Socialism

• Socialism


  Political ideology that aims to give workers shared ownership of the tools, land + buildings that they use to make products/ services (aka means of production)
• Collectivism


  Idea that humans can achieve their goals more effectively through collective action than individual effort
• Common humanity


  Idea that people are innately social animals + are tied together because of this tendency towards cooperation
• Equality


  State of being equal, especially in status, rights or opportunities
• Common ownership


  Assets/ means of productions are owned publicly
• Social class


  Group of people in society who have the same socioeconomic status
• Workers' control


  Refers to complete/ partial ownership of an economic enterprise by those employed there
• Revolutionary socialism


  The idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society
• Social democracy


  Ideology that supports social-economic intervention to promote social justice
• Third Way


  Middle-ground alternative route to socialism, advocates for the balance of rights + responsibilities, social justice + free market economics
• Fraternity


  Belief that the relationship between human beings should be marked by generosity, warmth + comradeship - regard fellow humans as 'siblings' rather than opponents
• Class consciousness


  Awareness of one's place in a system of social class
• Marx + Engels believed that class consciousness would be a by-product of capitalism
• Marx + Engels 'The Communist Manifesto'


  1848
• Marx + Engels argued that under capitalism, the exploitation of the proletariat was an inevitable consequence as capitalists extract maximum level of surplus value from their workers + instead, advocated for the overthrow of existing political + social structures and the replacement of the current economic system with one that would distribute wealth equally
• Marx + Engels: ''Let the ruling classes tremble at the communist revolution, The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.''
• Marx + Engels: ''Working men of all countries, unite!''
• Bourgeoisie


  The people who control the means of production in a capitalist society
• Proletariat


  The members of the working class
• Rosa Luxembourg


  Upheld + developed ideas of Marx, made a distinctive contribution to the development of Marxist socialism through her membership of the German Social Democratic Party
• Rosa Luxembourg agreed with Marx's argument that capitalism promoted exploitation + was at odds with humanity's natural, fraternal instincts
• Rosa Luxembourg agreed that evolutionary socialism was impossible + believed revolution would arise 'spontaneously' after class consciousness had gradually been brought about through the struggle of the Proletariats
• Rosa Luxembourg: ''Mass strike is the first natural, impulsive form of every great revolutionary struggle of the proletariat''
• Rosa Luxembourg: ''The more highly developed the antagonism is between capital + labour, the more effective + decisive must mass strikes become.''
• Beatrice Webb


  Made significant contributions to the early development of democratic socialism and believed in the inevitability of gradualism
• Beatrice Webb's socialism principles


  • Capitalism is the cause of crippling poverty, demeaning inequality, and corrupting force in society
  • Paternalism is not a sustainable solution to the problems of poverty and inequality and can be eliminated through trade unionism and extensive state intervention
  • Effective reform tends to be gradual rather than revolutionary
  • Webb's Minority Report - argued that the state should guarantee 'a sufficient nourishment + training when young, a living wage whilst able-bodied, treatment when sick + modest but secure livelihood when disabled or aged' - implemented by Labour gov after 1945
• Anthony Crosland


  Senior Labour Party politician, argued that capitalism has radically changed + no longer resembled an economic system and Modern capitalism lacked internal tensions ton drive social change/revolution -> governments pursuing Keynesianism economics would maintain high employment, low inflation + promote growth, also argued that the main aim of socialism was to manage capitalism to deliver greater social equality + social justice
• Anthony Giddens


  Prominent thinker behind Third-Way, 'Beyond Left and Right' - Gidden's highlights the corrosive effects of capitalism + individualism upon community + fraternalism -> street that capitalism + individualism were irreversible, believed that greater quality of opportunity might have to be accompanied by greater inequality of outcome to generate enough wealth to support modern public services + existing state structures could be reformed to produce greater political equality
• New Labour's third way rejected both traditional leftist ideas about nationalisation and right wing neo liberalism. Instead it advocated a mixed economy with strong regulation and redistribution of income
• Evolutionary socialism


  Seek to alter capitalism by pushing for economic and social equality
• Revisionism


  Used to democratic socialists such as Bernstein who disagreed with Marx's views and believed that revolution through force was not necessary to achieve a socialist society
• Historical materialism


  Marx + Engels - argued that history has consisted of constant class struggle + exploitation from the bourgeoisie has allowed for the accumulation of wealth
• Dialectic


  Term used by Marxists that states dialectic is a process that drives social change