Socialism Key Thinkers

What are Karl Marx’s key ideas?

• Dialectical change

• Class consciousness

• Abolition of capitalism

Human Nature

• Nurture over nature

• Fraternity

• Rational and cooperative

What are Beatrice Webb’s key ideas?

• Inevitability of gradualness

• Democratic politics would lead to policies that secure the interests of the working class

• Voters were uninformed/selfish → representative democracy to help the working class

• Expansion of the state

What were Rosa Luxemberg’s key ideas?

• Evolutionary socialism is not possible as capitalism is based on economic exploitation

• Evolutionary socialism keeps intact economic exploitation/could never smooth away the inherent exploitation in capitalism

• Class consciousness

What are Anthony Crosland’s key ideas?

“Marx has little or nothing to offer the contemporary socialist”

• Inherent contradictions in capitalism

• State-managed capitalism

• Capitalism has radically changed and no longer resembles an economic system based on inherent contradictions

• Capitalism did not require strong social change or revolution due to:

• The growth of democracy and business ownership

Changed aim of socialism

• Manage capitalism to deliver greater social equality

• Magnified role of the state through Keynesiasm

• Progressive taxation/state intervention/the wealthier distribute their wealth

• Education

What are Anthony Giddens’ key ideas?

• The Third Way

• Rejection of the state

The State

• ‘Social investment state’ - the state benefits from economic growth generated by the free market - in return, people would benefit from this

• Rejection of the state - acceptance of the free market in the economy

• Role of the state in social investment (infrastructure/education), rather than social and economic engineering

• Minimised state intervention in economic affairs as this created a culture of dependency

• Control widening inequalities

• Drew strengths of the social democratic and neo-liberal free-market traditions

• Social democracy to be modernised due to globalisation