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Revision as of 19:15, 27 January 2023
Socialism came about as a result of the advent of Classical Modernity, and the Social Question[1]. Many different people have had their response to this question across history, but Marx and Engels were the first to properly investigate the nature of this phenomenon, giving rise to the tradition of Marxism-Leninism which culminates in Scientific Socialism, and Communism. Socialism, according to Engels, is the "direct product of the recognition of class antagonisms between capitalists and wage workers".[2] It exists as a stage of human progress in which private property is sublated, and Capitalism is incorporated into the Political, and Common Sphere.
Variations
Socialist tendencies are divided primarily on the basis of philosophy; utopian socialism vs scientific socialism. The former is used to refer to Marxism.
Proletarian socialism is a term used to describe socialist states that are a dictatorship of the proletariat, and is almost always an instance of applied scientific socialism. Exceptions to this include countries like Gaddafi's Libya, where the religious values of Islam have been applied to socialism.
Bourgeois socialism is a term used to describe bourgeois states bearing resemblance to socialism, with things like central planning of the national economy. In 2022, Haz Al-Din put forth the theory that we already live in socialism, stating that we are already in the stage of bourgeois socialism, and that we are beginning the transition to proletarian socialism.
National socialism is a fascist form of socialism. The term was coined by Adolf Hitler when he named the National Socialist German Workers Party in the 1920s.
Notable socialist states
- Soviet Union (1917-1991)
- Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), known colloquially as North Korea (1948- )
- People's Republic of China (1949- )
- Republic of Cuba (1959- )
- Lao Democratic People's Republic (1991- )
- Polish People's Republic (1952-1989)
- Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945-1992)
- German Democratic Republic (1949-1989)
- Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1976-2011)
- Syrian Arab Republic (2000- )
Further Reading:
- Karl Marx
- Islamic Socialism
- Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Friedrich Engels