Art and Revolution

Art, like science, not only does not seek orders, but by its very essence, cannot tolerate them. Artistic creation has its laws - even when it consciously serves a social movement. Truly intellectual creation is incompatible with lies, hypocrisy and the spirit of conformity. Art can become a strong ally of revolution only insofar as it remains faithful to itself.
— Leon Trotsky, 1938

In these writings, one of the outstanding revolutionary leaders of the twentieth century discusses important questions of literature, art, and culture in a period of capitalist decline and working-class struggle. From the vantage point of a leader of the early Soviet republic and then its defender against the political counter-revolution led by Joseph Stalin and his supporters, Trotsky examines the place of art and artistic creation in building a new, socialist society.