Collective solutions to collective problems – a discussion of a definition of “socialism”

The word “socialism” was in use even before Marx and Engels first wrote the Communist Manifesto – as a matter of fact, the Manifesto has a chapter dedicated to discussing and critiquing contemporary socialist currents of thought, as well as comparing them to the “scientific socialism” advanced by Marx and Engels. Although the word is many times used to refer to Marxism and Marxian economics, it’s had many meanings throughout time and space, and it still has today. Non-Marxist socialisms includes ethical socialism and national socialism. The Swedish Social-Democratic Workers’ Party nominally espouses democratic socialism and there are some social-democratic parties that are named “the Socialist Party” or similar. Perhaps, then, it’s not so strange that confusion arises:

The $3.5 trillion Biden plan isn’t socialism, it’s marxism [sic.]

Marco Rubio on Twitter, commenting on President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (September 30^th, 2021)

This is not to mention all the internal inconsistencies and quarrels between socialists. Is the end-goal communism? Should socialism be advanced through reform or revolution? What role do unions, socialist parties, and workers have?

It’s not just the economy

But alright, I call myself a “socialist” and say that I advocate “socialism,” so what do I mean when I say the word? For a while I would probably have said something along the lines of “economic democracy, where the workers control the means of production and decide over their labour.” I still think that this is part of what socialism is to me,^[1]There are other interpretations of socialism that agree and disagree with mine, and for the record I think other such interpretations are valid. “Socialism” is a broad term, and if … Continue reading but I’ve had cause to broaden my perspective a little bit.

Daniel Suhonen is co-founder of the Reformists, a democratic-socialist pressure-group within the Swedish Social-Democrats, and the current director of the union-affiliated think-tank Katalys. During a seminar arranged by Katalys regarding the viability of contemporary Social-Democracy,^{[in Swedish]} he presented his book What Would Erlander Do? (original title in Swedish: “Vad skulle Erlander ha gjort?“) and also talked a bit about what he thinks socialism is:

My definition of “socialism” in the book is, somewhere, “collective solutions to collective problems.”

Daniel Suhonen on socialism^{[in Swedish]} (September 7^th, 2021)

This notion of socialism as “collective solutions to collective problems,” that it’s something we have in common and something we shape along democratic principles, is interesting. It may be that my previous definition is insufficient, because I’ve been around a lot of socialists, and although this isn’t something universal, I’ve nevertheless found that a very common aspect of these socialist groupings and ideologies is not merely emphasis on economic equality but also social equality. These are voices that call on class-struggle, but also struggle for the rights of queer people, people of colour, the disabled, et al. – and it seems quite core to what their idea of “socialism” is.

A social ism

It’s probably rare for a self-proclaimed communist to talk about Tony Blair in positive terms, but I will put that to one side. Blair is not an economic socialist, but the Third Way-current he’s been part of espouses a sort of ethical socialism, with Liberal Languages: Ideological Imaginations and Twentieth-Century Progressive Thought (2009, Princeton University Press) categorising Blair’s ideology as a sort of “social ism.”^{[login required]}

Blair may think that the historical economic objectives of the socialist movements are obsolete, and I disagree, but there’s something to this notion of a “social ism.” It seems like it’s easy to fall into the trappings of cliché when talking about socialism, with focus being on economics and economical measures such as nationalisations, the organisation of the economy generally, how production is controlled. These are highly important to society and there’s no doubt about it, and we talk about it with rhetoric about fairness and justice, equality and rights. Within this rhetoric lies something else, however, and it makes sense why so many socialists aren’t just economic egalitarians but also social egalitarians.

I’m not sure if socialism has ever been solely about the economy, because from the call to create a “classless, moneyless, and stateless society” we can also hear another call for us to end all hierarchies and dissolve all boundaries that separate us, to liberate humanity; although our means may be economic in part, our fundamental aim is social. Indeed, the October Revolution wasn’t carried out by a bunch of economists and technocrats – and if it were, I don’t think I would call myself “a socialist.”

Frankly, I think “social ism” might be a more accurate framing of what I mean when I say “socialism.” What I like about the Suhonen-definition is that it also touches upon this social aspect. Eight hours a day, sometimes more and sometimes less, we sell our labour to capitalists, the market reinforces egoism like nothing else, and through representative democracy we place our lives in the hands of politicians every few years. People get persecuted for their religious beliefs, opinions, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc. These are problems that affect all of us, and they require solutions that we can all shape and take part of. “Collective solutions to collective problems” is a democratic principle.

Closing thoughts

Our social struggles can’t be resolved if we ignore the economy, but this is not to say that the economy is all that socialism concerns. I’d like to end off with an illustrative quote by the former Left Party-leader Jonas Sjöstedt:

[T]he economy is important – we can never escape it – but the goal of the economy is something greater: building good lives, and that’s what we’re going to do.

Jonas Sjöstedt to Fredrik Reinfeldt during a Parliamentary debate (January 15^th, 2014)