Engels on Socialism in his later political writings – a comparative study with Max Weber on Socialism
Dr. QI Tao, Shanghai
Abstract
Max Weber gave a speech on Socialism in 1918 in which he discussed three main themes:
1) the relationship between socialism and democracy;
2) what is the meaning of modern socialism;
3) why socialism movement failed in Europe.
Weber pointed out the great challenge facing socialism, that capitalism had been transformed into monopoly capitalism. In this period, the political bureaucracy and the bureaucracy of the private economy were gradually merging into one. This is a new situation not faced by socialism in the nineteenth century.
In his later years, Engels noted the phenomenon analyzed by Weber, that the socialism movement must adjust its strategy. This adjustment was subject to the transformation of capitalism. First of all, capitalism has shown a great capacity for expansion, that is, for self-repair of crises. It is therefore impossible to count on the emergence of another global crisis to dismantle capitalism's domination. Secondly, the proletariat is also unable to unite all the oppressed classes, as it did in 1848. Finally, having won the right to universal suffrage, the Social Democrats in Germany have made gains in their struggle within the framework of the political system, which means that the right of the proletariat to rule can also be achieved with the help of the existing political system.
Does Engels' change of perspective on socialist strategy means that he changed his previous view of historical materialism? This will be another topic of study for this paper.
