core ideology: socialism

Question 1

brief summary of socialism

Answer 1

• collectivism
• equality
• ambiguous, wide ranging ideology
• encompasses revolution (violent overthrow of capitalism) through parliamentary route to power (reforming capitalism, not abolishing it)
• from liberty and freedom, comradeship and altruism through to brutal oppression and tyranny
• all core ideologies contain contradictions, perhaps none more so than socialism

Question 2

origins

Answer 2

• like liberalism, its origins lay in the enlightenment and share a lot in common
• optimistic view of human nature
• reason over faith
• progressive (reform society)
• liberate people from oppression
• foundational equality
• belief in the power of the state to transform
• they reject private ownership of property and land (earlier socialists reject private property, later more modern socialists accept it)
• ‘socialism’ first appeared in early 19th century
• utopian socialists challenged emerging industrial capitalism with radical alternative
• fourier advocated independent communities based on communal ownership and production and equal distribution of resources, culture of tolerance
• mid 19th century saw rapid acceleration of industrialisation and its profound impacts
• many saw liberalism as an inadequate response - it appeared to deny the effects on urban life and how poverty denied individual autonomy and freedom

Question 3

core ideas: human nature

Answer 3

• optimistic (like liberalism, ‘progressive’)
• unlike liberals, socialists see humans as cooperative, generous and altruistic
• rather than seeing autonomy, socialists argue humans seek solidarity, fraternity and leadership
• our true nature however, has been diluted by time and circumstance: socialists believe our nature is malleable (not fixed at birth) - it can be shaped to ensure we realise our true, fraternal potential and contribution to a cooperative society

Question 4

industrialisation led to socialist ideas because:

Answer 4

• socialists movements rejected laissez-faire capitalism and blamed it and the industrial revolution for horrible working conditions
• people felt that society and government had failed to protect the people
• extreme economic and social changes, struggles of workers

Question 5

core ideas: society

Answer 5

• more than liberalism, socialists focus on the social environment: individuals are the product of the society into which they’re born
• society creates individuals
• society is a construct: marx and engels, saw this as primarily economic with the ‘means of production’
• it’s society that prevents individuals from fulfilling their true potential, hence socialists believe in improving society
• to improve society, we must first understand it, society is defined by social class divisions, the result of capitalism
• class is central to an individuals life which is determined by their status within the capitalist economy
• classes are unequal in terms of power and influence, a point made by not marx but also modern labour socialists
• class divisions shape socialism’s focus on equality
• socialists reject liberals faith in foundational and formal equality, seen as meaningless in a divided, unequal society
• instead, focus should be on equality of outcome, social justice should be the primary objective

Question 6

egalitarian

Answer 6

all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities, broad idea of equality

Question 7

social justice

Answer 7

view that everyone deserves equal and economic social rights and opportunities

Question 8

dialectic

Answer 8

investigating/discussing the truth of opinions

Question 9

historical materialism

Answer 9

says history is made as a result of struggle between different social classes

Question 10

core ideas: economy

Answer 10

• for socialists, an economy built on private property promotes competition and allows self interest over cooperation and fraternity as well as huge inequalities of outcome
• we need a different type of economy, one that promotes workers control and redistribution of wealth
• collectivism focuses on need of society as a while, not just individuals
• can take in different forms: progressive taxation, progressive public spending, state/common ownership, extensive public services, extensive state regulation of capitalism
• collectivism is also seen as more efficient: capitalism is viewed as unstable and unpredictable

Question 11

class consciousness

Answer 11

awareness of your place in a system of social class

Question 12

democratic centralism

Answer 12

organisation principle of communist states, political decisions reached by voting

Question 13

core ideas: the state

Answer 13

• socialists support a strong state @ least in short term, bring about redistribution and social justice (through economic and social intervention)
• marx believed eventually state would ‘wither away’
• support a state reflecting equal distribution of economic and political power (an expression of collectivism)

Question 14

different types of socialism

Answer 14

• fundamentalist (believe capitalism must be abolished)
• revisionist (see socialism co existing alongside it)

Question 15

fundamentalist socialism

Answer 15

• earliest form, originally asserted by marx and engels
• capitalism should be abolished, either through revolution or evolution
• 5 strands of fundamentalist socialism

Question 16

revolution

Answer 16

overthrow of the state

Question 17

evolution

Answer 17

capturing the state

Question 18

classical marxism

Answer 18

• writings of karl marx and friedrich engels
• argued capitalism must disappear before socialism and then communism can be established
• capitalism promoted exploitation, alternation and the oppression of one claw over another and was incompatible with socialist values
• hegel, marx and engels argued that history went through specific pre determined stages (historicism)
• each stage ended due to its inevitable intellectual conflict
• marx and engels saw prevailing ruling orthodoxy as economic
• history is therefore a cycle of economic stages
• one class would always be economically dominant, exploiting others
• marx and engels say that capitalism was an economic model doomed to collapse
• following emergence of class consciousness, comes the revolution, destroying capitalism and replacing with a socialist alternative
• say violence is necessary as the ruling class will not abandon capitalism willingly

Question 19

marxism - leninism (orthodox communism)

Answer 19

• lenin led the russian bolshevik party prior to the russian revolution of 1917
• lenin shared marx’s views except that capitalism was the necessary pre condition for socialism, a view shared by rosa luxemburg
• lenin argued revolution in pre industrial societies should drive development of socialist ideas and avoid the masses developing capitalist values
• luxemburg shared lenin’s impatience for socialist revolution but questioned whether his argument might undermine revolutionary socialism in industrialised countries
• she also questioned lenin’s ideas for a ‘revolutionary elite’ that would plot and overthrow government through inciting revolution then educated the masses in socialist thinking and form the new communist party which would manage new society
• joseph stalin went on to implement marxist leninist ideas of democratic socialism under his brutal role of russian and soviet union and adopted isolation

Question 20

democratic centralism

Answer 20

where there was one political party, open discussion within to reach a decision to reflect the will of the people but where the further discussion was unnecessary and ‘disrespectful’ of revolution

Question 21

key thinkers - karl marx and friedrich engels

Answer 21

• first socialist thinkers to offer analysis of how humans were social and economic beings, their nature shaped by their environment and that only a socialist economic system would revive our true selfless cooperative and fraternal nature
• the first to offer an analysis of a class based society, divided between the ruling bourgeoisie and proletariat
• rejecting the liberal idea that capitalism promotes prosperity and individual liberty, they challenged the idea of a politically neutral state by arguing that the state was a tool of the ruling class
• said new state would emerge to govern in interests of new economically dominant class, educating citizens on socialist values before ‘withering away’ to be replaced by communism

Question 22

communism

Answer 22

stateless society, common ownership

Question 23

key thinker- rosa luxemburg (1871-1919)

Answer 23

• member of the german social democratic party (SPD)
• rejected lenin’s ‘vanguard elite’ argument and suggested that revolution would arise spontaneously as class consciousness grew through workplace protest with mass strike action being the trigger for revolution
• rejected dictatorship of the proletariat argument, instead called for immediate creation of democracy underpinned by common ownership, open debate and elections

Question 24

philanthropy

Answer 24

donating money to charity and giving money

Question 25

fundamentalist socialism: democratic socialism

Answer 25

• pioneered in UK by fabian society and bourgeois intellectuals like sidney and beatrice webb
• inspired by creation of the labour party including clause IV of 1918 constitution

Question 26

sidney and beatrice webb

Answer 26

• departed from marx in rejecting ‘big bang’ approach to revolution arguing this created as much chaos and instability as capitalism itself
• believed in a more planned, rational society (to avoid volatility of capitalism)
• believed extension of the suffrage offered election based route to a socialist society (the inevitability of gradualism)

Question 27

the inevitability of gradualism

Answer 27

parliamentary democracy and not revolution would deliver the inevitable socialist society - inevitable because universal suffrage would lead to political equality and works in interest of working class majority

Question 28

key thinker: beatrice webb (1858-1943)

Answer 28

• evolutionary socialist
• capitalism was principle cause of poverty and inequality, a ‘corrupting force’
• neither paternalism or philanthropy were sustainable solutions in stress required vigorous trade unionism and extensive state intervention through reform
• contributed to royal commission of poverty (minority report) arguing state should guarantee a minimum of welfare support

Question 29

later democratic socialism

Answer 29

• 1945-51 labour government after argued as democratic socialism in action: welfare state and common ownership to achieve a fairer, post-capitalist society
• updated later than tony benn who saw the ‘failures’ of subsequent labour governments as evidence of need to transform capitalism

Question 30

euro communism

Answer 30

• centred in western europe belief that capitalism can be gradually ‘de commissioned’
• by 1970’s many western communist parties were keen to distance themselves from USSR and rejected revolution preferring to contest elections
• antonio gramsci argued that capitalism could not be overthrown without mass public support
• existing capitalist state could be transformed to accommodate meaningful socialist change
• rejection of desirability and inevitability of revolution
• rejection of dictatorship of the proletariat and historical materialism

Question 31

neo marxism

Answer 31

• 20th century, marxists explain survival of capitalism as down to ‘cultural hegemony’
• unlike gramsci, herbert marcuse and max horkheimer argued cultural hegemony vindicated marx’s support for revolution
• argued when next economic slump arrived, increased agitation would lead to overthrow of capitalism
• ideas developed by ralph miliband argued that whenever socialist governments were elected they were always thrown off course by state sponsored capitalist forces

Question 32

revisionist socialism

Answer 32

• refuting a core tenet of marx socialism can be achieved without destruction of capitalism and private property
• form of evolutionary socialism

Question 33

classical revisionism

Answer 33

• identified with eduard bernstein
• argued by the end of 19th century condition of working class was steadily improving, little evidence that history was following path that marx suggested
• extension franchise and fact that majority of voters were working class suggested that socialist governments were increasingly likely to oversee improvements to working and housing conditions
• shared fabian’s support for gradualism through disagreed with their opposition to capitalism

Question 34

socialism and private property - social democracy

Answer 34

• late 19th century social democracy was associated with anti-capitalist, revolutionary sentiments
• by mid 20th century the term was used to describe revisionist socialism encapsulated by german SPD party
• inspired antony crosland
• argued to reform capitalism as envisaged by keynes had guaranteed full employment and steady economic growth and more ‘classless’ society

Question 35

key thinker: anthony crosland (1918-77)

Answer 35

• argued keynesian style common ownership had gone far enough: socialism true objective, equality could be achieved within a capitalist economy
• successful capitalism fuelled economic growth which as well as supporting full employment and rising living standards funded an expanding welfare state which would diminish inequality
• socialism now required a mixed economy mostly private alongside a small number of industries and services owned by the state
• the task for future labour governments, crosland argued was not more public ownership but greater public spending

Question 36

the third way

Answer 36

• most recent form of revisionism, associated with blair and brown
• emerged in 1990’s following collapse of soviet union
• these developments challenged revisionist socialists to develop a new model
• adopted by blair’s new labour who abandoned clause IV
• focus on cultural and political equality
• distinguish between third way revisionism and social democracy

Question 37

key thinker: anthony giddens (1938-)

Answer 37

• sought to triangulate social democracy’s desire for greater equality within a less keynesian
• encouraged greater privatisation and further de regulation which would foster economic growth and hence increase government income from tax to boost public spending
• most controversially supported greater inequality of outcome suggesting this was consistent with economic growth
• capitalism and individualism are irreversible
• free market had unmatched capacity to empower individuals economically although stressed importance social cohesion
• post fordist principle had atomised workforce and individuals but also undermined individual confidence
• human nature require the state to invest more heavily in infrastructure

Question 38

tensions within socialism: human nature

Answer 38

• all socialists believe human nature is malleable improvable
• marx believed it is inherently shaped by the prevailing economic system
• however, giddens argues human nature can prosper under capitalism

Question 39

tensions within socialism: society

Answer 39

• all socialists see society as crucial in shaping our lives and personalities - the task is to improve society after which improvements in ‘behaviour’ will materialise
• some socialists argue society can be improved gradually e.g webb who saw gradual reforms as spreading socialist values and hence improving society, crosland and giddens too argued society can be improved gradually although within capitalism and private property
• these views contrast with marx, who argued capitalism is fundamentally corrupt and contrary to human nature and should be overthrown

Question 40

tensions within socialism: the state

Answer 40

• for socialists, the state is vital to achieving its core values but differ widely about its role
• marx argued capitalist state needs to be destroyed by revolution then replaced by dictatorship of proletariat before eventually withering away
• webb saw the state as instrumental in managing economy and steering society towards socialism as did crosland and giddens

Question 41

tensions within socialism: the economy

Answer 41

• marx, luxemburg and webb believe capitalism and private property is incompatible with socialism, requiring its abolition and replacement
• revisionist believe socialism are achievable within capitalism either by mixed economy and neo liberal

Question 42

socialism today

Answer 42

• new labour adopted neo-liberal economic model at a time of growing individualism and embourgeoisement
• 2007-08 financial crash forced governments into greater state regulation of economy
• growing anti globalisation fuelled support for more left wing socialists like corbyn and sanders
• perhaps so long as capitalism continues to lurch from crisis to crisis there will be support for socialism