Rise of Socialist Ideas upto Marx - 2 | History Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Capitalism: A Dual Nature

• Progressive Force: Marx views capitalism as a driver of industrial transformation, unlocking productive potential that could eventually liberate everyone from basic needs.
• Exploitative System: Despite its progressiveness, capitalism is exploitative. It alienates both capitalists and workers from their true humanity. Workers, or proletarians, own nothing but their labor power, while capitalists profit from their work.
• Volatile Situation: The tension between these two aspects creates a volatile environment, leading Marx to predict that this conflict will ultimately result in a classless society through a revolutionary upheaval.

International Character of Marx's Socialism

• Marx appeals to the working men of all countries, arguing that laborers in different nations have more in common with each other than with the capitalists in their own countries.
• To foster this sense of unity among laborers, Marx played a key role in organizing "The International Workingmen's Association," which convened in London in 1864 and is known as the First International.

Marx's Views on Freedom

• For Marx, freedom is about overcoming necessity. Necessity forces people to work just to survive, and only those who are free from this pressure can truly develop their talents and potential.
• Historically, freedom has often been limited to the ruling class, who control the land and means of production and exploit the labor of the poor and subservient.
• Throughout history, different ruling classes have experienced varying degrees of freedom:
• Slaveholding societies: Masters enjoyed freedom at the expense of slaves.
• Feudal times: The landowning aristocracy was free while serfs toiled for them.
• Capitalist societies: The bourgeoisie controls wealth and enjoys freedom, exploiting industrial workers or proletarians.

Marx's Views on Religion

• Religion provides an escape from the harsh realities of life under capitalism, offering comfort amid struggle.
• While religion can make life more bearable, it also weakens individuals, making them more susceptible to the control of the state and the bourgeoisie, who manipulate religion for their own ends.
• In Marx's view, religion is a tool used by the bourgeoisie to exploit the masses, diverting their attention from suffering and enabling further exploitation.
• Economic difficulties in a capitalist system prevent many from achieving genuine comfort and happiness.
• Religion distorts this reality, encouraging hard work, endurance, and passive acceptance of one's condition.
• It offers false promises of happiness in the afterlife, suggesting that true contentment is unattainable in this life, thus discouraging rebellion.
• Religion provides solace but keeps individuals trapped in a world of illusion.
• By promoting the status quo in exchange for a better afterlife, religion helps keep people subjugated.
• It offers a vision of a utopian afterlife that motivates people to behave well.
• Religion serves as a mechanism for the dominant classes to maintain control over the lower classes.
• It provides a temporary escape from the hardships of capitalist society.
• Ultimately, religion is seen as the "opium of the masses," offering a soothing but illusory reprieve from suffering.

Marx's Views on the State

• The state is seen by Marx as the organized power of one class dominating another.
• In modern society, this organized power is exercised by the Bourgeoisie, the capitalist class.
• Marx believed that under communism, the state and government would eventually fade away as people shed the selfish behaviors instilled by private ownership of production.
• Freed from necessity and exploitation, individuals would thrive in a true community where each person can develop their talents in all directions.
• Thus, in the communist phase, society would become stateless and classless.

Qualifications in Marx's Doctrine

• Despite the core theories, Marx introduced qualifications in his writings and political actions.
• He recognized the possibility of peaceful socialism replacing capitalism in countries like England and the United States, where the proletariat was gaining the franchise.
• Marx also suggested that a semi-feudal country like Russia could become socialist without undergoing capitalist industrialism first.

Influences on Marx Theory

• Engels believed that the core elements of Marx's theory were rooted in German philosophy, French socialism, and British economics. Among these, German philosophy had the most significant impact on Marx's thinking.

Marxian Communism as the Offspring of German Hegelianism

• Hegel's concept of Dialectics and human progress greatly influenced Marx.
• Hegelian dialectic explains historical changes through a three-step process:
• Thesis: An established order or idea.
• Antithesis: A challenge or negation of the thesis.
• Synthesis: A resolution that combines elements of both thesis and antithesis, leading to a new thesis.
• Marxian dialectical materialism evolved from Hegelian dialectics but focused on material conditions, particularly economic factors, as the driving force of historical change.
• While Hegel emphasized ideas shaping history, Marx argued that changes in economic relationships lead to new ideas.

Marxian Communism as the Offspring of French Socialism

• Rousseau, an early advocate of socialism, influenced Marx with his egalitarian views and criticism of private property.
• Utopian socialism by thinkers like Charles Fourier and Saint Simon laid the groundwork for later socialist ideas, including Marxian Communism.
• Marx borrowed and modified ideas from early French socialists:
• Saint Simon: Change is inevitable, influencing Marx's concept of revolution and class struggle.
• Louis Blanc: From each according to his ability to each according to his work, which Marx adapted to From each according to his ability to each according to his need.
• Classical economists like Adam Smith and Ricardo shaped Marx's analytical critique of capitalism.
• Marx adopted the Labour Theory of Value from Adam Smith, which posits that the economic value of goods or services is determined by the socially necessary labour required for their production.
• From Ricardo's Law of Wages, Marx concluded that capitalism would always struggle to provide fair wages to labourers.
• Classical economists influenced Marx to present his socialist interpretation in economic terms.

Contribution of Marx/Influences of Marxian Socialism/Legacy of Marx

• Gave a new direction to socialism.
• Transformed socialism from an ideology into a movement. Instrumental in establishing the International Working Men’s Association in 1864, known as the First International, aimed at promoting global labor unity.
• Marxist ideas became a major ideological force in the Russian Revolution of 1917 under Lenin.
• Inspired the rise of communism in China and the Chinese communist revolution under Mao.
• Promoted revolutionary sentiments and emerged as a significant ideological force in Europe.

Some other forms of Socialism

Anarchism

• Anarchism is considered the most radical form of socialism.
• Initially, anarchists were part of the communist movement but were expelled in 1869 during the Fourth Congress of the First International.
• Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin believed that religion,capitalism, and the state are forms of oppression that need to be eliminated for true freedom.
• Anarchists advocated for the destruction of existing governments and envisioned a society without government, where harmony is achieved through free agreements between different groups, rather than by laws or authority.
• They were unclear about how to achieve and maintain this ideal society but were very critical of current forms of government.
• Bakuinin, as a communist, shared Marx's vision of a classless, stateless society with community-controlled means of production. However, as an anarchist, he rejected Marx's idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat as a necessary step towards communism.
• Bakuinin argued that the dictatorship of the proletariat could become more oppressive than the bourgeois state, which had a militant working class to check its power.
• After the Paris Commune in 1871, Bakunin viewed Marx's ideas as authoritarian and believed that a Marxist party in power would become as oppressive as the ruling class it replaced.

Fabian Socialism

• Marxian Socialism was revolutionary and focused on the inevitability of class conflict. However, not all socialists agreed with this approach.
• The Fabian Society in England promoted "Evolutionary Socialism," a more moderate and centralist version of socialism. The term "Fabian Socialism" comes from the Society's admiration for the Roman general Fabius Cunctator, known for his strategy of wearing down opponents through gradual tactics rather than direct confrontation.
• Founded in 1884, the Fabian Society aimed to reorganize society by transferring land and industrial capital from individual and class ownership to community ownership for the common good.
• Unlike Marx, the Fabians did not see capital as stolen labor but recognized the capitalist's useful role in society.
• Instead of advocating for revolution, the Fabians preferred "gradualism" as a means to achieve socialism.
• The Fabians, primarily middle-class intellectuals, believed that persuasion and education were more effective in promoting socialism than violent class struggle.
• Rather than establishing their own political party, the Fabians sought to influence existing parties and eventually played a significant role in shaping Britain’s Labour Party.

Syndicalism

• Syndicalism is a political and economic theory that emerged from the French trade-union movement in the late 19th century, drawing inspiration from the ideas of Proudhon and the principles of anarchism.
• It advocates for a society organized around trade-union structures, emphasizing workers' control and direct action such as general strikes to achieve its goals.
• Syndicalists aim to dismantle capitalism and the state, replacing them with a decentralized federation of local workers' groups.
• They accept the Marxist view of the conflict between capital and labor, calling for the abolition of private ownership of the means of production.
• By promoting producers' control, syndicalism seeks to empower workers to manage economic and political affairs, believing that this will lead to greater personal interest and freedom compared to the capitalist system.
• Syndicalists are skeptical of both the state, which they see as a tool of capitalism, and political parties, which they believe are ineffective in bringing about radical change.

Guild Socialism

• Guild socialism, while related to syndicalism, shares a closer resemblance to Fabianism in its reformist approach. It garnered a modest following in the early 20th century.
• Drawing inspiration from medieval guilds—associations of craftsmen regulating their own working conditions—guild socialism advocated for:
• Workers' self-government in industry
• Public ownership of industries
• Organization into guilds
• Abolition of the wage system
• The role of the state within guild socialism was ambiguous:
• Some envisioned the state as a coordinator of guild activities, while others believed its role should be limited to protection or policing.
• Overall, guild socialists tended to favor less state power compared to their Fabian counterparts.

France vs. Britain in Early Socialist Ideas

• In the late 18th century, as a response to the flaws of the Industrial Revolution and societal inequality, socialist ideas began to spread in both Britain and France. However, France was more innovative in developing new socialist theories and movements.
• Historically, France had outpaced Britain in the realm of ideas since the Enlightenment era, with influential philosophers like Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Voltaire. Similarly, early socialist concepts, such as Utopian Socialism, also emerged from France.

French Revolution and the Birth of Socialist Thought

• The French Revolution of 1789 is often considered the origin of socialism as a political movement. While it did not directly give rise to 19th-century ideologies like socialism or communism, it created an intellectual and social environment conducive to the development of these ideas.
• Rousseau's works, particularly his Social Contract Theory and Discourse on Inequality, laid the groundwork for socialist thought and influenced the French Revolution. Philosophers like Rousseau prepared the ground for various theories, including socialism.
• François Babeuf, through his Conspiracy of Equals and advocacy for the poor, played a crucial role in shaping socialist movements. His ideas on democracy, abolition of private property, and equality of results were significant, and he became a martyr for these causes.

Early French Socialists and Their Contributions

• France produced notable early socialists such as Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Louis Blanc, each advocating different approaches to socialism.
• Saint-Simon emphasized equal opportunity and public control of property through central planning. He advocated for state control of production and distribution without public ownership of productive property.
• Fourier envisioned self-sufficient communities called "phalansteries", where people would work voluntarily and happily based on their interests and talents.
• Other socialists like Louis Blanc, Louis-Auguste Blanqui, and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon emerged in the 1830s and 1840s, advocating various forms of socialism.
• Louis Blanc, in his work The Organization of Labour, proposed state-financed but worker-controlled "social workshops" to ensure work for everyone and gradually lead to a socialist society.
• Proudhon, often seen as the father of anarchism, opposed all forms of government and private property rights, advocating for economic equality.

Impact of Ideas on Revolutions and Social Movements

• The ideas of early socialists significantly influenced the Revolution of 1848 in France, which had a strong socialist and republican flavor.
• The Paris Commune of 1871, although short-lived, was a radical socialist government that marked a crucial step in the evolution of socialist ideas.
• The class divide in French society, with its stark contrasts between feudal lords, the bourgeoisie, and workers, made France a fertile ground for the development of new socialist ideas, more so than in Britain.

Socialist Theories and Movements in France and Britain

• France faced political instability with frequent revolutions, hindering the establishment of stable political institutions for socialist ideas. In contrast, Britain had a long-standing democratic tradition and a liberal society that allowed various voices to emerge. British democracy incorporated workers' grievances, as seen in the Reform of 1867.
• Despite a stronger bourgeois influence in Britain, it was more liberal compared to the aristocratic dominance in France.
• French leaders were strongly opposed to socialist movements, often suppressing them, as demonstrated after the Paris Commune of 1871.
• Conditions for British workers were better than for their French counterparts, leading British workers to embrace Fabian socialism, which advocated gradual transformation without class struggle. In contrast, the violent nature of French socialism was more easily suppressed by the state.
• The Industrial Revolution brought social issues like child labor, long working hours, and poor living conditions. However, Britain addressed these problems more effectively through democratic parliamentary traditions. Social legislation such as the Factory Acts,Mines and Collieries Act,Ten Hours Act,Public Health Act, and Education Act were enacted in Britain to tackle these issues, helping to control violent socialist uprisings while promoting better outcomes of socialism.