Socialism - Fundamentalist socialism - final Flashcards
What is fundamentalist socialism?
The earliest form of socialism that believes socialist values are fundamentally incompatible with capitalism.
What do all fundamentalist socialists believe must happen eventually?
That capitalism must be abolished.
Where does Classical Marxism come from?
The writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
What is communism?
The ultimate stage of human development, the perfect society based on communal ownership, communal living, and the principle of ‘each according to his needs’.
According to Marx and Engels, what did capitalism promote?
Exploitation, alienation, and the oppression of one class by another; it is therefore wholly at odds with the socialist principles of fraternity, solidarity, and equality.
What approach to history did Marx and Engels take?
Historicism - history was a series of stages moving towards an inevitable and final destination.
Who created the concept of dialectic?
Friedrich Hegel
What is meant by dialectic?
The clash of ideas and perceptions that will inevitably take place within each stage of history, eventually leading to the disappearance of existing society.
For socialists, where is the dialectic in society?
Between the ruling capitalist class and the proletariat.
In the dialectic, what happens to those whose views no longer match with the ruling classes?
Alienation
When alienation occurred, what did Hegel believe would happen?
The class of ideas would lead to the creation of a new society - a new stage of history - that would survive until the next wave of alienation.
What did Marx and Engels believe each stage of history was defined by, altering Hegel’s idea of historicism?
They saw each stage as being defined by a clash of economic ideas, relating to how society’s resources should be produced and distributed.
What did Marx and Engels call their version of historicism?
Historical materialism
Where was the dialectic in society for Marx and Engels?
Between the different economic interests.
What did Marx and Engels call their dialectic?
Dialectical materialism
Why did Marx and Engels believe capitalism was ‘historically doomed’?
Because their version of the dialectic would mean the economically exploited class in each stage of history would always become alienated and enforce change.
What are the 10 stages of Marx and Engel’s historical materialism and dialectical change?
1 - Primitive societies with no economic organisation.
2 - Slave-based societies.
3 - Feudal societies.
4 - Emergence of capitalism.
5 - Emergence of the proletariat and class consciousness.
6 - Revolution and the destruction of capitalism.
7 - Socialism (dictatorship of the proletariat)
8 - Withering away of the socialist state.
9 - Communism.
10 - End of history.
How would the capitalist system come to an end once there was sufficient class consciousness according to Marx and Engels?
Through revolution and the smashing of the capitalist system, replacing it with an alternative economy and society; this could not, in their view, be accomplished peacefully.
What did Marx and Engels emphatically reject?
Evolutionary and reformist socialism.
Who would rule Marx and Engels’ new state?
The proletariat - the dictatorship of the proletariat.
What would a communist society represent according to Marx and Engels?
The end of history.
What did Lenin and Luxemburg reject about Marx’s view revolution?
That revolution and the resultant dictatorship or the proletariat would only arise in societies where capitalism was well developed.
What did Lenin seek to do to Marx’s ideas?
Refine Marx’s prescriptions of how communism would arise.
What was Lenin’s vision?
An accelerated revolutionary socialism, designed to ensure it could develop even in societies where capitalism had not yet fully developed.
What is Lenin’s seminal work?
What Is to Be Done?
When was Lenin’s seminal work published?
1902
What did Lenin argue in his seminal work?
The revolution should precede socialist ideas, rather than be the cause of them as Marx argued.
What did Lenin and fellow Leninists want to prevent people from developing towards capitalists?
Sympathy - what they call ‘false consciousness’.
What would ‘false consciousness’ present to socialism, according to Leninists?
Another obstacle to socialism, and could be prevented by revolution in pre-industrial societies.
What is ‘false consciousness’?
Sympathy for capitalists amongst the proletariat.
If revolution was to occur in fully developed capitalist societies, what, according to Leninists, would develop?
False consciousness.
What was Rosa Luxemburg concerned about regarding Lenin’s ideas of revolutionary socialism?
It would be irrelevant to already industrialised societies like those of Germany.