Socialism Flashcards
Utopian socialism - Robert Owen
Romanticises agriculture past
Backwards looking Christian origins
Enlightened capitalists ‘good capitalists’
Utopian
Trinity of evil: traditional religion, conventional marriage, and private property
Experimental communities
Positive optimistic view of human nature
Egalitarian - sharing everything equally
Nurturing
Anti statist
Education was a key reform - first preschool
Environmental determinism - you can shape human character through the environment
E.g new harmony village
Revolutionary socialism/ Marxism (frierich engles and Karl Marx)
‘The history of all existing society is the history of class struggle’
Forward-looking
Predestine revolution destined by social and economic forces
Industrialization is a necessary step to the creation and politicisation of an urban working class (proletariats)
Revolution needs to be violent there is no such thing as enlightened capitalists (bourgeoisie)
Industry needs to be in the hands of proletariats not the bourgeoisie
Anti religion ‘opium of the masses’
‘False consciousness’ E.g nationalism and patriotism
Anti statist ‘state will wither away’
Utopian
Collectivist/ egalitarian
No society neeeded - communism
Marx wrote das kapital
Capitalism will destroy itself - however working classes were just getting more prosporus
Revisionist socialism/democratic socialism - Edward Bernstein
Revolution is not inevitable- industrialisation did not make the working class poorer
Believed abolition of capitalism and private property could be done democratically
‘Revisionism’ = any socialism crticising Marxism
Created unions
Statist - nationalisation , welfareism
Journey to utopia is more important than the destination
Anti violence
Collectivist and egalitarian
Revolutionary socialism key thinkers
Karl Marx
Friedrich Engles
Rosa luxeneberg
Revisionism socialist key thinker
Beatrice Webb
What is socialism
A response to the Industrial Revolution
Main criticisms of capitalism
-workers are exploited and dehumanised
-proudes vast inequality
-the idea that it produces freedom is false - only for the wealthy
Socialism and human nature
- We are social beings who thrive best when we are social
- We are not inherently flawed
- Human nature is conditioned by upbringing and environment- positively or negatively
- Human nature can therefore be changed/influenced
- Behaviour is determined by material problems like unemployment or poverty
Social Utopianism
Better social policy produces a better society to live in
Socialism and competition
- People must be encouraged to work collectively
- Competition is neither natural nor desirable
- It encourages selfishness and aggression
- Cooperation makes moral and economic sense
- Society will then achieve more and be more productive
Criticisms of socialism
- Socialists ignore or suppress individual freedom
- Their ideas like economic realism
- The Labour Party have never fully embraced socialism
- Are left wing policies fundamentally unpopular unpopular?
Socialists view of the past
- ‘History of all existing societies is the history of class struggles’ – Marx/engles
- ‘class conflict has gradually been diluted by growing affluence’ – Heywood
- They don’t analyse historical developments in relation to individuals- reject the ‘great man’ approach to history
- They analyse history in relation to social and economic factors creating momentum for change- progression to a classless society
Socialism and the state
- Socialists aim to transform society - this can only be done through state power
- Gaining control of the state is crucial for example redistribution of wealth through progressive taxation
- Some socialists now critical of state socialism based on failure of nationalised industries in Britain and studies of the Soviet Union
Evolution of socialism through the Labour Party
- Initially found for revolutionary socialism
- Early on abandoned a commitment to revolutionary socialism
- Most of the 20th century split between those who favoured democratic socialism and those who are Social Democrats
- 1979-1983 the ‘Bennite challenge’- democratic socialist faction in the ascendency
- 1994- marginalisation of democratic socialism promotion of social democracy/ the third way
Karl Marx - human nature
Humans are social creatures but this has been damaged by capitalism
Capitalism has instilled a ‘false consciousness’ in mankind away from their original nature
Human nature can be revlved/restored by economic systems based on socialism
Rosa luxenberg -human nature
Capitalism promoted exploitation and was at odds with humanity’s natural, fraternal state
Govt needs to be destroyed and replaced by a workers based society of true democracy
Beatrice Webb - human nature
Capitalism caused ‘crippling poverty’ and is a corrupting force in humanity, fostering unnatural levels of greed and selfishness among men and women
Universal sufferage was the key to creating a socialist state
