Revision Flashcards
(29 cards)
Collectivism
- Collective effort more effective in achieving social/political/economics aims; society can only be transformed through collective endeavour
- Rooted in view of human nature - prefer to live in social groups/bound by fraternity/moulded by social conditions
- Collectivism = true freedom and fulfilment
- Usually through the state: Marxists - highly-centralised state, social democrats = state control of key industries
Common humanity
- Humans - social creatures who prefer to cooperate than compete; naturally inclined to work together
- Cooperation endorses ideas of common humanity; shared understanding/fraternity
- Human motivation driven by material but also moral view of people’s role - have responsibility for others
- Interventionist state
Equality
- True social equality of outcome
- Ensures fairness; reject equality of opportunity as justifies unequal treatment of people on grounds of innate ability - other socialists argue that natural inequalities in abilities/attributes = different rewards - Egalitarianism
- Reinforces collectivism, cooperation and social solidarity - equality makes people work together if they share the same conditions
- Satisfies basic human nature - ensures fulfilment and realisation of potential - state must redistribute to ensure this
- Marxists = absolute equality, social democrats = relative equality; conflicts over whether there should be equality of opportunity, outcome, welfare or absolute equality
Common ownership
Wealth created by collective endeavour/private ownership encourages materialism and social conflict
Social class
- Defines society - people with similar socio-economic position have common aims
- Social classes have been main agents of change (Marxism and dialectical change)
- Working class - means for bringing about transformation of society - disagree about importance (Marxists more important) while social democrats define it as more fluid - state not oppressive but provides welfare/redistribution
- Class consensus
Workers’ control
- Workers have full control over their place of employment, promotes collectivism
- Should control means of production since they are key producers
- Syndicates hostile towards state - need replacement with federation of trade union bodies - guild socialism was internally divided over state ownership/state federal body of workers organisations
- Would promote collectivism/inequality
Fundamentalist socialism
Marxism
Marxism-Leninism
Democratic Socialism
Neo-Marxism
Revisionist socialism
Social Democracy
The Third Way
Revolutionary socialism
- Rejects democratic methods - demands total transformation of society and the existing state
- Based on idea that bourgeois is an instrument of class oppression - need revolution as gradual change ineffective, bourgeois too entrenched
- Wants absolute social equality; accept class struggle and the violence which may ensue
Social democracy
- Emerged after 1945; wants to reconcile over free market capitalism with state intervention - capitalism produces inequality and poverty, state intervention can remedy weaknesses of capitalism - through welfare state
- Revisionism of Marxism
Third Way
- Neo-revisionism: primacy of market over the state, rejecting ‘top down state intervention’
- Socialist principles: communitarianism - rights and social responsibilities/collectivism
- Social consensus and harmony, social inclusion rather than social equality - equality of opportunity
- Should have a competition or market state which focuses on social investment; boosts economic growth + state provides skills and opportunities - will create social harmony, enabling individuals to thrive in a strong community
Marx and Engels
- Revolutionary socialism - historic materialism: economic base forms superstructure of society; controlled by the bourgeoisie
- Dialectical change: constant class struggle - created historical change - Proletariat must challenge and overcome bourgeoisie to achieve control of the base
- Class consciousness - can only have class struggle if there is class consciousness; must be involved and represented in politics
- Human nature rational, social and cooperative
Rosa Luxemburg
- Revisionism of Marxism
- Evolutionary socialism - leaves capitalism intact
- Capitalism would eventually collapse - due to inherent contradictions, would become weak running out of new markets to exploit
- Class-consciousness develops naturally from workers; would culminate in spontaneous mass strike
- Rejects centralised ‘vanguard’ of Leninism
Beatrice Webb
- Revisionism; ‘the inevitability of gradualness’ - socialism will be established peacefully through parliamentary reform, sped up through reasoned arguments
- Opposed workers’ party and wanted to spread ideas among libs and cons; elitist thinking average voter was selfish and uninformed - expanding state through providing amenities; ‘disciplined elite’ have responsibility to guide people towards socialism gradually
Anthony Crosland
- Revisionism
- Capitalism no longer has internal tensions - democracy had changed through extension of franchise, dispersal of business ownership
- Keynesian economics - mixed economy, to maintain employment; need to manage capitalism to deliver social equality/justice
- Justifications for equality - creates economic efficiency; inequalities slow economic process (need communitarianism), unjust to reward talents as not individually responsible for them
- Develop comprehensive secondary education and no grammar schools
Anthony Giddens
Third War Socialism:
- Rejects state intervention as inefficient and ineffective due to growth of affluence and individual aspirations
- Free market economy only efficient system of production and encourages responsibility
- Community and responsibility offset materialism, competition and reflect declining importance fo class conflict and hierarchy
- Social investment in infrastructure e.g. education, training
Define fraternity
Literally a ‘brotherhood’ - humans bound together by comradeship and a common outlook because they share the same basic nature and interests, while differences due to class, religion, nationality and ethnic background are far less significant
Define cooperation
Working collectively to achieve mutual benefits
Define capitalism
Wealth is privately owned - goods and services are produced for profit, as determined by market forces
The capitalist system has developed over the last 5 centuries to become the economic driving force of the modern global economy
Define common ownership
Production is owned by the workers so that all are able to participate in its running and to benefit from the wealth of society
Define communism
An economic and political system advocated by Marx
- Private ownership of means of production abolished in favour of common ownership
- Classless society established - production based on human need, and the state withers away
- Marxists argue that it is only under such a system that humans can realise their full potential
Define evolutionary socialism
Form of socialism advocating a parliamentary route to deliver a long-term, radical transformation in a gradual, piecemeal way through legal and peaceful means
Define Marxism
Ideological system within - drew on writings of Marx and Engels and has at its core a philosophy of history that explains why it is inevitable that capitalism will be replaced by communism
Define Revisionism
Revised political theory - modifies established or traditional view
Here revisionism refers to the critical reinterpretation of Marxism
