Ethical socialism

Last updated

Ethical socialism is a political philosophy that appeals to socialism on ethical and moral grounds as opposed to consumeristic, economic, and egoistic grounds. [1] It emphasizes the need for a morally conscious economy based upon the principles of altruism, cooperation, and social justice while opposing possessive individualism. [2]

Contents

In contrast to socialism inspired by historical materialism, Marxist theory, neoclassical economics, and rationalism which base their appeals for socialism on grounds of economic efficiency, historical inevitability, or rationality, ethical socialism focuses on the moral and ethical reasons for advocating socialism. [1] It became the official philosophy of several socialist parties. [3]

Ethical socialism has some significant overlap with Christian socialism, [1] Fabianism, [4] guild socialism, [5] liberal socialism, [6] social-democratic reformism, [7] and utopian socialism. [8] Under the influence of politicians like Carlo Rosselli in Italy, social democrats began disassociating themselves from orthodox Marxism altogether as represented by Marxism–Leninism, [9] embracing an ethical liberal socialism, [6] Keynesianism, [9] and appealing to morality rather than any consistent systematic, scientific or materialist worldview. [10] [11]

Social democracy made appeals to communitarian, corporatist, and sometimes nationalist sentiments while rejecting the economic and technological determinism generally characteristic of both economic liberalism and orthodox Marxism. [12]

Overview

Ethical socialism can be traced back to the utopian socialists, especially Henri de Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier, but also anarchists such as the French socialist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon [13] as well as Italian revolutionaries and socialists such as Giuseppe Garibaldi [14] and Giuseppe Mazzini. [15] Those utopian socialists, one of the first currents of modern socialist thought, presented visions and outlines for imaginary or futuristic ideal societies, characterized by the establishment of a moral economy, with positive ideals based on moral and ethical grounds being the main reason for moving society in such a direction. [8] Before Marxists established a hegemony over definitions of socialism, the term socialism was a broad concept which referred to one or more of various theories aimed at solving the labour problem through radical changes in the capitalist economy. Descriptions of the problem, explanations of its causes and proposed solutions such as the abolition of private property or supporting cooperatives and public ownership varied among socialist philosophies. [16]

Clement Attlee, prime minister of the United Kingdom (1945-1951) Clement Attlee.png
Clement Attlee, prime minister of the United Kingdom (1945–1951)

The term ethical socialism initially originated as a pejorative by the Marxian economist Rosa Luxemburg against Marxist revisionist Eduard Bernstein and his socialist reformist supporters, who evoked neo-Kantian liberal ideals and ethical arguments in favour of socialism. [17] Self-recognized ethical socialists soon arose in Britain such as the Christian socialist R. H. Tawney and its ideals were connected to Christian socialist, Fabian, and guild socialist ideals. [18] Ethical socialism was an important ideology within the British Labour Party. [19] Ethical socialism has been publicly supported by British prime ministers Ramsay MacDonald, [20] Clement Attlee, [21] and Tony Blair. [19] While Blair described New Labour as a return to ethical socialism, several critics accused him of completely abandoning socialism in favour of capitalism. [22]

Ethical socialism had a profound impact on the social democratic movement and reformism during the later half of the 20th century, particularly in Great Britain. [7] Ethical socialism is distinct in its focus on criticism of the ethics of capitalism and not merely criticism of the economic, systemic, and material issues of capitalism. [1] When the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) renounced orthodox Marxism during the Godesberg Program in the 1950s, ethical socialism became the official philosophy within the SPD. The decision to abandon the traditional anti-capitalist policy angered many in the SPD who had supported it. [23] Some such as Ian Adams also argue that this was an abandonment of the classical conception of socialism as involving the replacement of the capitalist economic system and make a distinction between classical socialism and liberal socialism. [24]

Themes

R. H. Tawney, founder of ethical socialism R. H. Tawney.jpg
R. H. Tawney, founder of ethical socialism

R. H. Tawney denounced self-seeking amoral and immoral behaviour that he claimed is supported by capitalism. [1] Tawney opposed what he called the "acquisitive society" that causes private property to be used to transfer surplus profit to "functionless owners", i.e. capitalist rentiers. [2] However, he did not denounce managers as a whole, believing that management and employees could join in a political alliance for reform. [2] Tawney supported the pooling of surplus profit through means of progressive taxation to redistribute these funds to provide social welfare (including public health care, public education, and public housing) [2] and the nationalization of strategic industries and services. [2] He supported worker participation in the business of management in the economy as well as consumer, employee, employer and state cooperation in regulating the economy. [2]

Although Tawney supported a substantial role for public enterprise in the economy, he stated that where private enterprise provided a service that was commensurate with its rewards that was functioning private property, then a business could be usefully and legitimately be left in private hands. [25] Thomas Hill Green supported the right of equal opportunity for all individuals to be able freely appropriate property, but claimed that acquisition of wealth did not imply that an individual could do whatever they wanted to once that wealth was in their possession. [26] Green opposed "property rights of the few" that were preventing the ownership of property by the many. [26]

Ethical socialism was advocated and promoted by former British prime minister Tony Blair, [27] [28] who has been influenced by John Macmurray, himself influenced by Green. [29] Blair has defined ethical socialism with similar notions promoted by earlier ethical socialists such as emphasis on the common good, rights, and responsibilities, and support of an organic society in which individuals flourish through cooperation. [27] [28] [29] According to Blair, the Labour Party ran into problems in the 1960s and 1970s when it abandoned ethical socialism and believes that the party's recovery required a return to the ethical socialist values last promoted by the Attlee government. [28] [30] However, Blair's critics (both inside and outside Labour) have accused him of completely abandoning socialism in favour of capitalism. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

Libertarian socialism is an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist political current that emphasises self-governance and workers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms of socialism by its rejection of state ownership and from other forms of libertarianism by its rejection of private property. Broadly defined, it includes schools of both anarchism and Marxism, as well as other tendencies that oppose the state and capitalism.

Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and social theories and movements associated with the implementation of such systems. Social ownership can take various forms, including public, community, collective, cooperative, or employee. Traditionally, socialism is on the left wing of the political spectrum. Types of socialism vary based on the role of markets and planning in resource allocation, and the structure of management in organizations.

The Third Way, also known as Modernised Social Democracy, is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile centre-right and centre-left politics by synthesising a combination of economically liberal and social democratic economic policies along with centre-left social policies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. H. Tawney</span> English philosopher (1880–1962)

Richard Henry Tawney was an English economic historian, social critic, ethical socialist, Christian socialist, and important proponent of adult education. The Oxford Companion to British History (1997) explained that Tawney made a "significant impact" in these "interrelated roles". A. L. Rowse goes further by insisting that "Tawney exercised the widest influence of any historian of his time, politically, socially and, above all, educationally".

The Godesberg Program of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was ratified in 1959 at a convention in the town of Bad Godesberg near Bonn. It represented a fundamental change in the orientation and goals of the SPD, rejecting the aim of replacing capitalism while adopting a commitment to reform capitalism and a mass party orientation that appealed to ethical rather than class-based considerations. It also rejected nationalization as a major principle of socialism.

The Future of Socialism is a 1956 book by Anthony Crosland. It was one of the most influential books in post-war British Labour Party thinking. It was the seminal work of the 'revisionist' school of Labour politics.

Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and supports a gradualist, reformist and democratic approach towards achieving socialism, usually under a social liberal framework. In practice, social democracy takes a form of socially managed welfare capitalism, achieved with partial public ownership, economic interventionism, and policies promoting social equality.

Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that originates in the works of 19th century German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism analyzes and critiques the development of class society and especially of capitalism as well as the role of class struggles in systemic, economic, social and political change. It frames capitalism through a paradigm of exploitation and analyzes class relations and social conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development – materialist in the sense that the politics and ideas of an epoch are determined by the way in which material production is carried on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Nation Labour</span> Theme and branding of the British Labour Party adopted by the party in 2012

One Nation Labour refers to the theme and branding of the British Labour Party adopted by the party in 2012 under the leadership of Ed Miliband. Miliband described the "One Nation" term as being related to British Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli's idea of One Nation conservatism. Disraeli claimed a need for government to reduce economic inequality, which he believed was splitting Britain into two nations of rich and poor people. Miliband stated that the theme of One Nation was shared by Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee. Miliband has declared inspiration from Disraeli's and Attlee's One Nation theme, in that it challenges social barriers of class and promotes the unity of Britain.

Democratic socialism is a left-wing set of political philosophies that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a market socialist, decentralised planned, or democratic centrally planned socialist economy. Democratic socialists argue that capitalism is inherently incompatible with the values of freedom, equality, and solidarity and that these ideals can only be achieved through the realisation of a socialist society. Although most democratic socialists seek a gradual transition to socialism, democratic socialism can support revolutionary or reformist politics to establish socialism. Democratic socialism was popularised by socialists who opposed the backsliding towards a one-party state in the Soviet Union and other nations during the 20th century.

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.

Types of socialism include a range of economic and social systems characterised by social ownership and democratic control of the means of production and organizational self-management of enterprises as well as the political theories and movements associated with socialism. Social ownership may refer to forms of public, collective or cooperative ownership, or to citizen ownership of equity in which surplus value goes to the working class and hence society as a whole. There are many varieties of socialism and no single definition encapsulates all of them, but social ownership is the common element shared by its various forms Socialists disagree about the degree to which social control or regulation of the economy is necessary, how far society should intervene, and whether government, particularly existing government, is the correct vehicle for change.

Liberal socialism is a political philosophy that incorporates liberal principles to socialism. 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. Liberal socialism opposes abolishing certain components of capitalism and supports a mixed economy that includes both social ownership and private property in capital goods.

Reformism is a trend advocating the reform of an existing system or institution - often a political or religious establishment - as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution.

A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The term communist state is often used synonymously in the West, specifically when referring to one-party socialist states governed by Marxist–Leninist communist parties, despite these countries being officially socialist states in the process of building socialism and progressing toward a communist society. These countries never describe themselves as communist nor as having implemented a communist society. Additionally, a number of countries that are multi-party capitalist states make references to socialism in their constitutions, in most cases alluding to the building of a socialist society, naming socialism, claiming to be a socialist state, or including the term people's republic or socialist republic in their country's full name, although this does not necessarily reflect the structure and development paths of these countries' political and economic systems. Currently, these countries include Algeria, Bangladesh, Guyana, India, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utopian socialism</span> Political theory concerned with imagined socialist societies

Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often described as the presentation of visions and outlines for imaginary or futuristic ideal societies, with positive ideals being the main reason for moving society in such a direction. Later socialists and critics of utopian socialism viewed utopian socialism as not being grounded in actual material conditions of existing society. These visions of ideal societies competed with revolutionary and social democratic movements.

The history of socialism has its origins in the Age of Enlightenment and the 1789 French Revolution along with the changes that it brought, although it has precedents in earlier movements and ideas. The Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1847-48 just before the Revolutions of 1848 swept Europe, expressing what they termed scientific socialism. In the last third of the 19th century parties dedicated to Democratic socialism arose in Europe, drawing mainly from Marxism. The Australian Labor Party was the world's first elected socialist party when it formed government in the Colony of Queensland for a week in 1899.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to socialism:

Social democracy originated as an ideology within the labour whose goals have been a social revolution to move away from purely laissez-faire capitalism to a social capitalism model sometimes called a social market economy. In a nonviolent revolution as in the case of evolutionary socialism, or the establishment and support of a welfare state. Its origins lie in the 1860s as a revolutionary socialism associated with orthodox Marxism. Starting in the 1890s, there was a dispute between committed revolutionary social democrats such as Rosa Luxemburg and reformist social democrats. The latter sided with Marxist revisionists such as Eduard Bernstein, who supported a more gradual approach grounded in liberal democracy and cross-class cooperation. Karl Kautsky represented a centrist position. By the 1920s, social democracy became the dominant political tendency, along with communism, within the international socialist movement, representing a form of democratic socialism with the aim of achieving socialism peacefully. By the 1910s, social democracy had spread worldwide and transitioned towards advocating an evolutionary change from capitalism to socialism using established political processes such as the parliament. In the late 1910s, socialist parties committed to revolutionary socialism renamed themselves as communist parties, causing a split in the socialist movement between these supporting the October Revolution and those opposing it. Social democrats who were opposed to the Bolsheviks later renamed themselves as democratic socialists in order to highlight their differences from communists and later in the 1920s from Marxist–Leninists, disagreeing with the latter on topics such as their opposition to liberal democracy whilst sharing common ideological roots.

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Thompson 2006, p. 52.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Thompson 2006, pp. 58–59.
  3. Orlow 2000, p. 190; Tansey & Jackson 2008, p. 97.
  4. Thompson 2006, p. 58.
  5. Thompson 2006, p. 60.
  6. 1 2 Bronner 1999, pp. 103–104.
  7. 1 2 Dearlove & Saunders 2000, p. 427; Thompson 2006, p. 52.
  8. 1 2 Draper 1990, pp. 1–21.
  9. 1 2 Bronner 1999, p. 103.
  10. Wright 1999, p. 86: "This was an ideology which, at bottom, was grounded not in materialism but in morals. Thus Bernstein summoned up Kant to point the way towards a politics of ethical choices."
  11. Heywood 2012, p. 128: "The theoretical basis for social democracy has been provided more by moral or religious beliefs, rather than by scientific analysis. Social democrats have not accepted the materialist and highly systematic ideas of Marx and Engels, but rather advanced an essentially moral critique of capitalism."
  12. Berman 2008, pp. 12–13: "Regardless of the specific policies they advocated, one thing that joined all budding interwar social democrats was a rejection of the passivity and economic determinism of orthodox Marxism [...] so they often embraced communitarian, corporatist, and even nationalist appeals and urged their parties to make the transition from workers' to 'people's' parties."
  13. Hopper 1978.
  14. Gabaccia & Ottanelli 2001, p. 33; Scirocco 2007.
  15. Keserich 1976; Bayly & Biagini 2008, p. 284; Mazzini 2009, p. 6; Gregor 2014, "Marxism, Revolution, and the Making of New Nations"; Rosselli 2017, p. 36.
  16. Brooks 1994, p. 75.
  17. Steger 1997, p. 115.
  18. Thompson 2006, pp. 52–60.
  19. 1 2 Tansey & Jackson 2008, p. 97.
  20. Morgan 2006, p. 29.
  21. Howell 2006, pp. 130–132.
  22. 1 2 Elliott, Faucher-King & Le Galès 2010, p. 18.
  23. Orlow 2000, p. 190.
  24. Adams 2001, p. 108.
  25. Thompson 2006, pp. 60–61.
  26. 1 2 Carter 2003, p. 35.
  27. 1 2 Blair 1994, pp. 1–16.
  28. 1 2 3 Blair 1995, pp. 1–20.
  29. 1 2 Carter 2003, pp. 189–190.
  30. Bevir 2005, p. 72.

Bibliography

  • Adams, Ian (2001). Ideology and Politics in Britain Today. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press. ISBN   9780719060205.
  • Bayly, Cristopher; Biagini, E. F. (2008). Giuseppe Mazzini and the Globalization of Democratic Nationalism, 1830–1920 (illustrated ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press/British Academy. ISBN   9780197264317.
  • Bevir, Mark (2005). New Labour: A Critique (1st ed.). London, England: Routledge. ISBN   9780415359252.
  • Blair, Tony (1994). Socialism. Fabian phamplets. London, England: Fabian Society. ISBN   9780716305651.
  • Blair, Tony (1995). Let Us Face the Future. Fabian phamplets. London, England: Fabian Society. ISBN   9780716305712.
  • Bronner, Stephen Eric (1999). Ideas in Action: Political Tradition in the Twentieth Century. Oxford, England: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN   9780847693870.
  • Brooks, Frank (1994). The Individualist Anarchists: An Anthology of Liberty (1881–1908). Piscataway, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. ISBN   9781560001324.
  • Carter, Matt (2003). T.H. Green and the Development of Ethical Socialism. Exeter, England: Imprint Academic. ISBN   9780907845324.
  • Dearlove, John; Saunders, Peter (2000). Introduction to British Politics (revised, updated 3rd ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN   9780745620954.
  • Draper, Hal (1990). Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution, Volume IV: Critique of Other Socialisms. New York City, New York: Monthly Review Press. ISBN   9780853457985.
  • Elliott, Gregory; Faucher-King, Florence; Le Galès, Patrick (2010). The New Labour Experiment: Change and Reform Under Blair and Brown. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN   9780804762342.
  • Gabaccia, Donna R.; Ottanelli, Fraser M., eds. (2001). Italian Workers of the World: Labor Migration and the Formation of Multiethnic States (illustrated ed.). Chicago, Illinois: 9780252026591. ISBN   9780252026591.
  • Gregor, A. James (2014). Marxism and the Making of China: A Doctrinal History (illustrated ed.). New York City, New York: Springer. ISBN   9781137379498.
  • Heywood, Andrew (2012). Political Ideologies: An Introduction (5th ed.). Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN   9780230367258.
  • Hopper, John P. (1978). The Ethical Socialism of Saint-Simon, Fourier, and Proudhon. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
  • Howell, David (2006). Attlee . London, England: Haus Publishing. ISBN   9781904950646.
  • Keserich, Charles (June 1976). "George D. Herron, " Il nostro americano "". Il Politico. Soveria, Italy: Rubbettino Editore. 41 (2): 315–332. JSTOR   43208082.
  • Mazzini, Giuseppe (2009). Recchia, Stefano; Urbinati, Nadia (eds.). A Cosmopolitanism of Nations. New Haven, Connecticut: Princeton University Press. ISBN   9781400831319.
  • Morgan, Kevin (2006). Ramsay MacDonald. London, England: Haus Publishing. ISBN   9781904950615.
  • Orlow, Dietrich (2000). Common Destiny: A Comparative History of the Dutch, French, and German Social Democratic Parties, 1945–1969. New York City, New York: Berghahn Books. ISBN   9781571811851.
  • Rosselli, Carlo (2017). Urbinati, Nadia (ed.). Liberal Socialism. Translated by McCuaig, William (illustrated ed.). Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN   9781400887309.
  • Scirocco, Alfonso (2007). Garibaldi: Citizen of the World (illustrated ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 375–379. ISBN   9780691115405.
  • Steger, Manfred B. (1997). The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism: Eduard Bernstein and Social Democracy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511558603. ISBN   9780511558603.
  • Tansey, Stephen D.; Jackson, Nigel A. (2008). Politics: The Basics (illustrated 4th ed.). Abingdon, England: Routledge. ISBN   9780415422437.
  • Thompson, Noel W. (2006). Political Economy and the Labour Party: The Economics of Democratic Socialism, 1884–2005 (2nd ed.). Abingdon, England: Routledge. ISBN   9780415328807.
  • Wright, Anthony (1999). "Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism". In Eatwell, Roger; Wright, Anthony (eds.). Contemporary Political Ideologies (2nd ed.). London, England: Continuum. pp. 80–103. ISBN   9781855676053.

Further reading