State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Lesson : State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Lesson Developer: Pushpa Kumari
College/ Department: Miranda House, University of Delhi

Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi

 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Table of Contents:

Title of the Chapter: State Socialism: Meaning, Growth

and Development

 Introduction
 Topic 1: Meaning and Development of the Concept
1.1 Marx and Engels’ Concept of Socialism
1.2 Politics Behind the Nomenclature
 Topic 2. Structure of State Socialism
2.1 Common Ownership and Collectivisation
2.2 One Party State and Centralized Political Control
2.3 Central Planning and Economy
 Topic 3. State Socialism in Some Countries
 Topic 4. Critical Evaluation
 Summary
 Conclusion
 Glossary
 Exercise: Questions For Consideration
 Questions with Explanations
 References

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Introduction
The intellectual spectrum of Political science has produced two main discourses- the
Liberal and the Marxist. Ideologically both appear juxtaposed to each other as they differ
in terms of conceptualisation of the society, the sate and virtually everything that
constitute our political and social world. There are variants in both these streams of
thoughts, State Socialism being one of the variant of Marxism. In contemporary times
Socialism or state Socialism1 as a concept has provoked many reactions from different
scholars, some highlighting its emancipatory potential, while others criticising it for being
a closed system and some debunking it all together. But the fact of the matter is that
State Socialism still remains one of the desirable goals if laced with more humane and
sensitive policies. Communism or Socialism became one of the defining global ideologies
of the 20th century, which provided the foundation of politics, economics, and the society
in almost two dozen countries.2

State Socialism denotes a particular pattern of political and economic arrangement in a

society. It is seen as an economic model, usually linked to some kind of collectivisation
and planning.3 Broadly speaking, it stands for state ownership of means of production,
nationalisation of industries and public property, prohibition on private ownership and
such policies that we will discuss later on in this chapter. Although socialist ideas can be
traced back to seventeenth century or Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) or even to Plato’s
Republic, Socialism did not take shape as a political creed until the nineteenth century. 4

Value addition Did you Know

The term ‘Socialist’ derives from the Latin word sociare, meaning to
combine or to share. It was familiarised in 1830s by the followers of
Robert Owen in Europe. However, the intellectual legacy of the term
Socialism can be traced back to Plato’s Republic (324BC) and Thomas
Moore’s Utopia (1516) .

Topic 1. Meaning and Development of the Concept

Socialism is a concept that finds place in the thoughts of many political philosophers and
theorists ranging from Karl Marx to Robert Owen, many a times denoting slightly
different things. Benjamin Tucker, the American individualist anarcho-socialist, in his

1
The term state socialism has been popularly being used since 1970s to denote different kinds of regimes that
followed the tenets of public ownership in the society. Since then the term state socialism has synonymously
been used for Socialism. This has been explained in the later section in this chapter.
2
McCormick, (2007), Comparative Politics in Transition, Wadsworth, p.195.
3 rd
Heywood, Andrew, 2004, Political Ideologies: an Introduction, Palgrave, Macmillan, 3 ed. P. 107.
4 nd
Heywood, Andrew, Politics, Palgrave, Macmillan, 2 edition, p.51.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

essay titled ‘State Socialism and Anarchism’ defined it as a tendency that advocates for
government control over the means of production as a precondition for establishing
socialism. Socialism also signifies a transitory state between Capitalism and Communism
where the proletariat has expropriated the means of production, but the state and
alienation had not yet vanished.5 It arose as a reaction against the social and economic
condition generated in Europe by the growth of industrial capitalism. 6

Value addition-Know it more

To know more about the State Socialism and Anarchism,you may go to

http://www.panarchy.org/tucker/state.socialism.html

Historical roots of this idea can be traced in the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin,
Mao Zedong, Saint Simon, Thomas More, Charles Fourier, Robert Owen, Eduard
Bernstein, Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb etc. However there are considerable
differences among all scholars in terms of the meaning they assign to this concept.
Among the early advocates of this field, More provided subtle critique of private property
and favoured a fair distribution of goods to create a harmonious society. Saint Simon
believed that free economic competition produced poverty and crisis. Charles Fourier
showed his conviction in co-operatives and communes. He thought that government’s
work should be restricted to economic administration only. The extreme view was taken
by Joseph Pierre Proudhon who offered scathing criticism of private property and called it
a kind of theft.

Value addition-Refine your understanding

To know more about the different variants like Fabian socialism, you may go to :

The basis of socialism- historic by Sidney webb

http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Shaw/shwFS1.html#The%20Basis%20of%20Socialism,

%20Historic,%20by%20Sidney%20Webb

Karl Marx’s understanding of communism carries heavy philosophical undertones. Lenin,

on the other hand defined it in terms of a set of principles to organise and run a society
in a particular way. For Mao, this term offered a platform to be experimented in his
country in indigenous ways. He clearly provided a local appeal to the concept making it
more practical and suitable for his own society. The role of workers as outlined by Marx
was replaced by the farmers as China did not witness industrialisation till that time. At
the same time the ideas emanating from the Western Europe projected a very different
and sober variant of Socialism. Reformists like Eduard Bernstein virtually challenged all
of Marx’s central tenets including the idea of revolution, the dictatorship of the

5
Roberts, Andrew (2004), The State of Socialism: A Note on Terminology, Slavic review, vol. 63, no.2, P.352
6 rd
Heywood, Andrew, 2004, Political Ideologies: an Introduction, Palgrave, Macmillan, 3 ed. P. 105.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

proletariat and the complete abolition of private property. The content of western variant
of socialism emphasise civil rights, democracy, people’s participation, evolutionary
changes etc. The western variant is widely known as the liberal democratic socialism.

In the field of socialism, Lenin’s name carries great significance. Lenin (1870-1924),
perhaps has been the most ardent follower of Marxism. But he adapted it to suit the
predominantly peasant population of Russia. Whereas Marx believed that revolutionary
socialism would come to industrialised countries through workers; Lenin believed that it
could also come to less industrialised countries such as Russia. 7 Necessary precondition
for this was the mobilisation of peasants, ethnic minorities, and other aggrieved groups.
Lenin added several original ideas to socialism such as the ‘Vanguard party’,
‘Democratic Centralism’, his idea of ‘imperialism as the highest stage of
capitalism’ and ‘Comintern’.

Similarly Mao Zedong remoulded the tenets of Marxism producing one of the great
achievements in the field. It applied this theory to rural societies and used a peasant
army and revolutionary guerrilla warfare to take power. His initiatives found
reverberations in the movements led by Fidel Castro in Cuba and Guevara in Bolivia and
Ho Chi Minh.

Value addition Did you know

Robert Owen (1771-1858) was an entrepreneur and a political
thinker who attempted to implement the socialist policies by
setting up co-operative commune based on the principle of
equality of income. He created a communal society at New Lanark
in Scotland and New Harmony, Indiana, USA where residents
enjoyed similar food, clothing and education. Later on he also
became one of the founders of British Socialism.
The philosophy of Marxism or Communism as given by Marx and
Engels basically came as a reaction to Industrial Capitalism, a
mode of production based on the private ownership and driven by
profit maximisation. Capitalism developed along side industrial
revolution that overtook Europe, mainly England in 16th century.
It replaced the feudal mode of production of the medieval world
and witnessed the emergence of a new class: the Working Class.
Marxist philosophy takes this antagonism between these two
classes; the capitalist class and the working class as its reference
point.

7
McCormick, (2007), Comparative Politics in Transition, Wadsworth, p.205.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-

1883)

German philosopher, economist

and political thinker and father of
20th century Communism. His
prominent works include The
philosophy of Poverty, (1840),
Communist manifesto (1848), The
Critique of Political Economy, Das
Kapital (Three volumes, 1867,
1885, 1894), The Economic and
Philosophical Manuscript,(1844),
On Jewish Question, (1843),
Theses on Feuerbach (1845).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx

1.3 Marx and Engels’ Concept of Socialism

Karl Marx propounded a set of doctrines that is known by his name as Marxism or
Communism which perhaps has become one of the most important political philosophies
in the study of politics. Without question the most influential of all socialist and
communist theorists was Karl Marx.8 In fact, Marxist philosophy resulted in creation of
socialist political systems in almost half part of the world in the twentieth century. Marx
has been a prolific writer, who has written tremendously on the rise of industrial
capitalism in Western Europe, its expected demise and its replacement with the
communist form of governments. Frederich Engels has been his lifelong collaborator and
co-author of many of works by Marx. They shared similar intellectual convictions and
nurtured friendship that help Marx sustain through the financial troubles plaguing his life.

8
McCormic (2007), Comparative Politics in Transition, Wadsworth, p.203.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Frederich Engels (1820-1895). Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Engels

Value addition-surf and know more

To understand the Engel’s perspective on Socialism,you may read from:

Socialism:Utopian and Scientific,on Marxist.org:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/ch01.htm:

Marx saw capitalist society as unequal and unjust society which flourished at the cost of
the working class. The dynamics of industrial capitalism produces two classes: the
capitalist class and the working class. The capitalist class owns the mode of production
and expropriates the resources of the society to further its own interests. The goal of the
capitalist or bourgeoisie class lies in maximising its profit or surplus generated by
exploiting the working or proletariat class. The working class is compelled to slog for
long working hours, have no share in the surplus, and lose all control over their
creativity and their lives. This leads to alienation in the working class. Since the interests
of both these classes are hostile to each other, there is ongoing class war in capitalist
societies. This is explicit in the famous lines of Karl Marx, as he says the history of all
societies hitherto is the history of class struggle. In other words, Marxism argued that
history is narration of class struggle between two diagonally opposite classes. It is the
private property which is the malefactor and responsible for all social divisions and
exploitation in the society. Individual ownership is despised as it leads to an unequal and
oppressive social order. Industrial way of life in Western Europe has been the exemplifier
of this reality. In fact, Marx thought that bourgeoisie class’ control is so encompassing
that the state also acts as the “executive committee of the ruling Bourgeoisie”. Therefore
once he said that “the theory of communism may be summed up in one sentence:
“Abolish all private property.”9

The way out is the revolution that will overthrow the existing capitalist mode of
production by the communist mode of production. Marx believed that the capitalism
harboured inherent contradictions due to which it was doomed to collapse. On one hand
capitalism has higher development of forces of production; on the other hand, within
them exist most efficient forms of class exploitation and highest development of human

9
McCormic (2007), Comparative Politics in Transition, Wadsworth, p.203.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

alienation.10 Because the workers are paid so poorly, their purchasing power will be
limited, causing overproduction and under consumption leading to periodic crises. 11
These self-contradictions in capitalism will lead to crumbling of such system under its
own pressure, thought Marx. The annihilation of capitalism will give way to socialism. In
the Socialist mode of production state/ public ownership would replace private ownership
of major means of production, conscious public planning would replace the anarchy of
capitalist decision making, and social equality would progressively replace class
inequality.12 Marx believed that when the polemics in the society will reach its extreme,
revolution will become inevitable. Following that, the proletariats class will seize power
establishing ‘the dictatorship of the proletariat’. Socialism will be a transitory stage
leading to establishment to communist society. This society will be a classless, non
exploitative society in which the state will wither away. There will be equal opportunities
for all, and enough for everyone. The guiding principle will be “from each according to
his abilities, to each according to his needs”.13

Ironically his predictions did not come true. There could never emerge that assumed
surge of working class against the capitalist class as workers and labour unions won
concessions on the working conditions and voting rights in the times of Marx itself. On
the contrary, later on, capitalism in different countries explored various ways to avert
such crisis and survived by co-opting the working class. Examples are Market-led
capitalism, Negotiated/consensual capitalism, Developmental state forms of capitalism
being practiced in many countries of Europe. For example Social market capitalism
followed by Germany’s obliges the capitalists to generate strong sense of job security
and other incentives for the workers.

Value addition Did You Know

The Marxist doctrine found its practical manifestation in the Russian
Revolution (1917) under the leadership of V. I. Lenin. It resulted in
creation of a Soviet Union that came very close to the tenets of
Marxism and lasted for almost four decades. It also started an
ideological war between the Communist Bloc headed by Soviet
Union and the Capitalist Bloc led by America. Therefore the collapse
of Communism in USSR in 1991 led to the “End of History” debate,
suggesting that this demise also implies the triumph of capitalism
world over. This notion was popularised by Francis Fukoyama in his
1989 essay The End of History? Of course there are various
interpretations of this assumption.

10
Russel, James W. (1989) Modes of Production in World History, Routledge, London and New York, p.110.
11
McCormic (2007), Comparative Politics in Transition, Wadsworth, p.203.
12
Ibid, p.156.
13
McCormic (2007), Comparative Politics in Transition, Wadsworth, p.203.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

1.2 Politics Behind the Nomenclature:

When we pay attention to the history of the use of the term state socialism, there arise
some confusion. The term has been used simultaneously for stringent political regimes
like erstwhile Soviet Union as well as for welfare oriented social democratic regimes of
Western Europe. This ambiguity surrounding the term has been highlighted by Andrew
Roberts. He says that the different shades of scholars and political regimes that may not
share things in commonality use this term without deeper reflection. It has led to the
vagueness attached to the concept leaving readers to guess what exactly it signifies!
This term has been equally rendered in use by the Soviet Socialists as well their more
liberated and relaxed western counterpart. The term Socialism seems to have fallen prey
to what political scientist Giovanni Sartori calls ‘conceptual stretching’. It means that the
term has been made to cover all sorts of thing that originally would not have been the
goal. Also, the use and misuse of the term looks like what one may call ‘conceptual
emptying of Communism’14. The practices of many societies that call themselves socialist
actually have only a residue of dreams of emancipation of Marx. In his preface to the
English edition of the Communist Manifesto of 1888, Engels explained why he and Marx
had called their theory ‘Communist’ rather than ‘Socialist’. He believed that the term
‘socialist’ was associated with adherents of the various Utopian systems: Owenites in
England, Fourierist in France or with multifarious quacks who profess it without
questioning capital and profit.15

Value addition-Refine your understanding

To know more about the nature and fate of Socialism in Eastern Europe,you may explore on:
Levesque,Jacques (1997).The Enigma of 1989:The USSR and the Liberation of Eastern
Europe.University of California Press..

http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft4q2nb3h6/

In fact, the dubiousness of the term is exposed more if one closely looks at the way this
term has been used in Eastern Europe. All the leaderships in Soviet politics alone have
functioned contrary to the letter and spirit of the meaning of socialist state as it was
envisioned by the socialist theorists. In Soviet history, this term as been moulded
several times according to the exigencies of political executives. Stalin declared USSR to
be to become ‘Socialism in principle’ in 1936. His follower, Nikita Khrushchev decided
that it was actually in 1961 that socialism has been fully and finally attained in Soviet
politics. As far as the principles and the policies of this particular political system are
concerned, one finds no resonance with the quest of liberation that Socialism ideally
portrayed. After all, the secret lies that could not be kept secret behind the iron curtains,
got exposed to the world. The violent repressive regime of Stalin that caused gross
human rights violations, mass execution of political opponents, complete censorships
made headlines in all parts of the world. It appears that Karl Popper’s description of such
societies as closed society is not a farfetched argument. 16 Hence, such regimes have

14
Roberts, Andrew (2004), The State of Socialism: A Note on Terminology, Slavic review, vol. 63, no.2, P.357.
15
Brown, Archie The Rise and fall of Communism, Harper Collins e-books, p.21.
16
Karl Popper in his book “The Open Societies and its Enemies” (Routledge, London, 1945) proclaims Plato,
Hegel and Marx as totalitarian. He finds all these theorists as propounding ideas with dangerous
consequences. These philosophers have been accused of an attempt to comprise with liberty of individual,
giving the way in to the formidable politics systems.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

been termed as totalitarian, as they severely deny the fundamental civil and political
rights to their people. The state machinery is heavily centralised with the state having
the monopoly of violence its hands. Suppression of social, religious and cultural freedom
took place in the name of security of the state from the imagined spectre of capitalism.
Many scholars feel that ‘socialism’ became a grab that have been used to hide the
nefarious motives of un free regimes.17 Since such regimes needed to divert the
attention of the citizens from the impending danger of political crisis, therefore they
beseech a recluse in this term. In that sense, this term became a refugee to many
shades of polities who offered politically incorrect things on its platter.

However the above discussed is only one variety of state socialism that Andrew Robert
prefers to call as communism. The other variant that appears to be more humane and
synchronous with visions of Owen and Bernstein is the one that developed in Europe and
considerable changed its political landscape thereafter. In the post Second world war
period, many socialist parties emerged in the countries of Western Europe like France,
Belgium, Greece, Portugal and Spain. These parties had a mind, philosophy ad a
strategy of their own. They not only shunned the advocacies of ‘orthodox Marxism or
‘vulgar Marxism’ bur took off on a different journey. The social democrats of Europe
were reformist, gradualist and not revolutionary. Their ideological position clearly
separated them from their eastern counterparts. As such they did not believed in the
utopian idea of annihilation of capitalism as pronounced by Marx. Instead, they worked
within the capitalist system, trying to make it more working class friendly and eking out
social security measures. They adopted a more ambitious project of taming the free
market and bringing the social welfare measures with market economy. Being reformist
in their orientation, they appeared more in proximity to the people’s aspirations. In fact
their presence in these countries acted as a moral corrective, and a watchdog for their
governments. Their role in making the government more responsive and welfarist is
commendable in the Europe. Their contributions have been significant in the theoretical
domains of the Continental Philosophy. Even today, one of the two largest groupings of
deputies in the European parliament calls itself the party of European Socialists. 18

V. I. Lenin (1870-1924).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin

17
Unfree regimes imply those countries that regulate the political, economic, cultural and also personal lives of
the people. For example Soviet Union practiced great degree of censorship in its society and lives of its citizens
due to which it has been severely criticized.
18
Roberts, Andrew (2004), The State of Socialism: A Note on Terminology, Slavic review, vol. 63, no.2, P.357.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Notable Theorists in the field Important Works

of Socialism

Plato (428-348) B.C. The Republic (380 B.C.)

Robert Owen(1771-1858) A New View of society and other

Writings (reproduced in 1991).

Saint-Simon (1760-1825) An edition of his work was

published by the survivors of the
sect (47 Volumes, Paris 1865-
1878).

Charles Fourier (1772-1837)

Design For Utopia: Selected
Writings. Studies in Libertarian
and Utopian Traditions, New
Joseph Pierre Proudhon (1809- York, Schocken, 1971
1865)
What is Property? Or, an Inquiry
into the Principle of Rights and of
Karl Marx (1818-1883) Government (1840).

Communist Manifesto (1848)

Frederich Engels (1820-1895)
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific
(1880), The Origin of the Family,
Private Property and the State
Eduard Bernstein (1850-1932) (1884).

The Precondition of Socialism,

(1899), Evolutionary socialism: A
Sidney Webb (1859-1947) and Criticism and Affirmation (1961).
Beatrice Webb (1858-1943)

The Fabian essays in Socialism

Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979) (1889)

Reason and revolution: Hegel and

Rise of Social Theory (1941),
Louis Althusser (1918-1990) Soviet Marxism: A Critical
Analysis (1958).

Gerald Cohan (1941-2009)

For Marx (1965), Lenin and
Philosophy and other Essays
(1968).

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Karl Marx’ Theory of History: A

Defence (1978), History, Labour
and Freedom (1988).

Source: Self Creation.

Topic 2. Structure of State socialism

2.1 Common Ownership and Collectivisation

Many literatures of early communists reflected on the idea of common possession. In

early times common possessions were looked upon by many as ideal to be looked at.
The early Christians held everything in common. With in major religions like
Christianity, there have been strong voices in favour of common ownership. Jan Hus
is one such name from early 15th century who held radical views about papacy and
questioned its ambit of power. He was executed in 1415 but this led to rise of Hussite
kind of communism.19

Value addition Did you know

Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) is a very interesting description of
an imagined communist society. It advocated for abolishment of
private property altogether. More held private property responsible for
poverty, scarcity and unprecedented hardship that it brings to people.

 2.2 One Party State and Centralized Political Control

Generally, most of the political regimes that call themselves socialist or follow state
socialism organise themselves as one party state. It means that these states are
ruled by a single political party. This feature of monopoly of one party state became
trademark of Soviet Union, People’s Republic of China, People’s Republic of Hungary
and such other countries. The only party permitted in such societies are the
communist parties of these states. This communist party acts as the apex of political
life. The principle of Party as the Vanguard as proposed by Lenin is strictly followed.
The government is organised on the basis of the policy of ‘Democratic Centralism’. It
is difficult to identify party separately from government as party controls the
government. All executives and officials of the government are occupied by the
Communist party. Communist systems employ huge bureaucracy to carry on their
political and economic agenda. Over all, the system lacks transparency, and covert
operations are carried out to strictly control the state and society.

19
Brown, Archie The Rise and fall of Communism, Harper Collins e-books, p.13.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Most of the socialist systems developed formidable state structures. Like Soviet
Union constructed a police state: in which power is distributed and stability
maintained by force and intimidation and in which civil liberties are routinely
abused.20 Centralisation of government became an essential political character of all
communist societies. Resultantly, the power became highly concentrated in the
hands of an elite group who furthered their interest in the name of maintaining
socialism. A complex network of ‘social organisations’ are used by the party to gather
information and impose additional social control. The communist parties are cadre
based parties with wide membership and hierarchy. They socialise, indoctrinate and
mobilise masses to support and serve the system.

 2.3 Central Planning and Economy

One of the generic features of socialist political systems has been to have a highly
regulated economy. It meant state ownership of major means of production,
including banks, factories, large farms etc. Central planning was adopted to bring the
desired change in economy. The aim was to subsume societal production within one
enormous bureaucracy.21 This led to state-owned monopolies and centrally planned
command economy. This meant that the government completely controlled the
economy by controlling the price, rolling out the subsidies and guarding the
production process.

The objective of the central planning was to upgrade production to the level that
could take care of needs of all in the society. For example, Soviet leadership were
aware of the hardship and poverty in Czarist Russia. Therefore, the task was to
create abundance. The economy was geared up to generate enough resources for
basic amenities of food, shelter and to provide social security in terms of medical
care and education, transportation etc. In principle, the production in socialist
societies was driven by catering to the society rather than the market calculus of
capitalist societies. All socialist and socialist- oriented state place high priority on
developing means of public consumption such as health clinics, schools, passenger
buses and parks to make it available to the poor. 22

Now all post communist states are reworking on their economic policies trying to
liberalise their economy. Their productivity is now being guided by private
consumption and market incentives. But in some of the countries like Russia, a
wealthy class has emerged that has prospered during this transition to capitalism.

Topic 3. State Socialism in Some Countries

Amongst all, erstwhile USSR (1917-1991) is a startling example of the political system
which is described as socialist state and came very close to communism. However, as
history has it, communism came to be rejected in the Soviet Union causing its collapse in
1991. It is interesting to observer the ascendance of Soviet political system as one of the
super power that virtually controlled half of the world for the span of almost seventy
years. Carrying on its legacy of Bolshevik Revolution, Russia went ahead to form a
federation of some thirteen odd countries belonging to different nationalities. Lenin’s

20
McCormic (2007), Comparative Politics in Transition, Wadsworth, p.196.
21
Russel, James W. (1989) Modes of Production in World History, Routledge, London and New York, p.130.
22
Russel, James W. (1989) Modes of Production in World History, Routledge, London and New York, p.130.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

contribution has been seminal in the inception of this giant project. Especially, his ‘New
Economic Policies’ gave Russian economy a great fillip which was great need of the hour.
After Lenin, Stalin took over. First he consolidated his power and after few years became
very autocratic. From here started the period of Great Purge by Soviet leaders that
created perhaps one of the most repressive societies in modern political history.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Bloc

Communist societies in most part of the world including Soviet Union, People’s Republic
of China, Cuba displayed many retrogressive values. Soviet societies were unfree, their
polities lacked democratic accountability and censorship severely restricted lives of their
citizens. The economic failures were obscured and society was kept under tight vigil.
Even when Soviet Union created elaborate paraphernalia with huge bureaucracy, it was
unable to cope up with the disapproval and resistance emanating from various corners.
They resorted to severe repressions resulting in gross violation of human rights of the
citizens. Political opponents were seen as capitalist enemy and therefore, eliminated. The
state became more autocratic and totalitarian. Economic and political crisis was
compounded by nationalistic and ethnic uprisings.

However, in the longer run, political regimes are unable to continue to rule with iron
hand. Slowly the dissents grow and the repressive character of the system itself
becomes the precursor of its demise. The combination of new ideas, institutional power
having fallen into the hands of radical reformers and political choices led to the end of

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Communism in Europe.23 Even when there were fast progress in the in the Soviet society
in the beginning, gradually series of economic, political and social problems accumulated
leading to strong desire for change. Technological innovation was occurring faster in the
newly industrialised countries of Asia than in USSR. The Military-industrial Complex was
placing excessive burden on economy, added on were a host of social problems like
declining birth rate, an increase in the infant mortality rate etc.24

So, when Gorbachev tried to slightly relax the system by eking out some concession, the
consequence became disastrous. It clearly indicated that the system had become so
hollow from inside that a small spark turned it into a forest fire. The reforms were on the
top agenda of Gorbachev from the times of ‘Prague Spring ‘of 1968 in which
Czechoslovakia tried to liberalise its political system. The leadership of Alexander Dubcek
was crucial in these reforms. Unfortunately it was seized in the middle by the Soviet
interference. Gorbachev carried forward the idea of reforms by abandoning democratic
centralism in favour of ‘Socialist Pluralism’ and ‘Political Pluralism’. This signified a
‘third way’-a new model of ‘socialism with human face’ and was supported by like
minded colleagues like Yakovlev, Chernyaev and Shakhnazarov etc. 25 The gradual
change was conceptualised in terms of two main policies Perestroika and Glasnost.
Perestroika stood for restructuring the economy and Glasnost stood for more openness
and transparency in the governments’ policies and institutions. Gorbachev broke with
Lenin by recognising that means in politics are no less important than ends. Utopian
goals which are always likely to be illusory will be all
the more of a chimera if pursued by violent and
undemocratic means.26 The change in the
atmosphere brought freedom of speech and
unprecedented levels of information that overhauled
the system.

Gorbachev and H.W.Bush,1990

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Gorbachev_Bush_199006
01.jpg/220px-Gorbachev_Bush_19900601.jpg,accessed on 14 august 2014

Samir Amin sums up the options in front of East European countries undergoing the
crisis due to fallout of socialist systems. He says that first way could be evolution
towards a bourgeoisie democracy, or progress beyond it, by strengthening the social
power of the workers in the management of the economy. Second option is restoration
of an in and out market economy or progress through a carefully controlled resort to
market forces guided by democratic planning. Third path could be an unguarded door

23
Brown, Archie The Rise and fall of Communism, Harper Collins e-books, p.588.
24
Ibid, p. 590.
25
Brown, Archie The Rise and fall of Communism, Harper Collins e-books, p.599.
26
Ibid, p.596.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

opens wide to the exterior, or guarded relations with the surrounding world, albeit
directed towards increased trade.27

China presents a very specific and interesting study. It became People’s Republic of
China (PRC) after the victory of Communist party of China under the leadership of their
undisputed leader Mao Zedong in the ongoing Chinese civil war. Mao initiated the policy
of ‘Great Leap Forward’ to rapidly transform the agrarian society to industrial and
collectivised one. This resulted in massive famines in the countryside. Afterwards, Mao
started Cultural Revolution which was a social-political movement from 1966-76 aimed
to entrench socialism and eradicate all traces of capitalism from the society. It resulted
in the purges on all government officials who sympathised with any idea of capitalism.
After the death of Mao, Deng Xiaoping tried to bring in many structural changes and
economic reforms in the system. The successive periods saw better economic growth.
Agricultural growth accelerated and it restored the balance in the society. In decade of
1990s the leadership passed to third generation leaders like Jiang Zemin, Hu Zintao who
continues with economic liberalisation “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics”.

Mao Zedong (1893-1976).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong

It is believed that Chinese system has been able to survive as it has been liberalising its
economy in successive stages while retaining huge control over the political system.
Realising that free market cannot be resisted for long; they found halfway house of
participation in information technology, whereby parts of internet are closed off to
Chinese citizens, while those parts which are economically useful remain open. 28 China
still has one political party having huge control over the whole state. The voices of
protest have been rising but the incidents of brutal suppression on Tiananmen Square
Protests disclose the unwillingness and rigidity of political brass to bring any change. In
1989 several protesters basically students and civilians gathered in Tiananmen Square.
Their demand was for democratic reforms, government accountability, transparency,
freedom of speech, freedom of press. However, Deng’s leadership resorted to violence
leading to deaths of several hundreds. This incident brought international denunciation of

27
Amin, Samir (2007) Empire of CHAOS (Translated by W. H. Locke Anderson), Aakar Books for South Asia,
p.68.
28
Brown, Archie The Rise and fall of Communism, Harper Collins e-books, p.592.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

china and put it under very bad light. This struggle for democratic concessions haunts
China and the dilemma before it is how to resolve it.

Value addition-Surf and Know

To know more about Chinese way of development ,you may go to :

Staff writer (3 February 2012). "Market fundamentalism’ is unpractical". People's

Daily. Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90780/7719657.html

Hungary was declared as People’s Republic of Hungary in 1949. It initiated a prolonged

encroachment of the country by the Soviet Union through ‘Comecon Treaty’ concluded
between the former and its agents in the Hungarian Socialist party. Nationalisation of all
public property was carried on the Soviet model. This started an era of repression and
economic decline under the leadership of Matyas Rakosi. The purge under him ended
with loss of more than seven thousands of leaders, officials and opponents. Little relief
came from the death of Stalin in 1953 and Rakosi’ regime was replaced by Imre Nagy
and Erno Gero subsequently. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 against the autocratic
communist regime was brutally suppressed by the Soviet troops. This led to scathing
criticism of this unfortunate event worldwide. But the communist dictatorship continued
for four decades (1947-1989). Hungary became a democratic parliamentary republic in
1989 as a by-product of the disintegration of Soviet regime.

Topic 4. Critical Evaluation

Despite of the tremendous influence of communism as a political philosophy, an ideology

and a political system, it could not survive in the same vigour for long. The reality is that
Communism is dead in most countries and unwell in a few others, although more
optimistic Marxists insist that it has simply reached the end of its first epoch.29 With the
collapse of Soviet Union in 1989-1990, communism also seeded to collapse. Only five
countries now still officially claim adherence China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and
Vietnam. Communism could not sustain for long in many countries as it engaged in
some very undemocratic practices. It has included severe abuses of human rights,
systematic repression, the elimination of opposition, controls on freedom of speech and
movement.30 Many such countries have moved away from the oppressive, authoritarian
ways. But North Korea, still engages in systematic human rights abuses.

The collapse of Soviet Union had tremendous impact on the global scenario. It made the
communist movement even more senile. China remoulded its economy to the point that
hardly any of its features could be categorised as communist or socialist. Hungry rescued
its doomed politics and economy from communist clutches and has moved on with
capitalist economy. Repercussions of fall of Eastern Bloc have been far and wide.
Bipolarity of the world is gone. Some say, now world has become unipolar, USA being
the unchallenged leader. Others say that it is multipolar in the sense 20 th century has
witnessed the rise of many economic superpowers.

29
McCormic (2007), Comparative Politics in Transition, Wadsworth, p.207.
30
McCormic (2007), Comparative Politics in Transition, Wadsworth, p.196.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Most of the post communist states have moved away from their undemocratic
governance of the past. Now they associate themselves with liberal democracy.
However, in most of post colonial societies, political institutions are still week and
volatile. Also there is greater danger of their relapse into some kind of dictatorship if the
society is not able to balance itself. Their economy needs to be bolstered. Enormous
amount of challenges lay ahead of such societies. Many of them are already showing the
sign of recovery. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, witnessed the multiparty
election, though not a very successful one. One of the positive developments is that, the
observance of human rights has improved greatly in these societies. China and Cuba are
still the exception with lesser respect for human rights. Civil societies are very feeble as
the societies have been restricted for so long. Gradually, democracy, private enterprise,
free market economy is growing these societies. These societies having been hooked on
ideologically to one system, are facing identity crisis

Most of post communist societies today are witnessing intensified ethnic strife along with
other problems. The society has to adopt the values of pluralism and tolerance to wade
through difficult times. Since these societies have been subjected to socialist economy
and politics for many decades, they will take time to adjust their systems with new
changes. A study by Joseph Stiglitz highlights the problem created in such societies by
the sudden replacement of one system with other. The problems were compounded by
the interferences of international institutions like IMF and other. 31

Post-Soviet states (alphabetical order)

 1. Armenia  5. Georgia  9. Lithuania  13. Turkmenistan

 2. Azerbaijan  6. Kazakhstan  10. Moldova  14. Ukraine
 3. Belarus  7. Kyrgyzstan  11. Russia  15. Uzbekistan
 4. Estonia  8. Latvia  12. Tajikistan

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Bloc

31
For details, please refer to Joseph Stiglitz,(2003), Globalization and its Discontents, W W Norton & Company,
Newyork, London.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Summary

 Socialism stands for state ownership of means of production, nationalisation of

industries and public property, prohibition on private ownership and such policies.
 Historical roots of this idea can be traced in the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir
Lenin, Mao Zedong, Saint Simon, Thomas More, Charles Fourier, Robert
Owen, Eduard Bernstein, Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb etc.
 The most influential of all socialist and communist theorists was Karl Marx. In
fact, Marxist philosophy resulted in creation of socialist political systems in almost
half part of the world in the twentieth century.
 West Europe developed its own breed of Socialists or the social democrats who
were reformist, gradualist and not revolutionary like Marx.
 The crucial components of state Socialism is common ownership and
collectivisation, one party state, centralised political structure controlled by the
communist party, regulated economy with no private enterprise.
 Some countries with socialist structures are erstwhile Soviet Union, PRC, North
Korea, Hungry (till 1989), Cambodia, etc
 The Year 1991 witnessed the disintegration of the mighty Soviet socialism and
put to rest the cold war that engulfed the world for more than four decades.
 The post Soviet states have great challenges in front of them from the task of
rejuvenation the sagging economy to democratising and strengthening the
political institutions to creatively engaging with the ethnic strife, scarcity of
resources in their societies.

Conclusion

The greatest contribution of the idea and concept of socialism has been that it has
offered a reasoned critique of industrial capitalism and free market society. It has not
only exposed the hollowness of claims of equality and freedom of capitalist society, it has
also shown the way ahead. It constitutes a principle alternative to the liberal rationalism
or western capitalism. No doubt, there have been lots of problems with the socialist
systems. The post socialist states are still struggling with their polities and economy. The
challenge is to creatively engage with the transformed time new realities and develop
sustainable democracy.

Glossary:

Continental Philosophy: 19th-20th century philosophy of main land Europe

Alienation: signifies separation or isolation of the worker from the product of his
labour, his fellow beings, community and himself in the capitalist society. It also results
in complete loss of creativity of the worker who is reduced to become a ‘cog in the
wheel’.

Bourgeoisie: The Property owning class.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Class Struggle: denotes the antagonism and irreconcilable differences between the
capitalist class and the working class present in capitalism.

Juxtaposed- opposed to each other.

Liberal Democratic Socialism: The brand of Socialism that developed in Western

Europe and advocated peaceful methods of transition to just and welfarist society.

Mode of Production: is the sum total of means of production (tools, equipments,

Knowledge, Technology, materials), labour power and the relations of production.

Orthodox Marxism or Vulgar Marxism: It signifies the economic determinism and

materialist interpretation of the world.

Instrumental Marxism: believes that the structure of the government exist to serve
the interest of the ruling or bourgeoisie class.

Paraphernalia: Parts of something

Prague Spring: Refers to the reforms started by the leader Alexander Dubcek in
Czechoslovakia to liberalise the political institutions and practices in 1968, but was
stopped by Soviet leadership in its middle.

Proletariat: The Working Class.

Relations of production: is a set of all social relationships that human beings enter
into in order to survive, produce and reproduce their means of life.

Revisionist Marxism: This term denotes those theorists who did not believed in
revolutionarily and violent methods to change the mode of production but to bring the
change gradually within it. Ex. Eduard Bernstein.

Questions for Consideration:

1. After the demise of Socialism in most of the countries in recent decades, is

communism still a useful analytical tool for comparative politics?
2. Trace the development of Socialism in and out of Europe.
3. Do you believe that Marxist analysis is still pivotal in the understanding of our
society and the world.

(to be incorporated in the chapter of socialism)

Match the followings:

SET A SET B

Classical Marxism Reforms by Gorbachev

Democratic Socialism Lenin

Vulgar Marxism Soviet Union

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Socialist States Karl Marx

New Economic Policies (NEP) Eduard Bernstein

Stalin Economic Determinism

Glasnost and Perestroika One party state

Fill in the blanks:

 1.The statement “workers of the world unite as you have nothing to loose but chains…” is
from……………

 2.The policy of Great Leap was adopted by the leadership of………….. in People’s Republic of China.

 3.Socialists states are generally…………

 4.The primary economic characteristic of a socialist regime is…………..

 5.The idea of communism can be traced to the philosophy of ……….in his book Republic.

True and false

 1.The Soviet Union under leadership of Stalin became very autocratic.

True/False

 2.Presence of only one party that is the communist party in the socialist states leads to the heavy
centralisation and hegemony of the later in such societies.

True/false

 3.The state controlled economy proved to be very beneficial for Soviet states.

True/False

 4.The Soviet federation failed to respond to the growing assertions of religious nature, cultural and
ethnic assertions.

True/False

 5.The greatest contribution of the Marxist philosophy lies in exposing the evils of capitalist societies
and provide an alternate vision.

True/False

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Answer key to the fill in the blank exercise

Ans:1. Communist Manifesto

Ans: 2. Mao Zedong

Ans:3. One party state.

Ans:4. State controlled economy and nationalisation

Ans:5 .Plato.

Answer key to the True and False exercise

Ans- 1.True

Ans- 2.true

Ans- 3.False

Ans- 4.True

Ans- 5.True

References

Amin, Samir, (2007) Empire of CHAOS, Aakar, Delhi, pp56-81.

Brown A. (2004) Rise and Fall of Communism, HarperCollins (e-book),

pp.1-25; 587-601.

Heywood, Andrew (2002), Politics, Palgrave, London, Chap 3: Political

Ideologies, pp 51-59.

McCormick, J. (2007) ‘Communist and Post-communist States’ in

Comparative Politics in Transition, United Kingdom, Wadsworth, pp 195-
209.

Meek, R L. (1957) ‘The Definition of Socialism: A comment’, The

Economic Journal. 67 (265), pp.135-139.

O’Neil, Patrick (2004) Essentials of Comparative Politics, (Chapter on

Communism and Post Communism), W W Norton & company, New York,
London.

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 State Socialism: Meaning, Growth and Development

Robert A (2009) The State of Socialism: A Note on Terminology, Slavic

Review. Vol 63 (2), PP.349-366.

Russel, J. W. (1989) Modes of Production in World history, London,

Routledge.

Web links:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3185732.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxists.org

https://www.marxists.org/admin/intro/main.htm

http://www.socialistinternational.org

http://www.fifthinternational.org/content/analytical-marxism-socialism-
without-class-struggle

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