Revisionist Socialism - 1088 Words

Revisionist Socialism What is it? Revisionist socialism seeks to reform or tame capitalism rather than abolish it. †¨It seeks to reconcile socialism with capitalism. It seeks social justice in the sense of narrowing the economic and social inequalities (to varying degrees) within capitalism through welfare and redistribution. Social democracy is the most obvious example of revisionist socialism. Revisionists are invariably parliamentary, not revolutionary, socialists. Bernstien Beginning in the late 1890s a diverse group of so-called revisionist thinkers increasingly questioned the validity of a number of fundamental Marxist theorists. They particularly objected to how rigidly Marxs doctrine was being interpreted by his†¦show more content†¦It seeks to reconcile socialism with capitalism. It seeks social justice in the sense of narrowing the economic and social inequalities (to varying degrees) within capitalism through welfare and redistribution. The key emergence from this view was the idea of social democracy, which majority of Scandinavian countries still follow today. One key concept that led to a greater a following for revisionist socialism was that socialist projects like ‘New Harmony’ had failed due to lacking in sound economic policy and it only capitalism that in their eyes offered a secure economic policy. In order to achieve their goals they needed to gain access to the place where economic policy was formed, parliament. Therefore, revisionists are invariably parliamentary, not revolutionary, socialists. In the example of Bernstein he went on to become a key founding figure in the SDP (German Social Democratic Party), in which the party campaigned for social democracy and still does today, the idealism of social democracy also appealed to the German public with the party having 9 of the last 16 prime ministers. In stark contrast to revisionist socialism is revolutionary socialism which in itself has a number of divides i.e Marxist vs Trotskyist. One common belief that they all share is that capitalism is wrong and a bad economic policy, in the sense that a few become richer whilstShow MoreRelatedThe Link Between the Industrial Revolution and Socialism Essay663 Words   |  3 PagesIndustrial Revolution’s changes were physical. A new ideology arose from the sweat of the working class: socialism. Socialism is a political theory advocating state or collective ownership of property and industry opposed to private ownership. To fully understand the relationship between the Industrial Revolution and socialism, one must first be comfortable with the Revolution and its changes, socialism itself, and the fine line of events linking the two together. 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