Key Socialist Thinkers

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Charles Fourier (1772–1837)

The first types of socialism to develop are often associated with French thinkers e.g. Charles Fourier and Utopian Socialism (who rejected the ideas of revolutionary socialism)

Fourier argued accurately that humans have desires that go beyond basic self-interest and that we are not always economically rational actors

He claimed poverty was the explanation for social and economic disorder in the world

Poverty was the root of all evil in the business world

Fourier wrote that “truth and commerce are as incompatible as Jesus and Satan"

Fourier wanted a society reconstructed on the basis of the idea that man’s natural passions, if channeled correctly, would lead to social harmony. Fourier believed human nature was created by God and that it should be expressed in the organisation of society.

The secrets to success in society, for Fourier, were concern and cooperation - this would allow immense improvement in the productivity levels of workers. Workers should be compensated relative to their contribution. Fourier wanted this cooperation to occur in communities he called ‘phalanxes’. In these phalanxes, the wealth of a person was determined by their job. A job would be assigned to a person based on their interests and passions. These phalanxes would unite all economic classes, making them cooperate, and this would solve the problem of poverty.

Fourier thought men could live peacefully together in the state of nature, without the need for government intervention. He contended that industrialism was just a passing phase and a systematic agricultural society was the way forward.

Rights of Women:

Féminisme was first coined by Fourier in 1837; he was a strong supporter of rights for women.

In his early days, Fourier argued that the level of development in a society could be seen by how free women were in society:

He saw the treatment of women in society as slave-like

Equitable treatment of women paved the path of social progress

Fourier did not advocate equality of the sexes because he saw real differences between men and women

"One could judge the degree of civilization of a country by the social and political position of its women"

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Robert Owen (1771-1858)

Owenism was the utopian socialist philosophy of 19th century social reformer Robert Owen. Owenism was considered a forerunner of the cooperative movement.

Robert Owen undertook several experiments of setting up communities around communitarian and cooperative principles . His ideas were rooted in 17th century English ideas of ‘moral economy’ - fair exchange, just price and the right to charity.

Owen’s movement was based around the ideas of maximum use of reason and cooperation, to abandon selfishness for the chance to embrace “the origin of truth and good”. Owen argued that the “natural standard of human labour” should be recognised as the “practical standard of value”.

Further, he maintained human beings were influenced by their environments and were all equally malleable, and therefore, everybody had the same potential to be improved as a human being under the correct circumstances.

The first of Owen’s projects put into practice was the textile factory in New Lanark, Scotland

In this factory, Owen introduced many improvements to working conditions

Working hours were shorter, working conditions were safer, there was school for children, moral education, renovated housing, no child labour and insurance plans (The project would not last long as Owen did not have the funding to keep it going)

Owen himself had rejected the competitive system through which he made his fortune and wanted to pursue a cooperative system - “one man’s gain” would not be “another man’s loss” in these communities

Owen advocated villages of cooperation - they were to remodel society on cooperative lines and draw people away from profit reliance

Robert Owen’s ideas developed a group of followers known as ‘Owenites’ - they believed that society could be radically altered by the means of experimental communities; property was to be held in common and social and economic activity was organised on a collaborative basis. This was seen as a means of bringing about social change in a peaceful and immediate way.

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Karl Marx (1818–1883)

Historical Materialism:

The way that Marx traces the winding and long road of history is known as the materialist conception of history (historical materialism)

History was seen as a series of disconnected occurrences before the work of Marx

Marx and Friedrich Engels put forward the idea that history and therefore, human development depends on the development of productive forces throughout time

They established a scientific basis for history

They devised that humankind is constantly changing in nature due to the process of labour

“History does nothing, it ‘possesses no immense wealth’, it ‘wages no battles’. It is man, real, living man who does all that, who possesses and fights; ‘history’ is not, as it were, a person apart, using man as a means to achieve its own aims; history is nothing but the activity of man pursuing his aims.” (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Holy Family, Chapter VI)

Historical materialism describes the driving force behind social development is class struggle. Utilising the method of dialectical materialism of history, it is obvious that human history has specific laws and therefore, can be understood as a process.

The rise and fall of socio-economic formations can be explained scientifically through how societies can and cannot develop their means of production.

"The materialist conception of history starts from the proposition that the production of the means to support human life and, next to production, the exchange of things produced, is the basis of all social structure; that in every society that has appeared in history, the manner in which wealth is distributed and society divided into classes or orders is dependent upon what is produced, how it is produced, and how the products are exchanged. From this point of view, the final causes of all social changes and political revolutions are to be sought, not in men's brains, not in men's better insights into eternal truth and justice, but in changes in the modes of production and exchange.” (Friedrich Engels, Socialism, Utopian and Scientific).

Marxist socialism explains the development of society in terms of progress of productive forces. Marx's ideas were influenced by the works of Friedrich Hegel:

Hegel set forth an understanding of historical progress

He claimed that history move forward in a series of logical events based upon the dialectic (this involves discourse between two or more people holding different viewpoints about certain subjects, they wish to establish the truth of the subject matter through reasoned argument)

Hegel believed that every idea or incident in society was undergoing an internal conflict

Every thesis contained an antithesis that resulted in social progress

With this thinking, Marx claimed that socialism would challenge capitalism and result in a new historical era

Hegel maintained that alienation was the product of our perception of the world being inconsistent with the realities of the world. Progress only comes about through the development of class consciousness.

Marx argued that the exploited proletariat would adopt a new class consciousness in their struggle against the bourgeoisie. Hegel believed the end of history resulted when the dialectic of society resulted in our consciousness becoming the collective consciousness. Marx saw this as the communist society.

“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it."

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Karl Marx (1818–1883) Continued

Marx's Main Ideas:

Marx tried to provide an answer as to why capitalism needed to be reformed. This is the type of economy in the progress of history that had come to dominate the Western world when Marx was writing.

Problems with the capitalist system, according to Marx:

Alienation of work: work should be a source of joy. Workers need to see themselves in the objects they create. However, this is increasingly rare in terms of the modern world. The problem is that modern work is specialised.

Insecurity: Capitalism makes the human being expendable. People can be let go of so easily once the costs rise.

Workers get paid nothing, while capitalists make huge benefits: Marx believed that capitalists shrunk the wages of the worker as much as possible to squeeze out profits for themselves (primitive accumulation). Marx argued that profit is theft, as you are stealing the talents and abilities of the workforce you have. Profit is the term used instead of exploitation.

Crises are endemic to the capitalist system

The wealth of massive corporations should be redistributed to everyone

''The Communist Manifesto' (1848) - Marx’s highlights his ideal society:

No private property or inherited wealth

Steeply graduated income tax

Centralised control of banking, communication and transport industry

Free education

Through the class struggle (proletariat vs bourgeoisie) classes develop a concept of themselves. Capitalism replaces this natural egalitarian collaboration with conflict and competition.

The works of Marx can be divided into two main aspects:

Critique of capitalism

The better option of society to be built around common ownership of the means of production

In capitalism, the bourgeoisie have incentive to extract the maximum level of surplus value (profit) from their workers. The exploitation of the proletariat (working class) is inevitable under the capitalist system. Marx would argue Social Democrats’ thinking of state intervention in order to tame capitalism is flawed. While Democratic socialists are wrong, according to Marx, that a parliamentary means for the advancement of socialism will occur. Capitalists won’t allow people to vote away their wealth.

Mark argued that only revolution would lead to ultimately a better world and economic system. Marx believed that the economic base of society needed to be overhauled; fraternity would be generated through fair distribution of wealth and people would be free of competition and consumerism.

'The Communist Manifesto’ (1848) again highlights some important ideas:

“The history of all hitherto societies is the history of class conflict”

Marx and Engels contended that social class can be distinguished by the means of production (physical and mental)

Capitalism dissolves the meaningful relationships in society that create social cohesion

Commodification (people being treated as mere commodities)

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Eduard Bernstein (1850-1932)

Bernstein is most famous for his written work Evolutionary Socialism (1899). Bernstein argued that Karl Marx has been wrong in some fundamental aspects of socialism.

The term ‘revisionism’ is used to describe democratic socialist writers such as Bernstein. Bernstein's revisionism utilised statistical evidence to counter Marx’s theories:

Capitalism was not on its final leg

The working class was improving its material position, contrary to Marx’s theory

Improvements in civil rights were occurring

The electoral franchise was becoming more widespread

Bernstein was convinced that this meant:

The proletariat were heading for a peaceful victory (strong support for Social Democratic Party in Germany)

Bernstein argued democracy was not a political system capitalist’s were using to trick workers

Democracy, for Bernstein, was a precondition of socialism

He rejected the ideas of Marx that capitalism was going to collapse:

Bernstein noted that capitalism contains a self-regulatory mechanism that prevents it from collapsing

Contrary to Marx’s idea that socialism will come about due to the internal contradictions in the capitalist system, Bernstein argued socialism is based on an ethical ideal (form of civilization ingrained in the minds of the people). He believed that the imminent crisis of capitalism would not come about; capitalists has advanced to resists crises and ensure survival.

Bernstein argued the dichotomy between classes in Marx’s nature of society is oversimplified:

The bourgeoisie and proletariat are not homogenous

The middle class is also included within society

Moreover, Bernstein believes Marx made a mistake with his theory of class struggle - the mere existence of classes does not imply struggle or conflict between them

Bernstein’s revisionism is based on the idea that classes are non-antagonistic and they cooperate

Class collaboration is the foundation of social relationships

Meanwhile, democratisation would get rid of any tensions amongst classes

After a prolonged struggle by the working class against the capitalists, the working class would claim political power and set up a social democratic state. Social democracy would never be established on the basis of class struggle.

The Marxist technique has not succeeded anywhere, parliamentary means and tactics are needed to result in social democracy.

“The movement is everything, the final goal is nothing.”

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Anthony Crosland (1918–1977)

Crosland was a twentieth century British politician who was associated with Social Democratic thinking. Crosland believed that socialism could be achieved through the humanising of the capitalist system. He focused on practical achievements rather than theoretical rhetoric.

His most influential work was ‘The Future of Socialism’ (1956) where he outlined how to achieve objectives of social justice and egalitarianism.

Crosland wanted to develop the ideology of social democracy that existed at the time

The Marxist view of the world, for Crosland, had been disproved by the harsh world of the 1930s being transformed by war and post-war Labour reforms:

Output and standards of living rose steadily in a capitalistic society

The power of the business class was reduced with increased government power and bargaining power of labour

Poverty had been reduced significantly by redistributive taxation, welfare benefits and rising living standards

Crosland argued that the ownership of the means of production was largely irrelevant in the mid-20th century:

“the definition of capitalism in terms of ownership…has wholly lost its significance and interest now that ownership is no longer the clue to the total picture of social relationships; and that it would be more significant to define societies in terms of equality, or class relationships, or their political systems.”

Modern socialism, Crosland noted, is not about public ownership but about improving welfare and social equality for all

Therefore, continual nationalisation is not a central goal for government

Political values of personal liberty, social welfare and equality took centre stage

Instead of overthrowing the rich and elite, policies of high taxation, educational development and expansion of social services were pursued

“The socialist seeks a distribution of rewards, status and privileges egalitarian enough to minimise social resentment, to secure justice between individuals and to equalise opportunities; and he seeks to weaken the existing deep-seated class stratification with its consistent feelings of envy and inferiority, and its barriers to uninhibited mingling between the classes.”

Above all, Crosland was a revisionist. This approach contains some important processes:

Analysing what is actually happening as opposed what ought to happen

Subjecting methods to scrutiny (prepared to modify these methods if faced with changing circumstances)

Crosland argued that Britain “ceased to be a capitalist country” after the welfare policies that were implemented by Clement Attlee. He was interested in improving the lives of working people. Ultimately, he downplayed public ownership of means of production and prioritised trying to end poverty and establishing better public services.

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Anthony Giddens (1938-Present)

Giddens was the prominent thinker behind the third way (a political and theoretical perspective that sought to alter left-wing ideas of the economic and political realities of globalisation)- a philosophical approach that shaped policies of New Labour (1997-2010).

Giddens sought to rebrand social democracy in the context of globalisation. He was a sociologist and one of the rare few who influenced British public policy. He argued the third way was a means to modifying the welfare system that would give people a ‘hand-up, not a hand-out’.

This was to allow fairer redistribution of wealth. Moreover, the third way highlighted that profit motive should be the only legitimate concern of the private sector

Where the Old Labour focused on equality and social justice. New Labour, with Giddens influence, sought to emphasise the relationship between benefits and obligations

Welfare payments should be attached to appropriate behaviour with sanctions for those acting irresponsibly

Third way thinking outlined active welfare (ensure those who claimed such benefits attempted to escape the poverty trap)

Giddens believed the welfare system needed to be mended, as “all welfare states create problems of dependency, interest-group formation and fraud".

Gidden’s Main ideas:

Contemporary society is best understood by the term ‘late modernity’.

According to Giddens, late modern societies are shaped by the extension and development of the similar social forces that comprised earlier forms of modern social life

The key forces, for him, are the disembedding of time and space and the loss of tradition

Globalisation has allowed people to interact with each other in a way that is not limited by time-space constraints as it was with older societies

Moreover, tradition has lost its place in society and people are more reflexive about their social worlds

Giddens also offered a thorough critique of historical materialism:

There is no overarching mechanism of social change, no universal historical motor such as class conflict

Universal stages of social development do not exist, they are ruled out by things such as human agency and historicity of societies

Society's needs are that of the individual, therefore, principles of adaptation cannot be applied to them

Pre-capitalist societies are divided by class, only within capitalism do class societies exist where class conflict is endemic

While class conflict is integral in capitalist societies, there is no directive that guarantees the emergence of a working class

Sociology addresses a reflexive reality (circular relationships of cause and effect)

In a society of reflexive modernity and an economy producing huge amounts of goods with minimal labour, politics is undergoing change:

Giddens argues that ‘life politics’ (pursuit of knowledge/self-Enlightenment) may become more visible than politics of inequality

We live in an age of ‘dialogic democracy’ where differences are settled through discourse as opposed to violence

The political concepts of ‘left’ and ‘right’ are breaking down

In Beyond Left and Right (1994), Giddens constructed a framework for radical politics:

Repair damaged solidarities

Recognise the centrality of politics of self-actualisation (life politics)

Accept that active trust implies generative politics

Embrace principles of dialogic democracy

Reevaluate the welfare state

Confront violence

In The Third Way (1998), Giddens outlines a broad range of policy proposals for the ‘progressive centre-left’ in British politics:

"the overall aim of third way politics should be to help citizens pilot their way through the major revolutions of our time: globalisation, transformations in personal life and our relationship to nature" (Anthony Giddens)

Giddens dissociated himself from the New Labour Party in the way they interpreted the third way in day-to-day political life. For Giddens, the point of the third way was to go beyond both free market fundamentalism and traditional top-down socialism. He wanted to make political values of the centre-left impactful in a globalising world.