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Socialism

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

   Part of the Politics series on
   Socialism
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   Christian socialism
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   Anarchism
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   Trade unionism
   Utilitarianism
   Utopian socialism
   Ideas

   Class struggle
   Democracy
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   Equality of outcome
   Proletarian revolution
   Social justice
   Key issues

   Types of socialism
   Socialist economics
   History of socialism
   Criticisms of socialism
   People and organizations

   List of socialists
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   Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements
   that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the
   distribution of wealth are subject to social control. This control may
   be either direct—exercised through popular collectives such as workers'
   councils—or it may be indirect—exercised on behalf of the people by the
   state. As an economic system, socialism is often associated with state,
   community or worker ownership of the means of production.

   The modern socialist movement had its origin largely in the working
   class movement of the late-19th century. In this period, the term
   "socialism" was first used in connection with European social critics
   who condemned capitalism and private property. For Karl Marx, who
   helped establish and define the modern socialist movement, socialism
   implied the abolition of money, markets, capital, and labor as a
   commodity.

   It is difficult to make generalizations about the diverse array of
   doctrines and movements that have been referred to as "socialist," for
   the various adherents of contemporary socialist movements do not agree
   on a common doctrine or program. As a result, the movement has split
   into different and sometimes opposing branches, particularly between
   moderate socialists and communists. Since the 19th century, socialists
   have differed in their vision of socialism as a system of economic
   organization. Some socialists have championed the complete
   nationalization of the means of production, while some socialists
   influenced by anarchist thought favour decentralized collective
   ownership in the form of cooperatives or workers' councils. Social
   democrats have proposed selective nationalization of key industries
   within the framework of mixed economies. Stalinists insisted on the
   creation of Soviet-style command economies under strong central state
   direction. Others advocate " market socialism," in which social control
   exists within the framework of market economics and limited private
   property.

History of socialism

Early socialism

   The term "socialism" was first used in the context of early-19th
   century Western European social critics. In this period, socialism
   emerged from a diverse array of doctrines and social experiments
   associated primarily with British and French thinkers—particularly
   Robert Owen, Charles Fourier, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Louis Blanc, and
   Saint-Simon. These social critics saw themselves as reacting to the
   excesses of poverty and inequality in the period, and advocated reforms
   such as the egalitarian distribution of wealth and the transformation
   of society into small communities in which private property was to be
   abolished. Outlining principles for the reorganization of society along
   collectivist lines, Saint-Simon or Owen sought to build socialism on
   the foundations of planned, utopian communities.

   The words socialism and communism were used almost interchangeably in
   the beginnings of the socialist movement, prior to the formation of
   communism as a distinct movement. People chose to use one or the other
   on the basis of perceived attitude to religion. In Europe communism was
   considered to be the more atheistic of the two. In England, however,
   that sounded too close to communion with Catholic overtones; hence
   atheists preferred to call themselves socialists.

   Early socialists differed widely about how socialism was to be
   achieved; they differed sharply on key issues such as centralized
   versus decentralized control, the role of private property, the degree
   of egalitarianism, and the organization of family and community life.
   Moreover, while many emphasized the gradual transformation of society,
   most notably through the foundation of small, utopian communities, a
   growing number of socialists became disillusioned with the viability of
   this approach and instead emphasized direct political action.

The rise of Marxism

   Karl Marx
   Enlarge
   Karl Marx

   In the mid-19th century, the transformation of socialism into a
   political doctrine occurred as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels developed
   their own account of socialism as the outcome of a revolutionary class
   struggle between the proletariat and bourgeoisie.

   Marx and Engels regarded themselves as " scientific socialists" and
   distinguished themselves from the " utopian socialists" of earlier
   generations. For Marxists, socialism is viewed as a transitional stage
   characterized by state ownership of the means of production. They see
   this stage in history as a transition between capitalism and communism,
   the final stage of history. For Marx, a communist society entails the
   absence of differing social classes and thus the end of class warfare.
   According to Marx, once private property had been abolished, the state
   would then "wither away" and humanity would move on to a higher stage
   of society, communism. This distinction continues to be used by
   Marxists, and is the cause of much confusion. The Soviet Union, for
   example, never claimed that it was a communist society, even though it
   was ruled by a Communist party for more than seven decades. For
   communists, the name of the party is not meant to reflect the name of
   the social system but rather the party's ultimate goal.

Moderate socialism and communism

   In 1864, Marx founded the International Workingmen's Association, or
   First International, which held its first congress at Geneva in 1866.
   The First International was the first major international forum for the
   promulgation of socialist doctrine. However, socialists often disagreed
   on the proper strategy for achievement of their goals. Diversity and
   conflict between socialist thinkers was proliferating.

   Despite the rhetoric about socialism as an international force,
   socialists increasingly focused on the politics of the nation-state in
   the late 19th century. As universal male suffrage was introduced
   throughout the Western world in the first decades of the twentieth
   century, socialism became increasingly associated with newly formed
   trade unions and political parties aimed at mobilizing working class
   voters.

   The most notable of these groups was the Social Democratic Workers'
   Party of Germany (today known as the German Social Democratic Party),
   which was founded in 1869. These groups supported diverse views of
   socialism, from the gradualism of many trade unionists to the radical,
   revolutionary agendas of Marx and Engels. Nevertheless, although the
   orthodox Marxists of the party, which were led by Karl Kautsky, managed
   to retain the Marxist theory of revolution as the party's official
   doctrine, in practice the SPD became more and more reformist.

   As socialists gained more power and began to experience governmental
   authority first-hand, the focus of socialism shifted from theory to
   practice. Within the government, socialists became more pragmatic, as
   the success of their program increasingly depended on the consent of
   the middle and wealthy classes, who largely retained control of the
   bureaucratic machinery of the state. Moreover, with the beginnings of
   the modern welfare state, the condition of the working class began to
   gradually improve in the Western world, thus delaying further the
   socialist revolution predicted by Marx for Western Europe.

   As social democrats came to power and moved into government, divisions
   between the moderate and radical wings of socialism grew increasingly
   pronounced. On one hand, many socialist thinkers began to doubt the
   indispensability of revolution. Moderates like Eduard Bernstein argued
   that socialism could best be achieved through the democratic political
   process (a model increasingly known as social democracy). On the other
   hand, strong opposition to moderate socialism came from communists in
   countries such as the Russian Empire where a parliamentary democracy
   did not exist, and did not seem possible. Russian revolutionary
   Vladimir Lenin argued that revolution was the only path to socialism.
   In 1903, there was a formal split within the Russian social democratic
   party into revolutionary Bolshevik and reformist Menshevik factions.

   Meanwhile, anarchists and proponents of other alternative visions of
   socialism, who emphasized the potential of small-scale communities and
   agrarianism, coexisted with the more influential currents of Marxism
   and social democracy. The anarchists, led by the Russian Mikhail
   Bakunin, believed that capitalism and the state were inseparable, and
   that one could not be abolished without the other. Consequently, they
   were in opposition to most other socialist groups, who viewed anarchism
   as far too radical, and a split between the anarchists and the
   Socialist International soon occurred.

   The moderate, or revisionist, wing of socialism, led by Eduard
   Bernstein, dominated the meeting of the Second International in Paris
   in 1889. Lenin and the German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg emerged as
   leaders of the more radical minority, with followers of German theorist
   Karl Kautsky constituting a smaller faction. The anarchists were left
   out entirely. This disparity in views led to further division amongst
   socialist branches.
   Jean Jaurès haranguing workers under a red flag.
   Enlarge
   Jean Jaurès haranguing workers under a red flag.

   After the Second International, in the first decades of the twentieth
   century, moderate socialism became increasingly influential among many
   European intellectuals. In 1884 British middle class intellectuals
   organized the Fabian Society. The Fabians in turn helped lay the
   groundwork for the organization of the Labour Party in 1906. The French
   Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière (SFIO), founded in 1905
   under Jean Jaurès, and later Léon Blum, adhered to Marxist ideas but
   became, in practice, a reformist party.

   In the U.S. the Socialist Labor Party of America was founded in 1877.
   This party, small as it was, became fragmented in the 1890s due to the
   infighting of various factions. In 1901 a merge between a moderate
   faction of the Socialist Labor Party of America and the younger Social
   Democratic Party joined with Eugene V. Debs to form the Socialist Party
   of America. The influence of the party would, after some fanfare,
   gradually decline, and socialism would never become a major political
   force in the United States. Communism would also fail to gain a large
   following in the U.S., in part due to the later efforts of former
   Senator Joseph McCarthy and the blacklisting of prominent Americans by
   the government in the 1950s.

   The distinction between socialists and communists became more
   pronounced during, and after, World War I. When the First World War
   began in 1914, despite the assassination of influential French
   socialist Jean Jaurès, many European socialist leaders supported their
   respective governments. During the war, socialist parties in France and
   Germany supported their respective state's wartime military and
   economic planning, despite their ideological commitments to
   internationalism and solidarity. Lenin, however, denounced the war as
   an imperialist conflict, and urged workers worldwide to use it as an
   occasion for proletarian revolution. This ideological disagreement
   resulted in the collapse of the Second International.

The rise of the Soviet Union

   The Russian Revolution of 1917 marked the definitive split between
   Communists and social democrats. Communist parties in the Soviet Union
   and Europe dismissed the more moderate socialist parties and, for the
   most part, broke off contact.

   The Communist Party of the Soviet Union sought to "build socialism" in
   the Soviet Union. For the first time, socialism was not just a vision
   of a future society, but a description of an existing one. Lenin's
   regime brought all the means of production (except agricultural
   production) under state control, and implemented a system of government
   through workers' councils (in Russian, soviets). Gradually, however,
   the Soviet Union developed a bureaucratic and authoritarian model of
   social development, which was condemned by moderate socialists abroad
   for undermining the initial democratic and socialist ideals of the
   Russian Revolution. In 1929 Stalin came to power and pursued his policy
   of " socialism in one country."

   The Russian Revolution provoked a powerful reaction throughout Western
   society, one example being the so-called " Red Scare" in the U.S.,
   which effectively destroyed Eugene V. Debs's Socialist Party of
   America. In Europe, fascism emerged as a movement opposed to both
   socialism and liberal democracy.

The interwar era and World War II

   Despite division of the world socialist movement, Western European
   socialist parties won major electoral gains in the immediate postwar
   years. Most notably, in Britain, the Labour Party under Ramsay
   MacDonald was in power for ten months in 1924 and again from 1929 to
   1931.

   Throughout much of the interwar period, socialist and Communist parties
   were in continuous conflict. Socialists condemned communists as agents
   of the Soviet Union, while communists condemned socialists as betrayers
   of the working class.

   However, with the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and
   1930s, socialists and Communists made attempts in some countries to
   form a united front of all working-class organizations in opposition to
   fascism. The " popular front" movement had limited success in countries
   such as France and Spain, where it did well in the 1936 elections. The
   Nazis came to power in 1933 despite the efforts of German socialists to
   form a "popular front" in Germany. The "popular front" period ended in
   1939 with the conclusion of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact.
   Socialists condemned this act as an act of betrayal by the Stalinist
   Soviet Union.

Cold War years

   In Western Europe, socialism gained perhaps its widest appeal in the
   period immediately following the end of World War II. Even where
   conservative governments remained in power, they were forced to adopt a
   series of social welfare reform measures, so that in most
   industrialized countries the postwar period saw the creation of a
   welfare state.

   The period following the Second World War marked another period of
   intensifying struggle between socialists and communists. In the postwar
   period, the nominally socialist parties became increasingly identified
   with the expansion of the capitalist welfare state. Western European
   socialists largely backed U.S.-led Cold War policies. They largely
   supported the Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
   and denounced the Soviet Union as " totalitarian." Communists denounced
   these measures as imperialist provocations aimed at triggering a war
   against the Soviet Union. Inspired by the Second International, the
   Socialist International was organized in 1951 in Frankfurt, West
   Germany, without Communist participation.

   In the postwar years, socialism became increasingly influential
   throughout the Third World. In 1949 the Chinese Revolution established
   a Communist state. Emerging nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America
   frequently adopted socialist economic programs. In many instances,
   these nations nationalized industries held by foreign owners. The
   Soviet achievement in the 1930s seemed hugely impressive from the
   outside, and convinced many nationalists in the emerging former
   colonies of the Third World, not necessarily Communists or even
   socialists, of the virtues of state planning and state-guided models of
   social development. This was later to have important consequences in
   countries like China, India and Egypt, which tried to import some
   aspects of the Soviet model.

   In the 1970s, despite the radicalism of some socialist currents in the
   Third World, Western European Communist parties effectively abandoned
   their revolutionary goals and fully embraced electoral politics. Dubbed
   " Eurocommunism," this new orientation resembled earlier
   social-democratic configurations, although distinction between the two
   political tendencies persists.

   In the late last quarter of the twentieth century, socialism in the
   Western world entered a new phase of crisis and uncertainty. Socialism
   came under heavy attack following the 1973 oil crisis. In this period,
   monetarists and neoliberals attacked social welfare systems as an
   impediment to individual entrepreneurship. With the rise of Ronald
   Reagan in the U.S. and Margaret Thatcher in Britain, the Western
   welfare state found itself under increasing political pressure.
   Increasingly, Western countries and international institutions rejected
   social democratic methods of Keynesian demand management, which were
   scrapped in favour of neoliberal policy prescriptions.

   Western European socialists were under intense pressure to refashion
   their parties in the late 1980s and early 1990s and to reconcile their
   traditional economic programs with the integration of a European
   economic community based on liberalizing markets. The Labour Party in
   the United Kingdom put together a highly successful set of policies
   based on encouraging the market economy, while promoting the
   involvement of private industry in delivering public services.

   The last quarter of the twentieth century marked a period of major
   crisis for Communists in the Eastern bloc, where the growing shortages
   of housing and consumer goods, combined with the lack of individual
   rights to assembly and speech, began to disillusion more and more
   Communist party members. With the rapid collapse of Communist party
   rule in Eastern Europe between 1989 and 1991, Communist socialism, as
   it once existed in the former Soviet bloc, has effectively disappeared
   as a worldwide political force.

Contemporary socialism

   In the 1960s and 1970s new social forces began to change the political
   landscape in the Western world. The long postwar boom, rising living
   standards for the industrial working class, and the rise of a mass
   university-educated white collar workforce began to break down the mass
   electoral base of European socialist parties. This new "
   post-industrial" white-collar workforce was less interested in
   traditional socialist policies such as state ownership and more
   interested in expanded personal freedom and liberal social policies.

   Over the past twenty-five years, efforts to adapt socialism to new
   historical circumstances have led to a range of New Left ideas and
   theories, some of them contained within existing socialist movements
   and parties, others achieving mobilization and support in the arenas of
   " new social movements." Some socialist parties reacted more flexibly
   and successfully to these changes than others, but eventually all were
   forced to do so. With the rise of environmentalism, Green and Red ideas
   have become linked in many movements and parties that campaign for
   environmental and social justice. Eco-socialism, a fusion of socialism,
   ecology and environmentalism has developed. Anarchist Murray Bookchin's
   writings on social ecology were a major influence on the emergence of
   the Green movement in the United States, and many Green Parties have
   ex-socialist and eco-socialist members. The revival of anarchist
   thought, evident in the work of writers such as Noam Chomsky, who
   identifies himself as a " libertarian socialist," was another effect of
   the emergence of the new left and new social movements. Today, some
   socialists influenced by anarchism support decentralized economic
   planning and, in some cases, mutualism or gift economics.

   In the global South, some elected non-Communist socialist parties and
   Communist parties remain prominent, particularly in India. In China,
   the Chinese Communist Party has led a transition from the command
   economy of the Mao period under the banner of "market socialism." Under
   Deng Xiaoping, the leadership of China embarked upon a program of
   market-based reform that was more sweeping than had been Soviet leader
   Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika program of the late 1980s. In Latin
   America, socialism has re-emerged in recent years with a
   pan-nationalist and populist tinge, with Brazil's Lula da Silva and,
   more recently, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Bolivian President
   Evo Morales leading the trend.

Socialism as an economic system

   The term "socialism" is often used to refer to an economic system
   characterized by state ownership of the means of production and
   distribution. In the Soviet Union, state ownership of productive
   property was combined with central planning. Down to the workplace
   level, Soviet economic planners decided what goods and services were to
   be produced, how they were to be produced, in what quantities, and at
   what prices they were to be sold (see economy of the Soviet Union).
   Soviet economic planning was touted as an alternative to allowing
   prices and production to be determined by the market through supply and
   demand. Especially during the Great Depression, many socialists
   considered Soviet-style planning a remedy to what they saw as the
   inherent flaws of capitalism, such as monopolies, business cycles,
   unemployment, vast inequalities in the distribution of wealth, and the
   exploitation of workers.

   In the West, some economists, including Friedrich Hayek and Milton
   Friedman, argued that central planners could never match the overall
   information inherent in the decision-making throughout a market
   economy. Nor could enterprise managers in Soviet-style socialist
   economies match the motivation of private profit-driven entrepreneurs
   in a market economy (see the economic calculation problem). For these
   reasons, they argued that socialist planned economies would eventually
   fail.

   Following the stagnation of the Soviet economy in the 1970s and 1980s,
   a number of socialists began to accept some of the critiques of state
   planning from Western market economists. Polish economist Oskar Lange,
   for example, was an early proponent of "market socialism."

Socialism and social and political theory

   Marxist and non-Marxist social theorists have both generally agreed
   that socialism, as a doctrine, developed as a reaction to the rise of
   modern industrial capitalism, but differ sharply on the exact nature of
   the relationship. Émile Durkheim saw socialism as rooted in the desire
   simply to bring the state closer to the realm of individual activity as
   a response to the growing anomie of capitalist society. Max Weber saw
   in socialism an acceleration of the process of rationalization
   commenced under capitalism. Weber was a critic of socialism who warned
   that putting the economy under the total bureaucratic control of the
   state would not result in liberation but an 'iron cage of future
   bondage.'

   Socialist intellectuals continued to retain considerable influence on
   European philosophy in the mid-20th century. Herbert Marcuse's 1955
   Eros and Civilization was an explicit attempt to merge Marxism with
   Freudianism. Structuralism, widely influential in mid-20th century
   French academic circles, emerged as a model of the social sciences that
   influenced the 1960s and 1970s socialist New Left.

Criticisms of socialism

   Criticisms of socialism range from disagreements over the efficiency of
   socialist economic and political models, to condemnation of states
   described by themselves or others as "socialist." Many economic
   liberals dispute that the more even distribution of wealth advocated by
   socialists can be achieved without what they perceive as a loss of
   political or economic freedoms. There is much focus on the human rights
   records of Communist states, which some critics identify as examples of
   socialism.
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