Theory: Though there are a great variety of utopian movements and thinkers, this particular strain of utopianism advocates changing society by adopting egalitarian lifestyles, and building cooperatives and communes which embody the good society and set an example for the rest of the world.

Praxis: There have been many socialist communes and communalists throughout history, but the best known U.S. experiments were those conducted in the 19th century, such as the Fourierists, Owen's New Harmony, and the Oneida community. They were inspired by a variety of ideologies, religious and secular. Their largest modern descendents in the U.S. are the Fellowship for Intentional Community, and the Federation of Egalitarian Communities around the Virginia commune Twin Oaks (also here)..

Theory: Sometimes also referred to as libertarian socialism{See also this FAQ]. Opposed to all relations of domination, including the State, Family, Religion, and the Rich. Opposed to the Marxist idea of a transitional reliance on a socialist State, believing it will inevitably result in another form of tyranny. Anarcho-syndicalists specify that the means and ends of social change should be workers' power through unions, replacing government with a federation of industrial-based worker organizations. (See also aBibliography and FAQ)

Praxis: In Europe associated with the writings of Bakunin and Kropotkin; in the U.S. represented by figures such as Emma Goldman; worldwide, there have been and are many individuals and groupings since the 19th century. The chief anarcho-syndicalists in the U.S. are the Industrial Workers of the World.

Theory: Marx outlined a "dialectical materialist" theory of history postulating that the nature of the technological and economic system of each society determines the power relations within that society, dividing society between those who own and control the means of production and those who are exploited. These classes struggle over resources, and when the technological and economic base of society changes, a new class develops to overthrow the previous ruling class.
The final stage of this dialectical process is the world-wide polarization between the industrial working class and the owners of industry; after the proletariat overthrows the bourgeoisie there will be no more class divisions and humanity will consciously control its own evolution.
Social democratic reforms in the short-term, towards the replacement of capitalism (the private ownership of means of production) with "social ownership" (socialism). The democratic advancement of the masses' interests replaces the "dictatorship" of bourgeois democracy with the "dictatorship" of the working class under socialism. Finally, the idea of ownership itself will disappear, as will all vestiges of class divisions, and therefore the need for a State will disappear, which is the stage of communism. [Another summary of Marxism]

Praxis: As a movement, can probably be dated from the founding of the International Workingmen's Association, 1864-1876, within which Marx (1818-1883) and Bakunin were the two ideological poles. In the U.S.: probably the "De Leonist" Socialist Labor Party is the first, most orthodox, and one of the smallest, Marxist parties, founded before 1900.

Theory: To use working people's parties within parliamentary democracy to achieve social reforms, and eventually socialism.

Theoretical Varieties: Christian Socialism; Labor Zionism, creation of a socialist Israel; eventually the Israeli Labor Party and MAPAM; Marxist Socialism, a minor strain in all social democratic parties to the present. When referring to contemporary European socialist, social democratic and labor parties, called "Euro-socialism."
Praxis: Usually dated from the founding of the (2nd) Socialist International, 1889-WWI, 1923-present. In the U.S. from the founding of the U.S. Socialist Party (SP), 1900-1972, and DSOC-DSA 1972-present.

Theory: Industry should be owned by the state or "commune" and managed by workers organized in local and national guilds Praxis: In the writings of G.D.H. Cole and the British Guilds Restoration Movement, 1913-1929; eventually overshadowed by British Social Democracy.

Theory: Socialism will be the result a slow, hopefully peaceful, evolution, as rational, scientific states restructure our irrational society. Scientists are the vanguard of this shift, not the working class, though there may be a fruitful alliance of the two. As a result they had a weakness for authoritarian regimes, such as Soviet Russia, and for ideas such as eugenics and progressive imperialism. On the other hand, they were creative thinkers associated with internationalism and the cooperative movement, and as backers of the labor movement and the Labor Party.

Praxis: Associated with the intellectuals of the British Fabian Society from about 1880 to 1920, until the British Labor Party and Marxism, in its Leninist and democratic forms, shunted their ideas aside. Some of their well-known members included the science fiction author H.G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and the cooperativists Sidney and Beatrice Webb, who founded the London School of Economics. [Also see a wacky conspiracy theory look at the Fabians.] Today's Fabian Society [fabian-society@geo2.geonet.de] is more of a democratic socialist think-tank for the British Labor Party than a distinct ideological tendency.

Theory: Since workers can only achieve trade-union consciousness , they must be led by a vanguard party of Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries. This party must be governed by military discipline, and "democratic centralism" : party-membership is tightly controlled and all members must keep party discipline, not contradicting the party-line in public, but only through internal "democratic" debate. The party newspaper plays a central role. The party relies heavily on front-organizations, ostensibly independent but actually controlled by the Party

Praxis: Usually dated from the USSR's founding of the (3rd) Communist International, 1920-1956. In the U.S.: Communist Party USA (CPUSA), 1920-present.

Praxis: Leon Trotsky, a Bolshevik leader and factional opponent of Stalin, exiled from Russia in 1929 for his advocacy of more power to industrial worker organizations against the Stalinist party machine. Murdered by a Stalinist assassin in Mexico in 1940. As a movement, associated with Trotsky's founding of the "Fourth International", 1938-present. In the US, Trotskyism was originally associated with the Socialist Worker's Party (SWP or "Swoops"), 1940-present. Some assert that in the late 1970s the SWP became "Castroists." Today Trotskyism is more vividly represented by the Spartacist League ("the Sparts"), the Workers' League and the International Socialist Organization.

Occasionally Trotskyists practice the tactic of "entryism," joining a larger, mass socialist or labour party in order to win more influence, while continuing to exist as a separate political party. The most successful example of Trotskyist entrism was conducted by the British Militant Tendency, which took over sections of the British Labour Party in the 70s and 80s, until being purged in the 90s.

Theory: Stalinist Russia is a deformed worker's State , more progressive than capitalism and therefore worthy of being defended against imperialist (US) aggression, but needs an internal proletarian revolution to throw out the bureaucrats. (While the collapse of East Europan Communism would appear to have made this core project moot, Trotskyists today are buoyed in the belief that their version of - as yet untried - socialism has been vindicated over the Communist and social democratic versions.)

Theory: China should lead a united, revolutionary Third World against Soviet and American imperialism. Peasants can be the backbone of "proletarian" revolution if led by a Communist Party. Once in power Communists must engage in constant struggle ("Cultural Revolution") against the feudal and bourgeois elements entrenched in the socialist State. Continuous group criticism and self-criticism by party cadres is a key form of ideological purification.

Praxis: In the US: the tiny Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) - following the immortal teachings of Marx-Lenin-MaoTseTung-Bob Avakian thought - the Maoist International Movement, the Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru, and the Progressive Labor Party (PLP).

Theory: Associated with Max Schactman, an associate of Trotsky, in 1940 in the U.S. Communism in Russia and the Third World is not simply "deformed workers' states" (Trotsky's formulation) but "bureaucratic collectivism" or "state capitalism," the forced accumulation of capital for industrialization by a bureaucratic class. Socialists should struggle for international revolution by democratic workers' organizations against both Communism and capitalism, since both are undemocratic societies dominated by ruling classes.

Praxis: From 1940 to 1958 represented by Schactman's Worker's Party, and after the WP's merger with the U.S. Socialist Party in 1958, by Schactman's faction of the SP. Today this Leninist, revolutionary phase of Schactmanism is best represented in the journal New Politics, and in the organizations Solidarity and the International Socialist Organization (though neither organization would answer to "Schactmanite," preferring something like "revolutionary, Third Campist, socialist-feminist, democratic Leninism").

Theory: The AFL-CIO is the only legitimate representative of the American working class, and the Democratic Party must become a more legitimate social democratic/labor party by "moving to the center" and down-playing gay rights, abortion and civil liberties. Socialists must side with U.S. foreign policy against Communist totalitarianism, as in funding the Nicaraguan contras and supporting nuclear weapons in Europe and the Pacific.

Praxis: In the U.S. (and only in the U.S.): the Social Democrats USA (SDUSA, "Seduce-a") 1972-present, entrenched in the upper echelons of the AFL-CIO.

Theory: A response to Krushchev's Stalin revelations, and the post-War impracticality of revolution in the West, led by Enrico Berlinguer of the Italian Communists (PCI), but also Spanish, Dutch, British, Japanese and other Communists. Professed independence from Soviet foreign policy; criticism of Czechoslovakia '68, Afghanistan, etc. Acknowledged that conditions in the West demanded democratic means of struggle, including a broad "anti-corporate coalition" with liberals and socialists, leading finally to a "discontinuous break" with capitalism.

Praxis: Really a phenomenon of the 1950s-early 1980s, though many Communist Parties outside of Communist countries moved a little bit in this direction.

Theory: Central document was the "Port Huron Statement" of 1964, penned by Tom Hayden and ratified as the ideological statement of the Students for a Democratic Society. Professed "participatory democracy," as opposed to the power-elite-dominated Western representative democracies, and the power-elite-dominated authoritarian Communist societies . Also advocated participatory democracy internally, as opposed to the use of party discipline and hierarchy. Saw the agents of social change in "substitute proletarians": the urban poor and black liberation movement, Third World peasant liberation movements (Vietnam), and the student movement. Open to work with Leninists, ignoring old Socialist-Communist divisions - a feature which led to their quick demise. [See also Sixties Project Primary Document Archive]

Praxis: Internationally, almost every country had a New Left organization between 1965-1970. In the U.S., principally the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) 1960-1969; the Weathermen,1969-late 70's, a guerrilla organization that came out of SDS; the New American Movement (NAM) 1970-1982, a democratic socialist organization that came out of SDS. Some groups, such as the Yippies and the Diggers harked back to a more counter-cultural and anarcho-cooperative model of social change. A French New Left movement, Situationaism, actually began in the 50's growing out of leftist DaDaism and Surrealism, and had a strong theoretical impact on the Paris '68 uprising and other European student movements. [See also the Sixties Project and Vietnam Era Project]

Radical Democracy

Theory Focuses on overturning all forms of domination. The ethical principles underlying all the diverse movements that make up "the Left" are those of democracy: freedom, equality and solidarity must be extended into every sphere of life, including race, gender, the civil sphere, and the economy. In this sense radical democracy transcends Marxism, by including the insights of Marxist analysis while rejecting the Marxist assertion that the economy and class are the most fundamental forms of domination. The Left has gone astray when it has elevated equality above the other components of democracy, such as civil freedom and free elections. See Laclau and Mouffe's Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics and "Reflections on Strategy in a Dark Time: Radical Democracy" by Richard Flacks, with a dozen respondents, in March 1996 Boston Review.

Praxis: Some would claim that the radical democratic tradition began with the American and French Revolutions. Some would cite the early Students for a Democratic Society's Port Huron document as the mid-Cold War re-birth. Today radical democracy is embodied in many political movements, but is perhaps most self-consciously acknowledged in the Citizen Action movement, the post-Marxist wings of DSA, and the Committees of Correspondence.

Democratic Marxism

Theory: The State as a relatively autonomous "contestable terrain" for the organized, self-conscious constituencies of the working class, through an open, inclusive political party (a left Democratic Party or third party) and a radical labor movement. Socialists organize a coalition of the sinking bottom third and the sliding middle third of America (the bulk of the poor and the working middle class) against the wealthy and corporations; central, necessary role for organized labor. Influenced by Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci; socialists struggle to wrest ideological hegemony away from the ruling class, and gain hegemony for radical ideology. The leading exponent in the U.S. has been Michael Harrington. Also well described in the pamphlet "Toward a Democratic Socialism: Theory, Strategy, and Vision" (1991) by Joseph Schwartz, member of the DSA National Political Committee.

Praxis: In the U.S., represented in the Democratic Socialists of America, the Socialist Party USA, Committees of Correspondence, and Solidarity.

Related Species

Libertarian Socialism Theory: The state is almost as big a problem as capitalism, and democratic grass-roots control through things like coops are preferable to nationalization, or extensions of state authority. In its anarchist variation, associated with the "council-communism" tradition. Leading U.S. advocate (also a DSA member): Noam Chomsky.

Praxis: The more libertarian wings of democratic socialist and social democratic groups embody a mild version of libertarian socialism, and a number of anarchist collectives in North America have a radical libertarian socialist orientation, such as the formerly Trotskyist Love and Rage group.

Market Socialism Theory: The State can't plan everything, and the market can effectively be used by democratic public policy for social goals, such as productivity.

Praxis: The moderate, or less utopian, wings of democratic socialist and social democratic groups.

Socialist-Feminism

Theory: Capitalism and patriarchy as relatively autonomous dual systems of power, tending to reinforce one another but not necessarily; socialism alone hasn't and won't liberate women; parallel influences of capitalism and patriarchy reflected in feminization of poverty.

Praxis: Although many feminist organizations have become more class-conscious, and committed to building feminism into a broader radical movement, only the DSA Feminist Commission today represents a true dual-systems analysis of current politics.

Other kinds of Feminists:

Marxist Feminism Theory: Women are primarily oppressed by capitalism, as workers; class more primary than gender as a social cleavage. Socialist revolution will liberate women.

Praxis: The "feminist" aspect of most socialist organizations in the U.S. today, but most clearly expressed by the West Coast Freedom Socialist Party/Radical Women.

Radical Feminism Theory: Women are oppressed by patriarchy; gender more primary than class.

Praxis: Represented in the U.S. today by legal theorist Catherine MacKinnon and writer Andrea Dworkin.

Lesbian Feminism Theory: Women are oppressed by both patriarchy and compulsory heterosexuality; lesbianism and gender separatism are the only path to liberation for women.

Liberal Feminism Theory: Women are oppressed because they don't have equal rights ("equal opportunity") with men in democratic society.

Praxis: In the U.S., usually associated with the National Organization of Women, though radicals actually have a lot of influence in NOW.

Black Socialism

Theory: Capitalism is relatively autonomous from, but interlocked with, Western imperialism, the exploitation of Third World peoples, and racism at home and abroad. Democratic socialism (at home and internationally) won't necessarily eliminate the oppressive relations of ethnic groups and nation-states, but will weaken them. Racism, like capitalism, is not just the barriers to advancement of minorities, but the whole structure of society which leads to inequality: structural racism.

Praxis: A tendency in much of African-American politics, from politicians such as Reps. Ron Dellums D-CA and Major Owens D-NY, to intellectuals such as Manning Marable and Cornel West, to revolutionary groups such as the now defunct Black Panther Party [BPP Ideology] [BPP History], and the still active African Peoples' Socialist Party and National Peoples' Democratic Uhuru Movement.

Other People of Color Politics:

Black Marxism Theory: Ethnic/racial divisions result from economic exploitation, such as the institution of slavery, and are used by the ruling class to divide the working class. Socialism will eliminate racism.

Praxis: Most socialist organizations implicitly treat race as secondary to class.

Pan-Africanism Theory: European peoples, socialist and capitalist, are globally oppressing African peoples, and Africans everywhere must fight for unity and liberation, and then struggle for socialism.

Praxis: In the U.S. by Kwame Ture's All-African People's Revolutionary Party, and the Nkrumahist-Toureist Party Organizing Formation.

Black Nationalism Theory: Blacks in America are an oppressed nation, and should struggle for a separate society and economy.

Praxis: In the U.S. by the Nation of Islam.

Black Anarchism TheoryThe foremost person associated with this movement would be former Black Panther Party member Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, and the journal 'Black Autonomy'. The Black colony in America should take control of its communities and form mass communes independent of the State, which is to be overthrown through an alliance with white workers, though Black workers form the vanguard.


Civil Rights and Assimilationism Theory: Usually associated with assimilationism; blacks are oppressed by racist attittudes and laws. The goal is to have everyone be treated equally under the law, with the exception of affirmative action.

Praxis: In the U.S., embodied in the Southern Christian Leadership Council, the NAACP, and other mainline civil rights organizations.

Eco-Socialism

Theory: Ecological protection requires the democratic control of the means of production, but industrialism itself must be reformed not just socialized. Recognizes a relative autonomy of ecology from class, State, gender, and race. Advocates work reduction (shorter work weeks, more dole), sustainable ("no-growth") economy, participatory democracy, cooperatives, and strengthened transnational institutions.

Praxis: In the U.S.: the left wing of the Greens USA, the more statist wing of the Left Green Network, and the Environmental Commission of DSA.

Related Species

Praxis: In the U.S.: Citizen's Clearinghouse on Hazardous Wastes.