strands of socialism overview

categories:

revolutionary socialists (communism):

• seek to create a socialist society via revolution, consider it impossible to achieve it any other way

• they reject evolutionary socialist approach » ‘power in a capitalist society is not held by the state or w/ ppl ∴ attempts @ reform via state will always be unsuccessful

• seek to completely abolish capitalism n replace it w/ socialism

• envisage communist society developed after the revolution » stateless n classless ∴ revolutionary ‘means’ n fundamentalist ‘ends’

• social class:

  • capitalism contains 2 main classes (according to marx n engels):

    • bourgeoisie: those who own the means of production/industry

    • proletariat: non-owners of the means of production/those who only own their labour

• historical materialism:

  • def: history is made as a result of struggle between different social classes, rooted in the underlying economic base

  • 2 aspects of society = base n superstructure

  • base: the economy

  • superstructure: all other institutions existing in society n the state ie political system, legal system, military, family media, education etc

• collectivism:

  • no state

  • no classes

  • common ownership

  • absolute equality

  • production according to human need

• 3 forms of identified Marxism:

  • classical

  • orthodox

  • neo

social democrats:

• evolutionary socialists = use the state to change society

• wish to tame capitalism rather than replace it » makes them revisionist as their ‘ends’ are more limited than fundamentalist socialists

  • eg instead of committing to a fully equal society, they seek to just reduce inequality

• wish for a ‘more socialist’ society by nationalising key industries n using progressive tax system to fund welfare state

• in support of keynesian economics n govt intervention in the economy » evolutionary ‘means’ n revisionist ‘ends’

• associated with the following ideas:

  1. capitalism is the only reliable means of generating wealth, but it is morally defective at distributing wealth because of its tendency towards poverty n inequality

  2. the defects of the capitalist system can be rectified through economic and social intervention, the state being defender of the public interest

  3. social change can and should be taught about peacefully n constitutionally

• collectivism (objectives):

  • the mixed economy, a blend of public n private ownership. nationalisation reserved for the ‘commanding heights of the economy’

  • economic management , seeing the need for regulation of capitalism for sustainable growth

  • welfare state » principal means of reforming/humanising capitalism

  • » capitalism only needs modification, not abolition

third way:

• evolutionary form of socialism = seek to use the state to change society

• aka neo-revisionists » they go beyond revisionism of social democracy n seek to connect socialist aims to a market economy

  • have redefined many socialist ideas, progress for equality as inclusion or equality of opportunity

• they also value the power of the community over class, but argue community involves reciprocal rights n responsibilities ∴ evolutionary ‘means’ n revisionist ‘ends’