Socialism refers to a political and economic theory advocating common ownership of resources. Key aspects include democratic control of production, distribution, and exchange to meet human needs rather than for profit. It emerged in response to poverty under capitalism. Early theorists like Saint-Simon, Fourier, and Owen proposed cooperative communities, while Marx emphasized class struggle and revolution to establish socialism. Democratic socialism gained popularity after WWI as socialist parties participated in government in Europe. Features include public ownership, central planning, and equality, while drawbacks involve reduced freedom and bureaucracy.

1. SOCIALISM
FEBINA V RAHOOF

2. INTRODUCTION
 Central to the meaning of socialism
is common ownership. This means the
resources of the world being owned in
common by the entire global population.
 But does it really make sense for
everybody to own everything in
common? Of course, some goods tend
to be for personal consumption, rather
than to share. People 'owning' certain
personal possessions does not
contradict the principle of a society
based upon common ownership. Then
what does socialism mean for?

3. Socialism
 A political and economic theory of
social organization which advocates
that the means of production,
distribution, and exchange should be
owned or regulated by the community
as a whole.


4.  Socialism is a social and economic
system characterised by social
ownership and democratic control of
the means of production as well as a
political theory and movement that
aims at the establishment of such a
system

5. Democratic control
 Democratic control is essential to the
meaning of socialism. Socialism will
be a society in which everybody will
have the right to participate in the
social decisions that affect them.
These decisions could be on a wide
range of issues—one of the most
important kinds of decision, for
example, would be how to organize
the production of goods and services.

6. Production
 Production under socialism would be
directly and solely for use. With the
natural and technical resources of the
world held in common and controlled
democratically, the sole object of
production would be to meet human
needs. This would entail an end to
buying, selling and money. Instead, we
would take freely what we had
communally produced. The old slogan of
"from each according to ability, to each
according to needs" would apply.

7. Socialism’s emergence
 Liberal political parties in 19th century
Europe failed to address the
desperate needs of working people.
◦ Classical liberalism views poverty as an
individual choice or failure, not the result
of social structures. Also suspicious of big
government.
◦ Socialism provides a different conception
of individual responsibility & of
government

8. Labour Party
 In England, socialism
became a political
movement in 1884, with the
creation of the Fabians, who
provided the basis for the
new Labour Party

9. Socialism’s principles
• Egalitarianism or
equality. Humankind will be unified
and cooperative, once wealth is
owned and used for the common
good. Capitalism exploits the very
people who create society’s wealth.
• Moralism. Division of rich & poor is
evil; capitalism is fundamentally
unjust. Instead, the ideal future
emphasizes peace, social justice and
true liberty for all.

10. Social democracy
 A variation on socialism that argues
that socialism and democracy can
work together. Example: British
Labour Party.
 Change comes through peaceful
democratic processes like elections.
 Democratic governments should
promote economic - as well as political
- freedom & equality.

11. The Early Theorists
 Socialism arose in the late 18th and early 19th
cent. as a reaction to the economic and social
changes associated with the Industrial
Revolution. While rapid wealth came to the
factory owners, the workers became increasingly
impoverished. As this capitalist industrial system
spread, reactions in the form of socialist thought
increased proportionately. Although many
thinkers in the past expressed ideas that were
similar to later socialism, the first theorist who
may properly be called socialist was Francois
Noel Babeuf, who came to prominence during
the French Revolution. Babeuf propounded the
doctrine of class war between capital and labor
later to be seen in Marxism.

12.  Socialist writers who followed Babeuf,
however, were more moderate. Known
as "utopian socialists," they included
the comte de Saint-Simon
Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen

13. Comte de Saint-Simon
 Saint-Simon proposed that production
and distribution be carried out by the
state. The leaders of society would be
industrialists who would found a
national community based upon
cooperation and who would eliminate
the poverty of the lowest classes.

14. Charles Fourier, and
Robert Owen.
 . Fourier and Owen, though differing in
many respects, both believed that
social organization should be based
on small local collective communities
rather than the large centralist state of
Saint-Simon. All these men agreed,
however, that there should be
cooperation rather than competition,
and they implicitly rejected class
struggle.

15. LOUIS BLANC
 Following the utopians came thinkers such as
Louis Blanc who were more political in their
socialist formulations. Blanc put forward a
system of social workshops (1840) that would
be controlled by the workers themselves with
the support of the state. Capitalists would be
welcome in this venture, and each person
would receive goods in proportion to his or
her needs. Blanc became a member of the
French provisional government of 1848 and
attempted to put some of his proposals into
effect, but his efforts were sabotaged by his
opponents.

16. Marxists
 In the 1840s the
term communism came into use to
denote loosely a militant leftist form of
socialism; it was associated with the
writings of Etienne Cabet and his
theories of common ownership.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels later
used it to describe the movement that
advocated class struggle and
revolution to establish a society of
cooperation.

17. Karl Marx
 German political thinker
in 19th century.
 Did most of his work in
Britain.
 Influenced by German
philosopher Hegel.
 Published Communist
Manifesto in 1848 with
co-author Frederick
Engels.
 Wrote multi-volume
Capital (Das Kapital),
starting in 1867.

18. Marx’s key ideas
1. Slave system gave way to feudal
economy
2. Feudal economy broke down with
growth of manufacturing, towns,
navigation & transportation,
emergence of middle class
3. Industrial capitalism emerged, with
only two classes: proletariat and
bourgeoisie.

19. Bourgeois
Bourgeois: modern capitalists who
own the means of production and
therefore get to keep all the profits.
Today, this would include major
stockholders in corporations

20. Proletarians
Proletarians: modern wage laborers
who sell their labor to live and don’t
get any of the profits that they help to
create.
This includes everyone who is not a
stockholder or owner of capital, even
professionals who work for a salary

21. Democratic Socialism
 Democratic socialism took firm root in
European politics after World War I. Socialist
democratic parties actively participated in
government in Great Britain, Germany,
Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other
nations. Socialism also became a powerful
force in parts of Latin America, Asia, and
Africa. To the Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru
and other leaders of independence
movements, it was attractive as an alternative
to the systems of private enterprise and
exploitation established by their foreign
rulers.

22.  After World War II, socialist parties came to
power in many nations throughout the world, and
much private industry was nationalized. In Africa
and Asia where the workers are peasants, not
industrial laborers, socialist programs stressed
land reform and other agrarian measures. These
nations, until recently, have also emphasized
government planning for rapid economic
development. African socialism has also included
the revival of precolonial values and institutions,
while modernizing through the centralized
apparatus of the one-party state. Recently, the
collapse of Eastern European and Soviet
Communist states has led socialists throughout
the world to discard much of their doctrines
regarding centralized planning and

23. Features of socialism
 Public Ownership
 Central Planning
 Definite Objectives
 Freedom of Consumption
 Equality of Income Distribution
 Planning and the Pricing Process

25. Merits of socialism
 Greater Economic Efficiency
 Greater Welfare due to Less
Inequality of Income
 Absence of Monopolistic Practices
 Absence of Business Fluctuations

26. Demerits
Of
socialism

27. Demerits of socialism
 Loss of Consumers’ Sovereignty
 No Freedom of Occupation
 Bureaucratic

28. CONCLUSION
 In socialism, everybody would have free
access to the goods and services designed
to directly meet their needs and there need
be no system of payment for the work that
each individual contributes to producing
them. All work would be on a voluntary basis.
Producing for needs means that people
would engage in work that has a direct
usefulness. The satisfaction that this would
provide, along with the increased opportunity
to shape working patterns and conditions,
would bring about new attitudes to work.

29.  There is no doubt that a socialist
economy is better than a capitalist
economy because of its overwhelming
merits. But it is disliked for the loss of
political, economic and personal
freedoms.

30. References
 Wikipedia
 Britanicca ready reference
encyclopedia.
 Illustrated family encyclopedia.