Socialism

Notes based on Baradat (2012) and

Festenstein and Kenny (2010)
 Socialism
According to the socialist view, individuals do not
live or work in isolation but live in cooperation
with one another.
Everything that people produce is in some sense a
social product, and everyone who contributes to
the production of a good is entitled to a share in it.
Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at
least control property for the benefit of all its
members.
 Socialism
• Socialism is characterized by social ownership and
co-operative management of economic production
processes.
• Social goods and services are produced for the
purpose of benefiting the people.
• In 19th century socialism was used as an opposite
system to capitalism. It signified social ownership
(e.g. collective ownership) vs. private ownership of
property, natural resources and means of
production.
 Socialism
• For socialism it is important to provide high-quality
relatively equal conditions of life for everyone. The
state has an active role in reaching this goal.
• Large groups of people who were impoverished
and exploited in the 19th century world were
dissatisfied with both classical liberalism and with
conservatism.
• Socialism articulated their vision of directing
political and economic power towards benefiting
these groups of society.
 Socialism
• In social perspective people are by nature social
and caring, and not aggressive and self-centered.
• Socialists believe that individual behaviour and
attitudes are largely determined by the
individual’s environment such as family,
community, or work.
• They believe that a state should encourage
everyone to act in ways that would ensure their
cooperation and service towards the common
good.
 Socialism
• According to socialists government must
ensure that everyone has access to high-
quality education, shelter, health care, jobs
and financial security.
• The ideology of socialism centers in a deep
commitment to use the power and policies of
the state to increase the material, social and
political equality of all its members.
 Socialism
• Marxist-Leninist socialism – belief that forceful
action is necessary to produce equality and
social justice.
• Democratic socialism – rejects the idea that
justice and equality can be built through
violence and repression. A belief that a
democratic authority of the government based
on people’s consent can produce the
conditions of economic, political etc. equality.
 Socialism
Socialism is found based on 3 fundamental principles:
1. Public ownership of production, distribution and finance
2. The welfare state (e.g. social security, unemployment
compensation, federal loans, government insured savings
deposits, public healthcare plans)
3. Improving human condition by eliminating poverty

Humanitarian (idealistic) socialism vs. “scientific” socialism

(Karl Marx)
 Socialism vs. communism
Socialism Communism
A relatively recent An ancient concept (e.g. virtually
phenomenon all primitive societies practiced
Key principles: some form of communal
a) Collectivism, and applying existence)
collectivist principles on Key principles:
national economy a) Collectivism – people work
b) Focus on industrial and own in common
production b) Rural focus
c) Focus on the urban setting c) Agrarian economic base (focus
on agriculture)
d) Local orientation
 Socialism
• Moral Belief?
• Political Outlook?
• Ethical Claims?
• Economic Discourse?
• Marxism?
 Socialism
• Early socialist ideas: Germany, Britain, France
• Socialism developed as a political ideology in 19th
century Europe as a reaction to industrial injustices,
unemployment and labor exploitation in Europe.
• The roots of these injustices were seen in the
concentration of wealth in the hands of the few
powerful actors, while the workers and laborers
were not able to gain wealth through their hard
work.
 Socialism
• To address the uneven distribution of profit
and wealth, Karl Marx advocated a revolution
of the working class which would lead to
collective ownership of the means of
production (property and capital).
 Henri Saint-Simon
(1760 -1825)
• French early socialist theorist
• Thought influenced the foundations of various
19th century philosophies: Marxism,
positivism and the discipline of sociology.
 Henri Saint-Simon
• Opposition to the feudal and military system
– Feudalism is a political, social and military system in
Medieval Europe (9-15 centuries) in which one of the key
elements was the relationship between lords and vassals
regarding the holding of land in exchange of service (such
as physical labour)
• Advocated a form of state-technocratic socialism,
where industrialists would lead society and found a
national community based upon cooperation and
technological progress- NEW SOCIO-ECONOMIC
ORDER
• This would eliminate poverty of the lower classes.
 Henri Saint-Simon
• He was against the church
• He said the direction of society should fall to
the men of science.
• Why? The emergent industrial order required
a mental and intellectual shift
• Those men are fitted to organize society for
productive labour
• So they are entitled to rule it
 Henri Saint-Simon
• During his lifetime his views had very little
influence
• The last and most important expression of his
views is the Nouveau Christianisme (1825),
which he left unfinished.
 Robert Owen
(1771-1858)
• Welsh social reformer and one of the founders
of utopian socialism and the cooperative
movement.
 Owen's philosophy was based on three
intellectual pillars:
1--no one was responsible for his will and his own actions
because his whole character is formed independently of
himself (people are products of their heredity and
environment);
2--all religions make man a weak and fanatic, or a miserable
hypocrite;
3--support for the putting-out system instead of the factory
system (work is contracted by a central agent to
subcontractors who complete the work in off-site facilities,
either in their own homes or in workshops with multiple
craftsmen).
 Karl Marx
(1818-1883)
• German philosopher, economist, sociologist,
historian, journalist, and revolutionary
socialist.
• His ideas played a significant role in the
development of social science and the socialist
movement.
 Karl Marx
• Notable books:
-The Communist Manifesto (1848)
-Capital (1867–1894)
-some of his works were co-written with his
friend and fellow German revolutionary socialist,
Friedrich Engels.
 Marxism
• Marx's theories about society, economics and
politics is known as Marxism
• It hold that all societies progress through the
dialectic of class struggle:
a conflict between an ownership class which controls
production and a lower class which produces the labor
for goods.
Dialectic - discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a
method of intellectual investigation; specifically: the
Socratic techniques of exposing false beliefs and eliciting
truth (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
 Marx
• The socio-economic form of society- capitalism;
• He called it the "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie“.
• He said it was run by the wealthy classes purely for
their own benefit;
• He predicted that, like previous socioeconomic
systems, it would inevitably produce internal
tensions which would lead to its self-destruction
and replacement by a new system, socialism.
 Marx
• Argued that under socialism society would be
governed by the working class
• “Dictatorship of the proletariat", the "workers
state" or "workers' democracy".
• Socialism would, in its turn, eventually be
replaced by a stateless, classless society called
communism.