Revisionism (Marxism)

Short description: Set of ideas, principles and theories based on Marxism

Revisionism represents various ideas, principles, and theories that are based on a revision of Marxism. According to their critics, this involves a significant revision of fundamental Marxist theories and premises, and usually involves making an alliance with the bourgeois class.^[1] Some academic economists have used revisionism to describe post-Stalin, Eastern European writers who criticized one-party rule and argued in favour of freedom of the press and of the arts, intra- and sometimes inter-party democracy, independent labor unions, the abolition of bureaucratic privileges, and the subordination of police to the judiciary.^[2]

In Marxist discourse, revisionism often carries pejorative connotations and the term has been used by many different factions. It is typically applied to others and rarely as a self-description. By extension, people who view themselves as fighting against revisionism have often self-identified as anti-revisionists. Revisionism is most often used as an ephitet by those Marxists who believe that such revisions are unwarranted and represent a watering down or abandonment of Marxism—one such common example is the negation of class struggle.^[3]

History

Eduard Bernstein, an early revisionist

Revisionism has been used in a number of contexts to refer to different or claimed revisions of Marxist theory. Those who opposed Karl Marx's revolution through his lens of a violent uprising and sought out more peaceful, electoral means for a socialist revolution are known as revisionists. Eduard Bernstein, a close acquaintance of Marx and Friedrich Engels, was one of the first major revisionists, and was prominent in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).^[4]

In the late 19th century, the term revisionism was used to describe democratic socialist writers, such as Bernstein, who sought to revise Marx's ideas about the transition to socialism and claimed that a revolution through force was not necessary to achieve a socialist society.^[5] The views of Bernstein gave rise to reformist theory, which asserts that socialism can be achieved through gradual peaceful reforms from within a capitalist system.^[6]

References

↑ Oxford English Dictionary Revisionism 1. "A policy first put forward in the 1890s by Edward Bernstein (1850–1932) advocating the introduction of socialism through evolution rather than revolution, in opposition to the orthodox view of Marxists; hence a term of abuse used within the communist world for an interpretation of Marxism which is felt to threaten the canonical policy." Cites the first use in English "1903 Social-Democrat VII. 84 (heading) Revisionism in Germany."
↑ Paltemaa, Lauri (2007). "The Democracy Wall Movement, Marxist Revisionism, and the Variations on Socialist Democracy" (in en). Journal of Contemporary China 16 (53): 602. doi:10.1080/10670560701562325. ISSN 1067-0564. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10670560701562325.
↑ Tse-Tung, Mao (July 1964). On Khrushchov's Phoney Communism and Its Historical Lessons for the World. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/1964/phnycom.htm. "... the revisionist Khrushchov clique base themselves mainly on the argument that ... class struggle no longer exists."
↑ Steger, Manfred (1997). The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism: Eduard Bernstein And Social Democracy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
↑ Eichhorn, Wolfgang, ed (2002). "Über Eduard Bernstein. Gegensatz und Berührungspunkte zu Rosa Luxemburg und W. I. Lenin" (in de). Jahrbuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung.
↑ Wiener, Philip P., ed (1973–74). Dictionary of the History of Ideas. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. http://etext.virginia.edu/DicHist/dict.html. referenced in Kindersley, R. K.. "Marxist revisionism: From Bernstein to modern forms". http://etext.virginia.edu/DicHist/dict.html.

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revisionism (Marxism). Read more

[1] Oxford English Dictionary Revisionism 1. "A policy first put forward in the 1890s by Edward Bernstein (1850–1932) advocating the introduction of socialism through evolution rather than revolution, in opposition to the orthodox view of Marxists; hence a term of abuse used within the communist world for an interpretation of Marxism which is felt to threaten the canonical policy." Cites the first use in English "1903 Social-Democrat VII. 84 (heading) Revisionism in Germany."

[2] Paltemaa, Lauri (2007). "The Democracy Wall Movement, Marxist Revisionism, and the Variations on Socialist Democracy" (in en). Journal of Contemporary China 16 (53): 602. doi:10.1080/10670560701562325. ISSN 1067-0564. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10670560701562325.

[3] Tse-Tung, Mao (July 1964). On Khrushchov's Phoney Communism and Its Historical Lessons for the World. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/1964/phnycom.htm. "... the revisionist Khrushchov clique base themselves mainly on the argument that ... class struggle no longer exists."

[4] Steger, Manfred (1997). The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism: Eduard Bernstein And Social Democracy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

[5] Eichhorn, Wolfgang, ed (2002). "Über Eduard Bernstein. Gegensatz und Berührungspunkte zu Rosa Luxemburg und W. I. Lenin" (in de). Jahrbuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung.

[6] Wiener, Philip P., ed (1973–74). Dictionary of the History of Ideas. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. http://etext.virginia.edu/DicHist/dict.html. referenced in Kindersley, R. K.. "Marxist revisionism: From Bernstein to modern forms". http://etext.virginia.edu/DicHist/dict.html.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Marxist phraseology and terminology
Philosophy and politics (Marxist)	Barracks communism Base and superstructure Bourgeoisie Bourgeois democracy Bourgeois nationalism Bourgeois socialism Capitalist mode of production Class struggle Commodification Dialectics Dictatorship of the proletariat Historical materialism Imperialism Liquidationism Lumpenproletariat Means of labor Metabolic rift Petite bourgeoisie Primitive accumulation of capital Proletarian internationalism Proletarian revolution Pure communism Revolutionary spontaneity Revolutionary wave Scientific socialism Socialist mode of production Super-imperialism Theoretician Two stage theory Wage slavery Workers' council Workers' control World revolution
Economics and sociology (Marxian)	Accumulation of capital Capital Capitalist mode of production Crisis of capitalism Commanding heights of the economy Commodity Commodity production Dominant ideology Exchange value Free association Law of value Materialism Means of production Mode of production Productive forces Production for use Relations of production Ruling class Simple commodity production Socialist mode of production Socially necessary labour time Socialization Social murder Subject of labor Surplus value Use value Value Worker cooperative
Marxist–Leninist	Cadre Central Committee Democratic centralism Dual power Enemy of the people Foco General line of the party National liberation New class People's democracy Politburo Political rehabilitation Popular front Real socialism Revisionism Revolutionary terror Self-criticism Socialist accumulation Socialism in one country Social fascism Social imperialism Soviet democracy United front Vanguardism
Trotskyist	Deformed workers' state Degenerated workers' state French Turn Permanent revolution Social revolution Transitional demand Uneven and combined development United front World revolution
Maoist	Antagonistic contradiction Capitalist roader Four Olds Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Mass line New Democracy One Divides Into Two People's war Revolutionary base area Struggle session

Revisionism (Marxism)

Topic: Social

History

See also

References