WHAT THEORY DID DE LEON ADD TO MARXISM?
De Leon died three years before the Russian revolution. De Leonism is an interpretation of Marxism which is extremely different from the one put forth by Lenin and his successors in various countries. There is no advocacy of state ownership of the industries. There is no belief that political government should nationalize the industries, under the leadership of a supposed working class party. The goal, rather, is direct democratic control of all industries and services by the workers united in an industrial union. Rather than governing in the name of the working class, as in the Leninist countries, De Leon asserted that a socialist political party has but one thing to do upon winning control of the political offices, and that is to transfer all management authority to the workers’ councils, and, in so doing, abolish all political forms of power, including abolition of the socialist political party itself, without delay. De Leonism calls for a complete change in the structure of governm
