Socialism
Chapter 23-4
Causes:
 Desire for a new sense of community and
cooperation
 Increasing misery of the working class bothered
liberal thinkers (Jeremy Bentham, J. S. Mill)
 Republicanism and capitalism seemed to
promote selfishness and social fragmentation
 Broad support for social justice …not ‘till 19th C
Early French Socialism
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Early French Socialists proposed greater
economic equality planned by the government
AKA Utopian Socialism
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Count Henri de Saint-Simon 1760-1825
Louis Blanc 1811-1882
Pierre Joseph Proudhon 1809-1865
Charles Fourier 1772-1837
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Count Henri de Saint-Simon
Positivism
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Industrialism and science = a new age to Europe
Will require proper social organization:
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Parasites (aristocracy, lawyers, clergy) should give
way to “Doers” (scientists, industrialists, engineers)
Government should provide public works
projects and investment banks
Every social institution’s main goal should be to
improve the condition of the poor
Louis Blanc
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More practical than others
Urged workers to fight for universal male
suffrage and take control of the state peacefully
Government should guarantee full employment:
Set up workshops
 Set up factories
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Worked with Lamartine and then part of the
June Days Revolution in 1848
Pierre Joseph Proudhon
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Wrote What is Property?
Argued that property was profit stolen from the
worker who was the source of all wealth
Considered an anarchist by many as he
distrusted the power of the state
Charles Fourier
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Argued for a planned economy and socialist
communities
Described socialist utopia in mathematical detail
Seven socialist communities were founded upon
his ideas (most in U.S.)
An early supporter of total emancipation of
women
Christian Socialism
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Began in England about 1848
Believed that the evils of industrialism could be
ended by following Christian principles
Tried to bridge the gap between anti-religious
socialism and Christian social justice for workers
Scientific Socialism
AKA: Marxism
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Developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
1830 The Communist Manifesto: the Bible of
socialism
Intention: to replace utopian hopes and dreams
with a brutal, militant blueprint for socialist
working class success through the theory of
Dialectical Materialism
Remember Hegel’s Dialectic?
Dialectical Materialism

The economic interpretation of history: all
human history is determined by economic
factors (who controls the means of production
and distribution)
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The class struggle: Since the beginning of time
there has been a class struggle between the rich
and the poor (the exploiters and the exploited)
Dialectical Materialism
continued
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Theory of surplus value: The true value of a
product is labor and, since the worker receives
only a small portion of his just labor price, the
difference is surplus value, “stolen” from the
worker by the capitalist. (like Proudham)
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Socialism is inevitable: Capitalism contains the
seeds of its own destruction (overproduction
and underemployment)
Dialectical Materialism
continued
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Violent Revolution: The increasing gap between
proletariat and bourgeoisie will become so great
that the working classes will rise up in revolution
and overthrow the elite bourgeoisie
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Above will result in a dictatorship of the
proletariat . Working men of the world will
unite
Dialectical Materialism
continued
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A classless society will emerge as capitalism is
dismantled
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The new order: “From each according to his
abilities, to each according to his needs.”
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Socialism will have a huge impact on 19th
century European society.