Socialism

Question 1

Why does Socialism arise in the 19th century?

Answer 1

Arose in reaction against social and economic conditions generated in Europe from industrial capitalism - growing class of industrial workers living in poverty and degradation. Therefore provided an alternative to industrial capitalism, and a critique of liberal market society.

Question 2

What were working conditions like in industrial capitalism?

Answer 2

• Low wages
• Child and female labour
• Working day lasted 12 hours
• High threat of unemployment

Question 3

Why do early socialists tend towards radical politics?

Answer 3

In addition to poor conditions, the new working class were disorientated being composed of largely 1st gen urban dwellers, who were unfamiliar to conditions of industrial life and work, possessing few of the social insitutions that could provide stability to meaning of life.

Question 4

What is Utopianism?

Answer 4

Belief in unlimited possibilities of human development, typically embodied in the vision of a perfect or ideal society (a utopia).

Question 5

Who subscribed to the idea of Utopianism?

Answer 5

• Charles Fourier (1772-1837) in France.
• Robert Owen in UK.
  
  • Both founded communities based on sharing/cooperation.

Question 6

Why does some of this radicalism decline in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

Answer 6

Due to gradual improvement in working class living conditions and advance of political democracy.

Question 7

Why was there an improvement in working conditions?

Answer 7

This was mainly due to:

• Growth of Trade Unions
• Working class political parties, sports and social clubs serving greater economic security and to integrate working class into industrial society.

Question 8

In advanced industrial European societies, why was it hard to view the working class as revolutionary?

Answer 8

Working class political parties adopted legal and constitutional tactics, encouraged by gradual extension of the franchise to working-class men.

Question 9

After WW1, what was the socialsy world divided between?

Answer 9

Divided between:

Those socialist partys seeking power through the ballot box and preached reform, AND, those that proclaimed the need for revolution.

Question 10

Why does the Russian Revolution (1917) symbolize the divided nature of socialism?

Answer 10

Revolutionary socialists, e.g. V.I. Lenin and the Bolsheviks, adopted the term communism. WHEREAS, reformist socialists described it as social democracy.

Question 11

What does Communism mean?

Answer 11

Principle of common ownership of wealth, or a system of comprehensive collectivization; communism is often viewed as ‘Marxism in practice’.

Question 12

What does Social Democracy mean?

Answer 12

Moderate or reformist brand of socialism that favours a balance between the market and the state, rather than abortion of capitalism.

Question 13

What happened during the 20th?

Answer 13

• Spread of socialist ideas to Africa, Asia and Latin American countries (developed out of anti-colonial struggle - colonial oppression).
• Bolshevik model of communism imposed in Europe after 1945 (adopted in China in 1949, then North Korea, Vietnam + Cambodia).
• Moderate forms of Socialism in developing world (e.g. Congress Party in India).
• Latin America 1960-70s, socialist revolutionaries waged war against military dictatorships, often seen to be operating in the interest of US imperialism.
• Castro Regime developed close link with Soviet Union (1959 Cuban Rev), whereas Sandinista Guerrillas, who seized power in Nicaragua (1979) remained non-alligned.
• Chile (1970), Salvador Allende became the world’s first democratically elected Marxist head of state, but was overthrown and killed in a CIA-backed Coup.

Question 14

How has the character of the ideology changed in the late 20th century?

Answer 14

Number of spectacular reversals, leading some to proclaim ‘the death of socialism’.

• Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe revolutions (1989-91).
  
  • Notably the USSR and Berlin Wall (those living in communism wanted to get out).
• Western Social Democracy principles thrown in doubt as parliamentary socialist party’s embraced ideas/policies that are more commonly associated with liberalism or conservatism.

Question 15

What does it mean to say that socialists believe in collectivism and fraternity?

Answer 15

Collectivist vision = socialism offers unifying vision of humans as social creatures, capable of overcoming social and economic problems by drawing on the power of the community rather than individual effort.

Fraternity = humans are “comrades”, “brothers” or “sisters”, tied to one another by the bonds of a common humanity.

Question 16

What do Socialists believe about our human nature?

Answer 16

• “Malleable” or “plastic” shaped by experiences and circumstances of social life - believe in “nurture” rather than “nature.”
• All human skills are learnt from society.
• Humans are not self-sufficient nor self-constrained; to think of them as separate individuals is absurd. They can only discover themselves through social groups in which they belong.

Question 17

What are the implicaions of Socialisms view on human nature?

Answer 17

Behaviour of humans tells us more about the society in which they live and have been brough up than it does about any abiding or immutable human nature.

Question 18

What does it mean to say socialism is Utopian?

Answer 18

Socialism is derived from what human beings have the capacity to become. This has led people to develop utopian visions of a better society, in which humans achieve genuine emancipation and fulfillment of members of a community. But, social conditioning does not allow people to understand/imagine a perfect society.

Question 19

What does Thomas More say about a Utopian society?

Answer 19

In his book “Utopia,” More says utopia means no place, implying how he doesn’t think it will ever happen. However, his message was that it allows humans to strive towards progressive goals and a better world.

Question 20

How have these beliefs shaped African/Asian Socialism?

Answer 20

Socialism has sought to preserve traditional social values in the face of western individualism for African and Asian countries.

• Nyerere (president of Tanzania 1964-85) pointed out, “we, in Africa, have no more real need to be “converted” to socialism, than we have of being “taught” democracy,” outlining his own views of tribal socialism.

Question 21

What things did Fourier and Owen do that reflect a belief in the value of community?

Answer 21

Organised experiments in communal living:

• Fourier - encouraged the founding of model communities, each containing about 1800 members (‘phalansteries’).
• Owen - set up model communities (most well known being New Harmony, 1824-29).

Question 22

What has been the most enduring communitarian experiment?

Answer 22

The Kibbutz in Israel, consisting of cooperative, usually rural, settlements that are collectively owned and run by members.

However, this emphasis on communities has been substantially diluted since the 60s by, e.g. the abandonment of collective child rearing.

Question 23

For Socialists, what is bad about competition?

Answer 23

Socialists believe that competition pits one individual against another, encouraging each of them to deny or ignore their social nature rather than embrace it.

As a result, competition fosters a limited range of social attributes and promotes agression and selfishness.

Question 24

What is good about co-operation?

Answer 24

It makes moral and economic sense. Individuals who work together rather than against eachother develop sympathy, caring and affection. Energies of the community can be harnessed. Anarchist Kropotkin suggested the reason our species exists was because of our capacity for mutual aid. Humans can be motivated by moral incentives and not by material incentives (capitalism rewards individuals for the work they do).

Question 25

What does Cooperation mean?

Answer 25

Working together; collective effort intended to achieve mutual benefit.

Question 26

What do socialists believe about moral incentives?

Answer 26

Humans are motivated by moral incentives, not merely by material incentives. Moral incentives are the incentive to work hard in the desire to contribute to the common good, which develops out of sympathy for fellow humans.

• e.g. Univeristy applications for nurses is up 20% due to COVID-19.

Question 27

What is the difference between economic and moral incentives?

Answer 27

Moral incentives are the incentive to work hard to contribute to the common good, which develops out of sympathy for fellow humans.

BUT…

Economic incentives are the incentive to work hard as capitalism rewards those who do: the harder you work, the greater the reward.

Socialism believes in the need for these two incentives to be balanced.

Question 28

What examples exist of co-operative practice?

Answer 28

• UK: Cooperative societies sprang up in 19th century. These brought goods in bulk and sold them cheaply to working class members (Rochdale Pioneers set up grocery store in 1844 which inspired more across industrial Eng and Scot).
• Producer Cooperatives: owned and ran by their workforce, are common in Northern Spain and former Yugoslavia, where industry is organized according to the principle of workers’ self-management.
• Collective farms: Soviet Union designed to be cooperative and self-managing, though in practice they operated with a rigid planning system and were usually controlled by local party bosses.

Question 29

What is Socialist Egalitarianism?

Answer 29

Theory or practice based on the desire to promote equality; egalitarianism sometimes seen as the belief that equality is the primary political value.

It is characterised by a belief in social equality of outcome.

Question 30

What 3 arguments do Socialists make in defence of equality?

Answer 30

1. Social equality upholds fairness.
2. Social equality underpins community and cooperation.
3. Need-satisfaction is the basis for human fulfillment and self-realization.

Question 31

Explain the argument that social equality upholds justice or fairness…

Answer 31

Socialists are reluctant to see inequality of wealth as innate difference of ability in individuals. They see human inequality reflects the unequal structure of society - humans are treated unequally by society. Justice thus demands people are treated equally by society in terms of rewards and material circumstances. Formal equality is inadequate as it disregards structural inequalities of capitalism. Equality of opportunity legitimises inequality by perpetuating the myth of innate inequality.

Question 32

Explain the argument that social equality underpins community and cooperation…

Answer 32

People living in equal social circumstances are more likely to identify with one another and work together for common benefit. Thus equal outcome will strengthen social solidarity.

Social inequality leads to conflict and instability - breeds ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality. Alienation of people due to difference in mental attitude - destroys community and cooperation (breeds tension between those in different socio-economic status being unable to understand each other’s social circumstance).

Question 33

Explain the argument that need satisfaction is the basis for human fulfillment and self-realization…

Answer 33

Needs are fundamental to human condition, meaning their satisfaction (consumption) is the stuff of freedom.

Marx expressed this in his communist theory of distribution: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Since people have similar needs, distributing based on wealth has egalitarian consequences (apart from special needs which require more).

Question 34

How do Marxists and Social Democrats differ on how they wish to bring about equality?

Answer 34

• Marxists: absolute social equality, brought about by the abolition of private property and collectivism of productive wealth.
• Social Democrats: relative social equality, achieved by the redistribution of wealth through welfare state and a system of progressive tax (tame capitalism rather than abolish it).

Question 35

What is Collectivism?

Answer 35

Abolition of private property and the establishment of a comprehensive system of common or public ownership, usually through the mechanisms of the state.

Question 36

What is Progressive Taxation?

Answer 36

A system of tax on which the ‘rich’ pay higher proportion of their income in tax than the poor.

Question 37

How have socialists used social class as an analytical tool?

Answer 37

Believe humans act together with others who share a common economic position or interest. Social classes are principal actors in history and provide the key to understanding social and political change (Marx doesn’t believe in national identity - there are socio economic status differences amongst the nation, so people are unable to be compassionate).

Question 38

Why is class politics focussed on the working class and their emancipation?

Answer 38

Socialism has been viewed as an expression of the interests of the working class, and has been seen as the vehicle through which socialism will be achieved.

Class is not necessary in society: socialist societies are seen as classless or societies in which class inequalities have been reduced massively.

In emancipation from capitalist exploitation, the working class emancipates itself from its own identity, becoming (in the process) fully developed as humans.

Question 39

How have Marxists viewed the relationship between social classes?

Answer 39

Class is linked to economic power, as defined by the individual’s relationship to the means of production.

Class divisions are the divisions between the bourgeoisie (owners of capital) who own productive wealth and the prolerariat who sell their labour.

2 class model is characterised by irreconcilable conflict between the bourgeoisie and proletariat - leads to overthrow of capitalism (proletarian revolution).

Question 40

How have Social Democrats viewed the relationship between social classes?

Answer 40

Define in terms of income and status differences between middle class and working class. So, the advance of socialism is associated with narrowing class divisions brought about through economic and social intervention.

SD’s believe in social amelioration and class harmony rather than social polarization and class war (accept class, but reduce differences to create social harmony).

Question 41

Why has the link between socialism and class politics declined?

Answer 41

Declined mid 20th century, due to declining levels of class solidarity and shrinkage of traditional working class or urban proletariat.

Waning class politics due to deindustrialisation, reflected in the decline of traditional labour intensive industries, e.g. coal, steel, shipbuilding.

Question 42

What has a decline between socialism and class politics led to?

Answer 42

Forced socialist parties to revise policies to appeal to middle-class voters, and encourage them to define their radicalism to issues like gender equality, ecological sustainability, peace and international development (social identity politics).

Question 43

What, for socialists, are the problems with property?

Answer 43

1. Property is unjustified: wealth is produced by collective effort of human labour so should be owned by the community, not private individuals.
2. Breeds acquisitiveness and so is morally corrupting: encourages people to be materialistic (human happiness can be gained through wealth). Those who own property wish to accumulate more, while those without it long to acquire it.
3. It’s divisive: fosters conflict in society e.g. between owners and workers, employers and employees, rich and poor.

Question 44

What are Fundamentalist Socialists?

Answer 44

Form of socialism that seeks to abolish capitalism and replace it with a qualitatively different kind of society.

Question 45

What did Fundamentalist Socialists see as the solution to the problem of property?

Answer 45

E.g. Marx and Engels, envisaged the abolishment of private property and create a classless, communist society in place of capitalsim. Property owned collectively and used for the benefit of society.

Question 46

How did Fundamentalist Socialists solution to the problem of property play out in practice?

Answer 46

Lenin and the Bolsheviks believed socialism could be achieved though nationalisation. So, ‘common ownership’ came to mean ‘state ownership (or what the Soviets called state socialism).

Question 47

How have Social Democrats addressed the problem of private property?

Answer 47

Have been attracted to the state as an instrument through which wealth can be collectively owned and the economy rationally planned. Advocates for a mixed economy (selectively nationalise and privatise sectors of the economy).

Question 48

What is nationalisation?

Answer 48

Extension of state or public ownership over private assets or industries, either individual enterprises or the entire economy (often called collectivization).

Question 49

What is state socialism?

Answer 49

Form of socialism in which the state controls and directs economic life, acting in the interests of the people.

Question 50

How has Social Democrats addressing the problem of private property changed in recent years?

Answer 50

Atlee (1945-51) nationalised commanding heights of the economy. However, since 1950s, parliamentary socialist parties have gradually distanced themselves from the ‘politics of ownership’, preferring to define socialism in terms of pursuit of equality and social justice rather than the advance of public ownership.

Question 51

How did the Marxists want to achieve Socialism?

Answer 51

Marx and Engels envisaged a ‘proletarian revolution’, in which the class-conscious working masses would rise up and overthrow capitalism.

Question 52

What does revolution mean?

Answer 52

Fundamental and irreversible change, often a brief but dramatic period of upheaval; systematic change.

Question 53

When was the first successful socialist revolution

Answer 53

1917: group of revolutionaries, led by the Bolsheviks seized Russian power in a coup d’etat.

Question 54

Why were 19th century revolutions attractive to socialists?

Answer 54

1. Early stages of industrialisation produced stark injustice as the working masses were afflicted by poverty (capitalism was seen as a system of naked oppression and exploitation).
2. Working classes had few other means of political influence - excluded from politcal life almost everywhere. Autocratic monarchies persisted throughout the 19th century, as in Russia, they were dominated by the artistocracy. Where constitutional and representative gov’ts had developed, the right to vote was restricted by a property qualification to the middle class.

Question 55

What did Marxists think about the State?

Answer 55

Revolution reflects the analysis of state and nature of state power. Revolutionary socialists viewed the state as an agent of class oppression, acting in the interests of ‘capital’ and against those of ‘labour’.

Marxists believe political power reflects class interest and that the state is a bourgeois state (supports ruling class).

Question 56

Why would Marxists say that we cannot work within the current democratic system?

Answer 56

Political reform and gradual change are pointless. Universal suffrage and competitive elections are at best a facade to conceal the reality of unequal class and to misdirect the political energies of the working class. A class-conscious proletariat thus has no alternative: in order to build socialism, it has first to overthrow the bourgeois state through political revolution.

Question 57

Give some examples of Socialist revolutions in the 20th century

Answer 57

• Asia: Chinese revolution 1949, led by Mao Zedong (1893-1976) was culmination of long military campaign against Japan and Chinese nationalists.
• Vietnamese national unity achieved in 1975 after prolonged war fought against the French (and subsequently USA).
• 1959, Che Guevrara, Argentinian revolutionary, led guerilla forces in various parts of Latin America and commanded troops during Cuban revolution 1959 (which brough Fidel Castro to power).
• Africa: war where Algeria gained independence from France in 1962.

Question 58

What were the consequences of going down the revolutionary route for Socialism?

Answer 58

• Revolution led to pursuit of fundamentalist ends.
• Capitalism could be abolished and a different socialist society established in its place.
• Revolutionary ‘road’ associated with a drift towards dictatorship and the use of political repression.

Question 59

Why does Revolution usually led to pursuit of fundamentalist ends?

Answer 59

Allowed remnants of old order to be overthrown and an entirely knew social system to be constructed.

Question 60

For what reasons did many socialists move away from revolutionary ideas?

Answer 60

Capitalism had matured by the late 19th century, and the working class was being integrated into society.

Question 61

For what reasons did many socialists move away from revolutionary ideas?

Answer 61

• Capitalism matured in 19th century.
• Working class was being integrated into society.
• Wages and working conditions rising.
• Working-class begun to develop a range of institutions that protected their interests and nurtured a sense of belonging in industrial society.
• Gradual advance of political democracy led to extension of the franchise to the working classes.

This shifted attention away from violence and persuaded that there was an alternative evolutionary, democratic or parliamentary road to socialism.

Question 62

Who were the Fabian Society?

Answer 62

1884, Fabians took up the cause of parliamentary socialism in the UK. Led by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, as well as including intellectuals such as George Bernard Shawand H.G Wells.

Question 63

How did the Fabian Society think Socialism would develop?

Answer 63

naturally and peacefully out of liberal capitalism via a similar process, occurring through a combination of political action and education (e.g. establishment of a socialist party). They accepted the liberal theory of the state as a neutral arbiter.

Webbs helped form the Labour Party, helping to write 1918 constitution.

Fabians believed that elite groups, e.g. politicians from all parties, civil servants, scientists and academics, could be converted to socialism through education.

Question 64

Describe the development of Socialism in Germany, and the people who influenced it.

Answer 64

Fabian ideas impacted German Social Democratic Party (SPD) - 1875. Committed in theory to Marxists strategy, and adopted a reformist approach.

Question 65

What 3 assumptions did evolutionary socialists make that led them to believe socialism to be inevitable at the start of the twentieth century?

Answer 65

• Progressive extension of the franchise would eventually lead to the establishment of universal adult suffrage - political equality.
• Political equality would work in the interests of the majority - those who decide the outcomes of elections. Political democracy would invest power in the hands of the working-class, easily the most numerous class in any industrial society.
• Socialism was thought to be a natural “home” of the working-class - capitalism is a system of class exploitation, oppressed workers naturally drawn to socialist parties, which offers the prospect of social justice and emancipation. Electoral success of socialist parties guaranteed by numerical strength of working-class.
• Once in power, socialist parties would be able to carry out a fundamental transformation of society through a process of soical reform - political democracy not only opened up the possibility of achieving socialism peacefully, it made the process inevitable.

Question 66

Why has the gradual move towards socialism not taken place?

Answer 66

Because of democratic socialism being founded on contradiction - socialists have been forced to revise their ideological beliefs to respond successfully to electoral pressures.

Question 67

What are the problems with Democratic socialism?

Answer 67

*

Question 68

What do Classical Marxists mean by the scientific approach?

Answer 68

• Marx undertook empirical analysis of history and society, hoping to gain insight into the nature of future developments.
  
  • Marxism as the attempt to gain historical understanding through the application of scientific methods, later developed into Marxism as a body of scientific truths (status similar to religion).
    
    • Engel’s declaration that Marx had uncovered the ‘laws’ of historical and social development was a clear indication of this transition - communism is inevitable.