State socialism

This article is about a political strategy for implementing socialism. For countries governed by Marxist–Leninist communist parties, see Communist state. For countries constitutionally committed to socialism, see Socialist state. For the social policies introduced by Otto von Bismarck in Germany, see State Socialism (Germany). For a list of self-proclaimed socialist states, see List of socialist states. For constitutional references to socialism in multi-party democracies, see Socialism in liberal democratic constitutions.
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State socialism is a political and economic ideology within the socialist movement that advocates state ownership of the means of production. This is intended either as a temporary measure, or as a characteristic of socialism in the transition from the capitalist to the socialist mode of production or to a communist society. State socialism was first theorised by Ferdinand Lassalle. It advocates a planned economy controlled by the state in which all industries and natural resources are state-owned.[1][2]

Aside from anarchists and other libertarian socialists, there was, in the past, confidence amongst socialists in the concept of state socialism as being the most effective form of socialism. Some early social democrats in the late 19th century and early 20th century, such as the Fabians, claimed that British society was already mostly socialist and that the economy was significantly socialist through government-run enterprises created by conservative and liberal governments which could be run for the interests of the people through their representatives' influence, an argument reinvoked by some socialists in post-war Britain.[3] State socialism declined starting in the 1970s, with stagflation during the 1970s energy crisis,[4][5][6] the rise of neoliberalism and later with the fall of state socialist nations in the Eastern Bloc during the Revolutions of 1989 and the fall of the Soviet Union.[7]

Libertarian socialists often treat state socialism as synonymous with state capitalism, arguing that the economic systems of Marxist–Leninist states such as the Soviet Union were not genuinely socialist due to their autocratic nature.[8] Democratic and libertarian socialists claim that these states had only a limited number of socialist characteristics.[9][10][11] However, others maintain that workers in the Soviet Union and other Marxist–Leninist states had genuine control over the means of production through institutions such as trade unions.[12][13][14][15][16] Academics, political commentators and other scholars tend to distinguish between authoritarian state socialism and democratic state socialism, with the first representing the Soviet Bloc 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.[17][18][19][20]

As a classification within the socialist movement, state socialism is held in contrast with libertarian socialism, which rejects the view that socialism can be constructed using existing state institutions or governmental policies.[21] By contrast, proponents of state socialism claim that the state—through practical governing considerations—must play at least a temporary part in building socialism. It is possible to conceive of a democratic socialist state that owns the means of production and is internally organised in a participatory, cooperative fashion, thereby achieving both social ownership of productive property and workplace democracy.[17][18][19][20] Today, state socialism is mainly advocated by Marxist–Leninists.[22][23]

  1. ^ Tucker, Benjamin (1985) [1886]. State Socialism and Anarchism and Other Essays: Including the Attitude of Anarchism Toward Industrial Combinations and Why I Am an Anarchist (1st ed.). Colorado Springs: Ralph Myles Publisher. ISBN 9780879260156.
  2. ^ Ellman, Michael (2014). Socialist Planning (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107427327.
  3. ^ Eatwell, Roger; Wright, Anthony (1999). Contemporary Political Ideologies (2nd ed.). London: Continuum. pp. 87–88 ISBN 9781855676053.
  4. ^ Gey, Peter; Kosta, H. G. Jiří; Quaisser, Wolfgang (1987). Crisis and Reform in Socialist Economies. Avalon Publishing. ISBN 9780813373324.
  5. ^ Miller, Toby (2008). A Companion to Cultural Studies. Wiley. ISBN 9780470998793.
  6. ^ Ehns, Dirk H. (2016). Modern Monetary Theory and European Macroeconomics. Routledge. pp. 4–5. ISBN 9781138654778.
  7. ^ Eatwell, Roger; Wright, Anthony (1999). Contemporary Political Ideologies (2nd ed.). London: Continuum. pp. 93–95. ISBN 9781855676053.
  8. ^ Ellman, Michael (2014). Socialist Planning, Third Edition. Cambridge University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-1107427327. Accordingly, after World War II the Soviet model was adopted throughout the state-socialist world.
  9. ^ Howard, M. C.; King, J. E. (2001). "'State Capitalism' in the Soviet Union". Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  10. ^ Chomsky, Noam (1986). "The Soviet Union Versus Socialism". Our Generation. Chomsky.info. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  11. ^ Wolff, Richard D. (27 June 2015). "Socialism Means Abolishing the Distinction Between Bosses and Employees". Truthout. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  12. ^ Webb, Sidney; Webb, Beatrice (1935). Soviet Communism: A New Civilisation?. London: Longmans.
  13. ^ Sloan, Pat (1937). Soviet democracy. London: Left Book Club; Victor Gollancz Ltd.
  14. ^ Costello, Mick (1977). Workers' Participation in the Soviet Union. Novosti Press Agency Publishing House.
  15. ^ Farber, Samuel (1992). "Before Stalinism: The Rise and Fall of Soviet Democracy". Studies in Soviet Thought. 44 (3): 229–230.
  16. ^ Getzler, Israel (2002) [1982]. Kronstadt 1917-1921: The Fate of a Soviet Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521894425.
  17. ^ a b Barrett, William, ed. (1 April 1978). "Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy: A Symposium". Commentary. Retrieved 14 June 2020. "If we were to extend the definition of socialism to include Labor Britain or socialist Sweden, there would be no difficulty in refuting the connection between capitalism and democracy."
  18. ^ a b Heilbroner, Robert L. (Winter 1991). "From Sweden to Socialism: A Small Symposium on Big Questions". Dissident. Barkan, Joanne; Brand, Horst; Cohen, Mitchell; Coser, Lewis; Denitch, Bogdan; Fehèr, Ferenc; Heller, Agnès; Horvat, Branko; Tyler, Gus. pp. 96–110. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  19. ^ a b Kendall, Diana (2011). Sociology in Our Time: The Essentials. Cengage Learning. pp. 125–127. ISBN 9781111305505. "Sweden, Great Britain, and France have mixed economies, sometimes referred to as democratic socialism—an economic and political system that combines private ownership of some of the means of production, governmental distribution of some essential goods and services, and free elections. For example, government ownership in Sweden is limited primarily to railroads, mineral resources, a public bank, and liquor and tobacco operations."
  20. ^ a b Li, He (2015). Political Thought and China's Transformation: Ideas Shaping Reform in Post-Mao China. Springer. pp. 60–69. ISBN 9781137427816. "The scholars in camp of democratic socialism believe that China should draw on the Sweden experience, which is suitable not only for the West but also for China. In the post-Mao China, the Chinese intellectuals are confronted with a variety of models. The liberals favor the American model and share the view that the Soviet model has become archaic and should be totally abandoned. Meanwhile, democratic socialism in Sweden provided an alternative model. Its sustained economic development and extensive welfare programs fascinated many. Numerous scholars within the democratic socialist camp argue that China should model itself politically and economically on Sweden, which is viewed as more genuinely socialist than China. There is a growing consensus among them that in the Nordic countries the welfare state has been extraordinarily successful in eliminating poverty."
  21. ^ Schumpeter, Joseph (2008) [1942]. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Harper Perennial. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-06-156161-0. But there are still others (concepts and institutions) which by virtue of their nature cannot stand transplantation and always carry the flavor of a particular institutional framework. It is extremely dangerous, in fact it amounts to a distortion of historical description, to use them beyond the social world or culture whose denizens they are. Now ownership or property – also, so I believe, taxation – are such denizens of the world of commercial society, exactly as knights and fiefs are denizens of the feudal world. But so is the state (a denizen of commercial society).
  22. ^ Busky, Donald F. (20 July 2000). Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey. Praeger. p. 9. ISBN 978-0275968861. In a modern sense of the word, communism refers to the ideology of Marxism-Leninism.
  23. ^ Pena, David S. (21 September 2007). "Tasks of Working-Class Governments under the Socialist-oriented Market Economy". Political Affairs. Archived 5 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2020.