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Introduction to Politics: Socialism and Marxism
There are many examples of famous people who followed socialist thought including Charlie Chaplin,
Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela and Nina Simone
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Capitalism was beginning to be viewed as way of life which perpetuates war, poverty and inequality
through a desire for constant growth
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Left movements often started as radical campaigns for change and rights protections such as the ANCs
fight against apartheid in South Africa
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Economically, these ideologies propose a planned state economy to replace capitalist economics
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Marxism is a variant of socialism; although the two are not explicitly the same
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Communist
principles and thoughts pre-date Marx work
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Individualism only works in a wider sense of community
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The basis of a society leads to greed
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Cooperation makes more sense when people are not
motivated by materialistic interests
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Society is divided along class lines and therefore, according to Marx, class and private property should
be removed
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Some believe that
representative democracy is an appropriate form of government whilst others place a greater support
for direct democracy
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The historic origins of socialism are closely linked with modernity and the actual term ‘socialism’ came
into use in the 1820s from religious utopians
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This saw
the development of the working class who were the labourers in the factories owned by the capitalist
elite
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The working class (especially working class children) were often referred to as “white slaves of
England”
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Socialism developed through the Enlightenment as a progressive school of thought which offered the
chances for emancipation of the working class and oppressed minorities
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Henri de Saint Simon (1760-1825) was a founding father for French socialism and was in fact a member
of the French elite himself
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He drew a contrast between the productive workers and the ‘idlers’ of the elitist aristocrats
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He advocated a ‘New Christianity’ to replace traditional
religious practises which harmed the working classes
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He is credited for his work identifying social problems as a result of competition for labour
against machinery
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The mid 19th century saw a huge rise in the size and power of the trade union movements
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Karl Marx (1818-1885) challenged the view of utopian socialists and became a political refugee for the
majority of his life as a result of his works on socialism and communism in Germany
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Marx
became involved with the publication and circulation of radical communist and anarchist ideas across
Europe
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He often had contact with other great anarchist thinkers such as Proudhon and Kroptokin
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The Communist Manifesto was written in 4 main parts:
1
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3
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The bourgeoise and the proletariat which gave an overview of class divisions
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Socialist and communist literature was a critique of other forms of socialism
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Bourgeoise has come to replace agriculture with heavy industry and had destroyed feudal privilege by
revolutionising means of production
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Economic crises are inevitable as the bourgeois expands across the globe (via colonialism and
imperialism)
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Class antagonisms are likely to increase and gradually, the intelligentsia will join the
proletariat and the bourgeoisie will consequently begin to sink downwards in society
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Ideologies are the product of economic and
social changes
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Marx always wanted to achieve a socialist society by peaceful and gradual means
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His final declaration was “working men of all countries, Unite!”



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