Social psychology elaborated by psychologists andhistorians in relation to the past is a gigantic laboratory to studyand check ideas which we need in our contemporary practice.Moulding communist relations and bringing up the new manrequire not only current observations and recommendations, butalso fundamental investigation. O u r interest in the fundamentalsis also prompted by the complex subjective element in the socialstruggle in the capitalist countries and the young national states.Those who want a truly Marxist social psychology should bearin mind that the deeper the foundation is laid, the more enduringis the edifice.It remains for the author to add that he has by-passed thechief trends in contemporary Western social psychology. Theyare numerous, their ideas and methods are v a rie d .1 Theircommon trait is that they are not social in the full sense of theword. Their subject matter is not human societies and communities,but aggregates of individuals.This book isan"cxposition of ideas about the au th o r’s attemptsto find an altogether different approach.Translated from the Russian by Ivan SavinEdited by Vic SchneiersonDesigned by M. ShlusbergMany thanks to Daniel Baker for the original scans.Note: Some pages are warped.