Socialism
77
1917 entrenched this split: revolutionary socialists, following the example of V. I. Lenin (see p. 91) and the Bolsheviks, usually adopted the term ‘ communism ’, while reformist socialists described their ideas as either ‘socialism’ or ‘social democracy ’.
KEY CONCEPT CAPITALISM
predominantly held in private hands. Third, economic life is organized according to impersonal market forces, in particular the forces of demand (what consumers are willingandabletoconsume)andsupply(whatproducers are willing and able to produce). Fourth, in a capitalist economy, material self-interest and maximization provide the main motivations for enterprise and hard work. Some degree of state regulation is nevertheless found in all capitalist systems.
Capitalism is an economic system as well as a form of property ownership. It has a number of key features. First, it is based on generalized commodity production, a ‘commodity’ being a good or service produced for exchange – it has market value rather than use value. Second, productive wealth in a capitalist economy is
The twentieth century witnessed the spread of socialism across Eastern Europe and into parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Eastern Europe was incorporated into the Soviet bloc through the westward expansion of the Red Army in the final phase of World War II, a process that was consolidated by the formation of the Warsaw Pact in 1949. Socialism in African, Asian and Latin American countries often developed out of the post-1945 anticolonial struggle, rather than a class struggle. The idea of class exploitation
was replaced by that of colonial oppression, creating a potent fusion of socialism and nationalism, which is examined more fully in Chapter 5. The Chinese Communist Party, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, seized power in 1949 through the Chinese Communist Revolution, with communism subsequently spreading to North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and elsewhere. More moderate forms of socialism were practised elsewhere in the developing world; for example, by the Congress Party in India. Distinctive forms of African and Arab socialism also developed, being influenced respectively by the communal values of traditional tribal life and the moral principles of Islam. In Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s, socialist revolutionaries waged war against military dictatorships, often seen to be operating in the interests of US imperialism. KEY FIGURE
Communism: The principle of the common ownership of wealth, or a system of comprehensive collectivization; communism is often viewed as ‘Marxism in practice’ (see p. 87). Social democracy: A moderate or reformist brand of socialism that favours a balance between the market and the state, rather than the abolition of capitalism (see p. 95).
MAO ZEDONG (MAO TSE-TUNG) (1893–1976) A Chinese Marxist theorist and leader of the People’s Republic of China, 1949– 76. Mao helped to found the Chinese Communist Party and, in 1935, became its leader. As a political theorist, Mao adapted Marxism-Leninism to the needs of an overwhelmingly agricultural and still traditional society. His legacy is often associated with the Cultural Revolution (1966–70), a radical egalitarian movement that denounced elitism and ‘capitalist roaders’ (those inclined to bow to pressure from bourgeois forces), and that resulted in widespread social disruption, repression and death.
Bettmann/Getty Images
During the late twentieth century, socialism suffered a number of major setbacks. The most dramatic of these was the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe through a series of largely peaceful revolutions that culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall in November
Powered by FlippingBook