Pol Sci

Spring SEMESTER 2024

//module 1 question

// IMP: Diff b/w liberals (state as necessary evil) and anarchists( state as unnecessary evil)

//IMP Q: Central idea of liberalism, anarchism and conservatism

2 questions in anarchism

1 question on anarchism + conservatism

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// Liberalism as an ideology is promoting - Liberal state, constitutionalism, liberal democracy

Module 1: INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES

Ideology is ...a system of definite views,ideas,conceptions,and notions adhered to by some class

or political party.

Definition:

Key ideological battlegrounds:

● Role of govt.: Its role is to engineer progress or to encourage people to seek themselves
out.
● Role of the economy: it is to make sure that full employment or creation of wealth is imp
than growth or creation of jobs.
● The place of society: under his key battle, the society can be placed under individualism
or communitarianism. Society can be regarded as a collection of individuals or an
individual is just a lonely member of society.
● Foreign Policy: Under this ideo battle, to what extent can foreign policies can go beyond
the borders of the respective state.

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Individual (Right) ……..State (left)

15th FEB

Marxist and non-marxist view

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New ideologies

● Multiculturalism
● Feminism
● environmentalism

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Marxist view of political ideo.: Marxist use of the term and the interest shown in it by later
generation of marxist thinkers largely explains the prominence ideology enjoys in modern social
and political thought. Later generation of marxist, showed a greater interest in ideology than
Marx himself. This largely reflects the fact that marxist confident prediction of capitalism’s
doom prove to be highly optimistic encouraging later marxist to focus on ideo as one of the
factors explaining the unexpected resilience of the capitalist mode of production. In particular, all
classes came to be seen to possess ideologies.

Within the marxist tradition, Antonio Gramsci strengthen the notion of ideology and power
through his theory of hegemony of a consensual historical block.

Non- Marxist view: One of the earliest attempts to construct a non-marxist concept of ideo was
undertaken by the german sociologist Karl Manheim. He defended a particular social order and
expresses the interest of the dominant or the ruling group where he considered marxism,
liberalism capitalism and islamic fundamentalism as total ideologies.

Features of ideology

1. Ideology contains an explanatory theory of a more or less comprehensive kind of human

experience and of the external world.
2. It sets out a program, in generalized and abstract terms of social and political
organizations.
3. It seeks not merely to persuade but to recruit loyal adherence, demanding what is
sometimes called commitment.
4. It addresses a wide public but may tend to confer some special role of leadership on
intellectuals.
5. It provides a worldview to help structure of how the world politics should be understood
and explained.
6. It also establishes political identities and gives meaning in identifying friends and foes in
the international system.

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 7. It provides or motivates a course of action and propels social missionary into action for
change.

Ideologies of old to new

● New ideologies have emerged as some of the potent ideo have faded in significance, and
all ideologies have gone through a process of sometimes radical redefinition and renewal.
Political ideology arose out of a transition from feudalism to industrial capitalism. While
liberalism championed the cause of individualism, market and initially minimal govt.,
conservatism stood in defence of the older regime and socialism advanced the diff.
Visions of society based on community, equality and cooperation. Finally liberalism was
the ideo of the rising middle class, conservatism was the ideo of the aristocracy or
nobility and socialism was the ideo of the growing working class.

Liberalism

● Middle class ideology

● 14th century - present

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

The term ‘liberal’ has been in use since the 14th century but has had a wide variety of meanings.
The latin word ‘libe’ referred to a class of free men which were neither serfs nor slaves. It also
came to be associated increasingly with ideas of freedom and choice. The central theme of liberal
ideology is a commitment to individual and desire to construct a society in which people can
satisfy their interest and achieve fulfillment. Liberalism as a developed ideology was the product
of the breakdown of fedualism in Europe and the growth in its place of a market or capitalist
society. The English revolution of the 17th century and the American revolution of 1776 and the
French Revolution of 1789 each embodied elements that were distinctively liberal even though
the word liberal at that time was used in the political sense. Liberals challenged the absolute
power of the monarchy supposedly based on the doctrine of the divine right of Kings. The 19th

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century was in many way the liberal century. As industrialization spread throughout western
countries, system of industrial capitalism first developed in the UK and from mid 18th century to
North America and rest of Europe. In the 20th century, industrial capitalism exerted a powerful
appeal in developing state in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

22nd FEB

Features/tenets of Liberalism

1. Individualism: In the modern world, the concept of the individual is so familiar that its
political significance is often overlooked. In the feudal period there was little idea of
individuals having their own interest or possessing personal and unique identities.
However as feudalism was displaced by increasingly market orientated societies,
individuals were confronted by a broader range of choices and social possibilities. They
were encouraged to think for themselves and were encouraged to grow in their personal
life. Immanuel Kant expressed a similar belief in the dignity and equal worth of human
beings in his conception of individuals as ends in themselves.

Later liberals have held a more optimistic view of human nature and have been more
prepared to believe that individualism and egoism can be tempered by a sense of social
responsibility.

2. Justice: It denotes a particular kind of moral judgment in particular one about the
distribution of rewards and punishment. In short justice is about giving each person what
he/she is due. The liberal theory of justice is based on a belief in equality of various
kinds. The most imp form of formal equality are legal and political equality. Liberals also
believe social equality to be undesirable because people are not born the same. Each
person possess diff talents, skills and some are prepared to work much harder than others.
They also believe that it is right to reward merit. This leads to belief in a meritocratic
society.
3. Freedom: (Choice) A belief in the supreme importance of the individual leads naturally to
a commitment to individual freedom. Individual liberty is for liberals the supreme

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 political value and in many ways the unifying principle within liberal ideology. For early
liberals, liberty was a natural right and essential requirement for leading a truly human
existence. It also gave individuals the opportunity to pursue their own interest by
exercising choice i.e. the choice of where to live, for whom to work, what to buy and so
on.
4. Reason: The liberal case for freedom is closely linked to a faith in a reason. Liberalism is
and remains very much part of the enlightenment project. The central theme of the
enlightenment was the desire to release humankind from its bondage to superstition and
ignorance and unleash an age of reason. Thinkers like Roussou, Immanuel Kant, Adam
Smith and Jeremy Bentham influenced liberalism in a no. of ways. In the first place it
strengthened its faith in both the individual and freedom to the extent that human beings
are rational thinking creatures and are capable of defining and pursuing their own best
interest.
5. Toleration: The liberal social ethic is characterized very much by a willingness to accept
and it some cases celebrate moral, cultural and political diversity. Indeed the acceptance
of pluralism can be said to be rooted in the principle of individualism. The liberal
preference for diversity has been associated more commonly with toleration. Sympathy
for toleration and diversity is also linked to the liberal belief in a balanced society which
is not riven by fundamental conflict.

Liberalism as an ideology is promoting (imp for exams)

● Liberal State
● Constitutionalism
● Liberal democracy

Classical Liberalism

It was the earliest liberal tradition, classical liberal ideas developed during the transition from
feudalism to capitalism, and reached their high point during the early industrialisation of the 19th
century. The cradle of classical liberalism was the UK where the capitalist and Industrial

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Revolution were the most advanced. However classical liberalism is not merely a 19th century
form of liberalism whose ideas are now only of historical interest. Its principles and theories in
fact have had growing appeal from the second half of the 20th century onwards.

Classical Liberal ideas have taken a variety of forms but they have a no. of common
characteristics

1. Classical Liberals subscribe to egotistical individualism. They view human beings as

rational self interested creatures with a pronounced capacity for self reliance. (Targeted
by other ism)
2. It believes in negative freedom where the individual is free in so far as he or she is left
alone, not interfered with or coerced by others.(‘’)
3. The state is regarded at best as a necessary evil. It is necessary as it lays down the
conditions for orderly existence and it is evil as it imposes a collective will on society
whereby limiting the freedom and responsibilities of the individual
4. Classical liberals have a broadly positive view of civil society as it not only deemed an
arena of freedom in comparison to the state which is an arena of coercion. ( a little
different)

Varieties of doctrines of classical liberalism

1. Social Darwinism (Survival of the Fittest): one of the distinctive features of classical
liberalism is its attitude to poverty and social equality. Those with ability and a
willingness to work will prosper, while the incompetent or the lazy will not. ( Q; Are
people actually lazy or because they don’t have the resources or are poor? )
2. Natural Right(Human Rights)- Life and liberty for American thinkers and property too
for UK thinkers.
3. Utilitarianism( Majoritarianism)(J S Mill, Jeremy Bentham)
4. Economic Liberalism (Adam Smith- wealth of nations)(Criticism by Keynes)
5. Neoclassical (1970s)

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20th century- positive liberals- instead of social darwinism, replace it with social liberalism.
Economic liberalism should be modified (welfare state- given to keep a check on marxist
ideology).

Imp: classical and modern plus comparison in contemporary times with all thinkers.

5th March

Conservatism

Edmund Borke

Ronoald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher

Introduction: Origin and Development

The term conservative has a variety of meanings as it can refer to moderate or cautious behavior,
a lifestyle i.e. conventional, or a fear of or refusal to change particularly denoted by the verb ‘to
conserve’. Conservatism was first used in the early 19th century to describe a distinctive political
position or ideology. In the US, it implied a pessimism of public affairs while in the UK,
conservative gradually replaced the Tories as the principal opposition party.

Examples: USA, UK IRan’

The US has been influenced relatively little by conservative ideas. The US system of government
and its political culture deeply reflects established liberal and progressive values and politicians
of both major parties i.e. republican and democrats have traditionally resented being labeled
conservative. However since the 1960s conservative views have been expressed by elements
within both parties which was supported first by Roanld Reagan and later by George W Bush.
(Donald Trump too)

Europe
As conservative ideology arose in reaction to the French Revolution and the process of

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modernization in western europe, it is less easy to identify political conservatism in western
europe.

In Africa, Asia and Latin America, political movements have developed the sort to resist change
and preserve traditional ways of life but they have seldom employed specifically conservative
arguments and values.

Features of COnservatism

● Tradition
● Property
● Human irrationality
● Order and hierarchy (authority)
● Organic Society

7th March

Major conservative themes

1. Human Nature: pessimistic view(kinda like Thomas Hobes)

For Edmund Burke and other conservatives, they have a pessimistic of human nature
which is rooted in the Christian Doctrine of the ‘Fall of Man’. as a consequence of
disobedience to divine command, human nature is flawed i.e., greedy, irrational, selfish
and power hungry. Improvements to human behaviour and hence to society as a whole
requires religious references and Gods grace rather than philosophy and rational action.
Indeed one must see the very severely limited scope of politics in society as far as social
improvements are concerned. Nevertheless flawed human nature needs to be constrained
so as not to damage society.

2. Organic View of Society

Society or perhaps more accurately the nation is essentially organic in its nature, a kind of
living creature developing according to its own laws and to specific historical and

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 cultural circumstances. Individuals are the ‘cells’ that make up the nation, each having a
vital role to play in its well being. This analogy of society with a living organism has
proved to be of fundamental importance to conservatives. This view can however lead to
a dislike and suspicion of foreigners and immigrants who are seen as alien bodies
infecting the national organism and undermining social cohesion and homogeneity. While
most conservatives would reject racism, they would also reject multiculturalism as
divisive and stress the need for immigrants to assimilate into national culture.

3. A believe in patriotism

Conservatives stress their love of country implying that they are more patriotic than their
opponents. The nation with its distinctive, cultural, history and identity in second, only to
the family, as the natural unit of human society and having a similar emotional he can
demand huge sacrifice from its members. Often explicitly or not, conservatives doubt the
patriotism of their opponents and desire the foreigners of their ideas.

Tradition is very important to conservatives as it is a collection of values, myths and

attitudes of mind and beliefs that make up the common neutral baggage for what gives
motion its character.

It also encourages to shape its future, past glories, military victories and even defeats.
Heros and villains, all play their part. Tradition binds the people together, creating that
sense of organic identity, linking individuals to the nation.

4. Property- high regard

The ownership of property gives independence and dignity to individuals relieving of

complete dependence from the state. It also acts as another checks and balance in the
society on the power of the state.

Inheritance and passing on of wealth linked all individuals of the society with their past
and future. Underpinning order and emphasize the continuity of society.

Different Schools of Thought under Conservatism

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 1. Authoritarian conservatism- all conservatives would claim to respect the concept of
authority however few modern conservatives would accept that their views are
authoritarian nevertheless while contemporary conservatives are keen to demonstrate
their commitment to democratic particularly liberal democratic principles, there is
tradition within conservatism that has favoured authoritarianism especially in europe after
the French Revolution.
2. Paternalistic conservatism: Paternalism literally means to act as a fatherly fashion. As a
political principle, it refers to the power of authority being exercised over others with the
intention of conferring benefit or preventing harm. While continental conservatives
adopted an attitude of uncompromising resistance to change, a more fexible and
ultimately more successful Anglo-American tradition can be traced back to Edmund
Burke.
3. Christian Democrats: Interventionists policies were also adopted by the Christian
Democratic parties that were found in various parts in Europe after 1945. The most
important of these were Christian Democratic Union in Germany and Christian
Democratic party in Italy. These new forms of conservatism was committed to political
democracy and influenced by the social tradition of catholicism. As protestism is
associated with the idea of spiritual salvation through individual effort, its social theory
has often been seen to endorse individualism.
4. Libertarian conservatism: Although conservatism draws heavily in pre-industrial ideas.
The ideology has also been much influenced by liberal ideas, especially classical liberal
ideas. This is sometimes seen as late 20th century development and the new right have in
some way hijacked conservatism in interest of classical liberalism.

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 ANARCHISM

The word anarchy comes from the Greek word ‘Anarkos’ which literally means ‘without rule’.
The term anarchism has been in use since the French revolution and was initially employed in a
critical or negative sense to imply or breakdown of civilized or predictable orders. In everyday
language anarchy implies chaos and disorder. It was not until P.J. Proudhon proudly declares in
his book ‘What is property” that he is an anarchist.

Anarchist ideology is defined by the central belief that political authority in all its forms and
especially in the form of the state is both evil and unnecessary. The core value of anarchism is
thus unrestricted personal autonomy. Anarchists believed that the state is unnecessary evil
because order and social harmony can arise naturally and spontaneously and do not have to be
impose from above through government. This character of anarchists is highly optimistic about
human nature.

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IMP: Diff b/w liberals (state as necessary evil) and anarchists( state as unnecessary evil)

Origins and Developments of Anarchism

Anarchists ideas have sometimes been traced back to Taoist or Zen-buddhist ideas. In 1864 P.J.
Proudhon’s followers joined with Karl Marx followers to set up the First International which
however, collapsed in 1871 because of the growing antagonism between the marxists and the
anarchists led by Mikhail Bakunin.

In the late 19th century, anarchists sought mass support amongst the landless peasants of Russia
and southern Europe (Spain, Italy) and more successfully through anarcho-syndicalism among
the industrial working classes, Syndicalism was popular in France, Italy and Spain and it helped
to make anarchism a genuine mass movement in the early 20th century. It also emerged in Latin
America in the early 20th century especially in Argentina and Uruguay and the anarchist ideas
also influenced the Mexican Revolution led by Emiliano Zapata. The victory of general Franco
in the spanish civil war brought an end to anarchism as a mass movement. The spread of
authoritarianism and political repression gradually undermined anarchism in both Europe and
Latin America. Hence, it is tempting to regard anarchism as an ideology of less significance
because of its inability to prove itself capable of achieving power and reshaping abilities. The
nearest anarchists have come to winning power was during the Spanish civil war when they
deeply controlled parts of eastern Spain and they set up peasants collective throughout Catalonia
(Barcelona).

Central Features/ Tenets of Anarchism

● Statism- anti state/ authority

● Utopianism- ideal concept
● Anti clericalism - anti church/ religion
● Economic freedom- market freedom(free market)

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 1. Statism: The anarchists case against authority is simple and clear that is authority is an
offense against the authority and freedom of equality. Anarchism is unique in that it
endorses absolute freedom and unrestricted political equality. Since human beings are
free and autonomous creatures, to be subject to authority means to be diminished to have
one’s essential nature suppressed and thereby scummed to debilitating dependency.
Anarchists reject a liberal notion that political authority arises from voluntary agreement
through one form of social contract and individuals become subject to state authority,
either by being born in a particular country or through conquest. For the Russian born, or
US born Emma Bolman, government was symbolized by ‘the club, the gym, the handcuff
or the prison’.
2. Utopianism: Anarchists not only regard the state as evil but also believe it to be
unnecessary. William Godbin sought to demonstrate this its effect turning the most
celebrated justification for the state that is social contract theory on its head. The social
contract arguments of Hobbes and locke suggest that a stateless society that is the state of
nature amounts to civil war of each against all, making orderly and stable life impossible.
Only a sovereign state can restrain such impulses and guarantee social order. In short
order is impossible without law. Godwin in contrast suggested that human beings are
essentially rational creatures, inclined by education and enlightened judgement to line in
accordance with universal moral laws. He does believe that people have a natural
propensity to organise their own lives in a harmonious and peaceful fashion. Therefore,
government is not the solution to the problem of order but its cause.
3. Anti-clericalism: cleric word signifies ‘relating to religion’. Religion is considered a
pillar of the state. Although the state has been the principle target of anarchist hostility,
the same criticism applies to any form of compulsory authority. Indeed the anarchist have
sometimes expressed as much bitterness towards the church as they have towards the
state. This perhaps explains why anarchism has prospered in countries with strong
religious traditions such as catholic Spain, France, Italy and many other countries of
Latin America. The idea of God represents the notion of a supreme being who command
ultimate and unquestionable authority. For anarchists like P.J. Proudhon and Mikhail

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 Bakuin, have suspected that religious and political authority work hand in hand.
Anarchists view region as one of the state as it propagates an ideology of obedience and
submission to both spiritual leaders and earthly rulers.

21st March

Tradition and schools of Anarchism

Collectivist Anarchist

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The philosophical roots of C.S. sometimes called anarcho collectivism or social anarchism lie in
socialism rather than liberalism. Collectivism is in essence the belief that human beings are
social animal better suited to working together for the common good than striving for individual
self interest. C.S. stresses the human capacity for social solidarity. Anarcho collectivism has
taken a variety of forms and the most significant of these are:

1. Mutualism (Utopian concept of social collectivism):

The anarchist belief in social solidarity has been used to justify various forms of
cooperative behaviour. At one extreme it has lead to a belief in pure communism but it
has also generated the more modest ideas of mutualism associated with Pierre Joseph
Proudon. Unlike Marx, Proudon was not opposed to all forms of private property
distinguishing between property and what he called possession. In particular he admired
the independence and initiative of small communities of peasant, craftsman and artisans
especially the watchmakers of Switzerland who had traditionally managed their affairs on
the basis of mutual cooperation. Proudon’s followers tried to put these ideas into practice
by setting up mutual credit banks in France and Switzerland which provided cheap loans
for investors and charged a rate of interest only high enough to cover the cost of running
the bank but not so high that it made a profit. Eg Amul in India

2. Anarcho Syndicalism (AS)- Trade Union

Although mutualism exerted significant influence within the broader socialist movement
in the late 19th century and early 20th century, anarchism only developed into a mass
movement in its own right in the form of AS. It is as form of revolutionary trade
unionism drawing its name from the French word ‘syndicat’ meaning union or group.
Syndicalism emerged first in France and then spread to Italy, Latin America, USA and
more significantly Spain where the country’s largest union the ‘CNT’ supported them.
Syndicalist theory drew on socialist ideas and advanced accrued notion of class wars.
Workers and peasants were seen to constitute oppresses class and on the other side
industrialist, landlords, politicians, judges and the police were portrayed as exploiters.

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 Workers could defend themselves only by organising syndicates based on particular
crafts, industries or professions.

3. Anarcho Communism

AC is rooted in highly optimistic beliefs about the human capacity for cooperation
expressed most famously by Peter Kropotkin’s theory of mutual aid. Whereas Herbert
Spencer has used Darwinism to support the ideas that humankind is naturally competitive
and aggressive, Kropotkin argued that species are successful precisely because they
manage to harness collective energies through cooperation. Under this the human species
for Kropotkin has a strong propensity for mutual aid and favours cooperation over
competition.

IMP Q: Central idea of liberalism, anarchism and conservatism

2 questions in anarchism

1 question on anarchism + conservatism

27th March

INDIVIDUAL ANARCHISM

● Egoism- Nihilism
● Libertarianism
● Anarcho-Capitalism

Believe in extreme liberalism

extreme individualism (egoism and Libertarianism)

// talking about individual communes

1. Egoism: The German philosopher Michelle Stirner was deeply influenced by the ideas of
Hegel but the two arrived at fundamentally different conclusions. Stirner’s theory
represents an extreme form of individualism where the term ‘egoism’ can have two

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 meanings. The first, it can suggest that individuals are essentially concerned about their
ego or their self, an assumption that would be accepted by thinkers such as Hobbes or
Locke. Whereas in Stirner’s view egoism is a philosophy that places the individual self at
the center of the moral universe. The individual from this perspective should simply act
as he/she choses without any consideration for laws, social conventions, religious or
moral principles. Such a position amounts to a form of nihilism. This is the position that
clearly points in the direction of both atheism and extreme form of individualist
anarchism. // criticism- too much focus on individual
2. Libertarianism: the individualist argument was more fully developed in the USA by
Libertarian thinkers such as Henry David Thoreau, Benjamin Tucker and Lysander
Spooner. In his most famous political work ‘Civil Disobedience’ written in 1849, H.D.
Thoreau approved of Thomas Jefferson’s liberal motto that government is best which
governs the least but in his own anarchist sentiment Thoreau said that government is best
which does not govern at all. For him individualism leads in the direction of civil
disobedience i.e. the individual has to be faithful to his/her conscience and do only what
each believes to be right regardless of the demands of society or the laws made by the
government. This also led him to disobey a US government he thought was acting
immorally both in upholding slavery and waging war against other countries.
3. Anarcho-Capitalism: The revival of interest in free market economies in the late 20th
century led to increasingly radical, political conclusions. Anarcho-capitalists like Murray
Rothbard, Ayn Rand and David Frieman have pushed free market ideas to their limit and
developed a form of Anarcho-capitalism. They have argued that the government can be
abolished and be replaced by unregulated market competition. Anarcho-capitalists go
well beyond the ideas of free market liberalism. Liberals believe that the market is an
effective and efficient mechanism for delivering most goods but argued that it also has its
limits. Anarcho-capitalist however believe that the market can satisfy all human wants.

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17th April

No liberalism

Religious fundamentalism

29th April

SOCIALISM

-not against the state or rich, capitalism or buorgeoise (but communism is)

-not against liberalism

- China is a smart player of socialism

Origins and Developments

Socialism arose as a reaction against the social and economic conditions generated in Europe by
the growth of industrial capitalism. Socialist ideas were quickly linked to the development of a
new but growing class of industrial workers who suffered poverty and degradation. Although
socialism and liberalism have common roots in the enlightenment period, socialism emerged as
critique of liberal market society and was defined by its attempt to offer an alternative to
industrial capitalism.

Early socialist like Charles Fourier in France, Owen in UK, the Germans like Karl Marx and
Engels sought a radical revolutionary alternative to industrial capitalism.

By WW1 the socialist world was clearly divided between those socialists parties that have sought
power through the ballet box and those that proclaimed a continuing need for revolution. The
russian revo of 1917 enhanced the split following the socialist examples of Lenin and the
Bolsheviks who usually adopted the term communism while reformist socialist described their
ideas as socialism or social democracy. The 20th century witnessed the spread of socialist ideas
into African. Asian and Latin american countries. Socialism in these countries often developed

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out of the anti colonial struggle rather than a class struggle, creating a potent fusion of socialism
and nationalism.

( socialist nationalism, conservative nationalism and fascism nationalism)

30th April

Central ideas

1. Community
2. Cooperation
3. Equality /
4. Class struggle
5. Common ownership

Community

Socialism offers a unifying vision of human beings as social creatures capable of overcoming
social and economic problems by drawing on the power of the community rather than a simple
individual effort. This is a collectivist vision because it stresses the capacity if human beings for
collective action, their willingness and ability to pursue goals by working together. Socialist
therefore regard human beings as comrades tied to one another by the bonds of a common
humanity which is expressed as the principle of fraternity. In the long standing philosophical
debate about whether ‘nurture’ or ‘nature’ determines human behavior, socialist side relosultelty
with nurture. All skills and attributes are learnt from society according to the socialist.

Cooperation

If human beings are social animals, socialist believe that the natural relationship among them is
one of cooperation rather than competition. Socialist believe that competition pits one individual
against another, encouraging each of them to deny or ignore their social nature rather than

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embrace it. As a result competition fosters only a limited range of social attributes and instead
promotes selfishness and aggression.

Here socialist disregard in theory the idea of capitalism rewarding individuals for the work they
do i.e. the harder they work the greater their rewards will be. The moral incentive for socialist to
work hard is the desire to contribute to the common good.

//very utopian/idealist concept because ultimately you're looking for your individual benefit not
the common society.

//problematic idea

Equality

A commitment to equality is in many respects the defining feature of socialist ideology. Socialist
egalitarianism is characterized by a belief in social equality or equality of outcome. They
advance three arguments in favor of this form of equality

1. Social equality upholds justice or fairness. Socialist believe that the most significant
forms of human inequality are a result of unequal treatment by society rather than
unequal endowment by nature. Equals are treated equally by society in terms of their
reward and material circumstances.
2. Social equality underpins community and cooperation. IF People live in equal social
circumstances, they will be more likely to identify with one another and work together
for common benefit. Equal outcomes therefore strengthen social solidarity.
3. Socialist support social equality because they hold that ‘need satisfaction’ is the
basis for human fulfillment and self realization. (imp exams) karl Marx expressed this
in his communist theory of distribution ‘ from each according to his ability to each
according to his needs’. (need- justifly contributed by you in the society……socialist
contest about need satisfaction.

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Communism v. socialism

2nd May

Class Politics

White collar and blue collar (middle class) //communism does not want to identify middle
class-have and have nots

Fiedal castro

Socialist class politics have been expressed in two ways, firstly social class is an analytical tool
in which the pre-socialist societies, believed that human beings tend to think and act together
with others with whom they share a common economic position or interest. In other words social
classes rather than individuals are the principal actors in history and therefore provide the key to
understanding social and political change. The second form of socialist class politics focuses
specifically on the working class as they are seen as the vehicle through which socialism will be
achieved.

Socialist have been divided about the nature and importance of social class

1. Marxist tradition: in this class is linked to economic power and from this perspective
class division is between capital and labor i.e. owners of productive wealth(bourgeoisie)
and those who lv=ive of the sale of their labor power(proletariat).
2. Social democrats on the other hand defined social class in terms of income and status
differences between white collar and blue collar workers.

The link between socialism and class politics has declined significantly since the mid 20th
century due to the consequence of deindustrialization reflected in the decline of traditional labor
intensive industries.

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Common ownership

Socialist have often traced the origins of competition and inequality to the institution of private
property by which they usually mean productive wealth or capital rather than personal
belongings. This attitude to property sets socialism apart from liberalism and conservatism which
regard property ownership as natural. Socialist criticized private property for a number of
reasons:

1. Property is unjust where wealth is produced by the collective effort of human labor and
should therefore be owned by the community.
2. Socialist believe that property breeds acquisitiveness
3. Property is divisive because it fosters conflict in society.

When Lenin and Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in 1917 they believed that socialism
could be built through nationalization. This process was not completed until the 1930a
when Stanlin's second revolution witnessed the construction of a centrally planned
economy……state collectivisation. Common ownership came to mean state ownership
and the soviet union thus developed a form of state socialism. And in countries like India,
where nationalization has been applied selectively there is a construction of a mixed
economy.

9th May

ROAD TO SOCIALISM

1. Fundamentalist (revolutionary socialism) early 19th century (perception-strong socialist)

Vietnam, cuba, Mao Zadong
2. Reformist (evolutionary socialism) (weak socialist) late 19th century and early 20th
century- world war period (welfarism) (fabianism)

Social democracy (early-late 19th and early 20th cen and late- 21st)

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Timeline of socialism (search imp)

Fundamentalist early 19th century-- revisionist till 2nd ww- 1970s 80s-21st century(3rd
wave/way) vacuum created-filled by right wing conservatives etc

Two major issues have divided competing traditions and tendencies within socialism. The
principal disagreement here is between fundamentalist socialism and revisionist(reformist)
socialism represented respectively by the communist and social democratic traditions.

Revolutionary Socialism

Many early socialist believed that socialism could only be introduced by the revolutionary
overthrow of the existing political system and accepted that violence would be an inevitable
feature of such a revolution.

During the 19th century, revolutionary tactics were attractive to socialist for two reasons.

1. The early stages of industrialisation produced stark injustice as the working masses were
afflicted by grinding poverty and widespread unemployment
2. The working classes have few alternative means of political influence and were almost
everywhere excluded from political life. Autocratic monarchies were dominated by
landed aristocracies and constitutional and representative govt. Restricted the right to
vote by a property qualification of middle classes.

Evolutionary Socialism

By the late 19th century the urban working class had lost its revolutionary character. Wages and
living standards had started to rise and the working class had begun to develop a range of
institutions (trade unions, political parties eg german socialist party, italian socialist party, Uk
labor party) that both protected their interests and nurtured a sense of belonging within industrial
society. The Fabian society formed in 1884 took up the cause of parliamentary socialism in the
UK. They were led by people like Webbs, Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells. In their view socialism
would develop naturally and peacefully out of liberal capitalism and this would occur through a

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combination of political action and education. Fabian's ideas also had an impact on the German
socialist democratic party, Australian labor party, italian socialist party and the French socialist
party. This resulted in the commitment to pursue a democratic road to communism.

SOcial Democracy (early and late)

As an ideological stance social democracy took shape around the mid 20th century resulting
from the tendency among western socialist parties not only to adopt parliamentary strategies but
also to revive their socialist goals. In particular they abandoned the goal of abolishing capitalism
and instead wanted to reform or humaise it. However, since the 1970s and 80s social democracy
has struggled(even today) to retain its electoral and political relevance in the face of the advance
of neo-liberalism and changed economic and social circumstances. This was due to the failure of
Keynesian social democracy and also the recession during this period created strains within
social democracy. Today there is a third way to the idea of social democracy and they been
sometimes termed as neo-revisionist.

FASCISM anti- capitalist feminist

Hitler, Mussolini, Nethyanu, Putin< MOdi

Core themes

1. Anti rationalism
2. Struggle
3. Leadership and elitism

Facism is deeply elitist and fiercely patriarchal. Its ideas were founded upon the belief
that absolute leadership and elite rule are natural and desirable. First and most
importantly, there is a supreme all powerful leader who possess unrivaled authority.
Second there is a warrior elite exclusively male and distinguished traditional elites having

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 a vision and a capacity for self sacrifice.Thirdly there are masses who are weak and
ignorant and whose destiny is unquestioning obedience to the supreme leader.

4. Socialism
5. Ultranationalism

29th May

Feminism

//question on politics of sex and gender

//Mary Wollstonecraft

//J.S. Mill

Ideology- 20th century(1960s) before that it was mostly political movement

1st wave- Suffrage

2nd wave- Politics of Personal (kate Millet- sexual Politics) (radical or revolutionary feminist)

3rd wave-

Origin and Deve

As a political term, feminism was a 20th century invention and has only been a familiar part of
everyday language since the 1960s. Feminist ideology is defined by two basic believes that
women are disadvantaged because of their sex and this disadvantage can and should be
overthrown. In this way feminist have highlighted what they see as a political relationship
between the sexes, the supremacy of men and subjection of women in most if not all societies.
The first text of modern feminism is usually taken to be Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A vindication of
the Rights of Women”. This period is usually referred to as first wave feminism and was
characterised by the demand that women should enjoy the same legal and political rights as men.

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Female Suffrage was its principal goal. The famous Seneca Falls convention held in 1848
marked the birth of the US women's rights movement. First wave feminism ended with the
achievement of Female suffrage introduced first in New Zealand followed by US, Uk amongst
others. However 2nd wave feminism acknowledged that the achievement of political and legal
rights have not solved the women's question

Core Themes

1. Politics of identity (redefining the political)

2. Patriarchy
3. Sex and Gender
4. Equality & Difference

Politics of identity (redefining the political)

Politics has usually been understood as an activity that takes place within a public sphere of .
Modern feminist on the other hand insist that politics is an activity that takes place within all
social groups and it exist whenever and wherever social conflict is found. Kate Millet defined
politics as power structure relationship, arrangements whereby one group of person is controlled
by another. This relationship can be seen in the family between husbands and wife, parents and
children etc. feminist have therefore sought to challenge the divide between public men and
private women

Patriarchy

Feminist views the concept of patriarchy to describe the power relationship between men and
women. Patriarchy is therefore commonly used in a broader sense to the rule by men both within
the family and outside. Kate Millet says that patriarchy is a hierarchical society characterized by
both sexual and generational oppression. However there is an acceptance that patriarchy has diff
forms and degree of oppression faring from diff cultures and diff times.

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