality, in history, but sees this role in its historical context. Marxism explains that no person, no matter how talented, capable or farsighted, can determine the main course of historical development, which is shaped by objective forces. However, under critical circumstances, the role played by individuals can be decisive, the last decisive link in the chain of causality. Under certain circumstances, the “subjective factor” can become the most important fact in history. The role of Lenin in the Russian Revolution is such an example, to which we will return later.