Topic 4 The Socialist Response

Responses to Capitalism Reformers, Unions, Socialists and Marxism Chapter 7: pages 267-272

Topics The Union and Reformer response Utopianism Marxism

I. Unions and Reform Movements. Reformers want to address social problems The Utopian Socialists Robert Owens and Kinder Capitalism Charles Fourier and Socialism Workers organize Unions Reform Laws Other Reform Movements.

A. Reformers wanted to address social problems Economic inequality Rich are very rich What about the rest??? Problems of Poverty Urbanization, immigration and crime Eventually pollution and the environment

B. The Utopian Socialists Wanted to create ideal or utopian societies Criticized for being idealistic dreamers Saint Simonianism: Count Claude Henri de Saint-Simon Liberal French Aristocrat Modern society should involve rational management Wanted to manage wealth to solve problems, not redistribute

C. Robert Owens He was also a textile factory owner Admired Locke and wanted to promote positive societies through positive environments Wanted to build a Utopian Factory Town He provided inexpensive housing for employees He ended child labor and offered free school Built a town in Indiana in 1825 Failed in 3 years

D. Charles Fourier Called for greater government regulation and ownership Government centralized planning Create communities Government owned industries Combine Industry and agriculture Individuals rotate jobs to avoid boredom Socialists hoped this would bring greater economic equality

E. Workers Organize Unions. Workers form Unions or associations to achieve common goals. Safer working conditions, better pay. Used Collective bargaining and strikes as tactics. Early unions were outlawed. Skilled vs Unskilled Labor.

F. Reform Laws. Factory Act of 1833 : Illegal to hire children under 9. Limited # of hours older children could work. 1842 Mines Act prevented women and children from working underground. Ten Hours Act of 1847 limited work day to 10 hours for woman and children.

G. Other Reform Movements. Abolitionism Women’s Rights Movement Reformers wanted to use the government to solve social problems.

II. Utilitarianism. Founded by Jeremy Bentham. Argued that ideas, institutions and actions should be judged based on their utility. Government should promote the greatest good.

III. Karl Marx Scientific Socialism. Dialectical Materialism. History as class struggle. Stages of history. The end of capitalism. Impact of Marx.

A. Scientific Socialism. Marx referred to these earlier reformers as Utopian reformers . They were misguided dreamers. They did not use science to back up their ideas. Marx used Scientific Socialism , or the idea that scientific principles could be used to study history and society.

B. Hegel’s Dialectic Hegel argued that ideas were the driving force behind society. Thesis (The Idea) Anti Thesis (The opposite of that idea) Clash Synthesis

C. Dialectical Materialism. Marx believed materialism or the distribution of wealth divided people into classes and created conflict. It was a rejection of Hegel. From this Marx argues that all history is the history of class struggle.

D. History as class struggle. Marx believed that the unequal distribution of wealth divided people into classes. The Bourgeoisie or the capitalists. The Proletariat or working class. The capitalist class will always exploit the workers.

E. Stages of History. Human society passed through stages. Primitive Communism (Tribal). Slave labor. Feudal. Capitalism. Communist state. Each stage contained the seeds of it’s own destruction.( Thesis vs Antithesis )

F. The Demise of Capitalism. Marx agreed that capitalism created wealth through the profit motive. Marx believed that the value of all goods came from the labor put into making it, this is the Labor theory of value . Problem in Capitalism, if raw material costs cannot be changed, only labor costs can be reduced to increase profit. This forced capitalists to reduce wages to create a greater profit.

Continued… This disparity of wealth is so great that the proletariat will resent the bourgeoisie and revolt. Workers of the World Unite This is an internationalist movement This is when the workers of the world would unite,abolish private property and begin social control of natural resources and the means of production. Marx called for this in his book “The Communist Manifesto”.

G. Impact of Karl Marx. Who has he influenced? Russian Revolution. Chinese Revolution. Much of the third world. Has communism failed? Maybe only the Soviet version. Does his theories still describe society?

Percentage of National income received 3.9 4.1 4.1 4.9 Bottom Fifth 9.6 10.2 10.8 12 4 th Fifth 15.9 16.8 17.4 17.6 3 rd Fifth 24 24.8 24.5 23.6 2 nd Fifth 46.6 44.2 43.3 42 Top fifth 1990 1980 1970 1960 Income

Percentage of Total Wealth .0 Bottom fifth .1 Fourth Fifth .4 Third 5 th 4.4 Second Fifth 95.6 Top 20% 78.6 Top 5% 49.9 Top 1% Percentage Held Group

Terms Robert Owens Charles Fourier Unions Skilled vs Unskilled labor Factory Act of 1833: 1842 Mines Act Ten Hours Act of 1847 Karl Marx Utopian reformers Bourgeoisie Proletariat

What we Know Reformers and unions worked to address the worst side effects of the Industrial Revolution. The Left disagreed on how to do this? Marxism claimed scientific evidence to justify a social revolution.

Topic 4 The Socialist Response

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Topic 4 The Socialist Response