Socialism
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| 🇬🇧 | 🇬🇧 |
| What is socialism? | Socialism emerged as an attempt to find an alternative to capitalism, seeking to find a more humane economic system. |
| What is Marxism? | A form of revolutionary socialism involving the belief in the inevitability of a mass uprising of the proletariat, leading to revolution. |
| What is fraternity? | The brotherhood/sisterhood of all. Socialists believe in community, seeing the bonds between people as stronger than the divisions |
| What is evolutionary socialism? | This involves the rejection of revolutionary politics, and a belief that socialism can be achieved peacefully and gradually through the existing constitutional system |
| What is Keynesian Economics? | Keynesian economics includes the state manages market forces to ensure steady growth and employment, Social democrats believe this would finance increased public spending thus greater equality. |
| What is Social Justice? | A type of justice that goes past legal and formal justice. It includes healthcare and education being accessible to all and a minimum wage for workers |
| What is class consciousness? | A by-product of capitalism that would be especially pronounced amongst the downtrodden working class or proletariat. It would eventually be the engine for revolution and capitalism's destruction |
| What is capitalism? | The system of property ownership developed after feudalism. It consists of private ownership of the systems of production and redistribution. Its tendency to produce unequal outcomes is a concern for many socialists. |
| What is dialectic? | Refers to the clash of ideas and perceptions that will inevitably take place within each stage of history and will eventually lead to the disappearance of the existing society |
| What is historical materialism? | The idea that the causes of change in society is the conflict between classes, be it a feudal lord and peasant or a bourgeois factory owner proletariat |
| What is communism? | An economic system in which the means of production are owned in the common rather than by individuals and where social class and inequality are abolished |
| What is cooperation? | The idea that humans are malleable and moulded by circumstances but tend to lean towards altruism. We are social beings and naturally work with others. |
| What is revionism? | The belief that socialism can be achieved without the destruction of capitalism and private properties, and without the upheaval of a revolution. A form of evolutionary socialism. Associated with Edward Bernstein |
| What is common ownership? | A method of ownership that ensures that the needs of the many override those of the few. it is synonyms with state ownership and public ownership |
| Which route do socialists take in the nature vs nurture debate? | They take the view that nurture is more important than nature |
| What is an example of this? | Crime for example is not due to some people being 'born bad' but due to the impact of their social environment and upbringing |
| What do many socialists reject? | The idea of nationalism to argue common humanity crosses borders |
| What has socialism been closely aligned to? | Internationalism and the idea that class consciousness crosses state borders |
| What do socialists conclude about human motivation? | It can be driven by material consideration but also by a moral view on people's role in society. |
| What is at the heart of socialism? | At the heart of socialism is the idea that people are unified by the concept of community. |
| What can this community help people do? | They can use this to overcome any difficulties, both economic and social. |
| Why do socialists agree with this idea? | Socialists believe this because they agree with the idea that the group as a whole is more powerful than that of individual efforts. |
| What is collectivism? | Following group goals and not trying to follow individual self-interest. |
| Key quote by John Donne? | ‘no man is an island, entire of it self; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.' |
| What do socialists believe about people? | People are not self-sufficient individuals and they can only be understood in relation to society. |
| What do socialists believe about human nature? | Socialists believe that human nature is not formed at birth and claim that it is entirely flexible or ‘plastic’ and is shaped by the environment and experiences of every moment of life. |
| Which ideas have socialists linked? | Socialists have linked the ideas of competition, individualism and selfishness to the idea of private property |
| What do they mean by property? | Property not being personal possessions such as clothes, but personal ownership of what is produced or made. |
| What is the first reason socialists criticise private property? | Private property is unjust as there is always more than one person involved in its creation and so they all should share it. |
| What is the first reason socialists criticise private property? | Private property makes people greedy to acquire possessions and therefore creates a lack of morality and causes competition when pursuing wealth. |
| What is the first reason socialists criticise private property? | Property is divisive as it causes conflict between those with different priorities related to that property – for example – owners of factories against their workers. |
| How do revolutionary socialists believe we can reach collectivism? | They believe that collectivism is best achieved through the abolition of private property. They believe that all property should be ‘collectivised’ through being owned by the group (the state). This could be done through ‘nationalisation’; |
| How do social democrats believe we can reach collectivism? | They believe collectivist goals should be promoted through ideas such as progressive taxation, welfare and public services. This would mean using a ‘mixed economy’ such as the one Keynes suggested in the UK in the post-war era. |
| What do socialists believe about the equality of outcomes? | It goes beyond the liberal arguments for equality as it looks at the end point and focuses on the resources |
| Why do socialists believe this about liberal views? | There is an unfair structure in society such as inherited privilege such as financial or status related |
| What is an example of this unfair structure in society? | Anyone can apply to Oxbridge, but someone who attends a private school with small class sizes and good family support is more likely to get in |
| What do socialists believe about our skills and talents in regards to equality? | Although we all have different skills and talents this is not the leading cause of inequality as it is something which we have no personal control of, but rather the unequal structures of society |
| What does equality of outcome mean to revolutionary socialists? | Capitalism should be abolished, leading to the redistribution of wealth and the abolition of private ownership in favour of common ownership |
| What does equality of outcome mean to social democrats? | Welfare state should be used to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor without abolishing capitalism using progressive taxation |
| What does equality of outcome mean to third way socialists? | Move away completely from equality of outcome but instead focus on social exclusions by introducing tax credits and minimum wage |
| Why do socialists support common ownership? | As wealth is created by the communal endeavour of humans, it should be owned collectively, not by individuals |
| What does private property encourage? | Materialism and fosters the false belief that the achievement of personal wealth will bring fulfilment |
| What does private property generate? | Social conflict between 'have' and 'have not' groups such as owners and workers |
| What is an example of common ownership? | In the USSR from the 1930's, the Stalinist regime implemented an all encompassing form of common ownership by bringing the entire Economy under state control |
| What have more moderate socialists such as Atlee opted for? | Limited common ownership by nationalising only key strategic industries such as the coal mines, the railway and steel making, leaving much of the economy in private hands |
| What is social class? | A way of classifying people according to occupation, income, social status and so on |
| How do socialists view social class? | Socialists view class as the most important social division for understanding politics. They think that the way capitalist society has been divided means that people develop common bonds with people in their own class. |
| What is the first interpretation of social class? | History and the development of human society in terms of the class system has suggested that people act with others in their class for the interests of that class which causes division in society. |
| What is an example of the first interpretation of social class? | For example, working-class people formed trade unions to try and get higher wages. |
| What is the second interpretation of social class? | Socialists have focused upon the nature of the working classes and suggested that these are the people that change society. Socialists understand capitalist society in terms of class but do not support a class system or the existence of a ‘working class’ as these labels are divisions in society and therefore divide people causing conflict and competition. |
| What do revolutionary socialists believe about class? | They believe that these two classes will always come into conflict as they want two opposite outcomes (more profit and higher wages). Eventually, this conflict will result in a revolution in which the proletariat overthrow the bourgeoisie, leading to the establishment of a classless communist society. |
| What do social democrats believe about class? | They have talked more about the differences in opportunity and wealth between the middle classes and the working classes and have stressed the need to reduce the differences and the wealth gap between the two groups for the good of society. |
| What is a problem socialism has faced? | Socialists have faced a huge problem since the 1970s. The decline in the traditional working-class professions has led to less people feeling as if they are working class. |
| What has this lack of identification led to? | This lack of identification with socialism has resulted in socialist parties having to appeal to the middle classes for electoral support, in many cases moving away from the core principles of socialism. |
| What is an example fo this move away from core socialism? | The creation of ‘New Labour’ in the 1990s in the UK is an example of this. |
| What does workers control refer to? | This refers to workers owning part or the whole of the business or factory in which they work, or, in a wider sense, worker’s control of the state |
| What else could workers control be understood as? | Control could refer to decision-making powers of workers, or the creation of trade unions to guarantee basic working conditions and rights |
| Why do socialists support this? | Because workers are the most important aspect of the means of production, so they should have the right to have some control over it. |
| What does workers control prevent? | Alienation |
| What is alienation? | Workers feeling detached or isolated from the work they are doing |
| What did Marx and Engels discuss? | A ‘proletarian revolution’ whereby the class-conscious working class would rise up against capitalism and overthrow it. |
| What was the first revolution in history? | In Russia in 1917, although this was more of a coup (overthrow of the government) by an armed group- Lenin and the Bolsheviks- rather than a mass class revolt. |
| Why were revolutionary tactics attractive to socialists? | Industrialism and capitalism in the 19th century were producing mass poverty and social inequality, so the working classes wanted a chance to change their circumstances and the working classes had very few alternatives to revolution- there was no real representation or way of engaging in political life. In monarchies, the country was dominated by royalty and privilege. |
| What do revolutionary socialists believe about the state? | The state is a device of class oppression, acting for ‘capital’ against ‘labour’ |
| If the state is a device of class oppression, what does this mean? | This means that the political state will always reflect and preach the interests of the property-owning classes. Therefore, in order to build socialism, the ‘bourgeois’ state must be overthrown |
| Where has revolutionary socialism been seen in history? | Revolutionary socialism has been seen through the establishment of the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In each case, the existing order was overthrown and replaced with a one-party state which controlled the economy. |
| Which key thinkers were revolutionary socialists? | Marx, Engels and Rosa Luxembourg |
| When did social democracy develop? | Social democracy developed during the early twentieth century and really began to become accepted in the years after 1945. |
| What are the foundations of social democracy based upon? | Moral thinking- the idea that socialism is the ethically right thing to do in a civilised world. |
| What do social democracy theorists claim about people? | Humans want to be good, then a socialist way of acting is the only moral solution in how society should be developed. |
| What did William Morris use to support social democracy? | Humanist ideas |
| Why have Christians supported social democracy? | Because they claim that all people are created by God equal and should therefore be supported by each other and society. |
| What principle did social democrats use to support their ideas? | Social justice; the idea that people should have greater equality of wealth and therefore opportunity as this is the only fair way to run a society. |
| What did Eduard Bernstein advocate for? | Revolutionary socialism |
| What do evolutionary socialists believe about the class divide? | The divisions between class outlined by Marx (bourgeoisie and proletariat) were too simplistic, as business ownership was widening as a result of the ability to buy and sell stocks and shares. |
| What did Bernstein argue about capitalism? | Bernstein argued that capitalism could be reformed and made to work for the good of society through state intervention such as the nationalisation of industry and the creation of legal protections for people, welfare and pensions. |
| What type of economics developed as part of social democracy? | Keynesian economics |
| What is Keynesian economics? | Regulating the economy and attempting to achieve full employment |
| What did socialists such as Crossland argue? | That socialism should focus on several values. It should be achieved through a democratic process because it did not need to overthrow capitalism. |
| Which Key thinkers were social democrats? | Anthony Crossland and Beatrice Webb |
| What was the third way developed in response to? | In response to the crisis faced by social democracy in the 1980s and 90s |
| What did the third way attempt to navigate between? | Traditional social democracy and free-market neoliberalism. |
| What are the five key ideas of the third way? | The primacy of the market, society bases on consensus and harmony, Social inclusion, competition/market state and value of community and moral responsibility |
| What is Primacy of the market? | Neo-revisionists reject top-down state intervention and support a dynamic market economy as the best way of generating wealth. A globalised, capitalist economy is therefore accepted Value of community and moral responsibility: |
| What is society bases on consensus and harmony | To move away from traditional class divisions. Values such as fairness and self-reliance should be promoted |
| What is Social inclusion? | Emphasis on equality of opportunity to create a meritocracy. Tony Blair, a key figure associated with the third way, suggested that welfare should be a ‘hand up, not a handout’. Welfare should therefore be more specifically targeted at getting people into work, for instance |
| What is Competition/market state? | The state should focus on social investment, for instance in education, employment and training, in order to boost economic growth and improve a nation’s standing in the world economy |
| What is the value of community and moral responsibility? | Emphasising that people have moral links and responsibilities to their community, attempting to balance rights with responsibilities |
| How has the third way been successful? | The third way was electorally successful during the New Labour years and has influences many left-of-centre parties. |
| How has the third way been criticised in the UK? | It has been criticised as not containing many socialist ideas, and just being an attempt to win more votes from ‘centre-ground’ voters. |
| What is a key aspect of the third way? | Notion of stakeholding. The term seeks to move beyond the narrow concerns of shareholders and the belief that the profit motive should be the only legitimate concern of the private sector. |
| Who was Karl Marx? | Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, critic of political economy, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. |
| What two parts can his ideas be broken up into? | A critique of capitalism and a prescription for a better society built around common ownership of the means of production. |
| What idea did Marx and Engels develop? | There were two classes in the capitalist society who's interests were fundamentally at odds with each other. The proletariat - the workers and the bourgeoisie - the owners of production |
| What does Marx believe will happen to the proletariat under capitalism? | Under capitalism, the bourgeoisie have every possible incentive to extract the maximum level of surplus value from their workers. If they do not, another capitalist rival surely will. |
| Why does Marx believe that social democrats are wrong in their beliefs of parliamentary socialism? | Democratic socialists are also wrong to believe that a parliamentary route is available for the advancement of socialism because the wealthy will never allow people to vote away their wealth. |
| Why does Marx believe that social democrats are flawed in their assumption of capitalism | Social democrats are therefore flawed in their assumption that capitalism can be tamed by state intervention. |
| What is the only thing that could lead to a better economic system? | Only a revolution will lead to a better economic system and a better world. Not only was this necessary, it was inevitable! |