Socialist and Labor movements in Europe:
As a consequence of industrial revolution, the social structure of europe had changed. The nobility or the clergy were no more the privileged class. Absolute monarchies were being replaced by either republics or constitutional morachies. The new privileged class were the capitalists, the select few who enjoyed lavish lifestyles while majority of the masses were left to a life of impoverishment. Lack of legislation to prevent their abuse led to organisations which voiced their concerns. Initially they organised into trade unions and labor organisations. Later however socialist philosophies developed which were to change the social structure and create the world we today take for granted.
Evils of capitalism that made socialism a potent force -
1) The basis of production wasnt the demand but profit. The cost of a product was decided by the local government rules and the demand of the products. Ironically the cost of production was not a factor.
2) It created a class divide where those who worked lived in destitution while those who didnt ( the capitalist) had excess wealth. This divided the society sharply into tha haves and the have nots.
3) The factors of production were the machinary and the people. However the focus was more on machinery and barely any to the people. People lived in pathetic conditions in shanties outside the factories.
4) To increase the profits the workers were made to work on bare minimum salaries. This exploitation of people raised no eyebrows amongst the supporters of Capitalism.
The plight of the working classes were broght to public notice by works of early socialists in britail and france. Their books were widely read and their lectures attaracted large audiences.
There were two kinds of socialism that emerged-
State socialism; It believed that state should own all non human means of production and that its prupose should be public demand and not profit.
Utopian socialism; It believed that the industrialists should voluntarily give up all industries to the state for the welfare of the society.
The socialist movement got a huge boost with advent of Karl Marx. He was influenced by the works of french socialists and specially that of Hagel. His work inspired all future socialist movements of the world. He celebrated the ideas like revolution and violence in his work like das capital and the communist manifesto (collaborated with Engels). His slogal 'Workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains.' gained popularity for agglomeration of workers.
Criticism-
State socialism was criticised for its distance from practicality. Involvement of state would make the industries lose their competetiveness and get marred with red-tapism. It would also concentrate all powers in the hands of government, making it all powerful. With no checks, it can lead of corruption and nepotism.
Utopian socialism relied on an event that was very far removed from reality. Its assumption that people would give up their wealth and assests voluntarily was againt human nature.
Marx explained all the historical events in terms of class struggle. He failed to consider the part played by major factors such as religion, sex, nationality etc. His statement that the goverment always sided with the capitalists and would not aid the working class sidelined the idea of welfare state. His glorification of revolution and voilence in it ignored processes like arbitration and peaceful solution that could be reached without voilence.
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As a consequence of industrial revolution, the social structure of europe had changed. The nobility or the clergy were no more the privileged class. Absolute monarchies were being replaced by either republics or constitutional morachies. The new privileged class were the capitalists, the select few who enjoyed lavish lifestyles while majority of the masses were left to a life of impoverishment. Lack of legislation to prevent their abuse led to organisations which voiced their concerns. Initially they organised into trade unions and labor organisations. Later however socialist philosophies developed which were to change the social structure and create the world we today take for granted.
Evils of capitalism that made socialism a potent force -
1) The basis of production wasnt the demand but profit. The cost of a product was decided by the local government rules and the demand of the products. Ironically the cost of production was not a factor.
2) It created a class divide where those who worked lived in destitution while those who didnt ( the capitalist) had excess wealth. This divided the society sharply into tha haves and the have nots.
3) The factors of production were the machinary and the people. However the focus was more on machinery and barely any to the people. People lived in pathetic conditions in shanties outside the factories.
4) To increase the profits the workers were made to work on bare minimum salaries. This exploitation of people raised no eyebrows amongst the supporters of Capitalism.
The plight of the working classes were broght to public notice by works of early socialists in britail and france. Their books were widely read and their lectures attaracted large audiences.
There were two kinds of socialism that emerged-
State socialism; It believed that state should own all non human means of production and that its prupose should be public demand and not profit.
Utopian socialism; It believed that the industrialists should voluntarily give up all industries to the state for the welfare of the society.
The socialist movement got a huge boost with advent of Karl Marx. He was influenced by the works of french socialists and specially that of Hagel. His work inspired all future socialist movements of the world. He celebrated the ideas like revolution and violence in his work like das capital and the communist manifesto (collaborated with Engels). His slogal 'Workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains.' gained popularity for agglomeration of workers.
Criticism-
State socialism was criticised for its distance from practicality. Involvement of state would make the industries lose their competetiveness and get marred with red-tapism. It would also concentrate all powers in the hands of government, making it all powerful. With no checks, it can lead of corruption and nepotism.
Utopian socialism relied on an event that was very far removed from reality. Its assumption that people would give up their wealth and assests voluntarily was againt human nature.
Marx explained all the historical events in terms of class struggle. He failed to consider the part played by major factors such as religion, sex, nationality etc. His statement that the goverment always sided with the capitalists and would not aid the working class sidelined the idea of welfare state. His glorification of revolution and voilence in it ignored processes like arbitration and peaceful solution that could be reached without voilence.
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