State socialism is a political and economic ideology within the socialist movement that advocates state ownership of the means of production. This is intended either as a temporary measure, or as a characteristic of socialism in the transition from the capitalist to the socialist mode of production or to a communist society. State socialism was first theorised by Ferdinand Lassalle. It advocates a planned economy controlled by the state in which all industries and natural resources are state-owned.Tucker, Benjamin (1985) . State Socialism and Anarchism and Other Essays: Including the Attitude of Anarchism Toward Industrial Combinations and Why I Am an Anarchist (1st ed.). Colorado Springs: Ralph Myles Publisher. .
Aside from anarchists and other libertarian socialists, there was, in the past, confidence amongst socialists in the concept of state socialism as being the most effective form of socialism. Some early social democrats in the late 19th century and early 20th century, such as the Fabians, claimed that British society was already mostly socialist and that the economy was significantly socialist through government-run enterprises created by conservative and liberal governments which could be run for the interests of the people through their representatives' influence, an argument reinvoked by some socialists in post-war Britain.Eatwell, Roger; Wright, Anthony (1999). Contemporary Political Ideologies (2nd ed.). London: Continuum. pp. 87–88 . State socialism declined starting in the 1970s, with stagflation during the 1970s energy crisis,Gey, Peter; Kosta, H. G. Jiří; Quaisser, Wolfgang (1987). Crisis and Reform in Socialist Economies. Avalon Publishing. .Miller, Toby (2008). A Companion to Cultural Studies. Wiley. .Ehns, Dirk H. (2016). Modern Monetary Theory and European Macroeconomics. Routledge. pp. 4–5. . the rise of neoliberalism and later with the fall of state socialist nations in the Eastern Bloc during the Revolutions of 1989 and the fall of the Soviet Union.Eatwell, Roger; Wright, Anthony (1999). Contemporary Political Ideologies (2nd ed.). London: Continuum. pp. 93–95. .
Libertarian socialists often treat state socialism as synonymous with state capitalism, arguing that the economic systems of Marxist–Leninist states such as the Soviet Union were not genuinely socialist due to their continued use of commodity production, and wages as remuneration. Democratic and libertarian socialists claim that these states had only a limited number of socialist characteristics.Howard, M. C.; King, J. E. (2001). "'State Capitalism' in the Soviet Union". Retrieved 27 December 2019.Chomsky, Noam (1986). "The Soviet Union Versus Socialism". Our Generation. Chomsky.info. Retrieved 20 October 2015.Wolff, Richard D. (27 June 2015). "Socialism Means Abolishing the Distinction Between Bosses and Employees". Truthout. Retrieved 9 July 2015. However, others maintain that workers in the Soviet Union and other Marxist–Leninist states had genuine control over the means of production through institutions such as trade unions. Academics, political commentators and other scholars tend to distinguish between authoritarian state socialism and democratic state socialism, with the first representing the Soviet Bloc and the latter representing Western Bloc countries which have been democratically governed by socialist parties such as Britain, France, Sweden and Western social-democracies in general, among others.Barrett, William, ed. (1 April 1978). "Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy: A Symposium". Commentary. Retrieved 14 June 2020. "If we were to extend the definition of socialism to include Labor Britain or socialist Sweden, there would be no difficulty in refuting the connection between capitalism and democracy."Heilbroner, Robert L. (Winter 1991). "From Sweden to Socialism: A Small Symposium on Big Questions". Dissident. Barkan, Joanne; Brand, Horst; Cohen, Mitchell; Coser, Lewis; Denitch, Bogdan; Fehèr, Ferenc; Heller, Agnès; Horvat, Branko; Tyler, Gus. pp. 96–110. Retrieved 17 April 2020.Kendall, Diana (2011). Sociology in Our Time: The Essentials. Cengage Learning. pp. 125–127. . "Sweden, Great Britain, and France have mixed economies, sometimes referred to as democratic socialism—an economic and political system that combines private ownership of some of the means of production, governmental distribution of some essential goods and services, and free elections. For example, government ownership in Sweden is limited primarily to railroads, mineral resources, a public bank, and liquor and tobacco operations."Li, He (2015). Political Thought and China's Transformation: Ideas Shaping Reform in Post-Mao China. Springer. pp. 60–69. . "The scholars in camp of democratic socialism believe that China should draw on the Sweden experience, which is suitable not only for the West but also for China. In the post-Mao China, the Chinese intellectuals are confronted with a variety of models. The liberals favor the American model and share the view that the Soviet model has become archaic and should be totally abandoned. Meanwhile, democratic socialism in Sweden provided an alternative model. Its sustained economic development and extensive welfare programs fascinated many. Numerous scholars within the democratic socialist camp argue that China should model itself politically and economically on Sweden, which is viewed as more genuinely socialist than China. There is a growing consensus among them that in the Nordic countries the welfare state has been extraordinarily successful in eliminating poverty."
As a classification within the socialist movement, state socialism is held in contrast with libertarian socialism, which rejects the view that socialism can be constructed using existing state institutions or governmental policies. By contrast, proponents of state socialism claim that the state—through practical governing considerations—must play at least a temporary part in building socialism. It is possible to conceive of a democratic socialist state that owns the means of production and is internally organised in a participatory, cooperative fashion, thereby achieving both social ownership of productive property and workplace democracy. Today, state socialism is mainly advocated by Marxist–Leninists.Pena, David S. (21 September 2007). "Tasks of Working-Class Governments under the Socialist-oriented Market Economy". Political Affairs. . Retrieved 8 February 2020.
History The role of the state in socialism has divided the socialist movement. The philosophy of state socialism was first explicitly expounded by Ferdinand Lassalle. In contrast to Karl Marx's perspective, Lassalle rejected the concept of the state as a class-based power structure whose primary function was to preserve existing class structures. Lassalle also rejected the Marxist view that the state was destined to "wither away". Lassalle considered the state an entity independent of class allegiances and an instrument of justice that would therefore be essential for achieving socialism.
Early concepts of state socialism were articulated by anarchist and libertarian philosophers who opposed the concept of the state. In Statism and Anarchy, Mikhail Bakunin identified a statist tendency within the Marxist movement, which he contrasted to libertarian socialism and attributed to Marx's philosophy. Bakunin predicted that Marx's theory of the transition from capitalism to socialism involving the working class seizing state power in a dictatorship of the proletariat would eventually lead to a usurpation of power by the state apparatus acting in its self-interest, ushering in a new form of capitalism rather than establishing socialism.Bakunin, Mikhail (1873). "Statism and Anarchy". Marxists.org. Retrieved 27 December 2019. "The theory of statism as well as that of so-called 'revolutionary dictatorship' is based on the idea that a 'privileged elite,' consisting of those scientists and 'doctrinaire revolutionists' who believe that 'theory is prior to social experience,' should impose their preconceived scheme of social organization on the people. The dictatorial power of this learned minority is concealed by the fiction of a pseudo-representative government which presumes to express the will of the people".
As a political ideology, state socialism rose to prominence during the 20th century Bolshevik, Leninist, and later Marxist–Leninist revolutions, where single-party control over the state and, by extension, over the political and economic spheres of society was justified as a means to safeguard the revolution against counter-revolutionary insurrection and foreign invasion. The Stalinist theory of socialism in one country was an attempt to legitimise state-directed activity to accelerate the industrialisation of the Soviet Union.
Description and theory As a political ideology, state socialism is one of the major dividing lines in the broader socialist movement. It is often contrasted with non-state or anti-state forms of socialism, such as those that advocate direct self-management adhocracy and direct cooperative ownership and management of the means of production. Political philosophies contrasted with state socialism include libertarian socialist philosophies such as anarchism, De Leonism, economic democracy, free-market socialism, libertarian Marxism and syndicalism. These forms of socialism are opposed to hierarchical technocratic socialism, scientific management and state-directed economic planning.
The modern concept of state socialism, when used in reference to Soviet-style economic and political systems, emerged from a deviation in Marxist theory starting with Vladimir Lenin. In Marxist theory, socialism is projected to emerge in the most developed capitalist economies, where capitalism suffers the greatest internal contradictions and class conflict. On the other hand, state socialism became a revolutionary theory for the world's poorest, often quasi-feudal, countries.
In such systems, the state apparatus is used as an instrument of capital accumulation, forcibly extracting surplus from the working class and peasantry to modernise and industrialise poor countries. Such systems are described as state capitalism because the state engages in capital accumulation, primarily as part of the primitive accumulation of capital (see also the Soviet theory of primitive socialist accumulation). The difference is that the state acts as a public entity and engages in this activity to achieve socialism by re-investing the accumulated capital into society, whether in more healthcare, education, employment or consumer goods. In contrast, in capitalist societies, the surplus from the working class is spent on whatever needs the owners of the means of production want.
In the traditional view of socialism, thinkers such as Friedrich Engels and Henri de Saint-Simon took the position that the state will change in nature in a socialist society, with the function of the state changing from one of political rule over people into a scientific administration of the processes of production. Specifically, the state would become a coordinating economic entity consisting of interdependent inclusive associations rather than a mechanism of class and political control, ceasing to be a state in the traditional definition."Henri de Saint-Simon". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 27 December 2019."Socialism". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
Preceding the Bolshevik-led revolution in Russia, many socialist groups such as anarchists, orthodox Marxist currents such as council communism and the Mensheviks, reformists and other democratic and libertarian socialists criticized the idea of using the state to conduct central planning and nationalization of the means of production as a way to establish socialism.
Political perspectives