Socialism

Socialism Definition

• As defined by Merriam Webster, socialism is any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods

Socialism Definition

• Alternative to capitalism
• Believed human society should be organized as a community
• Favored the new productivity of industrialism

A group of writers known as Utopian Socialist questioned the capitalist structure during the mid 1800s.

Other forms of socialism developed during this period:
Saint-Simonianism, Owenism, Fourierism, and Marxism.

Saint-Simonianism

• Believed modern society would require rational management.

Owenism

• Believed that if human beings were placed in the correct surroundings, they and their character could be improved.

Fourierism

• Believed social discipline ignored all the pleasures human beings naturally seek.

Marxism

• used Hegel's philosophy, the political economy of Adam Smith, Ricardian Economics, and 19th century French socialism to develop his (Karl Marx) take on society and how it should be

Significant People

Karl Marx & Friedrick Engels

• 2 early founders of socialism who came from the German middle class
• Advocated the abolition of private property, not a rearrangement of society
• Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto
• Engels wrote The Condition of The Working Class in England

Significance in the 19th century

• Socialism was a new political ideology to emerge in the 19th century among the more dominate ideologies of Liberalism and Conservatism

Significance in the 19th century

• It was very influential on the politics of the time because it cared about and focused on improving social and political conditions for society as a whole.
• It was unlike the current capitalist ways which focused on an "every-man-for-himself" ideology

Primary Sources

• Das Kapital:A Critique of Political Economy ... by Karl Marx