Criticism and self-criticism

Criticism and self-criticism or autocritique is a core democratic centralist principle. In practice, people (especially party members) are encouraged to assess their own mistakes and ideological failures, usually confessing them in a public setting to encourage behavior modification.

The concept of self-criticism is a component of some Marxist schools of thought, primarily that of Marxism–Leninism, Maoism and Marxism–Leninism–Maoism. The concept was first introduced by Joseph Stalin in his 1924 work The Foundations of Leninism and later expanded upon in his 1928 work Against Vulgarising the Slogan of Self-Criticism. The Marxist concept of self-criticism is also present in the works of Mao Zedong, who dedicates an entire chapter of The Little Red Book to the issue. Accordingly, many party members in the Eastern Bloc who had fallen out of favor with the nomenklatura were forced to undergo self-criticism sessions, producing either written or verbal statements detailing their ideological errors and affirming their renewed belief in the party line.