Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Socialism
So′cial-ism
,Noun.
[Cf. F.
socialisme
.] A theory or system of social reform which contemplates a complete reconstruction of society, with a more just and equitable distribution of property and labor. In popular usage, the term is often employed to indicate any lawless, revolutionary social scheme. See
Communism
, Fourierism
, Saint-Simonianism
, forms of socialism. [
Socialism
] was first applied in England to Owen’s theory of social reconstruction, and in France to those also of St. Simon and Fourier . . . The word, however, is used with a great variety of meaning, . . . even by economists and learned critics. The general tendency is to regard as socialistic any interference undertaken by society on behalf of the poor, . . . radical social reform which disturbs the present system of private property . . . The tendency of the present socialism
is more and more to ally itself with the most advanced democracy. Encyc. Brit.
We certainly want a true history of
socialism
, meaning by that a history of every systematic attempt to provide a new social existence for the mass of the workers. F. Harrison.
Definition 2024
socialism
socialism
English
Noun
socialism (usually uncountable, plural socialisms)
- (Marxism) The intermediate phase of social development between capitalism and full communism in Marxist theory in which the state has control of the means of production.
- Any of several later political philosophies such as libertarian socialism, democratic socialism, and social democracy which do not envisage the need for full state ownership of the means of production nor transition to full communism, and which are typically based on principles of community decision making, social equality and the avoidance of economic and social exclusion, with economic policy giving first preference to community goals over individual ones.
- 1978, Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, Basic Books, page xii:
- For me, socialism is not statism, or the collective ownership of the means of production. It is a judgment on the priorities of economic policy.. the community takes precedence over the individual in legitimate economic policy. The first lien on the resources of a society therefore should be to establish that "social minimum" which would allow individuals to lead a life of self-respect, to be members of the community.
- 1978, Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, Basic Books, page xii:
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
political philosophy of social and economic equality
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group of socialist political philosophies
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intermediate phase of social development
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See also
References
- “socialism” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).