We explain the differences between socialism and communism, what they have in common and what the history of both terms is.
What is the difference between socialism and communism?
The terms communism and socialism are frequently used synonymously to refer to any left-wing political position that is considered more or less radical.
The reason for this is that Both concepts come from the same philosophical, political and economic tradition, developed throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries as a response to the problems of inequality and exploitation of the working class that characterized the global expansion of industrial capitalism. In their beginnings, both socialism and communism proposed abolishing private ownership of the means of production, which were controlled by the bourgeoisie, and establishing social, worker or community control of said means.
However, despite the similarities between both terms, there are differences that distinguish them. In particular, while communism is often considered a particular form of socialism, since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 was strongly associated with revolutionary experiences and political regimes inspired by the Marxist doctrine of class struggle. Instead, Socialism is currently mainly linked to social democratic parties who defend political parliamentarism, economic reformism and union organization, although there is a great variety of socialist political and intellectual expressions (both centralist and horizontalist).
Throughout the 20th century, There were many attempts to implement communism that led to the establishment of dictatorships and one-party regimes, and even genocides. On the other hand, some modern and democratic variants of socialism managed to promote relatively successful policies in the form of social democracy, that is, through their coexistence with the free market and the democratic political system.
However, according to some analysts, in a strict sense there was no political group capable of implementing communism or socialism in their original theoretical forms, in a sustained manner over time, in any nation in the world.
Key points
- Socialism and communism have many points in common, since they come from the same philosophical tradition born in the 19th century with the intention of overcoming the inequality caused by industrial capitalism.
- Socialism encompasses a multiplicity of political expressions, from social democracy to libertarian socialism, while communism is associated with the Marxist doctrine of class struggle and the dictatorship of the proletariat.
- Currently, socialism usually defends parliamentarism and state intervention in the market economy, while communism postulates the abolition of private property, state planning of the economy and control of politics by a single party.
- Among some Marxist intellectuals, socialism is understood as a theoretical transition phase between capitalism and communism.
History of the terms “socialism” and “communism”
Historically, The first term to emerge was “socialism.” whose first mentions date back to the second half of the 18th century, when it was used by the monk Ferdinando Facchinei (1725-1814) and the religious Appiano Buonafede (1716-1793) to criticize the defenders of the theory of the social contract. Later, it came to be used by the followers of the Welsh philanthropist Robert Owen (1771-1858), who preached the doctrine of human brotherhood and worker cooperation.
With its current meaning, The term socialism spread in Europe in the 1830s both among the followers of Robert Owen and Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), Charles Fourier (1772-1837) and other mainly French thinkers. The name socialism included positions after the French Revolution that criticized the inequalities introduced by the Industrial Revolution and the capitalist system.
For its part, The term “communism” began to be used about ten years later in France, by thinkers such as Étienne Cabet (1788-1856), who since 1839 used it as a synonym for socialism and communitarianism. It was also used to describe a banquet of more than a thousand diners, mostly workers, that was organized in Paris in 1840, and in which the need to promote social and political changes to achieve “true equality” was discussed.
In the 1840s, the Cabetists or Icarians (followers of Cabet) and the neo-Babuvists (supporters of the revolutionary François Babeuf, executed in 1797) were considered “communists.” His ideas and efforts gained such national and international notoriety that the term “communist” began to gain popularity and be differentiated in some cases from the term “socialist.”
In general, The communists were distinguished from other socialists in that they professed a more confrontational political vision, which gave the class struggle a central place in his proposal for a workers' revolution. For this reason, Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), the German philosophers who reinvented this terminology, generally preferred to talk about communism in their writings.
Marx renamed the socialist tendencies prior to his philosophical work as “utopian socialism.” since he maintained that they proposed paths to socialism that were not based on the scientific study of reality or on the proposal of a rigorous method to transform society. Instead, Marx called his own proposal – today known as Marxism – “scientific communism” or simply communism.
In Marx's work, history was marching towards a society without social classes. This society was called variously: “positive humanism”, “kingdom of free individuality”, “free association of producers”, “socialism” and “communism”.
Later scholars of his work considered that the terms socialism and communism should be understood as different stages in the historical path outlined by Marx, and proposed that socialism would be a transitional stage between capitalism and communism.
The outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917, which brought the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin to power and gave rise to the first communist state in history, caused a clearer differentiation between socialists and communists. The Second International, which since 1889 had brought together socialist parties from all over the world, suffered a rupture. And in 1919 the Third International or Comintern was born, made up of communist parties, which rejected socialist parliamentarism and defended the dictatorship of the proletariat.
From now on, Communism was largely associated with Soviet Marxism-Leninism and the official ideology of the communist parties in various parts of the world, while socialism came to refer to a diversity of political and intellectual expressions, including social democracy.
Differences between communism and socialism
The specific differences between socialism and communism may vary depending on who states them or in what historical context they are discussed. Currently, the difference between communism and socialism can be summarized in the following terms:
| Communism | Socialism |
|---|---|
| It is the doctrine of political groups that came to power through revolutionary violence, in the name of the working and peasant classes, and that formed dictatorships that prohibit or persecute any attempt at opposition. | It is a less rigid ideology and with more doctrinal variations. In its reformist and democratic form, it raises the possibility of incorporating gradual processes of reform and transformation, instead of a revolutionary outbreak and the establishment of a dictatorship. |
| Its objective is to completely eliminate private property, and for all assets to become community property, administered by a centralized State. | It respects private property, but proposes that the dynamics of production and distribution of wealth must be regulated by the State to guarantee common well-being. |
| The central state decides what each citizen receives, based on a bureaucratic calculation of the basic needs of shelter, food, education and medical care. | It supports a free market system in which individual effort is rewarded, but the State has its authority to redistribute wealth and guarantee more equal access to basic resources. |
| The central State controls and directs economic and cultural production, which gives rise to more or less totalitarian societies. | The State can sponsor and subsidize goods that are considered of social interest, and take actions to interfere in the market, but it does so under the protection of the law and respect for the democratic order. |
| Currently, five countries are considered communist regimes, although they were forced to incorporate reforms of relative economic liberalization: China, Cuba, North Korea, Laos and Vietnam. | Currently, social democracy (understood as the coexistence between aspects of socialism, democracy and free market economics) operates in countries such as Norway, Denmark, Sweden and other European nations. |
References
- Ball, T. and Dagger, R. (2024). Communism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
- Bobbio, N. et al. (Dirs.). (2015). Politics Dictionary. New edition entirely revised and expanded. 21st century.
- Cappelletti, A.J. (2007). Stages of socialist thought. Anarres Books.
- Dagger, R. and Ball, T. (2024). Socialism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
- Paniagua, J. (2010). Brief history of socialism and communism. Second edition. Nowtilus.
