POT 3203 Fall 2024

Week 7 Module

THEME: Socialism II

DEADLINES:

Quiz and Part A questions:       Monday   10/7 in Webcourses

Part B posts:                                   Wednesday 10/9 in Yellowdig

WEEK 7 ASSIGNED READINGS AND VIEWING:

All subjects to quiz.

View:

The Russian Revolution Part 1 (47 minutes)

https://fod-infobase-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=42297Links to an external site.

The Russian Revolution Part 2 (47 minutes)

https://fod-infobase-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=42298Links to an external site.

Read: Ball et al. chapter 6: Socialism and Communism After Marx

Read: Instructor’s Remarks on Ideological Flexibility, in Files under Assigned Readings.

WEEK 7 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Describe the part Engels played in (re)interpreting Marx’s theory.
2. Define revisionism and Eduard Bernstein’s role in revising Marxian theory along evolutionary
3. Outline Bernstein’s critique of revolutionary socialism and the arguments and evidence he advanced in defense of evolutionary socialism.
4. Describe the central features of Lenin’s reinterpretation of Marxian theory to suit Russian conditions.
5. Describe Lenin’s notion of a “vanguard party” and explain why he thought it to be necessary.
6. Outline Lenin’s critique of revisionism.
7. Outline Lenin’s theory of imperialism and its explanatory function for Marxist-Leninists.
8. Describe Stalin’s contributions to and reinterpretation of Marxism-Leninism.
9. Describe Mao Zedong’s contributions to and reinterpretation of Marxism-Leninism.
10. Identify the origins and main features of anarcho-communism.
11. Identify the origins and main features of Fabian socialism.
12. Describe the several explanations for the absence of a large-scale socialist party or movement in the United States.
13. Describe the evolution of income inequality in rich countries since 1900.
14. Describe the instructor’s arguments in favor of ideological flexibility and how they apply to both socialism and conservatism.

PRESENTATION

The textbook provides information on the communist ideology (Lenin, Stalin, Mao) and the emergence a revisionist current (Bernstein and others) eventually leading to democratic socialism (or social democracy).

The video documentaries provide more information on the historical context of the emergence and violent consolidation of the first communist regime in world history. The era between the onset of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 has been called by some historians the Short Twentieth Century. It is a period very much defined by the conflict between communism and its alternatives (liberal democracy, social democracy, fascism/Nazism). This conflict gives the era its unity.

A few more quiz questions than usual will focus on the video documentaries in acknowledgement of the importance of the 1917 Russian Revolution for word history. Note that the documentaries are accompanied by transcripts that can help retrieve the information during the quiz. It is recommended, however, that you simply watch the documentaries like you would do any other video before taking the quiz. I hope this will provide an enjoyable way to learn about the topic.

One more thing is worth noting about the videos. On the one hand, the 1917 October Revolution was certainly led by a cadre of ideologically trained militants – the members of the Bolshevik party. On the other hand, the masses of the people who participated in the revolution had a different approach, different goals and spontaneously did not think in ideological terms. They “simply” wanted peace, bread, and land.

What Kinder and Kalmoe (Week 5) claimed about the “ideological innocence” of most Americans also applies to most 1917 Russians revolutionaries. Ideologically driven elites may lead “ideologically innocent” masses to engage in political action, sometimes to the point of toppling a government. But that does not mean that the ideological lessons have been learned and assimilated by the masses. One can presume that a different party with a different ideology could have led that revolution if it had the acumen to recognize and adopt as its rallying cry the people’s most pressing demands of peace, bread, and land. Menshevik Kerensky and his friends were unable or unwilling to promise immediate peace. That decision cost them control of the popular revolutionary movement, not their ideological differences with the Bolsheviks.

PART A TASKS in Webcourses

See Tips for Posting in Part A in Files.

Q-0:  Is there an idea or a claim expressed in the readings that you find difficult, confusing, or unclear? If so, tell us which idea this is. Cite the document title and page where you encountered this idea. We cannot help you if the description of what is unclear is overly broad. You do not need to answer this question. If everything is clear, there is not point in answering. Q-0 is NOT for issues or ideas you understand but disagree with. It is only for ideas or claims you do not understand. If you have a disagreement or simply a doubt about an idea contained in the readings, you make that the basis of your critical question in Part B (Packback). Another student might answer your question there.

Q-1a: Ball et al. report that the “United States has a long, but not very strong, socialist tradition” (p. 205). They also present four reasons to explain why Americans find socialism unappealing. First, what are these explanations?

Q-1b: Second, do these explanations seem convincing to you? Can you think of alternative explanations?

300 words minimum for Q-1a and Q-1b together.

State your word count.

 NOTE: In answering the question in Part A, you must strive to demonstrate that you reflected on the meaning of the readings and viewing. There is no right or wrong answer. There are only answers demonstrating shallow and perfunctory or serious and deep reflections on the material. We want to see the latter.

Your Part A answer is graded 50% for thoughtful content and 50% for proficient writing.

PART B TASKS in Yellowdig

Task-1: Answer the question raised by the instructor. This week’s question is:

Can We Have True Democracy without Socialism?

Regardless of what most Americans seem to think of socialism, can we have true democracy if a narrow slice of the population controls the means of production?

In a capitalist country, the few own and control the means of production and manage them with one goal in mind: maximizing their own profit. Does this not give them extraordinary influence over the direction and pace of investments, hiring and firing policies, working conditions and rules, environmental conditions, etc.? Did you not hear about Facebook putting profit over people? Did you not hear about pharma companies putting profit over people’s health? How many times do we hear businesses threatening to leave town, state, sometimes even the country if the government mandates environmental, a higher minimum wage, or occupational safety precautions? Which social class provide the largest chunk of campaign donations to politicians? What do these donors expect in return?

Socialists claim, in the words of Ball et al., that:

… socialism is an ideology committed to democracy … True socialism requires government of, by, and for the people. It aims to give everyone an equal voice in the decisions that affect his or her life in direct and important ways. But this can only happen … if no one person or class [i.e., the bourgeoisie] controls most of the wealth and resources – and thus most of the power – within a society … resources must be owned and controlled for the benefit of the whole society if true democracy is ever to take shape. Otherwise … we shall have nothing but government of the wealthy, by the wealthy, and for the wealthy. (Pp. 213-4).

Is this socialist argument convincing or not? Justify your answer with arguments, examples and/or data.