Shaping of the Modern World

 

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Brooklyn College Core Curriculum:
The Shaping of the Modern World

Section 12: The Socialist Analysis

Introduction: This Week's Goals

The third great political force that emerged in the 19th century -- after liberalism and nationalism -- was based on parties and ideologies organized around the industrial working class. 

  • In the guise of labor parties and trade unions, working class politics fundamentally altered the way in which western states functioned.
  • Ideological parties based on working class politics -- Communists and Maoists -- succeeded in establishing control over a significant area of the world in the 20th century.

In this section we shall try to:

  • Understand the origins of  working class politics
  • Assess early efforts "socialist" politics.
  • Grasp the contribution of Karl Marx.
  • Trace the evolution of socialist and Communist ideas after Marx.
  • Understand the meaning of terms such as "socialism," "communism," "labor party," and so forth.

Text

Kagan, 776-87, 859-65

Multimedia

Sources

More texts can be found on the Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Socialism page.

Outline

I. Introduction: The Origins of Socialism

What is Socialism? What is Marxism ? What is Communism?

These words are all related, but do not mean the same thing. They refer to ideas, political parties, and workers organizations. Try by the end of the section to distinguish them.

A. Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a necessary prelude to working class politics, since it created the working class, but also suggested new political opportunities.

The oppression of the working class

Industrialization and population growth created poverty on a new and much more visible scale.  But industry also created wealth on a scale hitherto unknown. This created a new possibility -- that poverty might actually be abolished if only we organize society better.

Socialism is a response to working class oppression, based on the  belief there is enough wealth to eradicate poverty.

This was a new possibility. Before the Industrial Revolution, there was not, in most societies, enough wealth to eradicate poverty even if it had been distributed equally.

The creation of class consciousness

As the Industrial Revolution progresses working people come to be conscious of themselves as a class. Middle class people shared the intense class consciousness of the 19th century -- newspapers of the time are quite explicit in their discussion of class.

The existence of class consciousness created the possibility of working class political action, from the 1830's on.

B. Judeo-Christian ideas of Justice

All forms of socialism drew on beliefs about justice and oppression of the poor. Many of these beliefs had roots in Jewish and Christian traditions which condemned the wealthy and favored the poor.

  • The Jewish Bible (Old Testament) condemned usury (taking interest on a loan) and oppression of the weak.
  • "Blessed are the poor":  Jesus' condemnation of wealth seekers and his option for the poor.
  • Apostolic Community - In Acts all the disciples of Jesus live, selling all they own for the community.
  • Give the laborer his due: One of the Catholic "Four Sins crying out to heaven for vengeance" was "depriving a laborer of his wages."
  • Medieval theologians condemned the profit motive.

[The Jewish and Christian idea that history has a goal was also and important analog to certain ideas within Marxist thought.]

C. Liberal Politics

Liberals opposed the domination of society by the old landed elites, and made arguments about the rights of "all men."  In practice, though, political liberalism supported the goals of the industrial and professional middle classes. The French Revolution, for instance, did not include granting workers' rights, and protected the rights of property. It supported Lassiez-faire economics, and opposed trade unions. These ideas were carried on by Liberals in the 19th Century.

The political reality, however, was that a new industrial working class was coming into existence, a class which was not served by Liberalism.

II. Early Socialists

A. French Utopian Socialists

These thinkers all tended to promote a system of greater economic equality organized by the government.

1. Count Claude Henry de Saint-Simon (1760-1825)
Planned economy - he believed modern society requires modern management. Government by a board of directors. He was not keen on wealth redistribution, but of making all not-poor by good management. He had followers known as Saint-Simonians who organized a little cult around him.

2. Charles Fourier (1772-1837) - Socialist Communities
He dealt with problem of tedium in work by suggesting that each worker have several jobs and wander around from one to another so as to avoid tedium. He proposed that special industrial communities be set up. There were called Phalansteres or Phalanxes. They  were communities on about 200 acres of land with 1500 people. There was one set up in the US - Brook Farm, Mass, 1842-1847.  The only place this sort of socialism has ever worked is Israel - the kibbutz is an example of a Phalansteres.

3. Louis Blanc (1811-1882) - (Not really a Utopian.)

He was leader of industrial workers in the Paris region. He was actually part of the French Cabinet (main government committee) in France in just after the Revolution of 1848. He argued that the state should promote socialist programs and guarantee employment through "National workshops."  These were set up for a while, until liberals managed to displace Blanc from the government.

4. Pierre Joseph Proudhon (more an Anarchist)
He claimed that the worker was source of all wealth, and so would be able to use it. In his book What is Property (1840) he argued that "Property is theft."   Despite this radicalism, he ended up working for Louis III Napoleon.

Why Utopian?

These Utopian Socialists do not talk about class struggle. They see something is wrong, but feel paternal action is the appropriate response. They also lacked any meaningful political following. However they propose certain ideas that remained common to socialism

  • An interest in eradicating poverty.
  • A belief in industrialization, and its proper use to eradicate poverty.
  • A profound disbelief in the liberal idea that person is basically an atom in society. Socialists always look at a person's place in a community. (some link here with European conservatism).
  • Many of their ideas continue in European socialism, which is never only Marxist.

III. Early English Socialism

Sometimes English working class political are lumped in with Utopian socialism. But English socialism was distinct from European movements. It had a much larger following early on, and tended to be less doctrinaire later on.

A. Robert Owen (1771-1858)

Own was born poor, but became an important and successful factory owner. He was committed to improving life for workers. In his industrial center at  New Lanark - a small town in Scotland - he adopted several methods to do this. He:

  • Built houses and schools for children.
  • Did not pay workers off during a depression.
  • Made a Profit.

He later organized an unsuccessful copy in the US at New Harmony.

Owen's Aims:

  • He thought people could be made better by better conditions (goes back to Locke).
  • Shows no need for bad conditions or low wages.
  • Basically paternalistic.

He ended his long life as a spiritualist

B. The Grand National Consolidated Trade Union

The GNCTU was a mass union founded by Owen in 1830s. It tried to unite all workers into once huge union. But it suffered a collapse in the 1830s. Nevertheless, the idea that workers should be organized in unions was central to later British socialism.

C. Chartism

In the late 1830s, Britain acquired a mass working class movement organized around a "People's Charter" - Chartism. The movement began when in 1836 William Lovett (1800-1877) formed London Working Men's Association.

The Charter had Six Points - all connected to how Parliament was run. It called for:

  • Universal male suffrage
  • Annual elections
  • Secret ballots
  • Equal electoral districts
  • Abolition of property qualifications for MPs
  • Payments of members of parliament.

[All but number two are now accepted]

The movement was radical and quite sophisticated. Its most renowned orator was Fergus O'Connor, who made speeches all over the country.. There was a also a Chartist press.

It was note entirely united as a movement - some would not accept violence. Once conditions improved in late 1840s it lost some of its force. But at once stage it had the support of 1/2 the people.

It is a unique example of a mass working class movement before Marxism.

IV. Marxism

Marxism was never the only political philosophy of working class politics, but it is without doubt the most influential..  Even today it remains one of the major philosophies in the world rated by number who live under its influence.

All modern political science, sociology and history effected by its ideas, either by adopting them, rejecting them, or looking at questions in an entirely new way.

A. Karl Marx (1818-1883)\

German. Born in Trier in Rhineland. His Father was Jewish convert to Lutheranism for employment reasons. Marx himself was often anti-Semitic. He was married to an aristocrat's daughter. He went to Universities of Bonn, Berlin and Jena. He published radical papers in Koln and Belgium, [Rheinische Zeitung] until 1849 when he came to live in London for many years. When he died, he was buried in Highgate Cemetery in London, where even today each Sunday pious people come and lay red carnations on a grave tomb which reads "Philosophers want to explain the world, but the thing is to change it".

B. Friedrich Engels(1820-1895)

He was German manufacturer's son. He lived in England and managed factory in Manchester. He was always politically aware and interested in the plight of the workers.   His Condition of the Working Class in England (1845) remains a classic account of the poverty in early industrial Manchester.  He was Marx's only real friend. They met 1844 after which Engels supported Marx for many years.

C. The Communist Manifesto 1848

Qualifies as a "Great Book" both for its rhetoric and its later impact. To some degree it was a work of fiction since there was no actual communist party at the time.

Das Kapital, written from 1867 on was probably Marx's major work.

D. Marxist Theory

Marxist theory drew from three main sources: German philosophy, English Economics and French History

German Philosophy

The greatest German philosopher of the early 19th century was Hegel. Hegel had concentrated on the meaning of history, and proposed that history was guided by unseen -- or "ideal" -- forces.  He proposed that each age had a dominate Idea (thesis in Greek) which would eventually give rise to its opposite (or Antithesis), and that the interaction between the two would lead to an new dominating idea idea which drew from both (a synthesis):

Thesis - Antithesis

|

Synthesis

Hegel, in other words, emphasized the importance of history, and of great forces in history which created change. He especially emphasized the idea of a "dialectic" in history.

English Economics

Marx was impressed by Hegel's view of history, but reject the proposal that immaterial ideas were important in history. Instead he stressed the importance of material reality [this is why Marx's philosophy is sometimes called "dialectical materialism."] The material reality he though was most important was the reality of economic.

He largely followed Adam Smith/ David Ricardo's ideas of how economics works. So called "Marxist" ideas, such as the Theory of money and the labor theory of value derive from these classical liberal economists.

French Politics - French Revolutions

In addition to his Hegelian view of historical change, and English view of economics, Marx was affected by the idea that a revolution could bring about change in a few days. This was a lesson drawn from the history of France after 1789, which was a history of repeated revolution.

What Was New?

Marx acknowledge his intellectual debts, but claimed that he was new in his proof that the creation and power of social classes were bound up with the development of new  modes of production.

His philosophy -- dialectical materialism - claimed both that history has meaning, and that the future could be worked out through materialistic analysis. For Marx, spirit and consciousness are simply products of matter.

Marx's Theory of History

Economics is at the heart of history. All ideologies and actions are structured by the time in which they take place. Theses structures are based ultimately on the economic basis of society, although they do not lack reality. The economic basis of society is the organization, ownership and control of the means of production. By means of   production, Marx stresses that different means are important in different periods: in agricultural society, who owns land is most important; in industrial societies, it is the ownership of factories.

For Marx then, all significant history is necessarily a history of class struggle. For his own period he used the Labor theory of value to show how workers were exploited: he argued that workers produced surplus value which was collected by capitalists.

Marx's View of Past History

This was an example of the application of  thesis/antithesis theory:

Original society was relatively equal, but at some period inequality was established. Starting with the middle ages, Marx argued that:

Feudalism (thesis) --
created its own opposite (antithesis) in the bourgeoisie

[The bourgeois class grew up, according to Marx, because agricultural society required markets in which to sell goods. Eventually the bourgeoisie were as powerful as the old land-owning nobles, and rose up against them during the French Revolution. The Bourgeoisie then establish Capitalist society.]

Capitalism (synthesis = new thesis)
- has created its own opposite in the industrial working class (or proletariat)

[The proletariat were the opposite of the Bourgeoisie because workers, who owned nothing, had no investment in the system.]

Marx predicted that history required that the proletariat would realize its own position, and rise up and overthrow Capitalism. At that point, and after a period of transition, the workers would establish a stateless Communist society.

It is important to realize that Marx's reading of past history, although insightful in some respects, can also be shown to be wrong in many other respects.

Marx's View of Current (19th Cent.) Events

Marx argued that capitalism contains seed of inevitable destruction because of:

  • Overproduction
  • Its tendency to create just two classes who would eventually have to fight each other -- the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.
  • The Proletariat (workers) were deprived of ownership of the means of production, and so had no reason to maintain the oppressive system. Deprived of any reason to keep society, they will change it.

Marx does see current society as evil, but it is also inevitable, and equally it will change.  It should be noted, however, that both Marx and Engels were both effected by the changes that took place in their lifetime, and later thought that socialism may be established through democracy.

E. Marx and the First International 1864-1876 (The International Working Men's Association)

Marx worked to unite all the socialist organizations it one international co-operation.   It included, Trade unionists, socialists, anarchists, and polish nationalists. He made an accommodation to the evolutionary trends in Socialism. Marxism emerges as the single most important strand of socialism all over Europe after this, especially amongst German socialists.

F. Russia

Marxism was written for Germans, by a man living in England. But the ideas were picked up in Russia - where they were to have there greatest effect. Lenin significantly developed Marxism. We will look at this in the section on Russia.

G. The Appeal of Marxism

It is important to note that Marxism was very appealing to many in Europe.

  • Authority as a Science:  Marxism claimed to be "scientific." Marx said he had proved his doctrines. There was the belief what he said would inevitably come about.
    • Albert Einstein: Why Socialism, 1949
    • Compare Karl Popper's attack on historicism and Marx's claim to be scientific. Popper argued that:
      1. Marxism is not a science as it does not propose a model to be tested by experience, but tries to fix experience to its model.
      2. Technology effects history. Technology is based on knowledge. We cannot predict future technology, since future technology is based on future knowledge, which by definition we don't yet have. Therefore we cannot  predict the future course of events -- an example would be the impact of TV on politics)
  • Emotional Appeal
    • Marxism decried ethics, but had an emotional appeal, especially when it talks about oppression.
    • Also Marx tacitly assumes the Proletariat are better than other classes - more altruistic and deserving.
  • Analogy with Christianity: In a  number of ways, Marxism came to represent a sort of secular religion.
    • Prophet (Marx)
    • Holy Book (The Manifesto/Das Kapital)
    • Chosen People (Proletariat)
    • Clergy (Intellectual Leaders)
    • Church (Communist Party)
    • The Sinful (The Bourgeoisie)
    • The Promised Land (Communist society)

H. Marxism and Socialism as a Culture

For many workers, and their intellectual or middle class supporters, an entire socialist culture evolved.

V. Alternative Forms of Socialist Philosophy

A. Edward Bernstein and Revisionism

Edward Bernstein (1850-1932), was involved with the German SPD (Social Democratic Party), which as we shall see was both a Marxist party, but one which did not in practice advocate revolution.

In Evolutionary Socialism 1899 -- i.e. 50 years after the Communist Manifesto -- Bernstein noted that Capitalism did not seem to be about to collapse, and change might even theoretically be brought about by parliamentary action. He called for more democracy and reform. This approach -- to have the same goals as Marx, but to reject revolution, was called "Revisionism." [NOTE Marx had accepted this idea for Britain and the   US, but it was not clear it would work in authoritarian Germany.]

B. Fabianism 1884

A British form of socialism was promoted by the Fabian Society. [The name is from a (mythical) Roman general whose techniques had been to avoid conflict to avoid defeat - i.e. gradualism. ]

British intellectuals were prominent: George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Sidney (1859-1947) and Beatrice Webb.(1866-1946).

The aim was gradual social change, backed up by accurate arguments. Fabian were keen on state control of means of production.

VI. Practical Working Class Politics: Trade Unions

It could be argued that, for most workers, real change was brought about not by any thinker, but by trade unions. Trade unions can not be seen as entirely distinct from socialist political ideologies or parties, however, since many trade unions created and supported political parties (labor parties) which adopted the various philosophical approaches.

A. Emergence of Unions

Generally the working class becomes stabilized after 1850/1870. But it continues to grow in numbers and importance as the 2nd industrial revolution takes hold.

Unions organize to get better conditions for members.  At first they face Anti-Union Laws. There were some very long strikes. But in general no violent uprisings.

In fact workers begin to have a stake in society. Marx was wrong. Workers conditions did improve. Workers have some possessions. Many are quite conservative.

B. Britain - From Chartism to Craft Unions

After the failure of the Grand National Consolidated Trade Unions and the failure of Chartism, the unions in Britain organized from the bottom up. Gradualism was the way. The failure of the overblown attempts prepared the way for the smaller union to evolve. Less political agitation and more practical work.

Unions become legal 1871 with the repeal of Combination Acts. In 1875 protection was given to Trade Unions by Parliament under Disraeli. They were allowed to picket. [Disraeli was the leading figure in the Conservative Party, which was far from socialists, but which often argued that workers should be treated fairly: one result was that about 1/3rd of the British working class regularly voted Conservative throughout the 20th century.]

The first successful unions were Craft Unions  - because their members had valuable  skills and the ability to negotiate with employers. Eventually, less skilled workers begin to organize, miners, railway workers. dockers (longshoremen). Before WWI they never include a majority of the labour force, but were able to get some real improvements in pay and conditions.

Increasing place for Workers in Britain

The Reform Bills of 1867 and 1884 - extended the franchise [again, a pro-worker move by by Disraeli and the Conservatives.]

The Liberal Party  moved to a social welfare position, esp. in the 1906-1914 Government: Old Age Pensions, Free Schooling, National Insurance.  But before the Liberals could collect worker's votes, they were overtaken by the new Labour Party.

C. European Trade Unions

Germany

Trade Unions flourish as German Industry grows after 1870. Only fully legal after 1890.

France - Syndicates

Unions were legalized in 1884. The model followed was one of big national unions - the Confederation General de Travail - 1895. French unions were influenced by anarchism - and uninterested by political socialism. The great ideas was that of syndicalism - to have a general strike, to generate unity and workers power.

VII. Practical Working Class Politics: Labor Parties

Working class political parties came to the fore in the later 19th Century.

It was after the 1848 revolutions especially, when Liberals in both France and Germany abandoned the working class, that the need for working class parties became clear to many.

They depended on a broad male suffrage.  There was tendency in the  late 19th Century for the socialist movements within each country became different from one another.

  • Not quite universal in GB 1867, 1884
  • Universal in Germany in 1871
  • France, 1871
  • Switzerland 1879
  • Spain 1890
  • Belgium 1893
  • Netherlands 1896
  • Norway 1898
  • Italy 1912

A. France - Third Republic

The Paris Commune 1871 - -The Internationale was its great song -- was famous as the acme of Western revolutionary socialism. But it frightened many people. This was last time Paris dominated France. Had 5 socialist parties, but not strongly organized. France was still a much more rural country, and the rural people voted for more conservative parties. The Communist Party after 1918 was to be the party of  French workers. Same in Italy.

B. The SDP [SPD] in Germany and Bismarck

The  SDP [SPD in German] was officially both a Marxist party, and a real mass party of German workers. It was by far the strongest such party in Europe. Founded by Ferdinand Lasselle in 1875. Another main leader was the Marxist Auguste Bebel (1840-1913). The party was composed of radicals who advocated, revolution, reformists, and Marxists.

It faced a great  difficulty due to the keeping of power by the Junker class in Prussia, and a voting system which gave 1/3rd of seats to 5% of the taxpayers.

Bismarck tried to outlaw socialist parties. 1878-91: Attacked meetings, newspapers and organization. He also tried to outflank them by introducing an impressive social welfare system -- in fact the first such system in Europe. But the SPD still gained more support.

William II dismissed Bismarck to stem rising tide of socialism, but could not stop it. Repression did not work - more and more SPD deputies got elected. Eventually  the   Social Democratic Party becomes largest party in Reichstag, but it is nationalist not revolutionary, although it professes to be so. Lenin despised it.

C. The British Labour Party

First socialist in Parliament - Keir Hardie 1892, representing the Independent Labour Party

In 1901 the Taft Vale Decision said the Unions can be sued for damages by employers after a strike. In response, British Trade Unions (through their national organization -- the Trades Union Congress]  launched the Labour Representation Committee. With a few years this became the Labour Party

This was a militant party calling for the betterment of workers conditions. It was officially socialist, but the theoretical side was left to individuals, and the Fabians.   The Labour Party rank and file were more concerned with practical actions.

VIII. Why did Socialism Not Catch on in the United States?

Socialism is much more important in the history of Europe than of the US. Why was this case, given that workers were treated just as badly in the US as in Europe?

The first thing to note is that there were active socialists in the US in the later 19th and early 20th centuries, and they were important in organizing American unions. They face quite distinct problems. however:

  • Trust of immigrants for American system
    - America was much better than many of the countries the immigrants came from - it was a democracy from an early period. So why complain?
  • The myth of "getting on."
    -The idea that if one is poor, one is still potentially rich rather than a member of the working class [this is despite statistics which show perhaps 15% of people ever change their class.]
  • America was much wealthier than Europe.
    - Socialism is a response to poverty and the belief society must be and can be organized better.
  • In a profound/real sense America was and is less class-ridden.
    - Accurately or not, many people though of themselves as "middle class".
  • Franklin Roosevelt.
    Roosevelt was a patrician liberal who dispersed quite strong socialist feeling in the middle part of the 20th century - by New Deal policies designed to safeguard capitalism.

Web Exercise

It is often said in the US that socialism is dead -- and if that is the case, why should we study it.  I suspect, however, that rumors of its death have been exaggerated, and whether we accept socialism or not, it might be a good idea to understand it. There is then a real WWW "research project" this section!

Try to find out, and list, which countries in the modern world have governments which are officially socialist or communist. In other words, which countries are governed by "Socialist," "Labor," or "Communist" parties.

To make it easier, each student should take one region of the world:

  • North America and the Caribbean
  • Central and South America
  • Western Europe
  • Eastern Europe
  • North Africa and the Middle East
  • South and East Asia
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Australasia and Oceania

You could try to find this information by going to the government page of each country. But good researchers often find an easier way. Why not try the Democratic Socialists of America web site for a good list of socialist parties; or the CIA World Fact Book [on many websites]; or some of the sites set up by political scientists.

Whatever way you do it, list the countries of your region, the ones with socialist[etc.] governments, and your source of information.

You might then want to comment on the role of this type of politics in the modern world.

Discussion Questions

What were the social and economic issues which were addressed by socialists?

What was distinct about the socialist approach -- for instance in comparison to Liberal politics?

What is the difference between socialism and communism?

Can socialist solutions be applied to modern problems? What sort of problems might interest socialists, and what sort of solutions would they offer?

What were more successful in the 19th and early 20th centuries: labor parties or trade unions?

The Communist Manifesto

Some of you may want to read the entire Communist Manifesto -- it is online at many websites, and is not very long. Probably the easiest version to cite is the Communist Manifesto at Warwick University.

What does Marx mean by "bourgeoisie"?

What is Marx's assessment of the achievements of the bourgeoisie? Is he entirely negative about it?

Marx claims that the modern democratic state is merely a facade for the power of the bourgeoisie. Can you think of any aspects of modern American society which would back him up on this? How about any aspects which would refute him?

What is the role which Marx ascribes to the Proletariat?

Marx claims to abolish all "eternal truths" and "morality." When you read him, or other socialists such as Anne Maier or Einstein, does it seem that they do in fact abandon the language of moral outrage? If there is no morality, what would be wrong with exploiting workers?

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