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.
What were the four vital tasks of Lenin’s revolutionary elite?
1 - Plot and plan the overthrow of the existing regime.
2 - Incite and organise the revolution.
3 - Educate the masses on the virtues of socialism.
4 - After the revolution, form a new state as the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Who developed democratic centralism?
Lenin
How would the post-revolutionary society, according to Lenin, operate?
Under democratic centralism.
How would democratic centralism work?
There would be only one party and only within that party could there be debate. Once that party had reached a decision, that decision would embody the will of the people and any further debate would be unnecessary - this would be used to justify severe repression.
What is Leon Trotsky’s theory of ‘permanent revolution’?
A socialist state could only be entrenched by encouraging similar revolutions in neighbouring capitalist countries.
What did Stalin do in rejection of Trotsky’s theory of ‘permanent revolution’?
Promoted the idea of ‘socialism in one country’, whereby the Soviet Union isolated itself from the outside world.
Who led the Chinese Revolution of 1949?
Mao Tse-tung
How did Mao adapt Trotsky’s idea of ‘permanent revolution’?
He turned it into an ongoing ‘cultural revolution’ - it would destroy the old ways of capitalist thinking as well as the old methods of capitalist production.
When was Mao’s ‘cultural revolution’?
Between 1966 and 1969.
What did Mao’s ‘cultural revolution between 1966 and 1969 involve?
Persecution of any aspect of traditional Chinese culture as it was thought to legitimise inequality and ‘anti-socialist’ values. Millions died in the process.
What sort of socialist method did Stalin, Luxemburg, and Mao follow and adapt?
Marxism-Leninism
As a result of its widespread application, what can Marxism-Leninism now be referred to as?
Orthodox communism
What has been the most influential form of fundamentalist socialism in the UK and Europe?
Democratic socialism
Who was democratic socialism first associated with in the UK?
The Fabian Society and individuals such as G. B. Shaw, Sydney and Beatrice Webb.
Who heavily influenced Clause IV of Labour’s constitution?
Sydney and Beatrice Webb.
When was the Labour Party’s Constitution published?
1918
What does Clause IV of Labour’s constitution call for?
“the common ownership of the means of production.”
What is Beatrice Webb’s seminal work?
The Cooperative Movement in Great Britain
When was Beatrice Webb’s seminal work published?
1891
What did Beatrice Webb say about revolutions in her seminal work?
That they were “chaotic, inefficient and counter-productive”.
What did early democratic socialists in the UK see the extension of the franchise as facilitating?
A more orderly, election-based move towards socialism.
What did Webb and other Fabians term the more orderly, election-based move to socialism?
‘the inevitability of gradualism’
How would ‘the inevitability of gradualism’ work?
Democratic socialist parties would campaign peacefully, winning the trust of voters who would inevitably elect them to power. From there they would gradually replace private ownership with state ownership and oversee the establishment of a socialist society.
What is a prime example of democratic socialism?
Clement Atlee’s Labour government after WWII.
Who updated UK democratic socialism?
Tony Benn
What and when was Tony Benn’s seminal work?
Arguments for Socialism, 1980
What was Benn’s argument in Arguments for Socialism?
That socialism was impossible within a capitalist system.
What is evolutionary socialism?
It is the same as gradualism - a rejection of revolutionary politics and the belief socialism can be achieved peacefully and gradually through the existing system.
How did Benn and other democratic socialists see the EEC and EU?
As a ‘capitalist club’.
What did many communist parties across Europe want to do by the 1970s?
Distance themselves from the excesses of the Soviet Union and make themselves a radical yet respectable force in mainstream politics.
What is Euro-communism?
The spread of democratic socialism to communist parties across Europe that wanted to distance themselves from the excesses of the Soviet Union.
What is the PCI?
Italian Communist Party
Who founded the PCI?
Antonio Gramsci
Who influenced much Euro-communism?
The Italian socialist intellectual Antonio Gramsci.
What did Gramsci argue for?
A socialist counter-culture - changing the attitude amongst workers as Marx and Lenin prescribed was not enough; socialists needed a ‘cultural vanguard’ to influence the arts, literature, and recreational life too.
What do Euro-communists reject?
Marxist-Leninism and its desire for revolution, favouring gradualism.
Why did Gramsci believe it was hard for socialism to gain mass public support?
Because the ruling economic class held influence (hegemony) over society’s culture.
What do Neo-Marists attribute the durability of capitalism to?
The cultural hegemony of the ruling capitalist class.
What do Neo-Marxists believe is necessary to bring about socialist change?
Echoing Marx, they call for the violent overthrow of the capitalist system as the only means of destroying both capitalism and the false consciousness that allowed it to survive.
What did neo-Marxists reject?
The democratic socialism and gradualism of the Euro-communists and the idea that capitalism could be reformed out of existence.
What sort of socialist was Ralph Miliband?
Neo-Marxist
What sort of socialist was Gramsci?
Euro-communist
What is Ralph Miliband’s seminal work?
The State in Capitalist Society
When was Ralph Miliband’s seminal work published?
1973
What did Ralph Miliband argue for in his seminal work, The State in Capitalist Society?
He sought to update Marx’s call for revolution and argued that socialism could not be achieved via gradual, parliamentary reform.
Why, according to Ralph Miliband, did democratic socialist governments always fail?
Because they were confronted by multiple pro-capitalist forces (civil service and judiciary) that conspired to divert socialist governments.
What are the three revolutionary socialist creeds?
- Classical Marxism
- Marxism-Leninism
- Neo-Marxism
What sort of socialists were Atlee, the Webbs, and Tony Benn?
Democratic socialists.
What sort of socialists were Lenin, Luxemburg, Stalin, and Mao?
Marxist-Leninist (orthodox communism)
What are the three evolutionary socialist creeds?
- Democratic socialism
- Euro-communism
- All forms of revisionist socialism
