socialism summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see socialism.

socialism, System of social organization in which private property and the distribution of income are subject to social control; also, the political movements aimed at putting that system into practice. Because “social control” may be interpreted in widely diverging ways, socialism ranges from statist to libertarian, from Marxist to liberal. The term was first used to describe the doctrines of Charles Fourier, Henri de Saint-Simon, and Robert Owen, who emphasized noncoercive communities of people working noncompetitively for the spiritual and physical well-being of all (see utopian socialism). Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, seeing socialism as a transition state between capitalism and communism, appropriated what they found useful in socialist movements to develop their “scientific socialism.” In the 20th century the Soviet Union was the principal model of strictly centralized socialism, while Sweden and Denmark were well known for their noncommunist socialism. See also collectivism; communitarianism; social democracy.

Oneida Community Summary

Oneida Community, utopian religious community that developed out of a Society of Inquiry established by John Humphrey Noyes and some of his disciples in Putney, Vt., U.S., in 1841. As new recruits arrived, the society turned into a socialized community. Noyes had experienced a religious conversion

Second International Summary

Second International, federation of socialist parties and trade unions that greatly influenced the ideology, policy, and methods of the European labour movement from the last decade of the 19th century to the beginning of World War I. The Second International was founded at a congress in Paris in

Social Democratic Party of Germany Summary

Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Germany’s oldest political party and one of the country’s two main parties (the other being the Christian Democratic Union). It advocates the modernization of the economy to meet the demands of globalization, but it also stresses the need to address the

Labour Party Summary

Labour Party, British political party whose historic links with trade unions have led it to promote an active role for the state in the creation of economic prosperity and in the provision of social services. In opposition to the Conservative Party, it has been the major democratic socialist party