SOCIALIST MODE OF
PRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
• This topic examines the nature and functioning
of a socialist society.
• It further examines its relationship to the
communist mode of production.
• Specifically, attempts were made to identify
the background to a classless society
uninhibited by the intricacies of private
property.
Socialism
• The classic of Marxism-Leninism discovered
the laws governing the emergence,
development and collapse of capitalism by
studying the course of economic development
of society.
• Socialism is a middle ground between laissez-
faire capitalism and central-planning model as
evident in communism
Socialism Cont’d
• The victory of the Great October Socialist
Revolution in Russia in 1917 ushered in a new
era in the development of human society and
showed that capitalism had outlined itself,
that capitalist relations of production had
become a major brake on the development of
the productive forces.
October (Bolshevik) Revolution-1917
• Led by VIadmir Lenin:
– “Peace, Bread, and Land”
– Popular with peasants
• Began a Civil War in Russia from 1917-1923—
ultimately overturned the Provisional Government
and created the Soviet Union in 1922
• A new society known as socialism was built for the
first time ever in the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republic (USSR).
Socialism Cont’d
• Marx had always been optimistic that capitalism must
inevitably give way to the new society which he referred
to as Socialism.
• He further contended that the replacement of
capitalism by socialism cannot, however, take place
spontaneously.
• The only way that an end can be put to the bourgeoisie
system is through a nationwide struggle, a proletarian
revolution that deprives the capitalist and their
supporters their power and the opportunity to oppress
and exploit the proletarian class
Socialism Cont’d
• As such, he maintained that socialism cannot
be realized without revolution.
• It needs destruction and dissolution.
• Revolution is needed in order to eliminate
private ownership i.e. to take all the basic
means of production out of the hands of the
capitalist and the bourgeoisie state and
transfer them to the whole nation, to establish
public socialist ownership.
The transition from capitalism to socialism is governed
by laws common to all countries that set out building
socialism.
• These are:
• Conquest of political power by the working class and
establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariats.
• A union of the working class and the bulk of the
peasantry and all other strata of the working people.
• Elimination of capitalist property and establishment of
public ownership of the means of production.
• A gradual socialist transformation of agriculture on the
basis of cooperation as practiced in the Kibbutz
system in Israel.
• Planned balanced development of the national
economy geared to building socialism and communism
and raising the working peoples’ standard of living.
• A socialist revolution in spheres of ideology and culture
and the creation of a numerous intelligentsia devoted to
the working class and the working people, as well as the
cause of socialism.
• Elimination of national oppression and establishment of
equality of rights and fraternal friendship between
nations.
•
• Consolidation and development of the
socialist state, defence of the gains of
socialism against attacks by external and
internal enemies, and
• Solidarity of the working class of a given
country with that of other countries, i.e.
proletarian internationalism.
• Nationalization of the means of production.
Samuelson and Nordhaus (2002) identified the following features as characteristics of socialism:
1.Government Ownership of Productive Resources.
• Socialists traditionally believed that the role of
private property should be reduced.
• Key industries such as railroads and banking should
be nationalized (that is, owned by the state).
• However, the enthusiasm of state-owned
enterprises has ebbed in many developed
democracies in recent times as a result of their poor
performance
2.Planning.
• Socialists are suspicious of the chaos of the market
place and question the allocational efficiency of the
invisible hand.
• They insist that a planning mechanism is needed to
coordinate different sectors.
• In recent years, planners have emphasized subsidies
to promote the rapid development of high-
technology industries, such as micro electronics,
aircraft manufacture and biotechnology; these
policies are sometimes called “industrial policies”.
3.Redistribution of Income
Inherited wealth and the highest incomes are to be
reduced by the militant use of government taxing
powers; in some West European countries, marginal
tax rates have reached 98%.
Government social security benefits, free medical
care and cradle to grave medical services paid for with
progressive taxes increase the well-being of the less
privileged and guarantee minimum standard of living.
4.Peaceful and Democratic Evolution
Socialists often advocate the peaceful and gradual
extension of government ownership- evolution by
ballot rather than revolution by bullet.
•
Communism
• From generation to generation, working people
have dreamed of a happy life, free from slave
labour for exploiters.
• Nevertheless, this dream was not to come true for a
long time.
• People did not know the way to liberation.
• The great leaders of the working class Marx, Engel’s,
and Lenin showed them the way to a bright future
for mankind, that is, the Religion of Communism,
that is, a religion without a god).
Communism cont’d
• extreme form of socialism in which “all
people” own the means of production as the
state “withers away” and produces a classless
society
Communism cont’d
• Proponents of this ideology maintain that
communism fulfils the historic mission of
freeing all people from social inequality, from
all forms of oppression and exploitation,
from the horrors of war, and establishes
peace, labour, freedom, equality, fraternity
and happiness for all people on earth.
Communism cont’d
• Indeed, in the Manifesto of the Communist
Party,
Marx and Engels proclaimed as follows:
“Workers of All Nations Unite… You Have
Nothing to Lose but Your Chains.”
In its evolution, the communist society passes
through two stages in its development: the first
called socialism, and the second, higher stage,
called communism
Communism cont’d
• The ultimate goal of the working people’s
liberation struggle in all countries is to build
Heaven in communism.
• Consequently, Lenin proclaimed that as we
begin socialist reforms, we must have clear
conception of the goal towards which these
reforms are in the final analysis directed, that
is, the creation of a communist society.
Communism cont’d
• Marx, Engels and Lenin were of the view that
the communist socio- economic formation,
which replaces capitalism, will not appear all
at once in its final form.
• They maintained that the communist society
cannot be built immediately after the working
class has seized political power.
Communism cont’d
• The building of communism requires
considerable time and hard work by the
working class, peasantry and intelligentsia.
• Society cannot transfer to communism
directly from capitalism.
• It makes the transition from capitalism to
socialism because of a resolute struggle and
only then can socialism develop into
communism.
Communism cont’d
• Lenin noted that the only scientific distinction
between socialism and communism is that the
first term implies the first stage of the new
society arising out of capitalism, while the
second implies the next and higher stage.
• The development of socialism leads to the
second, higher phase-that of communism.
This socialism and communism are two stages
or phases of the same epoch
Communism cont’d
• Describing the two phases of the communist
socio-economic formation in his work, A
Critique of the Gotha Programme, Marx wrote
that socialism and communism constitutes
different stages in the economic maturity of
the same mode of production.
Communism cont’d
• The first stage is socialism, which will be
followed by communism.
• Under socialism, Marx insist that this stage is
not a complete communist society that has
developed on its own basis, but one that
retains in every respect, the blemishes
(economically, morally and intellectually) of
the old society.
Karl Marx’s theory of Communism
• Karl Marx- German philosopher, supported
the establishment of socialism and
communism.
• Wrote the “Manifesto of the Communist
Party” along with Friedrich Engels.
• Marx was unhappy with capitalism and the
negative aspects of industrialization (Most
significantly, the unfair exploitation of the
working class.
Marx’s communist ideas…continued
• He believed that a select few in society controlled
most of the wealth and were taking advantage of the
working class (Long hours, low pay, miserable working
conditions, etc.)
• Marx believed that history could be explained
through class struggle
• Marx was convinced that history would pass through
certain phases (I.E. Feudalism, Capitalism, Socialism)
until finally a Communist society would emerge
•
Marx’s communist ideas…continued
• Idea: that History is shaped by ECONOMIC
FORCES (the way goods are produced and
distributed)
• CLASS STRUGGLE has always existed
between the “haves” and the “have nots”
– In industrial times the “haves” are the
bourgeoisie/middle class capitalists; the “have
nots” are the wage earning laborers
Marx’s communist ideas…continued
• The social class that holds the economic power
also controls the government for its own
advantage… (class wealth = class power)
• Middle class shrinks (small businesses are
ruined by capitalist giants)
• Working class GROWS as masses of poor
labor at the mercy of a small, rich elite class
How communism is supposed to happen
• Poverty and desperation drive MASSES of
workers (proletariat) to:
– seize control of the government and the
means of production
– destroy the capitalist system
– wage a VIOLENT REVOLUTION
– establish a “dictatorship of the proletariat”
After the “dictatorship of the proletariat”
occurs
• All property and the means of production are
owned by “the people”
• All goods and services are “shared equally”
• A “classless society” emerges
• the “state withers away”
Communist Paradise
Cartoon shows Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Joseph Stalin, resting on a cloud labeled
"Communist Paradise," looking down in dismay at Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev
leading a funeral procession bearing a coffin labeled "Communism ."
Effects of Marxist thought
Formation of socialist political parties
Advocate and support revolutions
Push for work reforms
Fight against “capitalism
Communists take over Russia
Communism used by revolutionaries
Dictatorships of Communist Party leaders
No communist paradise established
anywhere
Communist Countries
• As of 2010, there are five one-party communist
nations:
People's Republic of China
Republic of Cuba
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(North Korea)
Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos)
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
The central features of the communist society are summarized as follows:
• Dictatorship of proletariat
• Abolition of private property
• Existence of a classless society
• The state withers away as an instrument of
oppression
• Social surplus will be shared from everyone
according to ability to everyone according to
need.
African Socialism
• 'African socialism’: political project,
dedicated to the construction of a socialist
state, rooted in tradition
• African socialism as a way to find
‘indigenous form of development’. However,
concept understood and implemented
differently
• Congo Crisis and ‘Neo-Colonialism’
Congo Crisis and ‘Neo-Colonialism’
arrest of Patrice Lumumba
Congo cont’d
• The arrest of Patrice Lumumba, September
1960.
• Shortly afterwards, Lumumba was flown to
Katanga and murdered.
• His murder had far-reaching consequences,
heightening fears of ‘neocolonialism’ in
Africa
African Socialism: Ghana
• No nationalisation but establishment of
state-owned enterprises
• 1958: Trip to the USA. Support for the Volta
River Project
• 1961: Nkrumah moves to the left: state
planning and management of economy,
‘scientific socialism’, authoritarianism
• February 1966: Nkrumah toppled in coup
African Socialism: Tanzania
• 1961-63: Focus on rural development -
Modernization Theory and World Bank support
• Nyerere dissatisfied with pace of change
• 1967: Arusha Declaration = mass resettlement
into ujamaa villages. Initially brought better
access to gov services, health, education, clean
water
• Many unwilling to participate: 5 million forcefully
resettled into communal villages 1973-1975
Revision Questions
• Highlight the differences between socialism
and capitalism?
• What are the features of a socialist society?
• What are the features of communism?
• Socialism is a radical departure from
communism. Discuss.
