socialism Flashcards
1
Q
Crossland- 6 elements of socialism
A
liberty and democracy, anti-poverty, concern for the needy/ oppressed, equality in a classless society, cooperation not competition, talking inefficiency of capitalism.
2
Q
what does everyone agree with in socialism
A
Everyone agrees with liberty and democracy (doesn’t differentiate socialists).
3
Q
socialism as an alternative to capitalism
A
o Socialist values: freedom, equality, community.
o Socialist institutions: social ownership, planning (who does it, often centralised somewhat), economic democracy, markets (extent and kind can vary)
4
Q
socialist critiques of capitalism
A
○ Inefficiency of capitalism - crises, underproducing goods, over consuming natural resources, negative externalities, and basic model of productivity.
○ Injustice - ‘bourgeois’, ‘left liberal’, and ‘socialist’ equality of opportunity.
○ Unfreedom - ‘negative freedom’ and ‘non-domination’
○ Exploitation - ‘A benefits from a social relationship with B by taking advantage of B’
○ Alienation
5
Q
socialism as a road to communism
A
● Socialism is not an end in itself according to Marx.
○ Socialism as a lower stage, in which workers own the means of production and decide how to use them - ‘To each according to his labour’, but communism as a higher stage - ‘From each according to his abilities to each according to his needs’ suggesting the social product meets everyone’s basic needs its distribution and each individual’s share is independent of their labour contribution.
6
Q
socialism as necessary prerequisite for communism
A
○ Socialism - exploitation is abolished. Communism - alienation is abolished.
○ Socialism as a stage to reshape man and to develop the productive powers of humankind, creating a state of abundance, all of which allow communism to flourish.
7
Q
market socialism
A
the means of production are owned socially or collectively and operate in a market economy. This contrasts with traditional socialism, where the means of production might be owned by the state or by workers’ cooperatives without the presence of a market mechanism
8
Q
central claim of market socialists
A
The central claim made by market socialists, therefore, was that socialists should be willing to embrace the market economy, with tempered enthusiasm rather than reluctance, partly for reasons of efficiency but also for reasons of personal freedom. It promised to liberate people, both as producers and as consumers, from the heavy-handed control of the state. But it was essential at the same time to look for new ways of framing the market – setting out the ground rules on whose basis the market should operate – so that it served socialist values, notably a much higher degree of material equality than was possible under capitalism
9
Q
market socialism and wealth redistribution
A
. It was a set of proposals for reforming the market economy that left open for further discussion how large a proportion of the overall economy should be organized on a market basis and how much should remain in the public and voluntary sectors. The key point was that, rather than relying on redistribution via the state as the main vehicle for promoting equality, the market itself should be reconstituted so that with new rules of ownership the distribution of primary incomes would be significantly more equal than was inevitably the case under capitalism.
10
Q
market socialism as socialist
A
Market socialism is called “socialist” because it abolishes the division between capital and labour: there is, in market socialism, no class of capitalists facing workers who own no capital, since workers themselves, that is, the whole population, own the capital of firms Eco- nomic inequality is thereby substantially diminished.
11
Q
market mechanisms in market socialism
A
- Market Mechanism: Market socialism retains a market system where goods and services are bought and sold based on supply and demand. Prices are often determined by market forces, competition, and consumer preferences.
12
Q
profit in market socialism
A
- Profit Motive: While the profit motive is not entirely eliminated, it may be moderated or redirected. Instead of profits going primarily to private owners or shareholders, they might be distributed more equitably among workers or reinvested in the enterprise or community.
13
Q
democratic control in market socialism
A
- Democratic Control: One of the hallmarks of market socialism is its emphasis on democratic decision-making in the workplace. Workers often have a say in the management and operation of their workplaces, either directly or through elected representatives.
14
Q
Carens view of market socialism
A
- retain market institutions in their current form but to do away with material incentives entirely.
- It would be possible, he argued, to achieve material equality without altering the institutional structure of conventional capitalism by first socializing children and adolescents into believing that they had a social obligation to maximize their pre-tax incomes and then taxing such incomes at 100 per cent and distributing the proceeds to everyone equally.
- people continued to make their productive choices in the same way as they would have under capitalism.
15
Q
Corens differs from most other market socialists
A
*most other market socialists- assumed that market economies needed to make use of material incentives to motivate workers to choose their occupations and to produce efficiently, whilst aiming to alter the structure of capitalist enterprises more or less radically
16
Q
Roemer’s market socialists
A
eliminate inequality stemming from unequal initial holdings of capital – but not inequalities arising from talent differences in the labour market – or indeed inequalities arising from differential success in investing the vouchers.
- the managerial structure of the capitalist firm is not challenged by this proposal, although its form of ownership clearly is, since firms would be run not by private entrepreneurs but by managers on the basis of capital borrowed via the voucher scheme… The preferred form of economic organization was the labour-managed firm or workers’ cooperative.
17
Q
Wright’s socilaism
A
is an economic structure within which the means of production are socially owned and the allocation and use of resources for different social purposes is accomplished through the exercise of what can be termed “social power.”
o “Social power” is power rooted in the capacity to mobilize people for cooperative, voluntary collective actions of various sorts in civil society. This implies that civil society should not be viewed simply as an arena of activity, sociability, and communication, but also of real power
o Socialism, understood in the way proposed here, is thus not equivalent to the working class controlling the means of production through its collective associations. Rather, social empowerment over the economy means broad-based encompassing economic democracy.
18
Q
Wright on degrees of socialism
A
- All empirical case studies are hybrids – not simply all or nothing but variables. the greater the degree and forms of social empowerment over ownership, use and control of economic resources and activities, the more we can describe an economy as socialist.
19
Q
Wright - three principles of socialism directions anchored in each of the three forms of power we have been discussing:
A
o Social empowerment over the way state power affects economic activity
o Social empowerment over the way economic power shapes economic activity
Social empowerment directly over economic activity.
20
Q
Social empowerment over the way state power affects economic activity
A
Wright:
if it were the case that a socialist party was deeply connected to the working class through its embeddedness in working class social networks and communities and democratically accountable through an open political process through which it politically represented the working class (or some broader coalition), then if the socialist party controlled the state and the state controlled the economy, one could argue on a principle of transitivity-of-control, that an empowered civil society controlled the economic system of production and distribution
The vision – at least on paper – was that the party would be organically connected to the working class and effectively accountable to associated workers, and thus its control over the state would be a mechanism for civil society to control the state
It’s important that there is social empowerment - The state will remain central to the provision of a wide range of public goods, from health to education to public transportation
21
Q
Social empowerment over the way economic power shapes economic activity
A
This can occur in the form of ordinary labour unions engaged in bargaining over pay and working conditions: such bargaining constitutes a form of social power which, if only in limited ways, affects the operation of economic power
Social movements engaged in consumer oriented pressure on corporations would also be a form of civil society empowerment directed at economic power. This would include such things as organized boycotts of corporations for selling products that do not conform to some socially- salient standard
22
Q
o Social empowerment directly over economic activity.
A
voluntary associations in civil society directly organize various aspects of economic activity, rather than simply shape the deployment of economic power
A stand-alone fully worker-owned cooperative firm in a capitalist economy is a form of social capitalism: the egalitarian principle of one-person one-vote of all members of the business means that the power relations within the firm are based on voluntary cooperation and persuasion, not the relative economic power of different people.
23
Q
movement towards the three these of socialism and rejection of capitalism
A
- Taken individually, movement along one or another of these pathways might not pose much of a challenge to capitalism, but substantial movement along all of them taken together would constitute a fundamental transformation of capitalism’s class relations and the structures of power and privilege rooted in them.
24
Q
Wright’s simple definition of socialism
A
- Socialism can then be defined as an economic structure in which social power in its multiple forms plays the dominant role in organizing economic activity, both directly, and indirectly
25
Wright's socialism and democratic egalitarian ideals
* There is no guarantee that a society within which power rooted in civil society predominates would be one that upholds democratic egalitarian ideals- not that a socialism of social empowerment inevitably will successfully meet this challenge, but that moving along the pathways of social empowerment will provide a more favorable terrain on which to struggle for these ideals than does either capitalism or statism.
eg equitable distribution of resources, social justice etc.
26
Wright as a market socialist
Wright proposed a model of democratic regulation of markets, where markets would operate within a framework of social control and oversight. He argued for policies and institutions that would ensure fair competition, prevent exploitation, and address inequalities generated by market forces
Wright's work often focused on practical strategies for transitioning from capitalism to socialism. He emphasized the need for gradual, incremental changes that would gradually shift power and ownership relations towards workers and communities while maintaining economic stability.
27
Barry on what socialism is
* socialism is best understood as a union of social justice and collectivism
28
Barry and like for individualism
* Socialists should not reject all forms of individualism.
* Argues some form of methodological individualism should be accepted by socialists - forces new thinking about proposed institutions and motivating people to work in a socialist society.
* If we proposer that in future things ought to be organised in a certain way, methodological individualism bids us to press the question: how are individual men and women to be motivated to act in the manner that these institutions require? Necessary that such questions should be asked in advance of any attempt to introduce new social arrangements. otherwise disillusionment and, following upon this, the discrediting of socialism.
29
Barry- methodological individualism
o Methodological individualism: all satisfactory explanations of social phenomena must be capable, in principle, of being couched in terms of individuals’ actions.
o very often an explanation couched in methodological individualist terms will appeal to the unintended consequences of a mass of individual actions. – isn’t just about individual’s deliberate actions to bring about intended consequences. It is about how a whole series of individual decisions eventually add up to a social phenomenon.
* Arguing that payment could be entirely divorced from work effort (because people would work out of love or enthusiasm for socialism) would be consistent with methodological individualism – focusing on individual actions and motivations to come up with policy
30
Barry - socialism as social justice
* Advocates for all societal institutions to conform to principles of justice.
* All inequalities in rights and access to resources must be justified in terms acceptable to everyone.
* Criteria for justifying inequality
o Desert -Those who deserve more should receive more.
o Common advantage - if everyone stands to gain from some social arrangement that sets up or generates an inequality, we have at any rate a prima facie good reason for everyone to accept the inequality.
31
Barry's departure form socialism = equality
* I thus depart in two ways from the idea that 'socialism is about equality': by substituting 'social justice' for 'equality' and by adding collectivism. Equality is an inaccurate representation of a distinctly socialist goal.
32
Barry - need for collectivism in socialism
* If collectivism is dropped from the definition of socialism there is no way of distinguishing socialists from adherents of social justice who favour dividing everything up so that each person gets his or her fair share and then leaving them to pursue their ends independently
33
Barry - collectivism alone is not enough
* socialism cannot be fully associated with collectivism alone - Stalin and Hitler were collectivists but cannot be said to have built ‘real existing socialism’ (as Stalin suggested) as they failed to satisfy the criteria of social justice.
34
Barry case for collectivism
* Difference between collectivism and individualism = desirability of collective action to bring about ends that cannot be achieved by individual actions.
o Many things we want can only be achieved with collective action - e.g. strikes for better pay. There’s a reason modern train drivers are paid so well.
o The more that the members of a society are associated in common institutions, the more likely they are to see themselves as being all in the same boat and to accept redistributive measures.
35
Cohen - case against markets
as destructive of community by relying on greed and fear.
36
Cohen's camping trip - socialist model
* Situation with no hierarchy, only goal is to have a good time and to do what we like best as far as possible.
* We have facilities with which to carry out our enterprise: we have, for example, pots and pans, oil, coffee, fishing rods, canoes, a soccer ball, decks of cards, and so forth. And, as is usual on camping trips, we avail ourselves of those facilities collectively: even if they are privately owned things, they are under collective control for the duration of the trip.
* we have shared understandings about who is going to use them when, and under what circumstances, and why. someone fishes, someone cooks the fish, someone washes up etc
37
Cohen's camping trip - inequality
* People who hate cooking but enjoy washing up may do all the washing up, and so on. There are plenty of differences, but our mutual understandings, and the spirit of the enterprise, ensure that there are no inequalities to which anyone could mount a principled objection.
38
Cohen's camping trip if it was based on capitalism
* A camping trip based on principles of market exchange and private ownership would make most people hate it - and it would also be inefficient. Eg bargaining proceeds with respect to who is going to pay what to whom to be allowed, for example, to use a knife to peel the potatoes, and how much he is going to charge others for those now-peeled potatoes that he bought in an unpeeled condition from another camper, and so on.
39
2 principles realised on camping trip
1. Egalitarian principle- radical principle of equality of opportunity, which I shall call “socialist equality of opportunity.”
2. Community principle
40
ll “socialist equality of opportunity.” - redistribution
* promoting equality of opportunity is not only an equalizing, but also a redistributing, policy: Removing blockages for some does not always leave the opportunities of the initially better placed intact but reduces their opportunities E.g. widening of acceptance of state school students to elite institutions will naturally mean that some spaces that would have been taken by private school students are lost.
41
3 types of equality of opportunity
o Bourgeois equality of opportunity:
o Left-liberal equality of opportunity
o Socialist equality of opportunity
42
Cohen's Bourgeois equality of opportunity
equality of opportunity in the liberal age, removing socially constructed status restrictions, formal and informal, on life chances. widens people’s opportunities by removing constraints on opportunity caused by rights assignments and by bigoted and other prejudicial social perceptions.
43
Cohen's Left-liberal equality of opportunity
beyond bourgeois form, as also looks at the disadvantages derived immediately from a person’s circumstances- of those circumstances of birth and upbringing that constrain not by assigning an inferior status to their victims, but by nevertheless causing them to labor and live under substantial disadvantages. Eg promoting left-liberal equality of opportunity include head-start education for children from deprived backgrounds.
. When left-liberal equality of opportunity is fully achieved, people’s fates are deter- mined by their native talent and their choices, and, therefore, not at all by their social backgrounds.
44
Cohens' socialist equality of opportunity - what it is
most developed - Treats the inequality arising from native differences (pertains to addressing disparities that naturally exist between individuals due to inherent traits or characteristics, such as talent, intelligence, or physical abilities) as a further source of injustice, beyond that imposed by unchosen social backgrounds. Corrects all unchosen disadvantages. When socialist equality of opportunity prevails, differences of outcome reflect nothing but difference of taste and choice.
45
cohen's community principle
* “Community” can mean many things, but the requirement of community that is central here is that people care about, and, where necessary and possible, care for, one another, and, too, care that they care about one another.
46
Cohen's community and equality
* in a society where everyone starts on an equal footing due to socialist equality of opportunity, inequalities would primarily arise from option luck.
* Cohen argues that large-scale inequalities due to option luck are detrimental to community cohesion and contradict the principles of socialist equality of opportunity.
47
Cohen - inequalities undermine community cohesion
some form of redistribution or income equalization may be necessary to maintain social harmony. For instance, winning a significant amount in a lottery while others do not leads to such vast inequalities that they strain community ties and cohesion.- Cohen says certain inequalities that cannot be forbidden in the name of socialist equality of opportunity should nevertheless be forbidden, in the name of community.
48
Cohen - communal reciprocity
antimarket principle according to which I serve you not because of what I can get in return but because you need or want my service, and you, for the same reason, serve me.
49
the market against communal reciprocity
o Market motivates productive contribution on the basis of cash reward - the motive is always some combination of greed and fear, which the market brings to prominence.
Unsocialist principle. Marketeers are only willing to serve in order to be served, whereas nonmarket cooperation relishes the cooperation itself. Society thus becomes a network of mutual provision, making it socialist.
50
Cohen -socialism and choices
* The critique that socialism curbs choices is wrong - there are plenty of instances for personal choice, e.g. for leisure and labour, under the voluntarily accepted constraint that choices must blend fairly with those of others.
o Within market society, too, the choices of others massively confine each individual’s pursuit of her own choices, but that fact is masked in market society
51
Cohen - socialism as desirable because of fraternity
* Fraternity is desirable life not just camping trip- I do not think that the cooperation and un- selfishness that the trip displays are appropriate only among friends, or within a small community. In the mutual provisioning of a market society, I am essentially indifferent to the fate of the farmer whose food I eat: there is no or little community between us
52
Cohen - socialism is compatible with human nature
* Capitalism has made human nature incompatible with socialism
o We don’t know how to harness our generosity but we know how to harness selfishness well
- we don’t know how to design the machinery to make socialism run.
o Our problem is not, primarily, human selfishness, but our lack of a suitable organizational technology: our problem is a problem of design.
53
Miller's overall view of the market
* Defends market socialism.
* scrutinises a libertarian society in which everything would be handed over to market forces - argues that a good society cannot be FULLY built around these.
54
Miller - defects of state socialism
○ state planned economies cannot respond as quickly and flexibly to consumer preferences as markets (probably also applicable to situations of economic crisis). Little worker control in a state planned economy - market form might actually give workers more autonomy?
55
Miller - market socialism as a middle ground
comes to terms with defects in state socialism and social democracy while still holding core socialist ideals
* Market mechanism as a means of providing goods and services whilst the ownership of capital is socialised - all productive enterprises are workers’ cooperatives, with each being democratically controlled by those that work for it. Seen as the ‘pure’ model of market socialism
56
Miller - 4 aims of market socialism
) Obtain the efficiency benefits of markets in the production of most goods and services
○ (b) Confine the economic role of the state in a way that makes democratic government feasible
○ (c) Protect the autonomy of workers
○ (d) Bring about a much more equal distribution of primary income.
57
ways that market socialism overcomes critiques of capitalism by socialists
* consumers are generally the best judges of their own welfare, that people can deserve their market receipts, that exploitation is not an inherent feature of market transactions, and that alienation can be overcome provided the market is subject to political control.
58
Miller v Cohen - markets and redistribution
Markets clearly do not and cannot distribute resources to people on the basis of need: the best they can do is to create sufficient resources that all needs can be satisfied, but it requires non-market institutions to bring about the distributive outcome that the principle requires
○ BUT the market socialist model under discussion was clearly one in which the market sector was to be counterbalanced by an extensive welfare state.
59
Miller's view of deserving
* distributive outcomes of a properly framed market socialist economy might be seen as individually deserved, once desert was understood in the appropriate way.
○ people in market economies deserved to be rewarded on the basis of the value of their productive contributions, using market prices as a measure of value. I freely conceded that such contribution depended not only on effort but also on native ability. although desert required personal responsibility – to deserve X on the basis of some action A, it was necessary that one be responsible for performing A – it did not follow that one also had to be responsible for everything that made it possible to perform A. so long as responsibility was present, desert could also reflect the outcome that was achieved, even if this depended on unequally distributed talent.
60
Cohen - injustice and un socialism of markets
Market socialism nevertheless remains deficient…because, by socialist standards, there is injustice in a system that offers high rewards on people who happen to be unusually talented and who form highly productive cooperatives. Market socialism is also a deficient socialism because the market exchange that lies at its heart tends against the value of community.’
61
Steiner - challenges socialist critique of markets
* challenges the notion that greed or selfishness is the primary motivator in market behaviour, suggesting instead that motivations are diverse and context-dependent.
* The error in deploying egoism or selfishness or greed as the motivational explanans for market behaviour is simply that it is either false or overkill
62
Steiner- what explains market behaviour
What precisely and accurately characterizes that behaviour is non-tuism.- , meaning they do not indiscriminately lavish altruism upon all persons.
63
Wicksteed on what explains market behaviour
primary motivation for economic behaviour in market relationships is egoism, but this should not be seen as inherently negative or problematic. He suggests that egoism in economic relations is not about excluding others but about mutual benefit and cooperation.
when we engage in trade we are “mutually furthering each other’s purposes because we are interested in our own” builds upon Adam Smith’s insight that social gains are to be had when individuals pursue their own selfish interests
64
Against Cohen's dislike for option luck - taste
* Jerry argues that forbidding certain kinds of inequality, such as lottery winnings, would be unjust since they stem from differences in individual tastes and choices rather than systemic disadvantages.
65
Against Cohen's dislike for option luck- greed
* It remains ambiguous whether retaining lottery winnings is motivated by greed. There is an inherent lack of communal spirit when one keeps such winnings, but whether this violates communal reciprocity depends on whether one would have shared the winnings if roles were reversed.
o But Even if greed is identified in keeping lottery winnings, it cannot be solely attributed to the nature of market society.
66
Against Cohen's dislike for option luck- fear
* Even if one perceives the retention of lottery winnings as a breach of communal reciprocity, it is unlikely to induce feelings of fear in others.
67
Jerry- the value of the market
* Jerry - acknowledged that the market is a mechanism, which is unsurpassed in its capacity to collect and disperse information – from where it’ s located to where it’s needed – if society is to maximize the well-being of its members. Justice – socialist equality of opportunity – which he did so much to define, is fully compatible with that market mechanism and, I would contend, goes some considerable distance toward eliminating the greed and fear that attend unjust market society.
68
Steiner - market and community
* achieving true community is not solely an institutional endeavor. It cannot be achieved merely through the establishment of rights, duties, and political mechanisms.
* Instead of relying on external incentives or enforcement mechanisms, the path to genuine community is depicted as a matter of personal conscience. the road to community is thus one which each person must travel alone.
o The use of incentives, such as social acclaim or disapprobation, can be counterproductive. Such external motivators may inadvertently perpetuate feelings of greed and fear, which are antithetical to the spirit of community
69
Honneth- early socialist critique of market and individualism
* Early socialists critiqued the capitalist market economy for reducing freedom to individual egoism (l'égoïsme individuel), which they believed hindered meaningful social change and prevented the realization of fraternity.
true freedom cannot be understood in terms of private egoism and competition. liberty in economic relations should be based on free cooperation and mutual benefit. True critique of capitalism
values of liberty, equality and fraternity cannot be fully reconciled with each other as long as liberty is not interpreted in a less individualistic and more intersubjective manner.
70
Axels: Marx- critique of capitalism and individualism
* Marx too criticized the individualism which was irreconcilable with the demands of a true community encompassing all members of society.
* Marx envisions a social model in which freedom and solidarity are interlinked, in which each individual can view his own aims as the condition for the realization of the aims of others. This means that individual intentions must be so clearly interlinked that we can only achieve our aims cooperatively, conscious of our dependence on each other
71
Honneth- early socialists and freedom
* Early socialists embraced the transition from a "negative" to a "positive" understanding of freedom
72
agreement between socialists and liberals on freedom
* Liberal model of freedom- We can only speak of individual freedom in a meaningful way if subjects are free to pursue their aims without any hindrance. This freedom is limited, in the first place, only by the condition that the consequences of our actions must not impinge on the freedom of other subjects + additional condition that subjects’ decisions to act themselves must represent acts of self-determination which ensure that their aims are determined entirely by their own reasoning
* Socialists agreed - individual freedom requires that our aims be open to reason and not dictated by nature.
* true freedom requires rational self-determination and the pursuit of universally shared, reasoned aims, rather than being dictated by natural instincts or external forces
73
Honneth: socialists and community
* The foundational idea of socialism is rooted in the belief that entire societies can and should be organized based on communities of solidarity, where individual freedom and mutual responsibility are harmoniously integrated.
* For the socialists,, individual freedom in the first instance merely indicates the ability to realize one’s own free, more or less universally shared intentions through actions that need only respect the rights of others to the same kind of freedom.
* particular concept of community, a concept that they always mention in the same breath as freedom
74
Axel: socialists and social freedom
* Social freedom emphasizes that human beings cannot realize their individual freedom in the matters most important to them on their own.. individual freedom is realized through intersubjective relationships in communities of solidarity, where individuals act not just "with each other" but "for each other."
75
Axel : how socialist freedom differs from individualism
. It differs from traditional individualism in that it regards this freedom as being contingent on participation in a certain type of social community.
* Individual subjects can only realize their capacity for freedom as members of a free social community, i.e. a community in which the reciprocal fulfillment of generally shared intentions is without compulsion and thus takes place in an atmosphere of mutual sympathy.
76
Axel: early socialists focused too much on economy
* Focusing almost exclusively on the economic sphere, it neglects or even denies the importance of liberal rights to freedom and individual will-formation.
* the social, subjects are integrated into society solely by means of their participation in the cooperative process of production. allowed for the realization of "social freedom" within this economic sphere. the importance of political rights, civic participation, and democratic governance were often overlooked or devalued.
77
Axel: Making early socialism relevant to the present- diversity of social movements
* Socialism should not be narrowly tied to specific social groups or movements.
* Instead, it should aim to represent a broad spectrum of experiences of social exclusion and heteronomy.
* the idea that socialism is obligated to “represent” already articulated interests, to be the mouthpiece of a single social movement, contradicts socialism’s own intention of being the mouthpiece of countless other interests that have not yet been articulated at all
78
Axel :two key aspects of traditional socialism that need revision:
economic system reconstruction
* Concept of Freedom within a Future Fraternal Society:
79
Axel: revision of socialism's economic system reconstruction
* encompass a broader notion of "social freedom" that applies across all spheres of modern societies, not just the economy.
* A revised socialism must recognize the need for continuous adaptation and learning. It should be flexible and experimental, seeking to discover the requirements for social freedom and harmony in various spheres through ongoing exploration and new knowledge.
* Not just focused on the economy- Confidence in socialism's vision for the future is bolstered by the accumulation of legal reforms and shifts in public perception that align with socialist intentions- * apply the notion of social freedom to all three constitutive spheres of modern societies
80
Axel: issue with socialism's economic system reconstruction
* The economic-centric view of early socialists prevented them from developing an independent understanding of freedom in personal relationships, like love, marriage, and family. They tried to address issues like gender inequality within economic frameworks
81
Axel: issue with socialism's concept of freedom within a future fraternal society
* Socialism traditionally aimed to replace individualistic notions of freedom with a collective understanding.
* The ultimate goal of this renewed socialism is to create a society where individual freedom and solidarity coexist and support each other.
* an independent semantics of freedom for the sphere of love, marriage and the family.
82
Axel: revision of socialism's concept of freedom within a future fraternal society
* Social freedom should be applied to society as a whole.
* should point to in the future, must be a social form of life in which individual freedom thrives not at the cost of solidarity, but with its help.
* Only if all members of society can satisfy the needs they share with all others – physical and emotional intimacy, economic independence and political self-determination – by relying on the sympathy and support of their partners in interaction will our society have become social in the full sense of the term.
83
Mitchell - current situation of women
* Women are different to any other social group- they are half of the human species and so are essential and irreplicable and cannot be exploited like other social groups.
* yet in their economic, social and political roles, they are marginal.
* It is precisely this combination—fundamental and marginal at one and the same time—that has been fatal to them. Within the world of men their position is comparable to that of an oppressed minority: but they also exist outside the world of men. The one state justifies the other and precludes protest.
84
Mitchell and women's work
* In advanced industrial society, women’s work is only marginal to the total economy. Yet it is through work that man changes natural conditions and thereby produces society. Until there is a revolution in production, the labour situation will prescribe women’s situation within the world of men. But women are offered a universe of their own: the family.
85
Mitchell- original focus on subordination of women in socialism
* The problem of the subordination of women and the need for their liberation was recognized by all the great socialist thinkers in the 19th century. But in contemporary debates it has become a secondary issue.
* Engels declared that the inequality of the sexes was one of the first antagonisms within the human species.
86
issues with Engels on gender inequality
Engels effectively reduces the problem of woman to her capacity to work.
* He locates the moment of her exploitation at the point of the transition from communal to private property. If inability to work is the cause of her inferior status, ability to work will bring her liberation: The emancipation of women becomes possible only when women are enabled to take part in production on a large, social, scale, and when domestic duties require their attention only to a minor degree.’
* The liberation of women remains a normative ideal, an adjunct to socialist theory, not structurally integrated into it- women do not have their own independent place in it
87
Mitchell- De Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, offers a more nuanced understanding of women's subordination,
* Men and women as biologically different to justify differences in work- Anatomically smaller and weaker, woman’s physiology and her psychobiological metabolism appear to render her a less useful member of a work-force.
* Once woman was accorded the menial tasks involved in maintenance whilst man undertook conquest and creation, she became subordinate, an aspect of the things preserved: private property and children.
* Like Engels, connects women's subordination to their perceived physical inferiority and link this to the emergence of private property.
88
Mitchell- issue with socialist critique of patriarchy - overstates female exclusion
* women’s physique has never permanently or even predominantly relegated them to menial domestic chores. In many peasant societies, women have worked in the fields as much as, or more than men.
89
Mitchell- issue with socialist critique of patriarchy - domestic labour
* importance of domestic labor, emphasizing that it should not be undervalued or dismissed as insignificant compared to "productive labor." - Domestic labour, even today, is enormous if quantified in terms of productive labour.
90
Mitchell- issue with socialist critique of patriarchy - focus on physicality as reason for male exclusion
* Most socialists label the whole development of feminine subordination was women’s lesser capacity for demanding physical work.
* if it is just the biological incapacity for the hardest physical work which has determined the subordination of women, then the prospect of an advanced machine technology, abolishing the need for strenuous physical exertion would seem to promise, therefore, the liberation of women.
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Mitchell- 4 structures of women's integration that must be achieved
* Production:
reproduction
sexuality
socialisation
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Mitchell - reproduction as a structure of women's liberation
: Advances in contraception could revolutionize women's reproductive roles.
* Bearing children, bringing them up, and maintaining the home—these form the core of woman’s natural vocation- parenthood as substitute of rwork and this takes place in the home- place of men’s relaxation
* Once child-bearing becomes totally voluntary its significance is fundamentally different. It need no longer be the sole or ultimate vocation of woman; it becomes one option among others.
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Mitchell - production as a structure of women's liberation
Women's role in production remains stagnant and has not proved to be a solution for their liberation.
* work as such—of the amount and type effectively available today—has not proved a salvation for women.
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Mitchell - production as a structure of women's liberation
* Socialists fail to address it as too taboo
* sexuality is undergoing rapid changes compared to other structures like production, reproduction, and socialization- sexuality as the weak link in the chain of societal structures. It is the site of the most contradictions and is proving less successful in regulating spontaneous behaviour compared to other structures.there can never be a solution through it alone. A comprehensive approach that addresses multiple structures and dimensions of women's oppression and liberation is needed.
* Women as sexual objects- This commodification of women's sexuality is equated to the notion of possession, implying a form of ownership or control over women's bodies.
* The liberation of sexual experience from external influences such as procreation or property could lead to true inter-sexual freedom
* Once formal conjugal equality (monogamy) is established, sexual freedom as such—which under polygamous conditions was usually a form of exploitation—becomes, conversely, a possible force for liberation
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Mitchell -soclialisation as a structure of women's liberation
* Woman’s biological destiny as mother becomes a cultural vocation in her role as socializer of children. In bringing up children, woman achieves her main social definition.
* The changes in the composition of the work-force, the size of the family, the structure of education, etc—however limited from an ideal standpoint—have undoubtedly diminished the societal function and importance of the family.
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Collectivism doesn't apply to market socialists
reliance on market mechanisms may create competition and individualistic tendencies that could potentially undermine the sense of shared community and collective responsibility fostered by common institutions.
the presence of market forces may still lead to disparities in income, wealth, and opportunities. These inequalities could potentially undermine the sense of collective solidarity and mutual responsibility within society.
Market socialism seeks to reconcile individual freedoms and incentives with collective ownership and control. This balance between individualism and collectivism may make it more challenging to foster a strong sense of collective identity and shared responsibility compared to more explicitly collectivist ideologies that prioritize the collective over individual interests
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defence of collectivism
The more that the members of a society are associated in common institutions, the more likely they are to see themselves as being all in the same boat and to accept redistributive measures.
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market socialism and gender equality
* Market cannot eliminate the deep seated inequity between the pay of men and women, or to prevent racial discrimination in job and housing markets. Thus incompatible with social justice element of socialism?
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Mitchell - issue with reformism
* Reformism: This now takes the form of limited ameliorative demands: equal pay for women, more nursery-schools, better retraining facilities, etc. In its contemporary version it is wholly divorced from any fundamental critique of women’s condition or any vision of their real liberation (it was not always so). Insofar as it represents a tepid embellishment of the status quo, it has very little progressive content left
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Mitchell- issue with voluntarism
This takes the form of maximalist demands—the abolition of the family, abrogation of all sexual restrictions, forceful separation of parents from children—which have no chance of winning any wide support at present, and which merely serve as a substitute for the job of theoretical analysis or practical persuasion. By pitching the whole subject in totally intransigent terms, voluntarism objectively helps to maintain it outside the framework of normal political discussion.
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Mitchell -how to fix gender inequality
* Economic demands are still primary (the main thrust of any emancipation movement must still concentrate on the economic element), but must: be accompanied by coherent policies for the other three elements
* Economically must demand not the right to work or receive equal pay but right to equal work
* The whole pyramid of discrimination rests on a solid extra-economic foundation—education. The demand for equal work, in Britain, should above all take the form of a demand for an equal educational system
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Mitchell- how to fix gender inequality - the family
* socialism should not seek to abolish the family but rather to diversify and expand the range of socially acknowledged relationships.
* The current societal system largely recognizes and values only one form of marriage and family structure, which can be restrictive and exclusionary.
* Socialism should promote and support a variety of relationship structures and institutions, recognizing that the family is just one possible form among many
