The difficult process of the formation of socialism

catalogue

Theoretical development

school

Democratic socialism

state socialism

scientific socialism

basic theory

theoretical basis

fundamental principle

Realization condition

socialist country

Socialist sociological thought

This entry is a polysemous word with three meanings.

Socialism is a sociological thought, which advocates taking the whole society as a whole, including products, capital, land and assets. It should be owned and controlled by society, and its management and distribution are based on public interests. 65438+During the 1930s and 1940s, the concept of "socialism" was widely circulated in Western Europe, and different branches developed.

Marx and Engels developed their theoretical system of socialism, and also believed that socialist society was a social form of transition from capitalist society to capitalist society.

Chinese name

socialism

Foreign name

socialism

source

Latin

kind

Economic sociology thought

Representative figure

Marx, Engels, Lenin and Mao Zedong.

Theoretical development

utopian socialism

See utopian socialism.

The initial form of socialism was utopian socialism, which lasted from the beginning of16th century to the 1930s and 40s of19th century, and its influence spread almost all over Europe and reached America. Socialism originated in England. 15 16, Thomas Moore, an Englishman, wrote a useful and interesting golden book about a utopian new island-the most perfect state system, and Moore became the originator of utopian socialism.

The emergence of capitalist mode of production is the realistic premise of utopian socialism. /kloc-in western Europe in the 0 th and 6 th centuries, the rapid development of science and technology and the refinement of social division of labor promoted commodity production; The opening of new routes and the discovery of the new continent have expanded the world market. Under the joint action of these factors, the small self-sufficient mode of production in feudal society began to collapse, and the capitalist mode of production gradually formed; The polarization between craftsmen and peasants has accelerated, and the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, two new class forces, have stepped onto the historical stage. Karl Marx and Friedrich von Engels said in the Manifesto of the Productive Party: "The bourgeoisie has destroyed all feudal, patriarchal and idyllic relations in which it gained rule. It ruthlessly cuts off all kinds of feudal fetters that bind people and natural elders, and it makes people have no other connection except naked interests and ruthless' cash transactions'. "

Following Britain, France, Germany and other countries to develop capitalism. From the simple cooperative handicraft industry to the workshop handicraft industry, and then to the stage of large machine industry, it has experienced major historical events such as geographical discovery, German religious reform and French Enlightenment, which has effectively promoted the theory and practice of utopian socialism and experienced different stages. In particular, the French bourgeois revolution of 1789 destroyed the feudal relations in France and established the ruling position of the bourgeoisie. However, under the new social system, the broad masses of working people are in new shackles, still politically powerless and economically poorer. The living reality of capitalist society has broken the gorgeous predictions of enlightenment scholars on this new society, which is tantamount to an extremely disappointing cartoon. Marx pointed out in Das Kapital: "When capital comes to the world, blood and dirt are dripping from every pore from head to toe." At that time, Balzac's human comedy, Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris and Les Miserables, Dickens' Oliver Twist and david copperfield all mercilessly exposed the hypocrisy, greed and cruelty of capitalist society, described the tragic situation of the lower class and reflected the struggle of the working people. Under such social and historical conditions, the desire and demand of the proletariat to change the social status quo are increasingly strong.

Utopian socialism was born to meet the needs of the early proletariat eager to change the status quo. Under the capitalist system, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie are two classes whose interests are fundamentally opposite, and there have been contradictions and struggles from the beginning. At first, the proletariat's understanding and struggle for capitalism was superficial. They don't understand the nature of capitalism and the real reason why they are exploited and enslaved. The way they fight is mostly instinctive resistance and passive resistance. They usually think that factories and machines are the root of poverty and take action to destroy them. These actions show that the proletariat was still naive at that time, but the prologue of the proletarian struggle against the bourgeoisie began. Under the development of immature capitalism, the immature proletariat is eager to change its living conditions, which leads to utopian socialism. Engels pointed out: "Immature theory is compatible with immature capitalist production and immature class conditions. The solution to social problems is still hidden in underdeveloped economic relations, so it can only come from the mind. "

The bourgeois enlightenment thought is also the direct ideological material of utopian socialism. /kloc-some representatives of the French bourgeoisie in the 0 th and 8 th centuries set off a massive ideological emancipation movement, that is, the Enlightenment. Using the ideological weapon of rationalism, they violently criticized the feudal autocracy and the religious theology that maintained this system. The rise and development of the Enlightenment not only prepared public opinion for the bourgeois revolution, but also promoted the awakening of the vanguard consciousness of the modern proletariat. /kloc-utopian socialist thinkers in the 0/8th century, such as Jean Mesriel, Morelj, mably and Gracco Francois Noe l Babeyf, were deeply influenced by the enlightenment thinkers, and their works were full of words such as rationality, equality, fairness, justice and harmony. /kloc-utopian socialists at the beginning of the 0/9th century were also influenced by enlightenment thinkers. Engels pointed out that the theory of "Three Utopian Socialists", "in terms of its theoretical form, was initially manifested as a further and allegedly more thorough development of various principles put forward by the great French enlightenment scholars in the18th century."

Robert Owen

/kloc-Utopian socialism in the early 0/9th century was the period when utopian socialism reached its peak. Its main characteristics are: the criticism is directed at the capitalist system; Theoretically, it is put forward that the economic situation is the foundation of the political system, and private ownership produces class and class exploitation, and from this point of view, it analyzes the history and present situation, thus predicting the exploitation essence of the capitalist system. When designing the blueprint of the future society, we take the big factory as the prototype, completely abandon egalitarianism and asceticism, and make socialism a highly developed society with material civilization and spiritual civilization. Utopian socialists in this period were represented by Saint-Simon, Fourier and Owen. 1824, robert owen bought 12 14 hectares of land in Indiana, USA, and started the experiment of a new harmonious settlement, but the experiment ended in failure.

The emergence of scientific socialism

See: Scientific Socialism, Manifesto of Producers' Party, Capital.

1After the 1930s and 1940s, Marx and Engels scientifically summarized the experience of the European workers' movement, critically absorbed the ideological achievements of utopian socialism, especially the three utopian socialism in the19th century, and founded scientific socialism, which was closely combined with the international workers' movement and spread rapidly among the working class. The influence of utopian socialism is gradually declining. The works written by Marx and Engels for the establishment of the theoretical system of scientific socialism mainly include: 1844 Manuscript of Economic Philosophy, Introduction to the Criticism of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, On the Jewish Problem, Critical Outline of Political Economy, Holy Family, The Situation of Working Class in Britain, German Ideology, * * * and so on. 1848- 1850 French class struggle, Das Kapital, French Civil War, Critique of Gotha Program, Anti-Turin Theory, Development of Socialism from Utopia to Science and other important articles and letters they wrote. In these major works, important articles and letters, Marx and Engels expounded the theoretical basis, basic principles and realization conditions of scientific socialism with a brand-new world outlook and methodology, and formed a very complete theoretical system.