1.7: Socialism

Question 1

What is Socialism?

Answer 1

SOCIALISM

• First used by Charles Fourier (1772 - 1837) and Robert Owen (1771 - 1858).
• Traditionally defined as being opposite to Capitalism based on collective ownership of economic and social systems.
• Revolution over evolution.

Question 2

What are the different strands of Socialism?

Answer 2

SOCIALISM

1. Revolutionary Socialism
   a) Derives from the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels as marxism.
   - Socialist values cannot coexist within capitalism and therefore a revolution is needed to transform society and the economy.
   b) Rosa Luxemburg adapted these ideas but lobbied for democracy and free elections must continue in a post-revolutionary communist society.
2. Evolutionary Socialism
   a) Rather than radical change, via a revolution, socialism is achieved gradually within the pre-existing Parliamentary structure.
   - Socialism will, therefore, emerge in a gradual piecemeal fashion via the state.
3. Democratic Socialism (Evolutionary Socialism)
   a) From the ideas of Beatrice Webb and the Fabian Society (which influenced Clement Attlee’s postwar government and the early Labour Party).
   - Webb argued that capitalism could be gradually reformed via Parliament to achieve a socialist state.
   - Webb espoused mass nationalisation (transferring major branches of industry from private to state ownership) and state management (where private enterprise would cease and the economy would be centrally controlled) by a socialist elite to ensure social justice.
4. Social Democracy (Evolutionary Socialism)
   a) Emerged in the 1950s.
   - Viewed Marxism as irrelevant and democratic socialism as outdated.
   b) Inspired by the ideas of Anthony Crossland.
   - It values social justice above the common ownership advocated by revolutionary socialism and democratic socialism.
   - It seeks to achieve this by working within existing capitalism systems through a redistributive welfare state.
5. Third Way (Evolutionary Socialism)
   a) Developed in the 1990s by sociologist Anthony Giddens.
   - Saw his ideas as a renewal of social democracy and added a neo-liberal element to socialism.
   b) EXAMPLE. Inspired UK New Labour PM Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
   - Alongside Germany’s Social Democratic Party Chancellor Gerhard Schroder,
   - US Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Question 3

What are the 5 core ideas and principles of Socialism?

Answer 3

5 CORE IDEAS AND PRINCIPLES OF SOCIALISM

1. Common Humanity
2. Collectivism
3. Equality
4. Social Class
5. Workers’ Control

Question 4

What is the principle of Common Humanity?

Answer 4

COMMON HUMANITY

1. An optimistic view of human nature, believing that individuals share a common humanity, are rational and predisposed to cooperate.
   a) Human nature is not fixed but is easily shaped by an individual’s environment.
   b) Humans are naturally inclined to work together for the common good as cooperation produces the best results for society rather than competition.
   - Competition is wasteful, produces social divisions and generates conflict, hostility and resentment.
   - Human motivation can be driven not just by material considerations but also by a moral view of peoples role in improving society (responsibility) which can also offer pleasure and fulfilment.
   c) Perceive society as a collection of broadly equal individuals who share a common identity and collective purpose.
   - Fraternity and community unites socialists as relations build on solidarity.
   d) Concerned about the effect that capitalism can have on an individual.
   - Leads them to argue for an interventionist role of the state with a mixed economy or Keynesian economics.
2. Factions vision on a common humanity
   a) Revolutionary Socialism
   - EXAMPLE. Marx and Engels argued that individuals were ‘deformed’ by capitalism, as the power of money corrupts those who possess it.
   - Capitalism must, therefore, be abolished by a revolution instigated by the exploited working class.
   - After a transitional period, a classless communist society would emerge, based on absolute equality.
   b) Democratic Socialism
   - EXAMPLE. Beatrice Webb argued for a socialist state via a ballot box.
   - This would include ‘common ownership’ of the means of production, achieved by extensive state nationalisation run by a socialist bureaucratic elite.
   c) Social Democracy
   - Argued that capitalism should be reformed and not replaced, which was a significant break with democratic socialism, which envisaged a fully socialist state. Anthony Crossland had a vision of:
   - Supporting a mixed economy of both nationalised state industry and privately-owned companies.
   - Economic state intervention based on Keynesian economics to ensure permanent full employment and economic growth.
   - The welfare state used to redistribute wealth and challenge poverty and social inequality.
   d) The Third Way
   - By the 1990s, Anthony Giddens argued that developed economies faced new challenges for the 21st-century economy. Giddens argued for:
   - Increased emphasis on equality of opportunity via public services, with a specific emphasis on education and 21st-century skills.
   - Neo-liberal ideas such as the free market and self-reliance.
   - Moving away from universal welfare to more means-tested welfare (higher education students contributing to the cost of their education).

Question 5

What is Common Ownership and a Mixed Economy?

Answer 5

COMMON OWNERSHIP

• The opposite of private ownership that exists with the free-market capitalist economy.
• Common ownership means that the state and the public have ownership of property and economy.

MIXED ECONOMY
- An economic system that combines private and state enterprise.

Question 6

What is the principle of Collectivism?

Answer 6

COLLECTIVISM

1. As Socialism has a positive view of human nature, humans are naturally social creatures.
   a) Collectivism priorities the group over the individual as they believe that:
   - Individuals work more effectively together rather than independently.
   - Individuals prefer to work together.
   b) Socialists endorse collectivism for 2 reasons:
   - From a moral perspective, the interests of the group should take priority over individual self-interest as well as social responsibility towards others.
   - In practical economic terms, collectivism utilises the capabilities of the whole society efficiently, avoiding the wastefulness and limited impact of competitive individual effort inherent in the capitalist economy.
   c) Criticisms of collectivism
   - Because collectivism emphasises group action and common interests, it suppresses human individuality and diversity.
   - As collectivist objectives can only really be advanced through the agency of the state, it leads to the growth of arbitrary state power and the erosion of individual freedoms.
2. Most common forms of Socialist Collectivism
   a) Industrial Relations
   - Workers organised in trade unions with bargaining rights over terms and conditions.
   b) Health Care
   - NHS, funded from general taxation provides free care based on need.
   c) Housing
   - Subsidised homes provided by the local government.
   d) Education
   - The state runs the school system, which is free and available to everyone.
   e) Key Industries
   - Under state control to operate in the national interest.
3. Factions vision on a collectivism
   a) Utopian Socialists
   - EXAMPLE. Charles Fourier and Robert Owen argued for small-scale cooperative communities organised collectively as a means of promoting socialist values.
   b) Revolutionary Socialists
   - Marx and Engels argued on a large scale, arguing workforces would collectively own all industry and that all agencies of society would be communal.
   - EXAMPLE. The USSR had centralised state planning and collectivists its agricultural land after 1929.
   c) Democratic Socialist
   - Beatrice Webb and the Fabian Society informed many of the collectivist policies of Attlee’s Labour government such as nationalisation and top-down state management.
   d) Social Democracy
   - Anthony Crossland was suspicious of the collectivism by Marx and Engels.
   e) Third Way
   - Anthony Giddens was more market-driven with interdependence from the state in terms of healthcare and education as the free market is the most efficacious way to run business.

Question 7

What is the principle of Equality?

Answer 7

EQUALITY

1. Equality is a multifaceted concept that causes tension and disagreement.
   a) Socialists agree on:
   - Foundational Equality (All individuals are born with innate human rights that translate to political and legal equality.
   - Rejection of natural hierarchies (Each individual has the potential to take up any position within society to which they may aspire to).
   - Equality of opportunity (All individuals should have access to the same life chances).
   b) Focus on social equality as it:
   - Ensures fairness.
   - Reinforces collectivism (Sweden has high levels of social equality and extensive wealth redistribution).
   - It is a means of satisfying basic human needs.
   c) Opponents of socialist ideology reject social equality as:
   - It is unjust (treating everybody the same irrespective of their attributes, it does not reward people according to their skills and abilities).
   - It lowers human ambition, motivation and initiative (removing material incentives).
   - It restricts the liberties of an individual (as it can only be implemented by extensive state control).
   - It stifles diversity and individuality (colourless social uniformity).
   d) Endorsement of common ownership as private property has drawbacks:
   - As wealth is created by the communal endeavour of humans, it should be owned collectively, not by individuals.
   - Private property encourages materialism and fosters the false belief that the achievement of personal wealth will bring fulfilment.
   - Private property generates social conflict between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ groups, such as owners and workers.
2. Equality of Opportunity
   - Individuals are entitled to equal chances to make the best of their abilities. Positive steps should be taken to maker sure that there are no artificial barriers to the progress of individual groups.
   a) Revolutionary Socialism
   - Marx, Engels and Rosa Luxemburg argued that equality of opportunity can only be achieved after a revolution (capitalism is corrupt and pervasive that it is beyond reform).
   b) Democratic Socialism
   - Beatrice Webb argued that equality of opportunity could only be achieved by reforming capitalism to the point that it is a truly socialist society.
   c) Social Democracy
   - Anthony Crossland believed in a mixed economy with state management based on Keynesian ideas. He wished to break down class barriers so that they were irrelevant. He argued for progressive taxation and to allow an even distribution of opportunities via an expansive welfare state.
   d) The Third Way
   - Equality of opportunity needs to target the neediest in society: the underclass.
   - Anthony Giddens advocated abandoning the universal welfare of Anthony Crossland’s social democracy for means-tested benefits.
   - Prefer meritocratic methods.
3. Equality of Outcome
   - Proposes that economic rewards should be distributed to the value of an individual’s contribution. In such a system the difference in rewards will be far less than it would be in a free-market economy.
   a) Revolutionary Socialism
   - Marx, Engels and Rosa Luxemburg dismissed equality of outcome as it presupposed that capitalism could be rid of exploitation, which they believed to be impossible.
   b) Democratic Socialism
   - Beatrice Webb argued for a gradual incremental process so that income would eventually be far more evenly distributed. This would not be absolute equality, but such income inequality that remains would be substantially fairer.
   c) Social Democracy
   - Anthony Crossland was against pure equality of outcome as he felt it would weaken the economy by acting as a disincentive to wealth creators.
   d) The Third Way
   - Anthony Giddens argued that wage equality of outcome was impracticable and a disincentive and would damage the economy.
   - Viewed as a form of artificial social and economic levelling.
4. Absolute Equality
   - Suggests that all individuals should receive the same rewards as long as the contributions that are made to society are made to the best of their ability (fairness distributed).
   a) Revolutionary Socialism
   - Marx, Engels and Rosa Luxemburg believed that in an economy based on common ownership and collectivisation material rewards would be based on needs. Each individual would contribute to society and then take what they need.
   b) Democratic Socialism
   - Although Beatrice Webb believed in high taxation to flatten the differences between classes, she did not advocate absolute equality, envisaging some wage differences.
   c) Social Democracy
   - Anthony Crossland dismissed absolute equality as utopian (as it presupposed abundant wealth). He accepted that in a meritocratic mixed economy those who contributed more would be rewarded accordingly.
   d) The Third Way
   - Anthony Giddens dismissed absolute equality as a flawed concept and accepted that inequality was a natural consequence of society.
5. Equality of Welfare
   - This aspect of equality perceives society as inevitably unequal but argues that everyone should be entitled to an equal minimum standard of living, enabled by the provision of state welfare.
   a) Revolutionary Socialism
   - Marx, Engels and Rosa Luxemburg rejected equality of welfare for its failure to remove capitalism.
   b) Democratic Socialism
   - Beatrice Webb argued that equality of welfare would be achieved by mass nationalisation of industry. She argued that proper state management would ensure equality of welfare via an efficient redistribution of resources.
   c) Social Democracy
   - Anthony Crossland saw the state as a neutral force that could reduce class conflict by breaking down barriers and widening opportunities: universal public serviced would help achieve this.
   - He married social democracy with modern liberalism and was enthusiastic for nationalised utilities and the free market economy.
   d) The Third Way
   - Anthony Giddens argued that high levels of social security and welfare were a disincentive to work and created a dependency culture. Benefits should be targeted at the neediest as a safety net.

Question 8

What is the principle of Social Class?

Answer 8

SOCIAL CLASS

1. Socialists believe that capitalism creates and reinforces harmful social class divisions that result in societal hierarchies.
   a) EXAMPLE. Evans and Tilley argue that since the late 1970s, traditional notions of class do not resonate as they once did due to the breaking down of traditional class-based occupations and mistaken class realignment.
   b) EXAMPLE. Wendy Bottero has argued that there exists a ‘paradox of class’ whereby class identification is in decline and yet the role of the class position is important in regard to life chances.
2. Factions vision on a collectivism
   a) Revolutionary Socialism
   - Marx/Engels and Rosa Luxemburg argued that the problems of social class can only be resolved via revolution, unlike other factions that look to reconcile social class divisions.
   - Capitalists are parasites profiting from the work of an exploited workforce. The differences between social classes could not be reconciled within a capitalist system and therefore a revolution was inevitable.
   - The capitalist (bourgeoise) took the surplus-value, alienating the worker (proletariat) from his labour.
   - The state was not neutral but actively reinforcing this oppressive relationship via institutions and agencies (political/legal systems) to maintain their dominance.
   b) Democratic Socialism
   - Beatrice Webb instead argued that the nature of the state could be altered from serving capitalism to delivering a socialist state.
   - This state would introduce universal nationalisation: equality of outcome, progressive taxation and a welfare state which would narrow class divisions.
   c) Social Democracy
   - Anthony Crossland was critical of the collectively minded utilitarianism of Beatrice Webb’s ideas and the uniformity of nationalisation which compromised the freedom of the individual.
   - Instead of a class war, it was more of a fairer distribution of wealth and equality of opportunity so that individuals could thrive in a society that would eventually become classless.
   - Education reinforced class divisions and he tried to ensure equality of opportunity by creating comprehensive schools that would cater for all abilities and break down social segregation of grammar schools.
   - Failed to eliminate class divisions within society regardless.
   d) Third Way
   - Anthony Giddens revised Crossland’ ways by arguing that ‘investment in education is an imperative of government today’.

Question 9

What is the principle of Workers Control?

Answer 9

WORKERS CONTROL

1. All socialists
   a) Agree that an unchecked free market will lead to capitalists exploiting the industrial worker.
   b) Yet workers control is multifaceted.
   - Workers control is based on views of human nature as it promotes collective effort and the pursuit of group interests.
   - Has significant implications for the economy as it aims to either dilute or replace capitalist control.
   - It is an important step towards a socialist society.
   c) Syndacism is inspired by workers control by establishing local-worker organisation through strikes and trade-union bodies.
   - Syndicalists are hostile towards the state, regarding it as an instrument of capitalist oppression.
   d) Critics reject workers control as they are utopian and fail to acknowledge that business needs risk-takers and investors as well as workers.
2. Revolutionary Socialism
   a) In the immediate aftermath of a revolution, Marx and Engels envisaged a transitional period where the formerly exploited workers were in control.
   - This interim stage would see society and the economy re-embracing forgotten cooperative, collective and fraternal values.
   b) There would be no need for worker’s control as communism would be free from the exploitation of capitalistic competition.
3. Evolutionary Socialism
   a) Democratic Socialism
   - Beatrice Webb did not believe in workers control, dismissing workers as intellectually incapable of such responsibility.
   - She has the most negative view of human nature of the socialist key thinkers believing that the working class were innately intellectually inferior.
   - For Beatrice Webb, the evils of capitalism would not be solved by the workers but by electing socialist governments which would prompt the state to ‘silently change its character’.
   - She criticised 1920s guild socialism, which advocated state nationalisation under workers’ control.
   - EXAMPLE. Sidney Webb (Beatrice Webb’s husband) drafted Clause IV for the Labour Party with a specific aim of common ownership.
   b) Social Democracy
   - Viewed workers control and militant class struggle as outdated notions.
   - Anthony Crossland vowed to a mixed economy, where entrepreneurs could thrive and pay taxes to fund a welfare state.
   - He supported Labour leader, Hugh Gaitskell, in his attempts to amend Clause IV as further nationalisation would threaten individual liberty and be economically counterproductive.
   c) Third Way
   - Anthony Giddens’ renewal of social democracy saw workers’ control as impracticable for similar reasons as Webb and Crossland: the average worker lacked the skills or expertise to successfully lead or manage their workplace.
   - Giddens also campaigned for the mixed economy because nationalised companies could not compete with the amount of wealth the free market creates.
   - The neoliberal belief that free-market economy is more efficient and prosperous.
   - Tony Blair amended Clause IV in 1995 so it dropped the commitment to common ownership for a vague commitment to social justice.

Question 10

What is Utilitarinism?

Answer 10

UTILITARIANISM
- A doctrine that states that an action is right if it promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people is the most important principle.

Question 11

What are 3 Case Studies of Socialist Movements?

Answer 11

SOCIALIST MOVEMENTS

1. Russian Revolution
   a) In mid-1917, the Russian economy collapsed under strain from WW1.
   - Workers’ factory committees were established to supervise or replace managers, to try to maintain production.
   - By October 1917, this involved about 40% of the Russian industrial working-class.
   b) Bolsheviks issues the Decree of Workers’ Control (November 1917), giving additional powers to factory committees.
   c) Lenin was worried that factory committees would not follow Bolshevik directives.
   - By 1918, he was taking steps to curve their powers.
   - Factory committees later merged with trade unions under firm Bolshevik control.
2. Guild Socialism in Britain
   a) Emerged in the early 20th century and gained momentum in WW1, due to the rise of left-wing shop stewards’ movement, which called for workers’ control in war industries.
   b) Guild socialists advocated state ownership of industry and workers’ control by delegating authority to democratically run national guilds.
   c) The movement collapsed in the 1920s, but stimulated debate in the Labour Party and trade-union movement about workers’ control.
3. Syndicalism in France
   a) The militant trade-union movement began in France in the 1890s, heavily influenced by George Sorel’s thinking on direct action and use of general strike to secure working-class objectives.
   b) Once a general strike had destroyed capitalist order, syndicalists envisaged a system where each industry would be run by trade unions and political institutions; the state would be replaced by workers’ control based on a federation of trade-union bodies.
   c) Syndicalist ideas influenced the development of labour organisations in Italy, Spain and the USA in the 20th century.

Question 12

What defines Revolutionary Socialism?

Answer 12

REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALISM

1. The earliest form of socialism.
   a) This sought to abolish the capitalist state, society and economy and to replace them with Communism.
   - This was a system where humans work together and share common ownership.
   - This was in response to industrialisation and capitalism bringing poverty, exploitation and unemployment.
   - As workers were not part of the ‘political nation’, they had little ability to influence policies in government systems dominated by the bourgeoisie.
   b) There are 2 main schools of revolutionary socialism.
   - Utopian Socialism.
   - Marxism.
2. Utopian Socialism
   a) A collection of thinkers who despised the exploitation, greed and selfish individualism of capitalism.
   b) Two main thinkers who both proposed small-scale cooperative communities.
   - Robert Owen (1771 - 1858).
   - Charles Fourier (1772 - 1837).
   c) Karl Marx named this branch ‘utopian’ as the ideas were simplistic fantasies with no depth of thought as to how their proposed societies would be created or maintained.
3. Marxism (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels)
   a) Marx and Engels argued that their political theories were based on ‘scientific’ explanations of history and society and that they were inevitable:
   - The world would overthrow capitalism and a Communist society would emerge.
   b) A theory that argues that economic factors (historical materialism) are the driving forced for changing events (catalyst for development in society).
   - The conflict between Slave society (slave vs master), feudal system (peasants v landowner) and capitalism (worker v capitalist).
   - This economic base (underpinned by ideas such as private property, money, supply and demand) forms and shapes the superstructure (culture, politics, law, religion, ideology and social consciousness) which is the foundation of the entire society reinforced by the state.
   - Any attempt to humanise capitalism would undermine socialism.
   c) Historical developments are driven by dialectic.
   - Dialectic is a clash of ideas and perceptions between each stage of history. It occurs when the pre-existing set of values of society, as understood by the ruling class, are no longer valued by the majority. A new society will be born from these two opposing tensions.
   - This continuing chain of contradictions is between 2 opposing forces, the exploited and the exploiters.
   d) Social class is central to the perception of human history which is described as a series of economic phases and consists of 2 main classes.
   - The capitalist stage sees the ruling class take the surplus-value of the workers, thereby exploiting them.
   - The primacy of the ruling class is reinforced by key institutions.
   e) The emergence of class consciousness among the proletariat is the catalyst for revolution as gradual change or piecemeal will not lead to a socialist society as bourgeois values are too entrenched.
   - Class Consciousness is the moment went the proletariat realises that capitalism is exploiting them, thus empowering them to begin the collective struggle of revolution, after which communism, the perfect socialist society, will be achieved.
   - History will then pass through a series of stages ending only with the withering away of the state
4. Rosa Luxemburg
   a) Inspired by the works of Marx, Luxemburg was a determinist (believing that individuals are slaves to the forces of history outside of our control).
   - The proletariat’s struggle for reform and democracy would create a class consciousness necessary for the overthrow of the capitalist society and state.
   - Disagreed with Lenin’s voluntarism (that people make history and that historical change is not inevitable).
   - Disagreed with Lenin in the Russian revolution as he argued that there needed to be a ‘vanguard elite’ to guide the population.
   b) She disagreed with Marxist historical materialism.
   - This is as less economically developed societies could have communist revolutions and did not need to wait until capitalism had reached a final stage (influenced socialist internationalism).
   c) Disagreed with the Marxist view that there would be no need for democracy after a revolution.
   d) Rosa Luxemburg is praised for anticipating the dictatorship of communist parties that had Marxist-inspired revolutions (USSR and China).
   e) Ideas concerning freedom are comparable to Libertarianism.
5. EXAMPLE. Revolutionary Socialism was adopted by many national liberation movements in the 20th century yet it also encouraged the establishment of rigid hierarchal parties with ruthless dictatorial political methods to introduce autocracy and totalitarianism.
   a) Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong.
   b) The Viet Cong directed by Hoang Van Thai and Ho Chi Min.
   c) Cuban insurgents under Fidel Castro.
   d) Khmer Rouge by Pol Pot in Cambodia.

Question 13

What defines Democratic Socialism?

Answer 13

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM

1. The nature of the state could be altered from serving capitalism to delivering a socialist state via democratic processes.
   a) This would entail mass nationalisation (transferring major branches of industry from private to state ownership) and state management (where private enterprise would cease and the economy would be centrally controlled) by a socialist elite to ensure social justice.
   - ‘Common ownership’ of the means of production, achieved by extensive state nationalisation run by a socialist bureaucratic elite.
   b) The Fabian Society influenced Clement Attlee’s postwar government and the early Labour Party with collectivist policies.
2. Beatrice Webb
   a) Argued that equality of opportunity could only be achieved by reforming capitalism to the point that it is a truly socialist society.
   b) Although Beatrice Webb believed in high taxation to flatten the differences between classes, she did not advocate absolute equality, envisaging some wage differences.
   c) Equality of welfare would be achieved by mass nationalisation of industry. She argued that proper state management would ensure equality of welfare via an efficient redistribution of resources.
   d) A negative view of human nature believing that the working class were innately intellectually inferior.
   - For Beatrice Webb, the evils of capitalism would not be solved by the workers but by electing socialist governments which would prompt the state to ‘silently change its character’.
   - She criticised 1920s guild socialism, which advocated state nationalisation under workers’ control.

Question 14

What defines Social Democracy?

Answer 14

SOCIAL DEMOCRACY

1. A form of revisionism
   a) Attempt to humanise socialism after its hostility following WW2.
   b) Believed that capitalism should be reformed and not replaced.
   - High levels of collectivism threatened individual freedom and initiative.
   - A marriage of economic efficient and egalitarian social justice.
   c) Main ideas of:
   - The mixed economy (a blend of free-market capitalism in the form of privately owned industry and state collectivism).
   - State management (facilitating the mixed economy via state management of the economy to deliver continual growth and full employment incorporating Keynesian).
   - The welfare state (the state funds a system that promotes social justice and equality of opportunity).
2. Social Justice
   a) Anthony Crossland believed that managed capitalism rather than laissez-faire economics could deliver social justice in his book ‘The Future of Socialism (1956)’.
   - Social justice is a moral justification to redistribute wealth so as to limit inequality and provide equality of opportunity for everyone in society.
   b) Therefore, social justice is promoted through progressive taxation and distributed through the welfare state.
   c) Anthony Crossland saw the tackling inequality of opportunity through education.
   - He argued for state-sponsored social engineering to ensure an egalitarian society.
   - Grammar schools favoured middle-class children while working-class children received an inferior education at secondary modern schools.
   - Comprehensive education (merging both) would decrease class divisions and provide greater equality of opportunity.
   d) Abandonment of a fully socialist state which would have eradicated free-market capitalism.
   - Social democracy recognised a role for the free market and privately-owned companies (past factions would have been opposed).
   - Economic state intervention via Keynesian regulation would ensure continual full employment and economic growth.
   - Anthony Crossland said how Keynesianism ‘legitimised the doctrine of equality’.
3. Economic Management
   a) EXAMPLE. Eduard Bernstein published a revisionist study, ‘Evolutionary Socialism (1899)’.
   - This argued that capitalism was not developing along Marxist lines as it was proving resilient and adaptable.
   - Joint-stock companies had widened the ownership of wealth through shareholders rather than concentrating it.
   - Therefore, socialism was not a brutally exploitive system and could be reformed through electoral politics.
   b) Yet sharp economic downturns in the 1970s and 1980s following the 1973 oil crisis formed tensions over consequential recessions.
   - EXAMPLE. James Callaghan asked for an emergency loan from the IMF in 1976.
   - The dilemma of whether to reduce inflation and taxes to stimulate the economy or prioritise welfare to protect the vulnerable and unemployed.
   - The shift to a post-industrial service-based economy also exacerbated these tensions.

Question 15

What is Revisionism?

Answer 15

REVISIONISM

• To review and change a political theory.
• EXAMPLE. Social Democracy revised the ideas of democratic socialism.
• Neo-revisionism is referred to a third revising of a theory.

Question 16

What defines The Third Way?

Answer 16

THE THIRD WAY

1. The primacy of the market over the state
   a) Anthony Giddens rejected the ‘cybernetic model’ of socialism.
   - This is where the state acts as the artificial brain that manipulated organic society and economy.
   - EXAMPLE. Anthony Giddens was inspired by L.T. Hobhouse, who argued that government and state should not ‘feed, house, or clothe’ the population but should ensure ‘full civic efficiency’.
   b) Neo-revisionists accepted that globalisation significantly weakened the effectiveness of the Keynesian-inspired economic solutions.
   - The ‘Knowledge economy’ where information and communication technologies ensure competitiveness and productivity.
   c) High levels of taxation favoured by social democracy (83% for high earners in 1974) inhibited wealth creation and economic growth.
   - Led to static tax rates when New Labour took over in 1997.
   d) Anthony Giddens argued that neo-liberal economies generated greater revenues than state-managed economies.
   - This could fund public spending to target society’s poorest.
   e) EXAMPLE. The economy grew by 2.4% per year when Blair was in power.
   - This allowed public spending to increase from 39% of GDP in 1997 to 47% by 2010.
2. The value of community and moral responsibility
   a) Anthony Giddens was critical of an atomistic society (New Right), instead advocating for ‘communitarianism’.
   - This coupled individualism with social/moral responsibility.
   - Personal autonomy operates within a communal context.
   b) Governments should help foster civic society by representing the needs of the local community.
   c) Against automatic welfare.
3. A social model based on consensus and harmony
   a) Championing self-reliance and mutual dependence.
4. Social Inclusion
   a) Emphasis on equality of opportunity and the benefits of a meritocratic social system.
   b) Welfare should target those most socially marginalised as assistance.
   - EXAMPLE. Tony Blair called it a ‘hand up, not a handout’.
   - Prevention of welfare dependency.
5. A competition or market state
   a) Promotion of competition to develop the national workforce’s skills and knowledge base.
   b) Investment in education to improve a person’s job prospects and boosting economic growth.
   - Anthony Gidden’s ‘social capital’ with schools, hospitals and public buildings.
   c) Commissioning building work using the free market via private finance initiatives (PFI) and public-private partnerships (PPP).

Question 17

How have Third Way ideas influenced New Labour?

Answer 17

NEW LABOUR THIRD WAY

1. Positive Welfare
   a) A national minimal wage.
   b) Tax credits for workers.
   c) 10% tax band for those on low incomes.
   d) Educational maintenance grants for poorer students.
   e) A ‘New Deal’ to help the unemployed find employment.
   f) Reduced business taxes and kept higher rate income taxation to 40%.
2. Welfare Society
   a) Commitment to social justice in the New Labour Party constitution.
   - This allowed public spending to increase from 39% of GDP in 1997 to 47% by 2010.
   b) Targeting areas that specifically affected the underclass, such as poverty, low educational attainment, drug addiction, poor housing and poor parenting via the welfare-to-work programme.
3. Education (Anthony Giddens called for a ‘redistribution for all’)
   a) Introduction of academy schools in 2000.
   - Blair argued it would ‘improve pupil performance and break the cycle of low expectations’.
   b) Schools were encouraged to compete with each other in league tables (neo-liberal idea) to improve efficiency and parents were free to choose which school their child attended (encouraging civic engagement).
   c) Blair’s pro-education policies increased university participation.
   - EXAMPLE. In 1950 just 3.4% of the population attended university. In 1970 it was 19.3%. By 2017 it was 49%.
   d) New Labour championed the Anthony Giddens belief of life-long learning so individuals can adapt to the ever-changing workplace of the 21st century.
4. Self-reliance (remodelling the welfare state)
   a) Introducing of university tuition fees.
   b) Welfare assistance conditional on individuals actively seeing work.
5. Attitudes to crime
   a) Justice system was both authoritarian and reformist bu being ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’.
6. Rejection of state management
   a) . Clause IV of the Labour Party constitution was amended, ending Labour’s commitment to public ownership.
   b) The private sector became directly involved in the provisions of public services through ‘Private Finance Initiative (PFI)’ schemes and ‘Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).
7. Benefits of the free market
   a) Accepting the privatisation of national utilities by the Conservative governments of 1979 - 1997 by not returning to a mixed economy.
8. Principle of Community
   a) Devolution of Scotland and Wales and directly elected Mayors.

Question 18

Who are the 5 key Socialist thinkers?

Answer 18

KEY SOCIALIST THINKERS

1. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
2. Rosa Luxemburg
3. Beatrice Webb
4. Anthony Crossland
5. Anthony Giddens

Question 19

What defines Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels?

Answer 19

KARL MARX (1818 - 1883) AND FRIEDRICH ENGELS (1820 - 1895)

1. Biography
   a) Most famous revolutionary socialists.
   b) Works include: ‘The Communist Manifesto (1848)’ and ‘Capital (1867, 1885, 1894)’
   - These were a radical reinterpretation of history and provided a revolutionary model for a utopian society.
2. Influence
   a) Social Class is central to socialism and underpins 3 elements of Marxism:
   - Historical materialism.
   - Dialectical change.
   - Class consciousness.
   b) They argued that their theories were empirical and scientifically determined, so as well as explaining historical change their ideas were inevitably going to occur.
   c) They both view humans as essentially social beings, whose behaviour and potential are influenced more by nurture rather than nature.
   - Individuals were ‘deformed’ by capitalism, as the power of money corrupts those who possess it.
   - Under Communism, people will realise their true human potential.
3. Main Concepts
   a) Capitalism, with its crises and recessions, will eventually leave only a tiny minority of the ruling class (bourgeoisie) benefiting from it.
   - The vast majority of people will form the proletariat, who will achieve class consciousness and become aware of being exploited.
   - They dismissed equality of outcome as it presupposed that capitalism could be rid of exploitation, which they believed to be impossible.
   - They also rejected equality of welfare for its failure to remove capitalism.
   b) Class struggle, arising from property ownership has existed through history.
   - History has a final destination: communism.
   c) Liberal democracy was a ‘democratic swindle’ because the state was controlled by the bourgeoisie.
   - The state was not neutral but actively reinforcing this oppressive relationship via institutions and agencies (political/legal systems) to maintain their dominance.
   - Instead the State and society used religion, patriotism, enfranchisement, parliament and social reforms to weaken class consciousness.
   - As socialism was inevitable and the proletariat will overthrow capitalism and a transitional phase (the dictatorship of the proletariat) will occur.
   - After this transitional period, the state will wither away and a stateless communist society will emerge based on common ownership, collectivism and absolute equality.

Question 20

What defines Rosa Luxemburg?

Answer 20

ROSA LUXEMBURG (1871 - 1919)

1. Biography
   a) Polish Marxist and Revolutionary Socialist.
   - Regarded as the most prominent left-wing member of the German Social Democratic Party (SDP).
   b) In ‘The Accumulation of Capital (1913)’ she said that the capital markets could not absorb all the surplus value generated.
   - By accessing less economically developed territories and markets, capitalist states effectively exported the capitalist system.
   - Eventually, capitalism would run out of new territories and markets to exploit and the system would collapse.
   c) In ‘Social Reform or Revolution (1899)’ she argues that socialism could not be created gradually within capitalism through a series of reforms.
   - Instead, it was essential for the proletariat to achieve a revolutionary conquest of political power.
   d) In ‘The Mass Strike, the Political Party and the Trade Unions (1906)’. she argued that class consciousness would develop naturally from the workers themselves.
   - Proletarian discontent against state control would erupt with strikes leading to revolution.
   - This worker class-consciousness would overthrow capitalism.
2. Influence
   a) Heavily influenced by the ideas of Marx and Engels yet she attempted to modify these ideas and offered distinctive difference to the Marxism practised by Lenin and Trotsky in communist Russia.
3. Main Concepts
   a) Revolution was essential to achieve political power as:
   - Any evolutionary or revisionist socialist strategy would leave the capitalist system of economic exploitation intact which would lead to socialist parties losing their sense of political purpose.
   - An evolutionary/reformist socialist strategy could never smooth away the exploitation inherent in the capitalist economy because contradictions and crises of capitalism made its collapse inevitable.
   b) Marx’s historical materialism idea is flawed as capitalism does not need to reach a ‘final stage’ before it can be abolished.
   - EXAMPLE. Like Lenin, communist revolutions could happen in less economically developed societies.
   c) Disagreed with the Bolshevik leader, Lenin, that workers had to be led by a small, rigidly centralised vanguard elite.
   - In ‘Organisational Questions of Social Democracy (1904)’, a revolutionary party that demanded obedience would create a dividing wall between leaders and mass membership.
   - Instead, class consciousness will develop spontaneously as the proletariat struggle.
   d) Socialism must be internationalist rather than nationalist in nature, which is consistent with what Marx and Engels argued.
   - But she disagreed with the Marxist view that there would be no need for democracy after a revolution.

Question 21

What defines Beatrice Webb?

Answer 21

BEATRICE WEBB (1858 - 1943)

1. Biography
   a) An early member of the socialist ‘Fabian Society’
   b) Daughter of an industrialist.
   c) Her and her husband, Sidney Webb, wrote many pro-socialist works, including:
   - ‘A Constitution for the Socialist Commonwealth of Great Britain (1920)’.
   - ‘The Decay of Capitalist Civilisation (1923)’.
   - ‘Soviet Communism: A New Civilisation (1935)’.
2. Influence
   a) Rejected the Marxist theory of class theory as socialism can come about through democratic practices.
   - Democratic Socialism.
3. Main Concepts
   a) ‘The Inevitability of Gradualism’ is an evolutionary socialist belief that Parliamentary democracy and electing socialist governments would prompt the state to ‘silently change its character’.
   - It is inevitable as universal suffrage leads to political equality, as democracy works in the interest of the working-class majority.
   b) The working class will vote for socialist parties which will begin to instigate social economic and political reform, resulting in a socialist society.
   - Her ideas are as fundamental as revolutionary socialism, but she sought the overthrow of capitalism via the ballot box rather than revolution.
   - She originally opposed a ‘working-class party’.
   - She thought the average worker was limited, selfish and uninformed, so she rejected direct democracy by preferring representative democracy.
   - EXAMPLE. She criticised 1920s guild socialism, which advocated state nationalisation under workers’ control.
   c) The expansion of the state is vital to deliver socialism.
   - The state will develop a highly trained elite of administrators and specialists to organise the socialist society.
   - This technocratic elite would ‘impregnate all the existing forces of society’.
   - This would involve mass nationalisation.
   - EXAMPLE. Sidney Webb (Beatrice Webb’s husband) drafted Clause IV for the Labour Party with a specific aim of common ownership.
   - This naively led her to endorse Stalinist Russia in the 1930s.
   d) Webb’s ‘Minority Report on the Poor Law Commission (1909)’ argued for a ‘national minimum of civilised life’.
   - These ideas were later rethought in William Beveridge’s ‘Beveridge Report (1942)’, which was used as the intellectual basis for the modern welfare state.
   - Beveridge was employed as a researcher on Webb’s minority report.
   e) Workers control will be achieved by evolutionary means.
   - Revolutions are chaotic, inefficient and counter-productive.
   - Webb rejected the Marxist theory of ‘class struggle’.

Question 22

What defines Anthony Crossland?

Answer 22

ANTHONY CROSSLAND (1918 - 1977)

1. Biography
   a) Leading post-war revisionist theorists in British Socialism and Labour Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s.
   b) Privately educated.
   c) ‘The Future of Socialism (1956)’ influenced social democracy within the UK.
   - In this book, he claimed that capitalism had radically changed and no longer resembled an economic system based on inherent contradictions, as described by Marx.
2. Influence
   a) Capitalism had, to some extent, been tamed due to the extension of democracy, the growth of industrial bargaining and the dispersal of business ownership.
   - Business was now in the hands of professional managers.
   - Key industries had been nationalised and a comprehensive welfare state had been established.
3. Main Concepts
   a) He criticised the Marxist view of capitalist development, arguing that it did not drive social change as the internal tensions required in Marx’s dialect of historical materialism were not present in postwar capitalism.
   b) Socialism is best served by the ‘state-managed capitalism’ of a mixed economy rather than public ownership as:
   - Economic efficiency (there was no clear relationship between an individuals status and rewards and the importance of the economic function.
   - Creation of a more communitarian society (existing inequalities created resentments, which had an adverse effected on economic progress).
   - The injustice of rewarding talents and abilities (these were largely due to nature and nurture, not individual responsibility).
   - The need for social justice (‘Democratic equality’ and the need to move socialism beyond equality of opportunity).
   - EXAMPLE. He supported Labour leader, Hugh Gaitskell, in his attempts to amend Clause IV as further nationalisation would threaten individual liberty and be economically counterproductive.
   c) Equality of opportunity can be achieved by giving all state school students the same educational experience.
   - Anthony Crossland was against pure equality of outcome as he felt it would weaken the economy by acting as a disincentive to wealth creators.
   - Crossland judged the existing school system to be the ‘most divisive, unjust and wasteful of all the social aspects of inequality’.
   - Development of comprehensive secondary education and expansion of higher education where children of all abilities and backgrounds would share similar educational experiences.
   - EXAMPLE. As Education Secretary in 1965 - 1967 he invited all education authorities in England and Wales to submit plans for the reform of secondary schools in the ‘Department of Education and Science Circular 10/65. He said he’s going to destroy ‘every f**** grammar school’.
   d) Keynesian economics made state-managed capitalism a reality and society can look forward to permanent economic growth and full employment.
   - This ensured low inflation.
   - This allows socialists to expand the welfare state and social justice.
   - Rather than collapsing, capitalism had produced rising living standards.
   e) Egalitarianism distribution of rewards.
   - This depended on high levels of government spending on welfare services and the redistribution of income and wealth from progressive taxation.

Question 23

What defines Anthony Giddens?

Answer 23

ANTHONY GIDDENS (1938 - )

1. Biography
   a) A British sociologist and social theorist.
   b) Widely seen as Tony Blair’s favourite academic and Bill Clinton’s.
   - Neo-revisionist form of socialism.
   c) Works include ‘Beyond Left and Right (1994)’.
   d) In his book, ‘The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy (1998)’, Giddens argued for a new political approach that drew on the strengths of the social democratic and neo-liberal free-market traditions while avoiding their weaknesses.
2. Influence
   a) By the late 20th century, Social Democracy had to be modernised due to the impact of globalisation, the rise of the new knowledge economy and the growth of more individualistic aspirations.
   - Top-down state intervention was both inefficient and ineffective.
   - The left should get comfortable with markets as the free-market economy was the most efficient system of production and encouraged personal qualities such as responsibility.
   b) Rejected the ‘cybernetic model’ of socialism.
   - This is where the state acts as the artificial brain that manipulated organic society and economy.
   - EXAMPLE. Anthony Giddens was inspired by L.T. Hobhouse, who argued that government and state should not ‘feed, house, or clothe’ the population but should ensure ‘full civic efficiency’.
3. Main Concepts
   a) Free-market capitalism enriches and empowers society and, alongside individualism, is irreversible.
   - Socialism must harness the benefits of the free market while neutralising its negative effects on community and fraternity.
   - Neo-liberal ideas of the free market and individualism could be reconciled with social democracy’s emphasis on community and social justice.
   b) Individuals will become stakeholders and have both rights and responsibilities within society.
   - Critical of an atomistic society (New Right), instead advocating for ‘communitarianism’.
   - The success or failure of one generation should not increase or restrict the opportunities for the next.
   - The importance of community and responsibility is able to offset the negative effects of the free market (such as excessive materialism and competitive individualism).
   - Community promoted social cohesion, shared values and individual and social responsibility.
   - Governments should help foster civic society by representing the needs of the local community (local mayors).
   c) Third-Way socialism prioritised spending on infrastructures such as community services and public transport while focusing on equality of opportunity, particularly in education.
   - Greater equality of opportunity would be funded via prudent taxation of free-market wealth.
   - Looked for a ‘social investment’ state.
   d) An emphasis on active welfare rather than passive welfare to facilitate social inclusiveness in society to provide wider opportunities for the disadvantaged.
   - Increased access to higher education and replacing comprehensive with academy schools.
   - Rejected economic and social engineering that underpinned welfare and wealth-redistribution programmes as it encouraged a dependency culture.
   - Moving away from universal welfare to more means-tested welfare (higher education students contributing to the cost of their education).
   e) Campaigned for the mixed economy because nationalised companies could not compete with the amount of wealth the free market creates.
   - The neoliberal belief that free-market economy is more efficient and prosperous.
   - EXAMPLE. Tony Blair amended Clause IV in 1995 so it dropped the commitment to common ownership for a vague commitment to social justice.
   f) High levels of taxation favoured by social democracy (83% for high earners in 1974) inhibited wealth creation and economic growth.
   - Anthony Giddens argued that neoliberal economies generated greater revenues than state-managed economies.
   - This could fund public spending to target society’s poorest.

Question 24

To what extent do Socialists and key thinkers agree over the concept of Human Nature?

Answer 24

HUMAN NATURE

1. All Socialists
   a) Positive view of human nature.
   b) Regard people as social creatures who are co-operative, sociable and rational.
   - Human behaviour is socially determined and people prefer to work together.
2. Revolutionary Socialism
   a) True co-operative and communal instincts can be liberated only by the removal of the exploitative and oppressive capitalist system and the creation of a communist society.
3. Evolutionary Socialism
   a) More favourable on competitive nature of humans.

KEY THINKERS ON HUMAN NATURE

1. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
   - Humans are naturally futuristic.
   - However, capitalism instils them with a false consciousness of ‘bourgeois values’.
2. Rosa Luxemburg
   - Human nature had been damaged by capitalism.
   - However, humans are not perfect and parliamentary democracy is needed to prevent tyranny.
3. Beatrice Webb
   - Capitalism had damaged the human psyche.
   - However, Webb believed in intellectual and moral human imperfection, particularly of the working class.
4. Anthony Crossland
   - Human nature is innately fair.
   - Inequalities of outcome and opportunity hinder collective human progress.
5. Anthony Giddens
   - Human nature s shaped by socio-economic conditions.
   - More focus on humans as both individuals and collective creatures.

Question 25

To what extent do Socialists and key thinkers agree over the concept of The State?

Answer 25

THE STATE

1. Revolutionary Socialism
   a) The state is an instrument of class rule.
   - Under capitalism, the ruling bourgeoisie uses the state apparatus (political and legal system) to maintain their dominance over the proletariat.
   b) The state will wither away once communism has established a classless equal society.
   - Yet theoretical Marxist regimes have used centralised states to organise production and distribution.
2. Evolutionary Socialism
   a) Social Democrats
   - Argue that limited state intervention in social and economic affairs can safeguard the public and remedy the shortcomings of capitalism.
   b) Third Way
   - Sceptical attitude towards the state, asserting that top-down state intervention in economic and social matters is inefficient and ineffective.
   - The state should focus on social investment infrastructure and education to improve job opportunities and encourage self-reliance.

KEY THINKERS ON THE STATE

1. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
   - Capitalism must be destroyed by a revolution. The state will be temporarily replaced by the dictatorship of the proletariat and will wither away when communism is established.
2. Rosa Luxemburg
   - Capitalism should be destroyed by revolution and replaced by a genuine democracy.
3. Beatrice Webb
   - The state should be used to create a socialist society. This would be achieved via universal suffrage and would be a gradual process.
4. Anthony Crossland
   - The state should be managed by ‘meritocratic managers’ and ‘classless technocrats’.
5. Anthony Giddens
   - The state should invest in social investment and infrastructure and refrain from economic and social engineering.

Question 26

To what extent do Socialists and key thinkers agree over the concept of Society?

Answer 26

SOCIETY

1. Revolutionary Socialism
   a) Society is characterised by class inequalities, economic divisions and disparities in property ownership.
   b) Class conflict dominate society between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
   - Only Communism can deliver a stable and unified society.
2. Evolutionary Socialism
   a) Social Democrats
   - View society in fluid terms, accepting that class inequalities exist but also maintain that these social differences can be reduced through schemes such as welfare and redistribution.
   - Deindustrialisation and the rise of the service economy have made society increasingly ‘middle class’.
   b) Third Way
   - Rejection of traditional socialist emphasis on class distinctions and inequality.
   - Stresses harmony, consensus and social inclusion.

KEY THINKERS ON SOCIETY

1. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
   - Capitalism corrupts society and the elite oppress the working class, creating class conflict.
   - A communist society will have absolute equality and societal harmony.
2. Rosa Luxemburg
   - Capitalism corrupts society and the elite oppress the working class, creating class conflict.
   - A democratic communist society will have absolute equality and societal harmony.
3. Beatrice Webb
   - Society under socialist state management will produce equality of outcome.
4. Anthony Crossland
   - State management will affect societal change and create social justice and equality of welfare.
5. Anthony Giddens
   - Society will embrace equality of opportunity and communal responsibility instead of class conflict.

Question 27

To what extent do Socialists and key thinkers agree over the concept of The Economy?

Answer 27

THE ECONOMY

1. All Socialists
   a) All are critical of the negative effects of capitalism.
   - Many call for some level of intervention in economic affairs.
   b) Critical of the wasteful competition inherent within capitalism and emphasise the need for cooperation.
   c) Committed to an economy that creates a fairer society.
   d) Envisage equality of opportunity within society.
2. Revolutionary Socialism
   a) Believe that capitalism is beyond reform and call for replacing capitalism with a centrally planned economy based on common ownership.
   b) Marx and Engels believe that only mature economies can experience revolution whereas Rosa Luxemburg argues that less mature economies are equally capable of revolution.
   c) Economic production should be determined solely by human need.
3. Evolutionary Socialism
   a) All evolutionary socialists agree that capitalism can be reformed of most of its exploitative tendencies.
   - Yet they all disagree on how to manage the economy.
   b) Democratic Socialism
   - Beatrice Webb favours nationalisation.
   c) Social Democrats
   - Anthony Crossland favours a mixed economy and endorses Keynesian interventionist techniques.
   - Supportive of welfare policies to redistribute wealth.
   d) Third Way
   - Anthony Giddens prefers a neo-liberal free market and its primacy due to its efficiency.
   - Reject state intervention in the economy as it discourages investment and stifles entrepreneurial initiative.
   - Argues for less equality of outcome in comparison to social democracy or democratic socialism

KEY THINKERS ON THE ECONOMY

1. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
   - Capitalism is corrupt and inefficient and should be replaced by an economy where resources are collectively owned and distributed according to need.
2. Rosa Luxemburg
   - Marx’s historical materialism idea is flawed as capitalism does not need to reach a ‘final stage’ before it can be abolished.
   - Communist revolutions could happen in less economically developed societies.
3. Beatrice Webb
   - The free-market economy would be gradually nationalised as the workers obtain common ownership of the means of production.
4. Anthony Crossland
   - Rejected Webb’s gradualism and argued for a mixed economy and Keynesian capitalism.
   - Believed capitalism had largely been reformed of its exploitative tendencies.
5. Anthony Giddens
   - A neo-liberal economy with a free market is more efficient than all socialist economic models and the tax revenues they generate can finance greater equality of opportunity.