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The author of Socialism is Michael Newman.

Economics

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Socialism summary

Name: Socialism
Rating: 4.4 (188 reviews)
Author: Michael Newman

Michael Newman

A Very Short Introduction

4.4 (188 ratings)

23 mins

Brief summary

Socialism by Michael Newman explores the history, theory, and practice of socialism. It delves into the works of socialist thinkers, explaining their ideas and how they have influenced socialist movements around the world.

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Socialism & Capitalist Critique

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Socialism
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What’s in it for me? Discover what socialism is, and what it isn’t.

The last few years have witnessed a revival of the term “socialism,” which, mere decades ago, inevitably conjured images of dictatorship and oppression. But recent events – the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the Great Recession and Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign, to name a few – have ushered the word back into public discourse. This resurgence raises an important question: What, exactly, do we mean when we say socialism?

The truth is that socialism was developed, not as a means of oppression but of emancipation. Back in the nineteenth century, the world was changed forever. The industrial revolution forced millions of people into dirty, overcrowded cities. This impoverished urban population had little power or control over their work, and, especially when compared to those at the top, they received a pittance for their toil. In this new, alienating world, philosophers and thinkers began dreaming of a better way to organize society. They imagined a system based on equality and fairness, not oppressive moneygrubbing and productivity at any cost.

Their socialist ideas didn’t always lead to where they thought they would. The twentieth-century socialism of Stalin and the USSR is a clear example of this. But socialism exists in many forms – just consider the liberal social democracies of Sweden and Western Europe. Socialism remains a difficult concept to pin down, but these blinks give you an idea of what it means, and why it remains as relevant as ever in the twenty-first century.

In the following blinks, you’ll learn

what surplus value is;
what Sweden and Cuba have in common; and
why socialism remains more important than ever.

Although there’s no single definition of “socialism,” the forms it’s taken over the years share a number of characteristics.

What do you think when you hear the word socialism?

For many, the term “socialism” is often reduced to its most infamous incarnation – the long-lived USSR and its brutal dictator, Joseph Stalin.

However, the USSR’s Stalinism is far from the only form that socialism can take. Indeed, socialism has taken many forms since it first arose in the nineteenth century. Consider the huge difference between Cuba and Sweden. The former is a communist single-party state; the latter, a parliamentary social democracy. Although the two nations are a world apart politically, each has a system of government that stems from socialist ideals and is rooted in a number of common socialist characteristics.

The most overarching principle guiding all forms of socialism is the goal to create an egalitarian society. And although various forms disagree on how to achieve this, they all agree that society’s inequalities in income and power stem from the economic system that dominates the world today: capitalism. To varying degrees, socialists of all stripes have sought to remove the structural barriers put in place by capitalism – specifically, the ownership of capital by a small elite – so that all members of society can prosper equally.

Beyond this overarching characteristic, socialists of all shapes and sizes believe in the possibility of creating an egalitarian society founded upon human solidarity. This optimistic belief is rooted in a fundamental assumption: that human beings are by nature cooperative, not competitive.

But how would such an egalitarian system be brought about? Well, all socialists concur that such a system must come about via conscious human agency. It won’t happen naturally; human action is required. In other words, if people want change, they must be the agents of that change.

Now that we have an idea of what binds socialists together, let’s delve into how the ideology developed. It’s time to head back to the nineteenth century, a time of industry and progress.

The growth of capitalism in nineteenth-century Europe gave birth to socialism, and Karl Marx became its most famous proponent.

In the early 1800s, huge leaps in technology led to the industrial revolution. Across the West, new factories and industries sprang into being. As a result, masses of people who’d previously lived in cooperative, rural communities were crowded into poorly planned cities. The conditions were dreadful, cramped and filthy. To survive, residents were forced to compete with each other for factory jobs that paid measly wages.

Many welcomed these changes, hailing them as signs of progress. Others, angry at the extreme poverty and inequity inherent to this new industrial system, were less pleased. These disillusioned thinkers and activists gradually banded together under the banner of “socialism.”

Near the turn of the twentieth century, socialism was mainly divided into two diverging schools of thought.

By the end of the nineteenth century, all mass socialist organizations essentially agreed on the importance of reducing – or abolishing – economic inequality and of promoting human cooperation and solidarity.

But a gap in Marx’s philosophy led to growing disagreement among socialists about exactly how to implement socialism.

While Sweden’s social democracy is one of the most successful in history, it is by no means without problems.

By the 1920s, socialism was struggling. Social democratic parties in democracies such as Germany were being frozen out of government, despite winning elections, and totalitarianism – in the form of Stalinism and fascism – was growing increasingly powerful. It seemed that socialism was in retreat.

But one nation bucked the trend: Sweden.

Cuba’s communist state has, against all odds, succeeded in implementing socialist policies.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Caribbean island nation of Cuba experienced a very different form of socialism than Sweden. Unlike Sweden’s democratic route to a socialist society, Cuba’s journey began in 1959 with a revolution overthrowing US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

One of the revolution’s leaders, Fidel Castro, quickly began implementing a distinct Cuban form of socialism that he branded humanism. This ideology centered on policies such as agrarian reform, anti-imperialism and rent reduction. Directly after the revolution, about 15 percent of the nation’s wealth was transferred from landowners to laborers and peasants.

Although the current outlook for socialism seems bleak, it remains more important than ever.

Capitalism is the most powerful system today. In the last 30 or so years, neoliberalism – a form of capitalism that advocates the deregulation of markets, privatization and austerity – has been on the march.

To understand why neoliberalism is so influential today, we need to look back to its first few years of domination.

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What is Socialism about?

Socialism (2005) is a dash through the history of the term after which the book is named. Socialism has played an important role over the past 200 years of human history, but its original goal of achieving an egalitarian society has, in recent decades, been somewhat forgotten. This book is a thorough tour of socialism’s history. It’s also an exploration of the various ways the word has been implemented and a guide to ways we might use it in the future.

Socialism Review

Socialism (2019) by Michael Newman explores the history, theory, and practice of socialism. Here's why this book is worth reading:

It provides a balanced and comprehensive overview of socialism, giving readers a clear understanding of its principles and impact.
Through in-depth analysis and case studies, the book explores the successes and failures of socialist movements throughout history, offering valuable insights.
By addressing contemporary debates and challenges, it shows the relevance and potential of socialist ideas in today's world, making it a compelling read for all.

Who should read Socialism?

Anyone tired of their unstable economic condition
Students of politics, economics or history
Those who want more information on a commonly misunderstood term

About the Author

Michael Newman is a professor of politics at London Metropolitan University. His other books include Ralph Miliband and the Politics of the New Left and Democracy, Sovereignty and the European Union.

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