Socialism Lecture Notes PDF

Socialism (Lecture 1) Key themes: Socialism as (counter) narrative of modernity response to European industrialization; rise of capitalist market economy and of new class of industrial workers diversity of socialist tradition (violent overthrow of capitalism and the state or gradual reforms and regu...

Socialism (Lecture 1) Key themes: Socialism as (counter) narrative of modernity response to European industrialization; rise of capitalist market economy and of new class of industrial workers diversity of socialist tradition (violent overthrow of capitalism and the state or gradual reforms and regulation? State planning or stateless decentralization?) Ideas contested (‘humanity’s attempt to overcome the predatory phase of human development’ - Einstein/ ‘the road to serfdom’ - Hayek) advances moral and ethical, as well as economic, critique of capitalist property relations. Proposes reorganization of society based on some form of social ownership (or at least control) of property and economic resources Issues of definition: Left originally: radical versus reactionary Key values: liberty (as fulfilment), justice (social justice), equality, (of outcome), democracy (as popular sovereignty and/or radical democracy) Socialism: defining elements? abolition of capitalism and replacement by a socialised economy (Durkheim: Socialism and Saint Simon, 1958) essential “tendencies” – egalitarianism, moralism, rationalism and libertarianism (Berki: Socialism, 1975) commitment to popular sovereignty (Caute, The Left in Europe, 1966) Core ideas? might include Community: common life and common wealth Cooperation Equality: full social inclusion Class: concern with the condition of the working class; analysis of society as class divided; (Marxist) emphasis on class struggle Popular Sovereignty – Radical democracy BUT: note the limitations of interpreting ideologies in terms of core ‘values’ … Running across all of these ‘beliefs/values’ is a fundamental critique of capitalism and private property relations. Socialism as narrative …. Socialism offers us an alternative account of the development of forces at work in modernity, one that emphasizes the intimate connection between economic and political power (market and state) and between capitalism and liberal ideology. Far from ushering in a realm of freedom and progress, these forces produce inequality, exploitation, domination, alienation and unfreedom. Its proposed solution is the supersession of capitalism and the capitalist state through popular agency and the development of alternative political and economic forms Historical origins Key context: rise of capitalist industrialisation and effects, especially for new class of industrial workers Term socialism first used in 1820s Antecedents in utopian thought (eg Levellers and Diggers during English Civil War) agitating for greater democracy, equality and criticising private property; also in religious utopianism; influence of republicanism (eg Rousseau) and radical democratic strands. Socialism and the Enlightenment Shared belief in rational control of the world through conscious human action; science; progressivism; possibility for emancipation Wanted to apply this especially to economic organisation Socialism both product and critic of modernity ‘hopes to heal the wounds of modernity through a fuller and deeper modernity’ (M. Berman on Marx, 1983, p. 98) Henri de Saint Simon (1760-1825) Founder of French socialism Supported industrialisation but feared consequences of rise of individualism Contrasted productive people with ‘idlers’ (aristocracy and those who did not work) ‘new christianity’ – proposed society led by an elite of philosophers, scientists and technocrats ideas not typical of socialism as it developed later, but emphasis on condition of the poorest class was influential Robert Owen (1771-1858) Industrialist and philanthropist, pioneered new techniques in factory communities eg New Lanark Source of social problems was competition of labour and machinery - must subordinate industry to human needs Emphasis on human characteristics as socialised Karl Marx (1818-1883) ‘The philosophers have only interpreted the world … the point, however, is to change it …’ ‘A spectre is haunting Europe.. the spectre of communism …’ The Communist Manifesto Context – circulation of radical communist and anarchist ideas in Europe Marx’ ideas were to transform communism and dominate socialism 4 parts: ○ Bourgeoisie and proletarians: overview of class society and historical development ○ Proletarians and communists: deals with objections to abolition of private property and gives glimpse of communist future ○ Socialist and communist literature: critique of other forms of socialism ○ Position of the Communists: appeal to workers to unite Bourgeoisie and proletarians ‘the history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles’ Bourgeois society has replaced agriculture with industry, revolutionised production, destroyed feudal privilege: ‘has played a most revolutionary part’ ‘the need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere’ BUT: bourgeois society contains the seeds of its own downfall …. Marx’ materialist conception of history Productive change is the motor of historical development Key terms: ○ forces of production (everything needed to produce: land, labour machinery etc) ○ relations of production: social relationships that correspond to the stage of development of the productive forces (landowner/tenant, master/serf, factory owner/worker) ○ Mode of production: sum total of the above: the economic structure of society, eg feudalism, capitalism What moves history on? Development of forces of production reaches a stage where the social relations of production are unable to accommodate them This mismatch = ‘contradictions’. New relations of production are required, but old ones persist Gives rise to class struggle and eventually revolution Bourgeois revolutions replaced feudalism with capitalism but had not abolished class society, ‘for exploitation veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation’ Fate of bourgeois society Constant revolutionising of production leads to crises of overproduction, failure of markets, unemployment Immiseration of proletariat Class antagonisms would increase Proletariat would develop class consciousness and revolt ‘what the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, is its own gravediggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable’. Communists and proletarians ‘ the theory of the communists may be summed up in a single sentence – abolition of private property’ Marx criticises liberalism as the ideology of capitalism - ‘by freedom is meant under the present bourgeois conditions of production, free trade, free selling and buying’…. ‘by ‘individual’ you mean no other person than the bourgeois, than the middle class owner of property’. Ideas and ideologies Ideologies and ideas are the products of economic and social changes ○ ‘does it require intuition to comprehend that mans’ ideas, views and conceptions, in one word, man’s consciousness, changes with every change in the conditions of his material existence?’ - or ‘the ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class’ Communism: a condition where ‘in place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all’. On utopian socialism Saint Simon, Owen etc did recognise class antagonisms but did not grasp the political potential of the proletariat Wanted to attain socialism by peaceful and gradual means Utopian experiments valuable because contained critique of existing values But as modern class struggle develops such ideas are becoming irrelevant, or even counterproductive: ‘castles in the air’ Final declaration: ‘the communists refuse to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!’ Summary of Marx’s critique of capitalism and liberalism capitalism is a class society that rests upon the exploitation of proletariat by bourgeoisie the ideas of capitalist society (liberal notions about individualism, negative freedom, laissez-faire etc) are the ideas that sustain the power of capital capitalism is progressive in that it has swept away feudal privilege and revolutionised productive capacity. Creates the possibility, via technological development, for an end to scarcity and poverty. But also contains the seeds of its own destruction. Marxism as distinct form of socialism contains critique of other forms of socialism as limited or utopian seeks instead to base socialism within the real tendencies of historical development; ‘scientific’ socialism Communism as a real process of revolutionary transformation. Involves not simply reform or gradual change but forceful overthrow of the existing order, and abolition of capitalism by a proletarian revolution identifies communism as expressing the true interest of the species: human self-realisation through the working class Conclusion Early socialism sometimes anti-industrial and ‘utopian’ in tone, but themes of rationality and scientism are not the sole preserve of Marx! Marx makes a distinct and transformative contribution in his effort to link a dynamic theory of social and historical change to political activism and struggle: Some thinkers (eg William Morris) may be seen as bridging the divide between so-called utopian and scientific socialisms a condition of society in which there should be neither rich nor poor, neither master nor master's man; neither idle nor overworked; neither brain-sick brain workers nor heart-sick hand workers; a world in which all men would be living in equality of condition and would manage their affairs unwastefully, and with the full consciousness that harm to one would mean harm to all -- the realisation at last of the word commonwealth." (William Morris: ‘How I became a socialist’ 1896) In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.’(Marx & Engels, The Communist Manifesto: 1848)