Socialism Flashcards
who are the key thinkers?
Karl Marx and Engels- the centrality of social class and humans as social beings. And the power of revolution,
Beatrice Webb- “the inevitability of gradualness”, this is the way of achieving evolutionary socialism
the expansion of the state, though not to overthrow the state
Rosa Luxemborg- evolutionary socialism and revisionism. the struggle of the proletariat for reform and democracy- overthrow of the capitalist society and state
Crosland- the contradictions of capitalism and state-managed capitalism, full employment and universal social benefits.
Giddens- the rejection of state intervention, the state serves as a social investment for infrastructure and education.
what are the origins of socialism?
key ideas originate from the enlightenment
development as a result of the Industrial Revolution
what are the core ideas and principles of socialism?
human nature- naturally humans are good people, cooperative and willing to share for the common good. they have been corrupted by capitalism and human nature is not fixed and can return to natural state.
collectivism- human’s best achieve their aims by working together
social class- reinforces social division, wants to get rid of social division
Equality of outcome is the desired outcome
workers divisions- own means of productions.
what is the significance of revolutionary socialism?
the basis of capitalism is to exploit the workers so attempts to “humanise” capitalism is pointless
only way to transform society is to seize and destroy the state and for society to start again
Marx (argued that state would “wither away”) and Engels. 1848 the communist manifesto and 1867 capital
Rosa Luxembourg- wanted same aim, though she fundamentally disagreed with the Russian Revolution
what is the significance of evolutionary socialism?
rejects a overthrow of the state and society, there is the recognition that capitalism is a wealth generator though it does cause inequality, want to control it and limit the disadvantages.
support a Keynesian economics and a mixed economy
support universal healthcare, workers rights and social welfare
Beatrice Webb- rejects the idea of revolution and goes against human nature.
Crosland- “Marx has little or nothing to offer the contemporary socialist”
what is the significance of third way socialists?
Giddens, published his book in 1998
the state? should play a minimal role in economic management and capitalism helps to develop the skills of people
individuals can only fully participate in society if they have the appropriate skills
“a help up not a hand out”- Blair
people live in a community and have a moral obligation
social class is a cause of division but the state should not abolish class but enable people to better themselves.
socialists and human nature?
socialists have an optimist view of human nature, they disagree with liberals as they reject the idea that humans are naturally self-reliant, rather they are cooperative. The socialist belief is that society is more important than the individual.
Socialists believe that mankind true nature has been diluted by circumstance. There is the belief that the society that you grow up in affects your human nature.
in order for humans to revert to their true state, there is the belief that socialists have to get rid of capitalism.
Socialists disagree to the extent that human nature has been damaged.
Marx vs Luxembourg
Gidden’s socio-economic conditions.
Socialists generally agree that human nature has been in some way damaged.
how do the key thinkers view HN?
Marx- human nature has been affected by capitalism, false consciousness does nit work.
Luxemborg- humans have not been damaged to the same extent
Webb- need to guide back to true self
Crosland- we have an innate fairness
Giddens- individualism is important
what is the significance of collectivism?
Collectivism is the idea that humans can achieve their political, social and economic objective through collectivisation. This is linked to the idea that the interests of a group should take priority over the individual.
This utilises the capabilities of the whole society, links to the idea that humans are social beings
fraternity means “brotherhood” and suggests that humans are bound together by comradeship- they share a basic interest
social conditions is what moulds human nature. state intervention and state planning is seen as an important way to meet socialist goals- a true marxist would disagree with such ideas.
Marxists see the advance of collectivist ideas by a centralised state, organised production and distribution.
Social democrats see collectivism by the nationalisation of key industries, the NHS
though, leave much in private hands.
the concept of collectivism has been attacked as it suppresses individuality.
what is the significance of common humanity?
socialists see cooperation as a positive virtue as they are inclined to work together, people are inclined to work together for the common good.
there is the belief that the economic competition of capitalism sets people against each other.
the moral case for the development of common humanity is that people should want to develop common humanity.
how does the concept of collectivism and common humanity influence different ideas?
human nature- seen as an extension of human nature as we are naturally bound together
society- society should promote cooperation and fairness
role of the state- state should be involved in order to help people to collectivise
influence over the economy- see the benefit of capitalism, though there are some negative consequences. this is a key debate among key thinkers, for example third way vs marxist.
what are the general areas of agreement that socialists have over class?
they all believe that society shapes human nature, society which allows inequality for one generation will pass it onto the next
people from certain socio-economic backgrounds will have similar views and outcomes
Socialists have an idealogical commitment to the working class.
what is the revolutionary socialist view of class?
Marx identified two classes, the bourgeoise and the proletariate.
it was the belief that the bourgeoise made profit by exploiting the wc, by not paying them the value of their labour. it was argued that this is the heart of capitalism
historical materialism is the belief that economics is the driving force of history.
The base is the economy and this is controlled by the bourgeoise
Superstructure- values of society and institutions
hence revolution is needed as to simply replace the state/society won’t get to the root of the problem.
what is meant by dialectal materialism?
Marx argued that change came from class conflict, human history is a struggle between the exploit/exploiter
Early history is dismissed as “primitive communism”, when people shared what little that they had
Marx argued that extreme poverty of the proletariate would lead them to recognise that they had to revolt- this is seen as the “dictatorship of the proleterariate” the wc will take over
what did Luxembourg disagree with Lenin about?
she agreed with Marx the proletariate had to realise that the wc needed to make change
Lenin argued that it could be done for them i.e by him, other socialists tend to disagree with such ideas.
