Socialism 15 Markers

1) define collectivism: political principle giving collective groups priority over individuals

How - 2a) co-operatives: utopian small communities, reliance on each other to work together, promoting equality i.e Robert Owens

2b) trade union: reliance on each other i.e Unite

Why - 3a) human nature: humans as social animals who prefer to co-operate rather than compete; sympathy from working together promoting good behaviour leading to more stable society with less crime; Kropotkin: mutual aid

1) define equality: principle that human beings are of identical worth/entitled to be treated in the same way

2) social equality/equality of outcome

2a) social quality upholds justice/fairness - inequality comes from unjust society so for socialists, justice is the idea that people are treated equally in terms of rewards/material circumstances

2b) underpins community/co-operation; if people live in equal social circumstances, they'll work together for common benefit so equal outcomes = social solidarity/stability (criticism of equality of opportunity_

2c) need-satisfaction is basis for human fulfilment/self-realisation and have to be fulfilled; their satisfaction = freedom; since most have broadly similar needs, distribution of wealth based on need-satisfaction; implies egalitarian distribution

1) fundamentalist socialism (communism)

• form seeking to abolish capitalism and replace it with v different system
• capitalism is fundamentally corrupt + flawed due to class exploitation so anti-private property
• violent revolution necessary bc state wants to maintain capitalism

2) revisionist socialism (social democracy) - form revised critique of capitalism seeking to recononcile social justice and capitalism (reforming/humanising it through economic/social state intervention); anti-disadvantage rather than ownership politics

1) define individualism: belief in supreme importance of individual over any social group/collective body i.e social class
2) define collectivism: belief that collective human endaveour is of greater practical/moral value than any individual self-striving
3) implication for individualism: minimal state that intervenes only when necessary (Jefferson: the state that governs least governs best) i.e preventing breakdown of contracts
4) implication for collectivism: state affairs should be done based on what's best for the most, increasing powerful state to help social groups i.e the working classes

1) define: Marxist term denoting the transitionary phase between collapse of capitalism and establishment of full communism, characterised by establishment of proletariat state; state power wielded in interests of working class
2) prevent counter-revolutions; class tensions will continue to exist and bourgeoise might rebel against socialism
3) take responsibility for nationalisation; communism has common ownership, state can prepare for this through nationalisation of industries and products

1) define common ownership: property to be owned by all and used for benefit of humanity
2a) property is unjust - wealth is produced through collective effort so should be owned by comminuted not individuals
2b) morally corrupting; encourages people to be materialistic (happiness = wealth); those who are wealthy want more, those without wealth want it
2c) divide; conflict in society between owners and workers/employers and employees/rich and poor
3a) Marxists - no private property whatsoever and total common ownership (USSR collectivisation)
3b) social democrats - mixed economy; key industries nationalised (post-war consensus and coal industries)
3c) revisionists - acceptance of free market due to less emphasis on class conflict (Third Way and Clause IV)

1) non-communist societies are all class societies - minority will exploit working class
2) this impacts other structures in society i.e states, laws, religion; state becomes tool of ruling class
3) internal contradictions (exploitation/class consciousness) lead to revolution and communist society
4) in classless society, no state to maintain exploitation so will wither away

1) Marx - working classes would develop self-consciousness (understanding of the reality of capitalist system) through worse/frequent crises; eventually would be a spontaneous revolution; communist party required for organisation/leadership
2) Lenin: working class would develop "sub-socialist trade union consciouness"; would achieve things i.e better working conditions and would accept this as true socialism from bourgeoisie ideology; need for tightly disciplined elite party of professional revolutionaries to bring out socialist consciouness to working class (vanguard party)

1) liberal view: foundational equality (people born equal); implies support for formal equality/equality of opportunity
2) criticisms: conceals inequalies of capitalist system/justifies social inequalities; formal equality doesn't take economic/social circumstances into account; equality of opportunity promotes rivalry/competition and implies unequal outcomes are justifiable bc they reflect unequal personal merit

1a) define co-operation: working together; collective effort intended to achieve mutual benefit
1b) define competition: working against one another; individual effort intended to only achieve benefit for one person
2a) moral ground - humans are intrinsically social/linked through common humanity so co-operation strengths social bonds between/amongst people; competition encourages greed/selfishness which denies true nature
2b) economic ground - co-operation allows societies to harness collective energies on rational basis using reason; competition is ineffecient bc people fight against each other and waste energy

1) Capitalism doomed to collapse bc of its own internal contradictions
2) Capitalism embodies its own antithesis (proletariat), Marx: ‘gravedigger’ of capitalism
3) Capitalism defined by creation of profit, possible by exploitation of the proletariat (extraction of surplus value from workers by bourgeoisie)
4) Marx; inherent contradictions of capitalism to cause proletariat to achieve revolutionary class consciousness; this to occur as capitalism goes through series of deepening crises, leading to immiseration of proletariat, inevitably resulting in proletarian revolution destined to overthrow capitalism.

1) define collectivism: belief that collective human endeavour is morally/practically superior to individual self-striving, reflecting underlying beliefs about the social character of human nature.
2) why? state as mechanism through which collective action is organised, representing the wider public interest > private interests of individual citizens.
3) how? economic/social interventionism i.e redistribution of wealth, support foe welfare state, nationalisation, Keynesian economic management, comprehensive state control (collectivisation of wealth within centrally planned economy

1) define gradualism: achievement of political/other goals by process of gradual/peaceful change, specifically acheivement of socialism though democratic/legal reforms i.e Fabian Society
2a) spread of political democracy/universal suffrage putting power in hands of largest group in industrial societies (proletariat)
2b) working class voters will vote socialist bc socialism reflects working class interests i.e eradication of poverty/promotion of redistribution
2c) with power from working classes, socialist parties will have more power and will constitutionally reform capitalism and create equality/socially just society (lib belief that state is neutral arbiter)

• humans as social creatures willing/able to pursue goals by working together > striving for personal self-interest
• plastic human nature
• indiv. inseparable from society + understood only in context of social groups
• positive view of human nature implies utopian society
• early examples: Fourier's phalansteries, Owen's New Harmony, kibbutz systems in Israel

• social class: social division based on economic + social factors; groups of people sharing similar socioeconomic position
• social class as deepest + most politically significant social division
• first expression - social class as analytical tool - social classes are principle actors in history ∴ key to understanding social/political changes (dialectical materialism)
• second expression - political struggle + emancipation of working class
• divided into bourgeoisie (Marxist term denoting ruling class of capitalist society - owners of productive wealth) + proletariat (Marxist term denoting class that subsists through sale of labour power)
• social democrats: division into non-manual workers (middle class) + manual workers (working class)

Revolutionary (Marx + Engels)

• revolution bc 1) early stages of industrialisation + capitalism led to great injustice + working classes considered close to revolution due to multiple rebellions 2) working classes excluded from political participation - autocratic monarchies dominated by landed aristocracy + representative gov. dominated by middle class with property
• bourgeois state biased in favour of capital

Evolutionary (Bernstein + Fabian Society)

• state as neutral arbiter
• process of gradualism (enfranchisement becomes political equality -> political democracy would invest power in hands of majority (working class) -> socialism as natural home for working class fighting social injustice so electoral success -> once in power socialist parties capable of carrying out socialist transformation of society through social reform

Revisionist (Swedish SDL Party + Wessi Social Democracts + Labour + Crosland)

• mixed economy i.e Attlee nationalisation with capitalism for financing policies
• economic management i.e Keynesianism
• welfare state i.e prog. tax for benefits

1) contradictory

• socialist parties have to water down beliefs to respond to electoral pressures
• no socialist party has presided over any fundamental social transformation > expansion of welfare provision + economic management

2) working class support

• traditionally appeal to urban manual workers but modern capitalism demands skilled technical workforce so no guaranteed vote
• forced to broaden support for other classes or share power in coalitions with middle class parties

3) acceptance of capitalism

• capitalism is best system for producing wealth i.e post-war consensus
• socialist parties had to change to accommodate affluent working class
• socialists argue bourgeois ideology prevents true consciousness and allows exploitation

4) reforms

• impossible to carry out reforms bc gov. must respect elites + big business for funding

• key thinker: Bernstein
• capitalism as increasingly complex i.e no one industrialist owning one firm bc stockholders
• middle class consisting of both bourgeoise + proletariat
• reform of capitalism by nationalisation of major industries + extension of legal protection/welfare benefits for working class
• Marxism irrelevant bc capitalism no longer characterised by class exploitation so focus on social justice > common ownership

CRITICISMS

• reformist (not attempting to bring about socialism)
• recession led to increased G for government support but less T to finance it from more unemployed people
• collapse of communism led to decreased faith in left-wing ideologies
• deindustrialisation -> no secure working class vote
• -

• more revisionist than trad. social democracy
• Third Way: notion of alternative form of economics to both state socialism (old-style social democracy) + free-market capitalism (neo-liberalism)
• key beliefs:
  1) top-down state intervention no longer useful (implies acceptance of capitalism + globalisation + pro-enterprise like neo-liberalism)
  2) emphasis on community + moral responsibility -> communitarian liberalism (rights + responsibilities intrinsically bounded together stressing individualism in context of interdependency + reciprocity
• consensus > conflict view of society i.e emphasis on bonds between everyone
• non-dualistic world view (enterprise + fairness; opportunity + security; self-reliance + interdependence)
  3) social inclusion - asset-based egalitarianism: right of access to assets/opportunities to enable potential realisation i.e Clinton: "a hand up, not a handout", modern liberal approach of "helping people to help themselves"
  4) competition state: state whose principal role is to pursue strategies for national prosperity in conditions of intensifying global competition; state should improve infrastructure + strengthen education to promote employability/benefit economy