Utopian socialism , an influential French early socialist Utopian socialism is a term used to describe the earliest currents of modern
socialist thought exemplified by the work of
Henri de Saint-Simon,
Charles Fourier and
Robert Owen, which inspired
Karl Marx and other early socialists. Although it is technically possible for any set of ideas or any person living at any time in history to be a utopian socialist, the term is most often applied to those socialists who lived in the first quarter of the 19th century who were ascribed the label "utopian" by later socialists as a negative term, in order to imply naivete and dismiss their ideas as fanciful or unrealistic. Forms of socialism which existed in traditional societies, including
pre-Marxist communism are referred to as
primitive communism by Marxists.
Sociocracy is a socialist-positivist political view created by
Auguste Comte, based on Saint-Simon's aristocratic, utopian socialist heritage, prioritizing social justice and a central government with direct democracy without parliament. Religious sects whose members live communally, such as the
Hutterites, for example, are not usually called "utopian socialists", although their way of living is a prime example. They have been categorized as
religious socialists by some. Similarly, modern
intentional communities based on socialist ideas could also be categorized as "utopian socialist". While
Marxism had a significant impact on socialist thought, pre-Marxist thinkers (before Marx wrote on the subject) had advocated socialism in forms both similar and in stark contrast to Marx and
Friedrich Engels' conception of socialism, advocating some form of
collective ownership over large-scale production, worker-management within the workplace, or in some cases a form of
planned economy. Early socialist philosophers and political theorists included
Gerrard Winstanley, who founded the
Diggers movement in the United Kingdom; Charles Fourier, French philosopher who propounded principles very similar to that of Marx;
Louis Blanqui, French socialist and writer;
Marcus Thrane, Norwegian socialist;
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Genevan philosopher, writer and composer whose works influenced the
French Revolution; and
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French politician writer. Pre-Marx socialists also included
Ricardian socialist economists such as
Thomas Hodgskin, English
Ricardian socialist and
free-market anarchist;
Charles Hall;
John Francis Bray;
John Gray;
William Thompson;
Percy Ravenstone;
James Mill; and
John Stuart Mill,
classical political economist who came to advocate worker-cooperative socialism.
Utopian socialist thinkers included Henri de Saint-Simon,
Wilhelm Weitling, Robert Owen, Charles Fourier and
Étienne Cabet.
Scientific socialism The term scientific socialism is used by
Friedrich Engels to describe the social-political-economic theory pioneered by
Karl Marx. The term was coined in 1840 by
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his book
What is Property? to mean a
society ruled by a
scientific government, i.e., one whose sovereignty rests upon reason, rather than sheer will. Although the term
socialism has come to mean specifically a combination of
political and
economic science, it is also applicable to a
broader area of science encompassing what is now considered
sociology and the
humanities. The distinction between Utopian and scientific socialism originated with Marx, who criticized the Utopian characteristics of
French socialism and
English and Scottish political economy. Engels later argued that Utopian socialists failed to recognize why socialism arose in the historical context it did as a response to new social contradictions of a new mode of production, i.e.,
capitalism. In recognizing the nature of socialism as the resolution of this contradiction and applying a thorough scientific understanding of capitalism, Engels asserted that socialism had broken free from a primitive state and become a science.
Communism , a common symbol of communism Communism (from
Latin '''', "common, universal") is a
philosophical,
social,
political,
economic ideology and
movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of a
communist society, namely a
socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of
common ownership of the
means of production and the absence of
social classes,
money and the
state. Along with
social democracy, communism became the dominant political tendency within the international
socialist movement by the 1920s. While the emergence of the Soviet Union as the world's first nominally
communist state led to communism's widespread association with the
Soviet economic model and
Marxism–Leninism, some economists and intellectuals argued that in practice the model functioned as a form of
state capitalism, or a non-planned
administrative or command economy.
Communism has usually been distinguished from
socialism since the 1840s. The modern definition and usage of
socialism was settled by the 1860s, becoming the predominant term among the group of words associationist, co-operative and mutualist which had previously been used as synonyms. Instead,
communism fell out of use during this period. An early distinction between
communism and
socialism was that the latter aimed to only socialise production while the former aimed to socialise both production and consumption (in the form of free access to final goods). However, Marxists employed
socialism in place of
communism by 1888 which had come to be considered an old-fashioned synonym for
socialism. It was not until 1917 after the
Bolshevik Revolution that
socialism came to refer to a distinct stage between
capitalism and
communism, introduced by
Vladimir Lenin as a means to defend the Bolshevik seizure of power against traditional Marxist criticism that Russia's
productive forces were not sufficiently developed for socialist revolution. A distinction between
communist and
socialist as descriptors of political ideologies arose in 1918 after the
Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party renamed itself to the
All-Russian Communist Party, where
communist came to specifically mean socialists who supported the politics and theories of
Bolshevism,
Leninism and later
Marxism–Leninism, although communist parties continued to describe themselves as socialists dedicated to socialism. In Christian Europe,
communism was believed to be an
atheist way of life. In Protestant England,
communism was too culturally and aurally close to the Roman Catholic
communion rite, hence English atheists denoted themselves as socialists.
Friedrich Engels argued that in 1848, at the time when
The Communist Manifesto was first published, "socialism was respectable on the continent, while communism was not". The
Owenites in England and the
Fourierists in France were considered respectable socialists while working-class movements that "proclaimed the necessity of total social change" denoted themselves communists. This latter branch of socialism produced the communist work of
Étienne Cabet in France and
Wilhelm Weitling in Germany. The dominant forms of communism are based on Marxism, but non-Marxist versions of communism such as
anarchist communism and
Christian communism also exist. According to
The Oxford Handbook of Karl Marx, "Marx used many terms to refer to a post-capitalist society—positive humanism, socialism, Communism, realm of free individuality, free association of producers, etc. He used these terms completely interchangeably. The notion that "socialism" and "Communism" are distinct historical stages is alien to his work and only entered the lexicon of Marxism after his death".
Marxism , influential German socialist Marxism, or Marxist communism, refers to a
classless,
stateless social organization based upon
common ownership of the
means of production and to a variety of movements acting in the name of this goal, which are influenced by the thought of Karl Marx. In general, the classless forms of social organisation are not capitalised while movements associated with official
communist parties and
communist states usually are. In the classic Marxist definition (
pure communism), a communist economy refers to a system that has achieved a superabundance of goods and services due to an increase in technological capability and advances in the productive forces and therefore has transcended socialism, such as a
post-scarcity economy. This is a hypothetical stage of social and economic development with few speculative details known about it. The actual goal of communism has never been attained in practice from a Marxist position, though anarchist societies have provided a glimpse of what a communist world would look like. The real idea behind it is to abolish all leadership, and govern with a
commune. That is, the people themselves make all decisions, and everyone contributes to the wellbeing of the
commune.
Communist state is used by Western historians, political scientists and media to refer to these countries and distinguish them from
other socialist states. In practice, most governments that have claimed to be communists have not described themselves as a communist state nor have they claimed to have achieved
communism or
communist society. Those states have referred to themselves as
socialist states (i.e., states that are constitutionally socialist) that are in the process of constructing socialism. The modern political Marxist communist movement was created when the social democratic parties of Europe split between their rightist and leftist tendencies during World War I. The leftists, led internationally by
Vladimir Lenin,
Rosa Luxemburg and
Karl Liebknecht, to distinguish their brand of socialism from the "
reformist" social democrats, were called "communists". However, after Luxemburg's and Liebknecht's murders the term communist became generally associated solely with the parties and organisations following Lenin, along with their various derivations, such as
Stalinism or
Maoism. There is a considerable variety of views among self-identified communists. However,
Marxism and
Leninism,
schools of communism associated with Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin respectively, have the distinction of having been a major force in world politics since the early 20th century.
Class struggle plays a central role in Marxism. This theory views the formation of communism as the culmination of the class struggle between the capitalist class, the owners of most of the capital and the working class. Marx held that society could not be transformed from the
capitalist mode of production to the communist mode of production all at once, but required a transitional state which Marx described as the revolutionary
dictatorship of the proletariat. Some forms of the communist society that Marx envisioned, as emerging from capitalism, have been claimed to be achieved for limited periods during certain historical moments and under certain circumstances. For example, the
Paris Commune in fact let Marx reinforce and implement his theories by adapting them to a real experience he could draw from. Another similar case, though disputed by
anarcho-syndicalism or even
anarchism, was the
Spanish Revolution of 1936 (often missed or unmentioned by official
historiography), during which much of Spain's economy in most of the
Republican areas, some of which enjoyed a practical absence of
state, was put under workers' direct collective control. In addition to this, the term communism (as well as socialism) is often used to refer to those political and economic systems and states dominated by a political, bureaucratic class, typically attached to one
single Communist party that follow Marxist–Leninist doctrines and often claim to represent the
dictatorship of the proletariat in a non-democratic fashion, described by critics as in a
totalitarian and
bureaucratic. These systems are also often called Stalinism,
state capitalism,
state communism or
state socialism. With the Soviet Union's creation after the end of the
Russian Civil War that followed to the initial success of the Red
October Revolution in Russia, other socialist parties in other countries and the
Bolshevik party itself became Communist parties, owing allegiance of varying degrees to the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (see
Communist International). After World War II, Communist regimes took power in Eastern Europe. In 1949, the Communists in China, supported by the Soviet Union and led by
Mao Zedong, came to power and established the
People's Republic of China. Among the other countries in the
Third World that adopted a bureaucratic
Communist state as form of government at some point were Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Angola and Mozambique. By the early 1980s, almost one-third of the world's population lived under Communist rule. Communism carries a strong
social stigma in the United States due to a history of
anti-communism in the United States. Since the early 1970s, the term
Eurocommunism has been used to refer to the policies of Communist parties in
Western Europe, which sought to break with the tradition of uncritical and unconditional support of the Soviet Union. Such parties were politically active and electorally significant in France and Italy. With the collapse of the statalized
one-party systems and
Marxist–Leninist governments, in
Eastern Europe from the late 1980s and the
breakup of the Soviet Union on December 8, 1991, Marxist–Leninist state communism's influence has decreased dramatically in Europe, but around a quarter of the world's population still lives under such a kind of Communist states.
Leninism and Marxism–Leninism Vladimir Lenin never used the term Leninism, nor did he refer to his views as Marxism–Leninism. However, his ideas diverged from classical Marxist theory on several important points (see the articles on Marxism and Leninism for more information).
Bolshevik communists saw these differences as advancements of Marxism made by Lenin. After Lenin's death, his ideology and contributions to Marxist theory were termed "Marxism–Leninism", or sometimes only "Leninism". Marxism–Leninism soon became the official name for the ideology of the
Comintern and of
Communist parties around the world.
Trotskyism ,
Trotsky and
Kamenev celebrating the second anniversary of the
October Revolution Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Russian revolutionary and
intellectual Leon Trotsky. Trotsky had been the leader of the
Red Army, honorary president of the
Third International and Lenin had proposed he serve as
Vice-chairman to preside over
economic management. Trotsky considered himself a
Bolshevik–
Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a
vanguard party. He considered himself an advocate of orthodox Marxism. His politics differed greatly from those of
Stalin or
Mao, most importantly in declaring the need for an international "
permanent revolution" and arguing that democracy is essential to both socialism and communism. Numerous groups around the world continue to describe themselves as Trotskyist and see themselves as standing in this tradition, although they have diverse interpretations of the conclusions to be drawn from this. Trotsky advocated for a
decentralized form of
economic planning, elected representation of Soviet
socialist parties,
worker's control of production, mass
soviet democratization, the tactic of a
united front against far-right parties,
cultural autonomy for artistic movements, voluntary
collectivisation a
transitional program, and socialist
internationalism. The economic platform of a
planned economy combined with an authentic
worker's democracy as originally advocated by Trotsky has constituted the programme of the
Fourth International and the modern Trotskyist movement.
Stalinism Stalinism was the
totalitarian theory and practice of
communism practiced by
Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953. Officially, it adhered to
Marxism–Leninism, but whether Stalin's practices actually followed the principles of Marx and Lenin is a subject of debate and
criticism. In contrast to Marx and Lenin, Stalin made few new theoretical contributions. Stalin's main contributions to communist theory were
Socialism in One Country and the theory of
aggravation of class struggle under socialism, a theoretical base supporting the repression of political opponents as necessary. Stalinism took an aggressive stance on
class conflict, utilizing
state violence in an attempt to forcibly purge society of the
bourgeoisie. The groundwork for the Soviet policy concerning nationalities was laid out in Stalin's 1913 work
Marxism and the National Question. Stalinist policies in the Soviet Union featured de facto
one-man rule, rapid
industrialization,
cult of personality, mass
censorship,
Five-Year Plans,
socialism in one country, a centralized state,
collectivization of agriculture and subordination of the interests of other communist parties to those of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Rapid industrialization was designed to accelerate the development towards communism, stressing that industrialization was needed because the country was economically backward in comparison with other countries, and was needed in order to face the challenges posed by internal and external enemies. Rapid industrialization was accompanied by mass
collective farming and rapid
urbanization. Rapid urbanization converted many small villages into industrial cities. According to Dengist theory, private owners in these industries do not constitute a bourgeoisie, as the term "bourgeois" traditionally refers to those who own land and raw materials. Instead, private company owners are referred to as civil-run enterprises. An important note is that Dengists take a firm stance against any form of personality cult, such as those in China under Mao's rule, the Soviet Union during Stalin's era, and North Korea under the
Kim family. China was the first country to adopt this model through the
reform and opening up, although it is vaguely similar to Russia under Lenin's
New Economic Policy. The adoption of this model significantly boosted China's economy, leading to what is often referred to as the Chinese economic miracle. Over a period of thirty years, China achieved an annual GDP growth rate of over 8%, securing its position as the world's second-largest economy. Dengism, with its influence, has found adoption in other countries as well. Notably, both Vietnam and Laos have embraced this ideology, resulting in substantial economic growth. In the case of Laos, the real GDP growth rate reached 8.3%. Additionally, Cuba began exploring this model, allowing small and medium-sized private businesses in 2021.
Council communism and left communism Council communism, or councilism, is a current of
libertarian Marxism that emerged from the
November Revolution in the 1920s, characterized by its opposition to
state capitalism/
state socialism as well as its advocacy of
workers' councils as the basis for
workers' democracy. Originally affiliated with the
Communist Workers' Party of Germany (KAPD), council communism continues today as a theoretical and activist position within the greater
libertarian socialism movement. Chief among the tenets of council communism is its opposition to the
party vanguardism and
democratic centralism of
Leninist ideologies and its contention that democratic workers' councils arising in the factories and municipalities are the natural form of working-class organization and authority. Council communism also stands in contrast to
social democracy by formally rejecting both the
reformism and
parliamentarism. The historical origins of left communism can be traced to the period before
World War I, but it only came into focus after 1918. All left communists supported the
October Revolution in Russia, but retained a critical view of its development. However, in later years, some would come to reject the idea that the revolution had a
proletarian or
socialist nature, asserting that it had simply carried out the tasks of the
bourgeois revolution by creating a state capitalist system.
Autonomism , main theorist of
Italian autonomism Autonomism refers to a set of
left-wing political and social movements and theories closely aligned with the
socialist movement. As an identifiable theoretical system it first emerged in
Italy in the 1960s from
workerist (
operaismo)
communism. Later, post-
Marxist and
anarchist tendencies became significant after influence from the
Situationists, the failure of Italian
far-left movements in the 1970s, and the emergence of a number of important theorists, including
Antonio Negri, who had contributed to the 1969 founding of
Potere Operaio,
Mario Tronti,
Paolo Virno, etc. Unlike other forms of Marxism, autonomist Marxism emphasises the ability of the working class to force changes to the organization of the capitalist system independent of the state, trade unions or political parties. Autonomists are less concerned with party political organization than other Marxists, focusing instead on self-organized action outside of traditional organizational structures. Autonomist Marxism is thus a "bottom up" theory: it draws attention to activities that autonomists see as everyday working class resistance to capitalism, for example, absenteeism, slow working, and socialization in the workplace. Through translations made available by Danilo Montaldi and others, the Italian autonomists drew upon previous activist research in the United States by the
Johnson-Forest Tendency and in France by the group
Socialisme ou Barbarie. It influenced the German and Dutch Autonomen, the worldwide
Social Centre movement, and today is influential in Italy, France, and to a lesser extent the English-speaking countries. Those who describe themselves as autonomists now vary from Marxists to
post-structuralists and anarchists. The Autonomist Marxist and
Autonomen movements provided inspiration to some on the revolutionary left in English-speaking countries, particularly among anarchists, many of whom have adopted autonomist tactics. Some English-speaking anarchists even describe themselves as
Autonomists. The Italian movement also influenced Marxist academics such as
Harry Cleaver,
John Holloway, Steve Wright, and
Nick Dyer-Witheford.
Anarchism Anarchism (from
Greek: αναρχία,
anarkhia; "without a ruler") is a
political philosophy that advocates
stateless societies based on non-
hierarchical free associations. Anarchism holds that the
state is undesirable, unnecessary, or harmful. While anti-statism is central, some argue that anarchism entails opposing
authority or
hierarchical organization in the conduct of human relations, including, but not limited to, the state system.
Anarchism as a
social movement has regularly endured fluctuations in popularity. Its classical period, which scholars demarcate as from 1860 to 1939, is associated with the working-class movements of the 19th century and the
Spanish Civil War-era struggles against
fascism. , a Russian
anarchist who opposed the
Marxist aim of
dictatorship of the proletariat in favour of universal rebellion and allied himself with the federalists in the
First International before his expulsion by Marxists In 1864 the
International Workingmen's Association (sometimes called the First International) united diverse revolutionary currents, including French followers of
Proudhon, The anti-authoritarian sections of the First International were the precursors of the anarcho-syndicalists, seeking to "replace the privilege and authority of the State" with the "free and spontaneous organization of labor." In 1907, the
International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam gathered delegates from 14 countries, among whom were important figures of the anarchist movement, including
Errico Malatesta,
Pierre Monatte,
Luigi Fabbri,
Benoît Broutchoux,
Emma Goldman,
Rudolf Rocker, and
Christiaan Cornelissen. Various themes were addressed during the Congress, in particular concerning the organisation of the anarchist movement,
popular education issues, the
general strike and
antimilitarism. A central debate concerned the relation between anarchism and
syndicalism (or
trade unionism). The
Spanish Workers Federation in 1881 was the first major anarcho-syndicalist movement; anarchist trade union federations were of special importance in Spain. The most successful was the
Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Confederation of Labour: CNT), founded in 1910. Before the 1940s, the CNT was the major force in Spanish working-class politics, attracting 1.58 million members at one point and playing a major role in the
Spanish Civil War. The CNT was affiliated with the International Workers Association, a federation of anarcho-syndicalist trade unions founded in 1922, with delegates representing two million workers from 15 countries in Europe and Latin America. Some anarchists, such as
Johann Most, advocated publicizing violent acts of retaliation against counter-revolutionaries because "we preach not only action in and for itself, but also action as propaganda." Numerous heads of state were assassinated between 1881 and 1914 by members of the anarchist movement. For example, U.S.
President McKinley's assassin
Leon Czolgosz claimed to have been influenced by anarchist and
feminist Emma Goldman. Anarchists participated alongside the
Bolsheviks in both the
February and
October revolutions, and were initially enthusiastic about the Bolshevik coup. However, the Bolsheviks soon turned against the anarchists and other left-wing opposition, a conflict that culminated in the 1921
Kronstadt rebellion, which the new government repressed. Anarchists in central Russia were either imprisoned, driven underground or joined the victorious Bolsheviks; the anarchists from Petrograd and Moscow fled to
Ukraine. There, in the
Makhnovshchina, they fought in the
civil war against the
Whites (a Western-backed grouping of monarchists and other opponents of the October Revolution) and then the Bolsheviks as part of the
Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine led by
Nestor Makhno, who established an anarchist society in the region for a number of months. In the 1920s and 1930s, the rise of
fascism in Europe transformed anarchism's conflict with the state. In Spain, the
CNT initially refused to join a popular front electoral alliance, and abstention by CNT supporters led to a right-wing election victory. In 1936, the CNT changed its policy and anarchist votes helped bring the popular front back to power. Months later, the former ruling class responded with an attempted coup causing the
Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). In response to the army rebellion, an
anarchist-inspired movement of peasants and workers, supported by armed militias, took control of
Barcelona and of large areas of rural Spain where they
collectivised the land. But even before the fascist victory in 1939, the anarchists were losing ground in a bitter struggle with the
Stalinists, who controlled the distribution of military aid to the Republican cause from the Soviet Union. Stalinist-led troops suppressed the collectives and persecuted both
dissident Marxists and anarchists. A surge of popular interest in anarchism occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1968 in
Carrara, Italy the
International of Anarchist Federations was founded during an international
Anarchist conference in
Carrara in 1968 by the three existing European federations of
France, the
Italian and the
Iberian Anarchist Federation as well as the
Bulgarian federation in French exile. In the United Kingdom this was associated with the
punk rock movement, as exemplified by bands such as
Crass and the
Sex Pistols. The housing and employment crisis in most of Western Europe led to the formation of
communes and
squatter movements such as those in
Barcelona, Spain. In Denmark,
squatters occupied a disused military base and declared the
Freetown Christiania, an autonomous haven in central Copenhagen. Since the revival of anarchism in the mid-20th century, a number of new movements and schools of thought emerged. Around the turn of the 21st century, anarchism grew in popularity and influence as part of the anti-war, anti-capitalist, and
anti-globalisation movements. Anarchists became known for their involvement in protests against the meetings of the
World Trade Organization (WTO),
Group of Eight, and the
World Economic Forum. International anarchist federations in existence include the
International of Anarchist Federations, the
International Workers' Association, and International Libertarian Solidarity.
Mutualism , French socialist and theoretician of
mutualism Mutualism began in the 18th-century English and French labor movements, then took an anarchist form associated with
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in France and others in the US. This influenced individualist anarchists in the United States, such as
Benjamin Tucker and
William B. Greene.
Josiah Warren proposed similar ideas in 1833 after participating in a failed
Owenite experiment. In the 1840s and 1850s,
Charles A. Dana, and
William B. Greene introduced Proudhon's works to the US. Greene adapted Proudhon's mutualism to American conditions and introduced it to
Benjamin R. Tucker. Mutualist anarchism is concerned with
reciprocity,
free association, voluntary contract, federation, and credit and currency reform. Many mutualists believe a market without
government intervention drives prices down to labor-costs, eliminating profit, rent, and interest according to the
labor theory of value. Firms would be forced to compete over workers just as workers compete over firms, raising wages. Some see mutualism as between individualist and collectivist anarchism; in
What Is Property?, Proudhon develops a concept of "liberty", equivalent to "anarchy", which is the dialectical "synthesis of communism and property." Greene, influenced by
Pierre Leroux, sought mutualism in the synthesis of three philosophies – communism, capitalism and socialism. Later individualist anarchists used the term mutualism but retained little emphasis on synthesis, while
social anarchists, such as the authors of An Anarchist FAQ claim mutualism as a subset of their philosophical tradition.
Collectivist anarchism Collectivist anarchism is a revolutionary form of anarchism most commonly associated with
Mikhail Bakunin,
Johann Most and the anti-authoritarian section of the
First International (1864–1876). Unlike mutualists, collectivist anarchists oppose all private ownership of the means of production, instead advocating that ownership be collectivized. This was to be initiated by small cohesive elite group through acts of violence, or "
propaganda by the deed", which would inspire the workers to revolt and forcibly collectivize the means of production. Also Collectivist anarchists often favor using a form of currency to compensate workers according to the amount of time spent contributing to society and production while anarchist communists believe that currency and wages should be abolished all together and goods should be distributed "
to each according to his or her need".
Anarchist communism , an
anarchist communist theoretician who argued that workers spontaneously self-organize to produce goods in common for all society in
anarchy Anarchist communists propose that a society composed of a number of
self-governing communes with
collective use of the
means of production, with
direct democracy as the political organizational form, and related to other communes through
federation would be the freest form of social organisation.
Joseph Déjacque was an early anarchist communist and the first person to describe himself as "
libertarian". Other important anarchist communists include
Peter Kropotkin,
Emma Goldman,
Alexander Berkman and
Errico Malatesta. In anarchist communism, individuals would not receive direct
compensation for labour (through sharing of
profits or payment), but would instead have free access to the resources and surplus of the
commune. On the basis of his
biological research and experimentation, Kropotkin believed that humans and human society are more inclined towards efforts for mutual benefit than toward competition and strife. Kropotkin believed that
private property was one of the causes of oppression and exploitation and called for its abolition, but he only opposed
ownership, not
possession. Some
anarcho-syndicalists saw anarchist communism as their objective. For example, the Spanish CNT adopted
Isaac Puente's 1932 "Libertarian Communism" as its manifesto for a post-revolutionary society. Anarchist communism does not always have a
communitarian philosophy. Some forms of anarchist communism are
egoist and strongly influenced by radical individualism believing that anarchist communism does not require a communitarian nature at all. Forms of
libertarian communism, such as
Situationism are strongly egoist in nature. Anarchist communist
Emma Goldman was influenced by both Stirner and Kropotkin and blended their philosophies together in her own, as shown in books of hers such as
Anarchism And Other Essays.
Anarcho-syndicalism Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of
anarchism that focuses on the
labor movement. Anarcho-syndicalists view
labor unions as a potential force for
revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the
state with a new society democratically self-managed by workers. The basic principles of anarcho-syndicalism are the following: • Workers'
solidarity •
Direct action •
Workers' self-management and anarchist communists and the flag of
Revolutionary Catalonia, a 20th-century example of an anarcho-syndicalist society. Workers' solidarity means that anarcho-syndicalists believe all workers—no matter their
race,
gender, or
ethnic group—are in a similar situation in regard to their
boss (
class consciousness). Furthermore, it means that, within capitalism, any gains or losses made by some workers from or to bosses will eventually affect all workers. Therefore, all workers must support one another in their
class conflict to
liberate themselves. Anarcho-syndicalists believe that only
direct action—that is, action concentrated on directly attaining a goal, as opposed to indirect action, such as electing a representative to a government position—will allow workers to liberate themselves. Moreover, anarcho-syndicalists believe that workers' organizations (the organizations that struggle against the wage system, which, in anarcho-syndicalist theory, will eventually form the basis of a new society) should be self-managing. They should not have bosses or "business agents"; rather, the workers should be able to make all the decisions that affect them themselves.
Rudolf Rocker was one of the most popular voices in the anarcho-syndicalist movement. He outlined a view of the origins of the movement, what it sought, and why it was important to the future of labor in his 1938 pamphlet
Anarcho-Syndicalism. The
International Workers Association is an international anarcho-syndicalist federation of various labor unions from different countries. The Spanish
Confederación Nacional del Trabajo played and still plays a major role in the Spanish
labor movement. It was also an important force in the
Spanish Civil War.
Individualist anarchism Individualist anarchism is a set of several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the
individual and their
will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems. Although usually contrasted to
social anarchism, both individualist and social anarchism have influenced each other.
Mutualism, an economy theory particularly influential within individualist anarchism whose pursued
liberty has been called the synthesis of
communism and
property, has been considered sometimes part of individualist anarchism and other times part of social anarchism. Many
anarchist communists regard themselves as radical individualists, seeing anarchist communism as the best
social system for the realization of individual freedom. As a term, individualist anarchism is not a single philosophy, but it refers to a group of
individualist philosophies that sometimes are in conflict. Among the early influences on individualist anarchism were
William Godwin,
Josiah Warren (
sovereignty of the individual),
Max Stirner (
egoism),
Lysander Spooner (
natural law),
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (
mutualism),
Henry David Thoreau (
transcendentalism),
Herbert Spencer (
law of equal liberty) and
Anselme Bellegarrigue. From there, it expanded through
Europe and the
United States.
Benjamin Tucker, a famous 19th-century individualist anarchist, held that "if the individual has the right to govern himself, all external government is tyranny". Tucker also argued that it was "not Socialist Anarchism against Individualist Anarchism, but of Communist Socialism against Individualist Socialism". The view of an individualist–socialist divide is contested as individualist anarchism is socialistic. , regarded by some as the first American anarchist
Josiah Warren is widely regarded as the first American anarchist and the four-page weekly paper he edited during 1833,
The Peaceful Revolutionist, was the first anarchist periodical published. For American anarchist historian Eunice Minette Schuster, "[i]t is apparent [...] that
Proudhonian Anarchism was to be found in the United States at least as early as 1848 and that it was not conscious of its affinity to the Individualist Anarchism of Josiah Warren and
Stephen Pearl Andrews [...].
William B. Greene presented this Proudhonian Mutualism in its purest and most systematic form". Later, the American individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker "was against both the state and capitalism, against both oppression and exploitation. While not against the market and property he was firmly against capitalism as it was, in his eyes, a state-supported monopoly of social capital (tools, machinery, etc.) which allows owners to exploit their employees, i.e., to avoid paying workers the full value of their labour. He thought that the "labouring classes are deprived of their earnings by usury in its three forms, interest, rent and profit", therefore "
Liberty will abolish interest; it will abolish profit; it will abolish monopolistic rent; it will abolish taxation; it will abolish the exploitation of labour; it will abolish all means whereby any labourer can be deprived of any of his product". This stance puts him squarely in the libertarian socialist tradition and Tucker referred to himself many times as a socialist and considered his philosophy to be anarchistic socialism. , French individualist anarchist
French individualist anarchist Émile Armand shows clearly opposition to capitalism and centralized economies when he said that the individualist anarchist "inwardly he remains refractory – fatally refractory – morally, intellectually, economically (The capitalist economy and the directed economy, the speculators and the fabricators of single are equally repugnant to him.)". The Spanish individualist anarchist
Miguel Giménez Igualada thought that "capitalism is an effect of government; the disappearance of government means capitalism falls from its pedestal vertiginously...That which we call capitalism is not something else but a product of the State, within which the only thing that is being pushed forward is profit, good or badly acquired. And so to fight against capitalism is a pointless task, since be it
State capitalism or Enterprise capitalism, as long as Government exists, exploiting capital will exist. The fight, but of consciousness, is against the State". His view on
class division and
technocracy are as follows: "Since when no one works for another, the profiteer from wealth disappears, just as government will disappear when no one pays attention to those who learned four things at universities and from that fact they pretend to govern men. Big industrial enterprises will be transformed by men in big associations in which everyone will work and enjoy the product of their work. And from those easy as well as beautiful problems anarchism deals with and he who puts them in practice and lives them are anarchists. [...] The priority which without rest an anarchist must make is that in which no one has to exploit anyone, no man to no man, since that non-exploitation will lead to the limitation of property to individual needs". , famous
anarchist Irish writer who published the
libertarian socialist work titled
The Soul of Man Under Socialism The anarchist writer and
Bohemian Oscar Wilde wrote in his famous essay
The Soul of Man under Socialism that "[a]rt is individualism, and individualism is a disturbing and disintegrating force. There lies its immense value. For what it seeks is to disturb monotony of type, slavery of custom, tyranny of habit, and the reduction of man to the level of a machine". For anarchist historian George Woodcock, "Wilde's aim in
The Soul of Man under Socialism is to seek the society most favorable to the artist [...] for Wilde art is the supreme end, containing within itself enlightenment and regeneration, to which all else in society must be subordinated. [...] Wilde represents the anarchist as
aesthete". In a socialist society, people will have the possibility to realise their talents as "each member of the society will share in the general prosperity and happiness of the society". Wilde added that "upon the other hand, Socialism itself will be of value simply because it will lead to individualism" since individuals will no longer need to fear poverty or starvation. This individualism would, in turn, protect against governments "armed with economic power as they are now with political power" over their citizens. However, Wilde advocated non-capitalist individualism, saying that "of course, it might be said that the Individualism generated under conditions of private property is not always, or even as a rule, of a fine or wonderful type" a critique which is "quite true". In Wilde's imagination, in this way socialism would free men from manual labour and allow them to devote their time to creative pursuits, thus developing their soul. He ended by declaring: "The new individualism is the new hellenism". While there are no countries in the world that would qualify as a democratic socialist state, i.e. as a democratic state having achieved a post-capitalist, socialist economy, several academics, political commentators, and scholars have distinguished between
authoritarian socialist and
democratic socialist states, with the first representing the
Soviet Bloc, which is considered as being authoritarian or non-democratic enough and as being socialist only constitutionally, and the latter representing
Western Bloc countries which have been democratically governed by socialist parties such as Britain, France, Sweden, and Western social-democracies in general, among others, which have pushed the ideals and objectives of socialism within the context of a democratic political system and capitalist economic system. Some states have described as being democratic socialists. In other countries, democratic socialism is defined more generally, essentially equating economic rights with human rights. United States Senator
Bernie Sanders, a proponent of democratic socialism, has defined the term as universally guaranteeing rights to quality health care, sufficient education, employment at a living wage, affordable housing, secure retirement, and a clean environment. Toward these ends, he has invoked the words of
Martin Luther King Jr., who also advocated democratic socialism, in calling for "a better distribution of wealth".
Social democracy Social democracy can be divided into classical and modern strands. Classical social democracy attempts to achieve socialism through gradual, parliamentary means and by introducing it from within democracy rather than through revolutionary means. The term
social democracy can refer to the particular kind of society that social democrats advocate. The
Socialist International (SI), the worldwide organization of social democratic and democratic socialist parties, defines social democracy as an ideal form of
representative democracy that may solve the problems found in a
liberal democracy. The SI emphasizes principles such as freedom—not only individual liberties, but also freedom from discrimination and freedom from dependence on either the owners of the means of production or the holders of abusive political power; equality and social justice—not only before the law, but also economic and socio-cultural equality as well equal opportunities for all, including those with physical, mental, or social disabilities; and solidarity—unity and a sense of compassion for the victims of injustice and inequality. Modern social democracy seeks to contain capitalism through transitioning unstable private sector enterprises into public ownership, correcting economic and social inequality through social safety nets and services, sometimes referred to as
welfare state policies, and more aggressive regulation of markets and private enterprise than other forms of
mixed economy. Over the past forty years, social democracy has increasingly been replaced with alternate economic systems such as the
social market economy or
Third Way mixed economies that are informed by
Keynesian economics.
Eco-socialism Merging aspects of Marxism,
socialism,
environmentalism, anarchism and
ecology, eco-socialists generally believe that the capitalist system is the cause of
social exclusion,
inequality and
environmental degradation. Eco-socialists criticise many within the
green movement for not going far enough in their critique of the current world system and for not being overtly
anti-capitalist. At the same time, Eco-socialists would blame the traditional Left for overlooking or not properly addressing ecological problems. Eco-socialists are
anti-globalisation.
Joel Kovel sees
globalisation as a force driven by capitalism; in turn, the rapid
economic growth encouraged by globalisation causes acute ecological crises. Eco-socialism goes beyond a criticism of the actions of large corporations and targets the inherent properties of capitalism. Such an analysis follows
Marx's theories about the contradiction between
use values and
exchange values. As Kovel explains, within a market economy, goods are not produced to meet needs but are produced to be exchanged for money that we then use to acquire other goods. As we have to keep selling to keep buying, we must persuade others to buy our goods just to ensure our survival, which leads to the production of goods with no previous use that can be sold to sustain our ability to buy other goods. Eco-socialists like Kovel stress that this contradiction has reached a destructive extent, where certain essential activities such as caring for relatives full-time and basic subsistence are unrewarded while unnecessary economic activities earn certain individuals huge fortunes. In the late 19th century, there emerged a
naturist current within
individualist anarchist circles in Cuba, France, Portugal and Spain. Some contemporary green anarchists can be described as anti-
civilization or
primitivist anarchists, although not all green anarchists are primitivists. Similarly, there is a strong critique of modern technology among green anarchists, although not all reject it entirely. Important contemporary currents include
anarcho-naturism as the fusion of anarchism and naturist philosophies;
anarcho-primitivism which offers a critique of technology and argues that anarchism is best suited to uncivilised ways of life; eco-anarchism which combines older trends of primitivism as well as
bioregional democracy,
eco-feminism,
intentional community,
pacifism and
secession that distinguish it from the more general green anarchism;
green syndicalism, a green anarchist political stance made up of
anarcho-syndicalist views;
social ecology which argues that the hierarchical domination of nature by human stems from the hierarchical domination of human by human; and
veganarchism which argues that human liberation and animal liberation are inseparable.
Liberal socialism Liberal socialism is a
political philosophy that incorporates
liberal principles into
socialism. Liberal socialism refuses to abolish
capitalism with a socialist economy and supports a
mixed economy that includes both
social ownership and
private property in
capital goods. This synthesis sees liberalism as the political theory that takes the inner freedom of the human spirit as a given and adopts
liberty as the goal, means and rule of shared human life. Socialism is seen as the method to realize this recognition of liberty through political and economic autonomy and emancipation from the grip of pressing material necessity. Principles that can be described as liberal socialist are based on the works of liberal,
left-liberal,
radical, socialist and
anarchist economists and philosophers. Liberal socialism has been particularly prominent in British and Italian politics. Liberal socialist Carlo Rosselli founded the liberal socialist-led
anti-fascist resistance movement
Giustizia e Libertà that later became an active combatant against the Fascist regime in Italy during World War II and included
Ferruccio Parri (who later became
Prime Minister of Italy) who was among
Giustizia e Libertà's leaders.
Ethical socialism Ethical socialism is a variant of
liberal socialism developed by British socialists. It became an important ideology within the British
Labour Party. Ethical socialism was founded in the 1920s by
R. H. Tawney, a British
Christian socialist, and its ideals were connected to Christian socialist,
Fabian, and
guild socialist ideals. Ethical socialism has been publicly supported by British Prime Ministers
Ramsay MacDonald,
Clement Attlee and
Tony Blair.
social anarchism and
socialist libertarianism, is a political philosophy within the socialist movement that reject the view of socialism as state ownership or command of the means of production within a more general criticism of the state form itself as well as of
wage labour relationships within the workplace in the form of
wage slavery. It emphasizes
workers' self-management of the workplace and
decentralized structures of political government, asserting that a society based on freedom and equality can be achieved through abolishing
authoritarian institutions that control certain
means of production and subordinate the majority to an owning class or political and economic
elite. Libertarian socialists generally place their hopes in
decentralized means of
direct democracy and
federal or
confederal associations such as
citizens' assemblies,
libertarian municipalism,
trade unions, and
workers' councils. This is generally done within a general call for
liberty and
free association through the identification, criticism and practical dismantling of illegitimate authority in all aspects of human life.
collectivist anarchism,
mutualism individualist anarchism) as well as
autonomism,
communalism,
libertarian Marxism (
council communism and
Luxemburgism) participism,
revolutionary syndicalism and some versions of
utopian socialism.
Regional socialism Regional socialism include
left-wing nationalism, a type of socialism based upon
social equality,
popular sovereignty and
national self-determination, especially in relation to
anti-imperialism and
national liberation.
Abertzale left Abertzale left (
Basque:
ezker abertzalea, "patriotic left"; translated in Spanish as
izquierda nacionalista radical vasca, "Basque radical nationalist left") is a term used to refer to the parties or organizations of the
Basque nationalist/separatist left, stretching from
social democracy to
communism. This leftist character is highlighted in contrast to the traditional
jeltzale nationalism represented by the
Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV), a
conservative and
Christian-democratic party, which has long been the largest in the
Basque Country. The first examples of
abertzale parties are the
Basque Nationalist Republican Party (EAAE-PRNV), active from 1909 to 1913, and the
Basque Nationalist Action (EAE-ANV), active from 1930 to 2008. This was the political environment in which
ETA was formed. More recently, in 1986, the
abertzale left of the EAJ-PNV wing to form the social-democratic
Basque Solidarity (EA) party.
Ezker abertzalea (Spanish:
izquierda abertzale) is notably used when referring to the leftist-nationalist environment of
Batasuna, an outlawed political party. In 2011–2012, the main
abertzale parties and groups joined forces in forming a succession of coalitions:
Bildu,
Amaiur and, finally,
EH Bildu. A group of former members of Batasuna were identified by the media as independents of
izquierda abertzale.
Democratic confederalism Democratic confederalism, also known as Kurdish communalism or Apoism, is a
political concept theorized by
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader
Abdullah Öcalan about a system of democratic
self-organization with the features of a
confederation based on the principles of
autonomy,
direct democracy,
political ecology,
feminism,
multiculturalism,
self-defense,
self-governance and elements of a
cooperative economy. Öcalan reformulated the political objectives of the Kurdish liberation movement, abandoning the old
statist and centralizing socialist project for a radical and renewed proposal for
democratic-
libertarian socialism that no longer aims at building an
independent state separate from
Turkey, but at establishing an
autonomous,
democratic and
decentralized entity based on the ideas of democratic confederalism.
Arab socialism The
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party has ruled
Syria under the
Assad Family and
Iraq under
Saddam Hussein based on a tradition of
secular, non-Marxist socialism. Ba'thist beliefs combine
Arab socialism,
nationalism, and
pan-Arabism. The mostly secular ideology often contrasts with that of other Arab governments in the Middle East, which sometimes lean towards
Islamism and
theocracy. The Ba'athists have persecuted socialists in their own countries. In Iraq, the American
Central Intelligence Agency assisted Iraq with a list of communists to eliminate, effectively wiping them out. Socialist Lynn Walsh argues that the Iraqi Ba'athists promoted capitalists from within the party and outside the country. The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, also known as the Ba'ath Party (), is a
secularist pan-Arabist political party that synthesizes
Arab nationalism and Arab socialism. It opposes Western
imperialism and calls for the ethnic "awakening" or "resurrection" of the
Arab people into a single united state. ''Ba'ath
, also spelled as Ba'th
or Baath'', means resurrection or renaissance. The party's motto, "Unity, Liberty, Socialism" (
wahda, hurriya, ishtirakiya), was inspired by the French
Jacobin political doctrine linking national unity and social equity. In the slogan, "unity" refers to Arab unity, "liberty" emphasizes being free from foreign control and interference, and "socialism" refers to Arab socialism, not European-style
Marxism or
communism. The party was founded in
Damascus,
Syria, in 1940 by the Syrian intellectuals
Michel Aflaq and
Salah al-Bitar, and since its inception, it has established branches in different Arab countries, although the only countries it has ever held power in are Syria and
Iraq. Aflaq and al-Bitar both studied at the
Sorbonne in the early 1930s, at a time when
centre-left positivism was still the dominant ideology amongst France's academic elite. The Ba'ath party included a significant number of
Christian Arabs among its founding members. For them, a resolutely nationalist and secular political framework was a suitable way to avoid a faith-based Islamic orientation and to give non-Muslims full acknowledgement as citizens. In 1955, a
coup d'état by the military against the historical leadership of Aflaq and al-Bitar led the Syrian and Iraqi parties to split into rival organizations—the
Qutriyun (Regionalist) Syria-based party and the
Qawmiyuri (Nationalist) Iraq-based party. Both Ba'ath parties kept their names and maintained parallel structures, but became so antagonistic that the Syrian Ba'ath government became the only Arab government to support non-Arab
Iran against Iraq during the
Iran–Iraq War. In Syria, the Ba'ath Party has had a
monopoly on political power since the party's 1963 coup. Ba'athists seized power in Iraq in 1963, but were deposed months later. They returned to power in a 1968 coup and remained the sole party of government until the
2003 Iraq invasion. Since then, the party has been banned in Iraq.
Chinese and Vietnamese nationalist socialism The Kuomintang Party (Chinese National People's Party or Chinese Nationalist Party) was founded in the
Republic of China in 1912 by
Sun Yatsen, a proponent of
Chinese nationalism, who founded
Revive China Society in
Honolulu,
Hawaii, in 1894. Kuomintang ideology features
Three Principles of the People, which are
nationalism,
democracy and
socialism. The party has adopted a
One-China policy, arguing that there is only one state called China, and that the Republic of China (not the
People's Republic of China) is its
legitimate government. The party has had conflicts with the Chinese Communist Party. Since 2008, in order to ease tensions with the People's Republic of China, the party has endorsed the "
Three Noes" policy as defined by
Ma Ying-jeou, namely no unification, no independence and no use of force. The Kuomintang attempted to levy taxes upon merchants in
Canton and the merchants resisted by raising an army, the Merchant's Volunteer Corps. The merchants were
conservative and
reactionary and their leader Chen Lianbao was a prominent
comprador trader. Chiang Kai-shek led his army of
Whampoa Military Academy graduates to defeat the merchant's army. He was assisted by Soviet advisors, who supplied him with weapons, while the merchants were supplied with weapons from the Western countries. The British led an international flotilla to support the merchants. Chiang seized the Western-supplied weapons from the merchants, and battled against them. A Kuomintang general executed several merchants, and the Kuomintang formed a Soviet-inspired Revolutionary Committee. The Kuomintang's economic and military campaign against merchants continued for many years. Chiang also enforced an anti-Japanese boycott, sending agents to sack the shops of those who sold Japanese-made items, fining them. The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (VNQDĐ) was based on the Chinese Kuomintang, and incorporated socialism and nationalism as part of its ideology. The party sought independence from French colonial rule in
Vietnam during the early 20th century. Its origins lie in the mid-1920s, when a group of young Hanoi-based intellectuals began publishing revolutionary material. From 1928, the VNQDĐ attracted attention through its assassinations of French officials and Vietnamese collaborators. During the 1930s, the party was eclipsed by
Ho Chi Minh's
Indochinese Communist Party (ICP). Vietnam was occupied by
Japan during World War II and in the chaos that followed the Japanese surrender in 1945 the VNQDĐ and the ICP briefly joined forces in the fight for Vietnamese independence. After a falling out, Ho purged the VNQDĐ, leaving his communist-dominated
Viet Minh unchallenged as the foremost anti-colonial militant organisation. As a part of the post-war settlement that ended the
First Indochina War, Vietnam was
partitioned into two zones. The remnants of the VNQDĐ fled to the anti-communist
south, where they remained until the
Fall of Saigon in 1975 and the reunification of Vietnam under communist rule.
Irish republican socialism Socialism has traditionally been part of the
Irish republican movement since the early 20th century, when
James Connolly, an Irish
Marxist theorist, took part in the
Easter Rising of 1916. Today, most Irish nationalist and Republican organizations located in
Northern Ireland advocate some form of socialism, both Marxist and non-Marxist. The
Social Democratic and Labour Party which until recently was the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland promotes social democracy while militant Republican parties such as
Sinn Féin,
Republican Sinn Féin, and the
32 County Sovereignty Movement all promote their own varieties of democratic socialism intended to re-distribute wealth on an all-island basis once a
united Ireland has been achieved. The
Irish Republican Socialist Movement, encompassing the
Irish Republican Socialist Party and
Irish National Liberation Army as well as the defunct
Official Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Front are known for promoting an ideology which combines
Marxist–Leninism with traditional revolutionary militant Republicanism and is said to be the most direct fulfillment of Connolly's legacy.
Religious socialism Religious socialism is any form of socialism based on religious values. Members of several major religions have found that their beliefs about human society fit with socialist principles and ideas. As a result, religious socialist movements have developed within these religions.
Buddhist socialism Buddhist socialism is a
political ideology which advocates
socialism based on the principles of
Buddhism. Both Buddhism and socialism seek to provide an end to suffering by analyzing its conditions and removing its main causes through
praxis. Both also seek to provide a transformation of personal consciousness (respectively, spiritual and political) to bring an end to human alienation and selfishness. People who have been described as Buddhist socialists include
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu,
B. R. Ambedkar S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike,
Han Yong-un,
Seno’o Girō,
U Nu,
Uchiyama Gudō, and
Norodom Sihanouk. Bhikkhu Buddhadasa coined the phrase "Dhammic socialism". meaning all things exist together in one system.
Christian socialism There are individuals and groups, past and present, that are clearly both Christian and socialist, such as
Frederick Denison Maurice, author of
The Kingdom of Christ (1838), and the
Christian Socialist Movement (UK) (CSM), affiliated with the British
Labour Party.
Distributism, is a
third-way economic philosophy formulated by such Catholic thinkers as
G. K. Chesterton and
Hilaire Belloc to apply the principles of
social justice articulated by the Roman Catholic Church, especially in Pope
Leo XIII's encyclical
Rerum novarum. Various
Catholic clerical parties have at times referred to themselves as Christian Social. Two examples are the
Christian Social Party of
Karl Lueger in Austria before and after World War I, and the contemporary
Christian Social Union in Bavaria. Yet these parties have never espoused socialist policies and have always stood at the conservative side of
Christian Democracy.
Hugo Chávez of
Venezuela was an advocate of a form of Christian socialism as he claims that
Jesus Christ was a socialist. Christian anarchism is a
movement in
political theology that combines
anarchism and
Christianity. The foundation of Christian anarchism is a rejection of violence, with
Leo Tolstoy's
The Kingdom of God Is Within You regarded as a key text. Tolstoy sought to separate
Russian Orthodox Christianity—which was merged with the
state—from what he believed was the true message of Jesus as contained in the Gospels, specifically in the
Sermon on the Mount. Tolstoy takes the viewpoint that all governments who wage war, and churches who, in turn, support those governments, are an affront to the Christian principles of
nonviolence and
nonresistance. Although Tolstoy never actually used the term Christian anarchism in
The Kingdom of God Is Within You, reviews of this book following its publication in 1894 appear to have coined the term. Christian anarchist groups have included the
Doukhobors,
Catholic Worker Movement and the
Brotherhood Church.
Christian communism is a form of
religious communism based on
Christianity. It is a theological and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of
Jesus Christ compel
Christians to support
communism as the ideal
social system. Although there is no universal agreement on the exact date when Christian communism was founded, many Christian communists assert that evidence from the
Bible (in the
Acts of the Apostles) suggests that the first Christians, including the
apostles, established their own small communist society in the years following Jesus' death and resurrection. Some independent historians confirm it.
Islamic socialism Islamic socialism incorporates
Islamic principles to
socialism. As a term, it was coined by various
Muslim leaders to describe a more
spiritual form of socialism. Scholars have highlighted the similarities between the Islamic economic system and socialist theory as both socialism and Islam are against
unearned income. Muslim socialists believe that the teachings of the
Quran and
Muhammad—especially the
zakat—are compatible with principles of socialism. They draw inspiration from the
early Medinan welfare state established by Muhammad. Muslim socialists found their roots in
anti-imperialism. Muslim socialist leaders believe in the derivation of
legitimacy from the public. Islamic socialism is the political ideology of
Libya's
Muammar al-Gaddafi, former
Iraqi president
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr,
Syrian President
Hafez al-Assad and of the Pakistani leader of
Pakistan Peoples Party,
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The Green Book (written by
Muammar al-Gaddafi) consists of three parts, namely "The Solution of the Problem of Democracy: 'The Authority of the People'", "The Solution of the Economic Problem: 'Socialism'", and "The Social Basis of the Third Universal Theory". The book is controversial because it completely rejects modern conceptions of
liberal democracy and encourages the institution of a form of
direct democracy based on popular committees. Critics charge that Qaddafi uses these committees as tools of
autocratic political repression in practice.
Jewish socialism The Jewish left consists of
Jews who identify with, or support,
left-wing or
liberal causes, consciously as Jews, either as individuals or through organizations. There is no one organization or movement which constitutes the Jewish left, however. Jews have been major forces in the history of the
labor movement, the
settlement house movement, the
women's rights movement,
anti-racist and
anti-colonialist work, and
anti-fascist and
anti-capitalist organizations of many forms in
Europe, the
United States,
Algeria,
Iraq,
Ethiopia, and modern-day
Israel. Jews have a rich history of involvement in
anarchism,
socialism,
Marxism, and Western
liberalism. Although the expression "on the left" covers a range of politics, many well-known figures "on the left" have been of Jews who were born into Jewish families and have various degrees of connection to Jewish communities, Jewish culture, Jewish tradition, or the Jewish religion in its many variants. Labor Zionism or socialist Zionism (,
translit. Tziyonut sotzyalistit;
translit. ''Tnu'at ha'avoda
, i.e. The labor movement'') is the
left wing of the
Zionist movement. For many years, it was the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizations. It saw itself as the Zionist sector of the historic Jewish
labor movements of Eastern and Central Europe, eventually developing local units in most countries with sizable Jewish populations. Unlike the "political Zionist" tendency founded by
Theodor Herzl and advocated by
Chaim Weizmann, Labor Zionists did not believe that a Jewish state would be created simply by appealing to the international community or to a powerful nation such as
Britain,
Germany or the
Ottoman Empire. Rather, Labor Zionists believed that a Jewish state could only be created through the efforts of the Jewish
working class settling in the
Land of Israel and constructing a state through the creation of a progressive Jewish society with rural
kibbutzim and
moshavim and an urban Jewish proletariat. Labor Zionism grew in size and influence and eclipsed "political Zionism" by the 1930s both internationally and within the
British Mandate of Palestine where Labor Zionists predominated among many of the institutions of the pre-independence Jewish community
Yishuv, particularly the
trade union federation known as the
Histadrut. The
Haganah, the largest Zionist paramilitary defense force, was a Labor Zionist institution and was used on occasion (such as during
the Hunting Season) against right-wing political opponents or to assist the British Administration in capturing rival Jewish militants. Labor Zionists played a leading role in the
1948 Arab–Israeli War and Labor Zionists were predominant among the leadership of the
Israeli military for decades after the formation of the state of
Israel in 1948. Major theoreticians of the Labor Zionist movement included
Moses Hess,
Nachman Syrkin,
Ber Borochov, and
Aaron David Gordon. Leading figures in the movement included
David Ben-Gurion,
Golda Meir, and
Berl Katznelson.
Syndicalism in 1915 Syndicalism is a radical current in the
labor movement that was most active in the early 20th century. Its main idea is the establishment of local worker-based organizations and the advancement of the demands and rights of workers through
strikes. According to the
Marxist historian
Eric Hobsbawm, it was predominant in the revolutionary left in the decade which preceded the outbreak of
World War I because
Marxism was mostly reformist at that time. Major syndicalist organizations included the
General Confederation of Labor in France, the
National Confederation of Labor in Spain, the
Italian Syndicalist Union, the
Free Workers' Union of Germany, and the
Argentine Regional Workers' Federation. Although they did not regard themselves as syndicalists, the
Industrial Workers of the World, the
Irish Transport and General Workers' Union and the Canadian
One Big Union are considered by most historians to belong to this current. A number of syndicalist organizations were and still are to this day linked in the
International Workers' Association, but some of its member organizations left for the
International Confederation of Labor, formed in 2018. == See also ==