Ethical socialism
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Ethical socialism is a
egoistic grounds.[1] It emphasizes the need for a morally conscious economy based upon the principles of altruism, cooperation, and social justice while opposing possessive individualism.[2]
In contrast to socialism inspired by
historical inevitability, or rationality, ethical socialism focuses on the moral and ethical reasons for advocating socialism.[1] It became the official philosophy of several socialist parties.[3]
Ethical socialism has some significant overlap with
Social democracy made appeals to
nationalist sentiments while rejecting the economic and technological determinism generally characteristic of both economic liberalism and orthodox Marxism.[12]
Overview
Ethical socialism can be traced back to the
public ownership varied among socialist philosophies.[16]
prime minister of the United Kingdom
(1945–1951)The term ethical socialism initially originated as a pejorative by the
British prime ministers Ramsay MacDonald,[20] Clement Attlee,[21] and Tony Blair.[19] While Blair described New Labour as a return to ethical socialism, several critics accused him of completely abandoning socialism in favour of capitalism.[22]
Ethical socialism had a profound impact on the
anti-capitalist policy angered many in the SPD who had supported it.[23] Some such as Ian Adams also argue that this was an abandonment of the classical conception of socialism as involving the replacement of the capitalist economic system and make a distinction between classical socialism and liberal socialism.[24]
Themes
R. H. Tawney denounced self-seeking amoral and immoral behaviour that he claimed is supported by capitalism.public education, and public housing)[2] and the nationalization of strategic industries and services.[2] He supported worker participation in the business of management in the economy as well as consumer, employee, employer and state cooperation in regulating the economy.[2]
Although Tawney supported a substantial role for public enterprise in the economy, he stated that where private enterprise provided a service that was commensurate with its rewards that was functioning private property, then a business could be usefully and legitimately be left in private hands.property rights of the few" that were preventing the ownership of property by the many.[26]
Ethical socialism was advocated and promoted by former British prime minister
Attlee government.[28][30] However, Blair's critics (both inside and outside Labour) have accused him of completely abandoning socialism in favour of capitalism.[22]
See also
- Communitarianism
- Democratic socialism
- Gaitskellism
- Holistic community
- Human dignity
- Idealism
- Liberal socialism
- Moral economy
- Neo-Kantianism
- Post-war consensus
- Social corporatism
- Social democracy
- Social liberalism
- Social market economy
- Social mobility
- Third Way
- Types of socialism
- Utopian socialism
- Women's health
- Workers' rights
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e Thompson 2006, p. 52.
- ^ a b c d e f Thompson 2006, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Orlow 2000, p. 190; Tansey & Jackson 2008, p. 97.
- ^ Thompson 2006, p. 58.
- ^ Thompson 2006, p. 60.
- ^ a b Bronner 1999, pp. 103–104.
- ^ a b Dearlove & Saunders 2000, p. 427; Thompson 2006, p. 52.
- ^ a b Draper 1990, pp. 1–21.
- ^ a b Bronner 1999, p. 103.
- ^ Wright 1999, p. 86: "This was an ideology which, at bottom, was grounded not in materialism but in morals. Thus Bernstein summoned up Kant to point the way towards a politics of ethical choices."
- ^ Heywood 2012, p. 128: "The theoretical basis for social democracy has been provided more by moral or religious beliefs, rather than by scientific analysis. Social democrats have not accepted the materialist and highly systematic ideas of Marx and Engels, but rather advanced an essentially moral critique of capitalism."
- ^ Berman 2008, pp. 12–13: "Regardless of the specific policies they advocated, one thing that joined all budding interwar social democrats was a rejection of the passivity and economic determinism of orthodox Marxism [...] so they often embraced communitarian, corporatist, and even nationalist appeals and urged their parties to make the transition from workers' to 'people's' parties."
- ^ Hopper 1978.
- ^ Gabaccia & Ottanelli 2001, p. 33; Scirocco 2007.
- ^ Keserich 1976; Bayly & Biagini 2008, p. 284; Mazzini 2009, p. 6; Gregor 2014, "Marxism, Revolution, and the Making of New Nations"; Rosselli 2017, p. 36.
- ^ Brooks 1994, p. 75.
- ^ Steger 1997, p. 115.
- ^ Thompson 2006, pp. 52–60.
- ^ a b Tansey & Jackson 2008, p. 97.
- ^ Morgan 2006, p. 29.
- ^ Howell 2006, pp. 130–132.
- ^ a b Elliott, Faucher-King & Le Galès 2010, p. 18.
- ^ Orlow 2000, p. 190.
- ^ Adams 2001, p. 108.
- ^ Thompson 2006, pp. 60–61.
- ^ a b Carter 2003, p. 35.
- ^ a b Blair 1994, pp. 1–16.
- ^ a b c Blair 1995, pp. 1–20.
- ^ a b Carter 2003, pp. 189–190.
- ^ Bevir 2005, p. 72.
Bibliography
- Adams, Ian (2001). Ideology and Politics in Britain Today. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719060205.
- Bayly, Cristopher; Biagini, E. F. (2008). Giuseppe Mazzini and the Globalization of Democratic Nationalism, 1830–1920 (illustrated ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press/British Academy. ISBN 9780197264317.
- Bevir, Mark (2005). New Labour: A Critique (1st ed.). London, England: Routledge. ISBN 9780415359252.
- Blair, Tony (1994). Socialism. Fabian phamplets. London, England: Fabian Society. ISBN 9780716305651.
- Blair, Tony (1995). Let Us Face the Future. Fabian phamplets. London, England: Fabian Society. ISBN 9780716305712.
- Bronner, Stephen Eric (1999). Ideas in Action: Political Tradition in the Twentieth Century. Oxford, England: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9780847693870.
- Brooks, Frank (1994). The Individualist Anarchists: An Anthology of Liberty (1881–1908). Piscataway, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9781560001324.
- Carter, Matt (2003). T.H. Green and the Development of Ethical Socialism. Exeter, England: Imprint Academic. ISBN 9780907845324.
- Dearlove, John; Saunders, Peter (2000). Introduction to British Politics (revised, updated 3rd ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9780745620954.
- Draper, Hal (1990). Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution, Volume IV: Critique of Other Socialisms. New York City, New York: Monthly Review Press. ISBN 9780853457985.
- Elliott, Gregory; Faucher-King, Florence; Le Galès, Patrick (2010). The New Labour Experiment: Change and Reform Under Blair and Brown. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804762342.
- Gabaccia, Donna R.; Ottanelli, Fraser M., eds. (2001). Italian Workers of the World: Labor Migration and the Formation of Multiethnic States (illustrated ed.). Chicago, Illinois: 9780252026591. ISBN 9780252026591.
- Gregor, A. James (2014). Marxism and the Making of China: A Doctrinal History (illustrated ed.). New York City, New York: Springer. ISBN 9781137379498.
- Heywood, Andrew (2012). Political Ideologies: An Introduction (5th ed.). Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230367258.
- Hopper, John P. (1978). The Ethical Socialism of Saint-Simon, Fourier, and Proudhon. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
- Howell, David (2006). Attlee. London, England: Haus Publishing. ISBN 9781904950646.
- Keserich, Charles (June 1976). "George D. Herron, " Il nostro americano "". Il Politico. 41 (2). Soveria, Italy: Rubbettino Editore: 315–332. JSTOR 43208082.
- Mazzini, Giuseppe (2009). Recchia, Stefano; Urbinati, Nadia (eds.). A Cosmopolitanism of Nations. New Haven, Connecticut: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400831319.
- Morgan, Kevin (2006). Ramsay MacDonald. London, England: Haus Publishing. ISBN 9781904950615.
- Orlow, Dietrich (2000). Common Destiny: A Comparative History of the Dutch, French, and German Social Democratic Parties, 1945–1969. New York City, New York: Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781571811851.
- Rosselli, Carlo (2017). Urbinati, Nadia (ed.). Liberal Socialism. Translated by McCuaig, William (illustrated ed.). Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400887309.
- Scirocco, Alfonso (2007). Garibaldi: Citizen of the World (illustrated ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 375–379. ISBN 9780691115405.
- Steger, Manfred B. (1997). The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism: Eduard Bernstein and Social Democracy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511558603.
- Tansey, Stephen D.; Jackson, Nigel A. (2008). Politics: The Basics (illustrated 4th ed.). Abingdon, England: Routledge. ISBN 9780415422437.
- Thompson, Noel W. (2006). Political Economy and the Labour Party: The Economics of Democratic Socialism, 1884–2005 (2nd ed.). Abingdon, England: Routledge. ISBN 9780415328807.
- Wright, Anthony (1999). "Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism". In ISBN 9781855676053.
Further reading
- Berman, Sheri (2008). Understanding Social Democracy (PDF). What's Left of the Left: Liberalism and Social Democracy in a Globalized World. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2019. – Archived from the original on 2 June 2019.
- Cronin, James; Ross, George; Shoch, James, eds. (2011). What's Left of the Left: Democrats and Social Democrats in Challenging Times (PDF). Durham and London: Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822350798.
