Socialism

The Bolshevik, a 1920 painting by by Boris Kustodiev.

Socialism, or the lower stage of socialism, is a mode of production which represents a transitional phase between two other modes of production, capitalism and communism, characterized by workers' ownership of the means of production, achieved through the expropriation of the bourgeoisie by a dictatorship of the proletariat. Socialist economies are based on central economic planning, absence of the profit-motive and collectivization.

The scientific socialist definition of the term, as used by Marxist–Leninists, refers to a particular stage of historical development — specifically the transitional state between the capitalist and communist modes of production. For this reason, it is also known as "the lower stage of communism", although it is generally considered distinct enough from communism to constitute its own separate mode of production.

Characteristics

Origins

Socialism is the first and lower stage of communism which emerges following a revolutionary transition away from capitalism. The contradictions found within the capitalist system provide the basis for socialism as exploitation, market volatility, centralization of capital towards monopoly, etc. grow to an extreme point as a result of the development of productive forces and the gigantic socialization. The proletarian revolution and abolition of private ownership of the means of production resolve one of the fundamental contradictions of the past capitalist society — that between the social character of production and the private capitalist form of appropriation. Socialism brings conformity between the relations of production and their level of development.

Economic transformation

See also: Planned economy

Socialism transcends aspects common in bourgeois society such as the profit motive (i.e. goods are made on the basis of human need as opposed to capitalist profits), anarchy of production, and regular economic crises. Socialism regiments the economy on the basis of a common plan created with the input of the entire society and its needs.

Tendencies

Proletarian socialism

Main article: Communism

Proletarian socialism is the only true socialist movement which represents the class interests of the proletariat. Proletarian socialism seeks emancipation of the proletariat through a revolution led by independent working class parties and construction of socialism based off a materialist understanding of reality. Proletarian socialism first emerged with the communist theories of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, today known as Marxism, which stood in opposition to the utopian socialist tendencies of that era. The main movement which espouses proletarian socialism in the present is Marxism–Leninism, a higher stage of classical Marxism.

Petite-bourgeois socialism

Petite-bourgeois socialism emerged as a reaction on the part of the nascent petite-bourgeoisie towards the growth of industrial capitalism and its accompanying hardships and exploitation. Unlike proletarian socialists, however, this tendency does not seek to advance beyond capitalism but simply to reinforce or reintroduce old relations of production before industrial capitalism appeared, often in the form of small proprietorship and peasant communes. The most common form of petite-bourgeois socialism is anarchism.

Conservative socialism

Conservative, or bourgeois socialism is a movement composed of members of the capitalist class who desire to resolve certain grievances faced by the proletariat as a means to preserve capitalism from the prospect of socialist revolution. Bourgeois socialists do not truly advocate for socialism, but merely want capitalism without its inherent issues. Modern examples of this tendency include social democracy and other instances of reformism.

See also

• Socialist state
• Dictatorship of the proletariat