Socialism and Utopian Socialism

Socialism

Definition

Socialism is a system of social and economic organization based on ownership and collective or state administration of the means of production. It is also a philosophical and political theory developed by the German philosopher Karl Marx and the political movement striving to establish this system.

Socialism advocates for the regulation of economic and social activities by the state and the distribution of goods. According to its conception, management control should reside with the producers or workers themselves, and democratic control of civilian political structures should be exercised by the citizens.

History and Evolution

The definitions of socialism have varied throughout history and depending on the perspective. Its doctrine has been associated with the common good, social equality, and state intervention, for example.

Socialism originated as an anti-capitalist system, although in recent decades, new movements have begun to express nuances. Politically, its intention is to build a society without subordinate classes, either through revolution, social reforms, or institutional reforms.

Changes to traditional socialism became apparent after the Second World War, the Cold War, and later with the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Since then, socialist regimes have adopted more flexible positions.

Currently, countries such as Cuba, China, North Korea, Libya, and Vietnam identify as socialist.

Anarchism

With roots in the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, anarchism advocates for the liberation of individuals from any political, ideological, religious, economic, social, or legal authority. It seeks a society without power or authority.

Communist anarchism believed that to achieve social freedom, individuals must sacrifice some of their personal freedom. Economic and individual freedom would be achieved through community organization of the means of production and labor, along with communal sharing of products (to each according to their needs).

Generally, anarchists were strongly opposed by Marxist socialists, whom they considered authoritarian. Anarchists advocated for all oppressed people, not specifically the working class and the industrial proletariat. They rejected political organization and action, did not view revolution as the result of an organizational process but as the product of a constant, spontaneous struggle, and opposed any type of state, including the “dictatorship of the proletariat” and the labor rule advocated by Marx.

Utopian Socialism

Utopian socialism is a term that designates a heterogeneous set of social reform doctrines that emerged in the early nineteenth century, prior to the rise of Marxism and anarchism, in response to the serious problems brought about by the triumph of industrialism and liberalism in Europe.

The most prominent representatives of this movement were Robert Owen in England and Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Étienne Cabet in France. Some common features can also be found in the insurrectionary Gracchus movements of Babeuf, Filippo Buonarroti, and Auguste Blanqui.

The different currents of utopian socialism were either disbanded or integrated into the broad hegemony of the socialist movement from the International Workingmen’s Association (1864-1876) by the ideas of Marx and Bakunin. However, they left a significant mark, particularly on cooperatives, social democracy, the hippie movement, state capitalism, environmentalism, feminism, social eco-villages, and Christianity.

Charles Fourier and the Phalanstery

During the 1820s, Charles Fourier developed his proposal to create agro-industrial establishments that would bring together around 1,600 people, housed in a purpose-built building. They would work the surrounding land and share the profits from sales. The community would ensure general services, and everyone would work, including children, but the work would be attractive rather than arduous. Members of the phalanstery would choose the work they liked; no task would last more than two hours, but the workday would be extensive. Fourier was an advocate of “attractive labor,” an idea later developed by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.

According to Fourier’s design, the phalanstery would be created with private investment, and the borrowed money would be returned without interest. In turn, members of the phalanstery would receive a salary for the work performed, but not everyone would receive the same pay. Talent would be especially rewarded. This formed the triangle of interests that Fourier envisioned: capital, talent, and labor.

The sharing of profits without a capitalist or financier reserving the most income would allow the entire phalanstery to earn far more money than any employer. The apportionment of investment and savings produced by the socialization of individual services (food, clothing, housing) would greatly enhance profits. The genuinely attractive industry would yield four times more revenue than the “false industry.” Thus, according to Fourier, a single phalanstery could serve as an example, and capitalists would gradually invest more in new phalanstery ventures than in individuals. In a few years, the whole world would be dominated by economic partnership.

Fourier developed a classification of historical periods. The nineteenth century was the “civilization” where the proliferation of phalansteries would lead to “guarantees.” But beyond that, when phalansteries no longer competed with individual capital, the world would reach “harmony,” an ideal society where everyone would be free, economically, legally, culturally, and sexually.

Robert Owen and Cooperative Farms

Robert Owen began as a reformer of industrial work. In his own factory, he implemented measures beneficial to workers, such as the elimination of arduous tasks and the maintenance of salaries during periods of reduced sales.

Later, he proposed “cooperative farms” (villages of cooperation), which also encompassed industrial enterprises but were primarily focused on agriculture. Initially, he devised a plan to solve unemployment, but it soon evolved into a method of social regeneration. Collective farms would serve the function of generating a new moral and educational space, which, for Owen, were the two most important factors corrupted by people in society.