MARXISM

Socialism

Socialism emerged in the 19th century in reaction to the economic, social and
political conditions of the time. The prevailing ideology in the mid 19th century was
liberalism, which preached that individualism and free market economics would lead
to universal satisfaction. This benign belief was in stark contrast to the working and
living conditions of the time. Early capitalism saw the creation of a large working
class, the growth of industrial cities, long working hours, harsh working conditions,
and the collapse of the village-based welfare system. Many people came to believe
that capitalism could create material wealth, but could not share it equitably -
particularly since the vote was denied to the working class at that time. Some (like the
Populists in Russia) sought to eliminate industrialisation; others (like the anarchists
and socialists) sought to tame it, by replacing the chaos of capitalism with a more
compassionate, less exploitative system. It was the socialists who led the fight against
capitalism in the late 19th century.

All socialists agreed on the kind of society they wished to establish: one in which
production was for use rather than profit, distribution was based on need rather than
greed, and opportunities were offered to all members of society. In this way,
exploitation would be abolished and a better society created. To achieve these ends,
socialists saw the need for the means of production to be placed in the hands of the
community rather than a specific social class. That is, they sought the socialisation of
industry.

Where the socialists could not agree was over the means of achieving these aims.
Three main groups emerged: the utopians, the revolutionaries and the Fabians.

Utopian socialism
The utopian socialists sought to implement socialism by example - through the
establishment of model socialist communities in which workers were treated with
dignity and income distribution was more equal. Robert Owen was the most
prominent of the 19th century utopians. By establishing enlightened factories in
England and America, he sought to provide a model of what socialism could achieve.
Unfortunately, all his ventures collapsed as a result of internal disputes.

Revolutionary socialism (Marxism)

The failure of the utopian socialist experiments and the lack of democracy in most
parts of Europe convinced some socialists that revolution was the only viable path to
power. These people believed that the ruling class of capitalists would never permit
socialism to succeed.
The most famous and influential revolutionary socialist was Karl Marx. He
developed an ideology which explained all aspects of social life and thought in terms
of basic principles and laws. According to Marx, socialism was a historical
inevitability, due to the inherent contradictions of capitalism. In Marx’s view, all
societies passed through six historical stages: primitive communism, slavery,
feudalism, capitalism, socialism and communism. Each historical stage corresponded
to a particular level of technology and a particular system of class relations. In his
words, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles."
The process worked as follows. Technology gradually increased society’s capacity to
generate wealth, but the dominant social class was unwilling to adopt these new
technologies. Gradually, a new social class would emerge, which controlled the most
dynamic productive forces. This new class would grow to resent the "old order",
which it saw as hindering further progress. In the end, the new class would rise up and
overthrow the old, establishing new institutions more to its liking. Once again the
forces of production and the social relations of production would be in harmony,
propelling the economy forward until a new contradiction emerged.
Hence, Marx explained the rise of capitalism as a conflict between the landowning
class and the rising capitalist class (the “bourgeoisie”). The capitalists gradually came
to control the economy (because capitalism was a much more efficient system than
feudalism), but needed a revolution to seize political power. The two most significant
revolutions in the 17th and 18th centuries were the English Civil War and the French
Revolution. Marx believed that the industrialised nations of Europe were ripe for
socialist revolution by the middle of the 19th century.
But socialism was not the end of the historical process, for society would still be
unable to produce enough to meet all humanity’s material needs; additional capital
accumulation would have to occur. Also, humans would not yet have altered their
ways sufficiently for moral incentives to be the sole engine of production; material
incentives would still be needed to induce people to work. Hence, under socialism the
situation would be “from each according to his ability, to each according to his
labour”. In other words, there would be a significant reduction in exploitation, but not
complete equality (since people would be paid according to their diligence and skill).
Exploitation and inequality would only be eliminated under communism, a system
in which there would be no poverty, no crime, no money and no government (all four
being products of earlier modes of production). Hence, the situation would become
"from each according to his ability, to each according to his need." This could occur
because output would be so abundant that inequality would become meaningless.
Revolutionary socialist parties soon began to emerge in the major nations of Europe.
These tended to call themselves communist parties rather than socialist parties,
because their ultimate aim was the establishment of communism.

Democratic socialism

Contrary to Marx’s predictions, the major European powers did eventually legalise
unions and give the vote to the working class. These two developments led to the
creation of democratic socialist parties, based on the principles developed by the
Fabian Society. The democratic socialists "did not foresee the eventual obliteration of
the political state but its transformation into a prime agency of amelioration for
society’s masses." While revolutionary socialists wanted to sublimate the individual
to the needs of the state, the democratic socialists saw the state as a mechanism for
increasing the independence, security and opportunities of each individual. In their
view, "the major features of capitalist philosophy - the profit motive, the monetary
incentive - could be significantly modified without converting individual workers,
technicians and managers into listless, lazy units in the industrial complex."
The main democratic socialist parties established during this period were the British
Labour Party and the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). These parties were also
influenced by Marxist ideology, particularly his analysis of the weaknesses of
capitalism. However, they rejected the notion that social change could only be
achieved by revolution.

Splits in the world socialist movement

One of the principal events which divided the democratic and revolutionary
socialists was the First World War (1914-18). The democratic socialist parties
supported their respective liberal and authoritarian governments during this conflict,
prompting the revolutionary socialist parties (such as the Bolsheviks in Russia) to
condemn them as tools of imperialism. Following the war, the Comintern was formed
to coordinate the activities of all revolutionary socialist parties. The democratic
socialists maintained their own forum - the Socialist International. This split within
the international socialist movement was never healed. In fact, as the 20th century
progressed, the revolutionary socialists were further split, both ideologically and
politically.

Leninism

Lenin made a number of significant changes to Marx’s theories.

Because he was unwilling to wait until Russia had fully industrialised, Lenin
modified Marx’s view that revolution could only occur in the advanced capitalist
nations. In his ‘April Theses’ of 1917, he asserted that nations in the early stages of
capitalism were also ripe for socialist revolution; the industrialisation process could
be completed once socialism had been achieved.
Lenin also developed the view that the colonies and former colonies of Asia, Africa
and Latin America had been exploited by the developed, imperialist powers of Europe
and North America. The Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse Tung further changed
Marx’s theories, arguing that even pre-capitalist nations could stage socialist
revolutions, by mobilising the peasantry rather than the working class. In other words,
Mao asserted that the capitalist stage of development could be by-passed altogether –
opening the way for a series of revolutions in developing nations such as Cuba,
Vietnam and North Korea.
Lenin also changed the political thrust of Marx’s theories, by arguing that
revolutions could be staged not by the working class, but by a professional band of
revolutionaries. The commitment and determination of these people would make up
for the lack of a large working class in Russia. The corollary of this view was that the
Communist Party would have to rule Russia dictatorially until a large working class
support base could be created.

The success of Lenin’s and Mao’s revolutions in 1917 and 1949 respectively gave
them enormous ideological and political influence. Revolutionary socialists
increasingly abandoned Marx’s own views in preference to those of his successors.
Hence, communist parties adopted Marxism-Leninism as their ideology rather than
Orthodox Marxism.
Revolutionary socialism was further fractured following Stalin’s accession to power
in the USSR. His determination to collectivise agriculture and his totalitarian regime
spawned the development of Trotskyism, which preached an end to the centralised,
bureaucratic state.