Sociologist Views on the Means and Ends of Socialism
Socialism is a very broad ideology, encompassing many different ideas
and viewpoints. Different socialists have disagreed on both the ways
in which they believe socialism should be achieved and implemented,
and on what exactly it is that they want to achieve. The two main
viewpoints I am going to look at in terms of the means of achieving
socialism are revolutionary socialism and evolutionary socialism, and
in terms of the aims of different socialists I am going to discuss
Marxism, including orthodox communism, and also social democracy and
the 'third way'.
Because socialism tends to have an oppositional character, and be seen
as a force for change, the means in which socialism is achieved are
quite significant, and tend to determine the form of socialism which
results from this change. Early socialists believed that socialism
could only be brought about through a revolutionary movement - the
overthrow of the existing regime. Violence was accepted as an
undesirable but necessary part of this process. In the 19th Century
there were two accepted versions of this idea - some socialists
believed the revolution would be carried out by a small group of
dedicated revolutionaries, while others such as Marx and Engels
believed that a class-conscious working class would rise up in a
proletariat revolution and overthrow capitalism. The first successful
socialist revolution was the Russian Revolution of 1917, which was a
coup d’état carried out by a small group of revolutionaries, and this
provided a model for further socialist revolutions.
In the 19th Century revolutionary socialism wa...
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watchman’ and social democrats think it should be used to
counterbalance the inequalities in society, ‘third way’ socialists
support a ‘competition state’, whose main goal should be to ensure
national prosperity. It should improve the country’s infrastructure
and concentrate on improving skills and knowledge - education rather
than welfare should be the priority.
In conclusion, I would agree that there has been a lot of disagreement
within socialism, on whether it should be achieved through revolution
or should gradually evolve through democracy, and also on how extreme
or how moderate socialism should be. However, all of these different
viewpoints are all based around the same principles, of community,
cooperation, equality, social class and common ownership, however
drastic or moderate these ideas might be.
In Socialism Coincides with American Values, Jedediah Purdy produces an interesting insight and argument about the theory of socialism. He believes that socialism can be incredibly beneficial to the United States political and economic systems but are swept aside due to harsh misconceptions of the idealism. He states, “There are essential insights that we lose track of when we let ‘socialism’ be turned into a slur.” Purdy then argues socialism is more American than most Americans want to believe.
roots and is by no means as socialist as it was. But is it still
Socialism as defined by the parameters of the post revolution into the pre industrial period was the nearly universally marked by the race to empower the working class. Yet, within this broad definition of socialism, Karl Marx, Gracchus Babeuf, and Robert Owen differ in their views of a utopian society and how it should be formed. It was to be their difference in tradition that caused their break from it to manifest in different forms. Although they had their differences in procedure and motive, these three thinkers formed a paradigm shift that would ignite class struggle and set in motion historical revolutions into the present. Within their views of a utopian community, these men grappled with the very virtues of humanity: greed versus optimism.
Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes, directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie was of the upper class, shopkeepers, property owners, upper class. The proletariat was the working class, earned minimum wage, labor is their only material value, lower class. Class rankings were apart of the European history as well as the future. Communist wanted to do away with rankings by the country being classless, yet owning nothing, earning just enough to live. This would make each person a paid wage labourer, no matter the title they carried. Marx theory was to live in a classless system and each person have a strong work ethic, as well as
The major reasons why the philosophies were developed was because of discontent. Socialism has many different theories of origin and ha...
To put an end to the ongoing struggle between social classes, Marx believed that a new form of government would have to be established, this he called Socialism. 4 He wanted to see the working class join together to fight the owners, for in order for a society to grow, people would need to begin working together.
Marx’s analysis of social class is that there will always be a divide between the haves and the have not’s. He separates them into two classes the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie signifies the capitalist class, while proletariat signifies the working class. Max Weber’s defines class as “a group of people who have a similar level of economic resources”(p.244). He identifies two main elements of class, material resources, and skill knowledge in the marketplace. In contrast to Marx’s view on class Weber believed that class was not just based solely on ownership of means of production, but could also be based off ownership of other resources and the amount knowledge one has. Pierre Bourdieu’s view on class is that it is based on the concept of cultural capital meaning, “our tastes, knowledge, attitudes, language, and ways of thinking that we exchange in interaction with others”
Both SDs and SRs exhibited a revolutionary attitude in late 19th century against the Russian Empire. The Social Democrats were members of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, which was led by people including Vladimir Lenin and other Russian Marxist figures which focused on how socialism would be achieved in Russia. Despite the Menshevik and Bolshevik differences within the RSDLP, Marxist-Leninism became the predominant political philosophy that was developing in the 1890s, and this was an example of a their revolutionary actions. Many Socialist Revolutionaries and Social Democrats agitated against the Russian State, which was evidence they directly influenced the 1905 Revolution. Lenin’s revolutionary attitude had an end goal, which was widely shared within the RSDLP, became recognized throughout the Russian proletariat (working class) and peasantry as they seized power over the Russian bourgeoisie in order to create a dictatorship of the proletariat.
As a result, issues of ‘Peace, Bread and Land’ were addressed through the issuing of a number of decrees in late 1917 including decrees on land, peace, Workers’ Rights as well as reforms to marriage and religion.... ... middle of paper ... ... Pipes highlights the significance of the Red Terror as ‘a prophylactic measure designed to nip in the bud any thoughts of resistance to the dictatorship.’ Lenin also used class warfare to terrorise the middle classes and hostile social groups.
“When people in the United States are introduced to the concept of socialism - whether in the popular media or in a high school class - they are presented with a simple equation: socialism = a crippled economy that fails to meet people's basic needs + a totalitarian government” (Robertson). Robertson proves a good point in saying this, because generally children in the United States grow up either being taught that socialism is bad or evil, which is completely wrong, or they end up being taught nothing of socialism at all. It is until these children are exposed to a socialist government, through education or experience (which few usually have the privilege of doing) t...
Analysis of the Main Strengths and Weaknesses of Marx’s Sociological Thought “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” Marx and Engels (1967, p.67) Born in 1818, Karl Marx, using his philosophical and socialist ideas, attempted to show how conflict and struggle in social development were important in the development of a society. The works of Marx were influenced by three distinct intellectual traditions: German idealist philosophy, French socialism and British political economy. German idealist philosophy is an approach based on the thesis that only the mind and its content really exist. This philosophy maintains that it is through the advance of human reason that human beings progress. French socialism is a political doctrine that emerged during the French Revolution and emphasised social progress led by a new industrial class.
The Manifesto of the Communist Party is a call to political action by the working class. German philosopher Karl Marx (May 5, 1818-March 14,1883) advocates a revolution of the working class, which involves a turn to communism in order for the working class to gain their financial and political freedom from the hands of the bourgeoisie. Karl Marx, in the Manifesto of the Communist Party, criticizes capitalism and places a deeper focus on class struggle. He offers suggestions that the working class should make in rebellion against the bourgeoisie class. In order for the proletariats to gain their financial freedom, Karl Marx asserts that the workers of the world must adopt a society of communism.
Socialism is a social and economic system where the means of productions are shared indivisibly throughout the community or enterprise rather than in the names of a few individuals. Or more simply put Socialists believe that the Chief Executives of a corporation are not the ones who deserve the big pay check. They believe that the working men and women deserve more money because they are they ones out in the field doing the work. The main goal of socialism is to more evenly distribute the wealth. They care more about having more people living comfortably than just a few individuals getting wealthy. Socialist ideas in todays politics are what they believe will make it easier for Americans to live in America.
Engels points out in his ‘Socialism: Utopian and Scientific’ that, “man [will], more and more consciously, make his own history.” The significance of this remark is that it explains how socialism will change the way of human beings creating history. Based on Utopian Socialism, materialistic conception of history and Marx’s surplus value, Engels asserts that history develops because of class struggles through observing all the history, and develops scientific socialism. The remark points out that human beings are always try to make his own history but still develop according to a ‘hidden plan’. But only under socialism, man will make his own history consciously and freely.
The Sociological Contribution of Karl Marx to an Understanding of Contemporary Society. This essay will discuss how the Karl Marx contributed his knowledge to the understanding of contemporary society. Karl Marx is often referred to. as the ‘intellectual father of modern day Marxist economics’.