The Actual Lenin: Reclaiming the Figure from the South

Drawing on clear readings of What Is to Be Done? The State and Revolution, and key episodes in Southern political history, the book explores how Lenin understood crisis, organisation, and political timing. It demonstrates how his method (thinking and acting within conjuncture) offers practical tools for analysing contemporary conflicts across the South. By connecting long‐standing debates in Marxism with current Global South scholarship, Samaddar provides an innovative alternative to traditional Lenin studies and expands a field still dominated by Eurocentric perspectives. He also traces Lenin’s global legacy, showing why his analyses of imperialism and uneven development remain vital for understanding sovereignty, democracy, and development today.

Written for students and researchers across political theory, international relations, sociology, and postcolonial studies, The Actual Lenin offers an accessible, authoritative guide for anyone seeking to understand crisis, imperialism, and the possibilities of radical politics in the twenty‐first century.