Social Democracy:
- First associated with hostility to capitalism and even a belief in revolution.
- Inspired by the works of Marx but seen as the most important relevant form of revisionist socialism but still removed from Marx and Lenin.
- It came about during the German SPD transformation which saw the party embracing modern capitalism.
- Developed further by Keynes who argued that the state should sought to manage market forces to guarantee full employment and steady economic growth. This for social democrats would lead to rises in public spending and greater equality.
- Crosland noted that by ending capitalism’s cyclical character a more constant expansion of public spending, state welfare and ultimately progress towards the socialist goal of greater equality would be reached.
- Keynesian economics allowed socialists to look at other methods whereby greater equality could be secured such as the ending the unequal forms of secondary education.
- The only way the British social democrats like Crosland and the European counterparts differed was in European integration. A Europe-wide economic policy was more likely to promote austerity than full employment.
Key
Thinker 4: Anthony Crosland (1918-1977):
- A senior Labour politician who served as a cabinet minister during the Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s.
- Public/common owner ship has gone far enough. He thought that common ownership was not the aim of socialism, it was just a method of achieving it.
- The true objective is equality which could be achieved in a capitalist economy.
- Capitalism has changed after it became the norm in Western Europe after 1945.
- Advanced societies could now enjoy permanent economic growth and full employment without requiring any serious extension of public ownership.
- Society could now enjoy steady expansion of the welfare state which in turn, would remove inequality and would now advance socialism.
- Economic change means that society has become less “binary” and less polarised between employers and employees and ‘infinitely more complex than Marx could ever have imagined’.
- Crosland spoke of a “new class” such as managers and “technocrats” whose perspectives were likely to be difference to those of traditional workers.
- Socialism requires a “mixed economy” which would mainly comprise a private enterprise and private ownership alongside key services and a small number of industries owned by the state. This remained true whilst Crossland was in the government in the 1950s.
- The future task of socialist government was not more public ownership but more public spending and better public services.
- Fused on other issues affecting society such as education. He argued for a new form of state education known as comprehensive education which would end segregation of publics at the age of 11 and create new schools catering for all abilities.
- Believed these comprehensive schools would break down class divisions better than any extension of public ownership thus ensuring that all pupils had equality of opportunity.
- Comprehensive education become the norm after Crossland’s death.
The
Third Way:
- Sometimes known as “neo-revisionist.” Associated with the governments of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and German SPD politicians like Gerhard Schroder
- Emerged in the 1990s at a time when the case for fundamentalist socialism was thought to have disappeared. The Soviet Union had collapsed, market economies were being embraced and some communist states such as China were allowing forms of private enterprise. Support for a mixed economy seemed a little dated following the globalisation of capitalism.
- Anthony Giddens is seen as the main author of the third way and the third way revisionist.
- He wanted to triangulate social democracy’s wish for more equality with a capitialist economy that was less Keynesian and more neo-liberal. He needed to reconcile the task of modernising socialist parties in the UK.
- He urged modern socialists to ‘go with the flow’ and allow further privatisation and deregulation. He argued that it was the best way to boost economic growth leading to further boosts of government tax revenues and government spending in the name of equality.
- Seen as the revised attitude of equality of outcome. Greater equality of opportunity required more inequality of outcome. As a neo-liberal economy had unequal outcomes that also went hand in hand with increasing rates of economic growth therefore there was less equality and less chance to help the country’s poorest.
- This was accepted by Blair and Brown who renounced Labour’s Clause 4 commitment.
- Peter Mandelson said: “[The difference between the third way and other types of socialism is that…] we are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy stinking rich.. just as long as they pay their taxes.”
- However during New Labour’s years, the amount of tax paid increased more than a Conservative government but this allowed for an increase in public spending for the government.
- The deregulation of the banks and financial services was just one way that was example of the robust third way triangulation.
- Third way also placed much more emphasis on cultural and political equality e.g devolution
- Society had become much more cosmopolitan than in the 1950s and as such Blair passed various acts which promoted greater racial, gender and sexual equality e.g civil partnerships for homosexual couples.
Key
Thinker 5: Anthony Giddens (1938-2018*):
- Highlighted the corrosive effects of capitalism and individualism upon community and fraternity. Capitalism is irreversible and any future projects directed at it would have to take account of it, in order to achieve greater equality.
- Social democracy requires recognition that free market capitalism can empower individuals economically. But there is also a strong sense of social cohesion overlooked by neo-liberals.
- Fordist capitalism based on huge industrial units of mass productions has massively overlooked tightly knit urban communities based on uniformity of income. Individuals are feeling alienated.
- Individuals can now self-actualise and carve out identities. But it would be harder to develop as society becomes ill-defined. More likely to be influenced by economic and cultural elites. Individualisation actually leads to less individualism. For human nature to be protected, infrastructure and a modern system of education must be reached in order to prepare citizens for the economy.
- Keynesian economics does not work and a free market needs to be made. Greater equality of outcome may actually lead to inequality of outcome if the free market generates wealth to fund public services.