Communism, Equality, and the Nature of Human Relations

The Basics of Communism

• Two definitions of communism

  • A political-economic system in which all wealth and property are shared so as to eliminate exploitation, oppression, and, ultimately, the need for political institutions such as the state.

  • A political ideology that advocates such a system.

• Traces back to German philosopher Karl Marx

• More than ideology, communism also proposes a theory of history.

The Theory of Communism

• Empirical

  • Attempts to explain how societies operate (how the world works)

  • Includes theories about why economies grow, why people start revolutions, and so on

• Normative

  • An ideology about how society should function

  • Includes prescriptions about how workers should organize and overthrow market-based systems.

Key Marxist Terms

In Focus: Terms in Marxist Theory

• Base - the economic system of a society, made up of technology (the means of production) and class relations between people (the relations of production).

• Bourgeoisie - the property-owning class.

• Communism - according to Marxists, the final stage of history once capitalism is overthrown and the dictatorship of the proletariat destroys its remaining vestiges. In communism, state and politics would disappear, and society and the economy would be based on equality and cooperation.

• Dialectical materialism - process of historical change that is not evolutionary but revolutionary. The existing base and superstructure (thesis) would come into conflict with new technological innovations, generating growing opposition to the existing order (antithesis). This would culminate in revolution, overthrowing the old base and superstructure (synthesis).

• Dictatorship of the proletariat - temporary period after capitalism has been overthrown during which vestiges of the old base and superstructure are eradicated.

• False consciousness - failure to understand the nature of one’s exploitation; essentially amounts to “buying into” the superstructure.

• Proletariat - the working class

• Superstructure - all noneconomic institutions in a society (for example, religion, culture, national identity). These ideas and values derive from the base and serve to legitimize the current system of exploitation.

• Surplus value of labor - the value invested in any human-made good that can be used by another individual. Exploitation results when one person or group extracts the surplus value from another.

• Vanguard of the proletariat - Lenin’s argument that because of false consciousness, an elite communist party would have to carry out revolution; otherwise, historical conditions would not automatically lead to capitalism’s demise.

The Basics of Communist Theory

• Human history viewed as interaction between base and superstructure.

  • Base: the economic system of society, made up of technology (the means of production) and class relations between people (the relations of production).

  • Superstructure: all noneconomic institutions in a society (e.g., religion, culture, national identity); these ideas and values derive from the base and serve to legitimize the current of exploitation.

• People suffer from “false consciousness,” or a failure to understand their exploitation because the superstructure deludes them.

Revolution and the “Triumph” of Communism

Class Conflict and the Dialectic

• Dialectical materialism: process of historical change that is not evolutionary but revolutionary

• Marxist view of history

  • The existing base and superlative (thesis) comes into conflict with new technological innovations, generating growing opposition to the existing order (antithesis).

  • This would culminate in revolution, overthrowing the old base and superstructure and replacing it with a new one (synthesis).

The Classes in Conflict in the Modern Era

• Bourgeoisie: the property-owning class

  • Own the “means of production”; exploits workers

• Proletariat: the working class

  • The labor force adding value to production; exploited by bourgeoisie

  • Alienated from labor and from themselves

  • Ultimately will “gain consciousness” and overthrow system

Marx’s Phases of Human History

In Focus: Marx’s Phases of Human History

1. Feudalism

2. Capitalist democracy

3. Dictatorship of the proletariat

4. Communist utopia

• At each stage, changes in technology increase tensions between the ruler and the ruled.

• Ultimately, a major revolution occurs, and societies enter a new phase.

What Comes after the Communist Revolution?

• Capitalism and liberal democracy are eliminated.

  • Transformation of base; rejection of false consciousness

• Temporary “dictatorship of the proletariat”

  • May be directed by the “vanguard of the proletariat”

• Ultimately, the state “withers away.”

  • Replaced with Communist utopia.

Putting Communism into Practice

Major Names in Communism

• Communist theorist: Karl Marx

• Communist practitioners: Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Castro

• Communist reformists: Deng Xiaoping and Mikhail Gorbachev

In Focus: Important Figures in Communism

• Karl Marx

• Lenin

• Joseph Stalin

• Mao Zedong

• Deng Xiaoping

• Fidel Castro

• Mikhail Gorbachev

Moving from Theory to Practice

• Marx: No blueprint for communist government

  • Expected anarchic utopia to emerge

• Marxism takes off in agricultural countries

  • Two notable followers: Lenin (Russia) and Mao Zedong (China)

  • How to explain this deviation?

    • Lenin adds the “vanguard of the proletariat”: Lenin’s argument that because of false consciousness, an elite communist party would have to carry out revolution; otherwise, historical conditions would not automatically lead to capitalism’s demise.

Different Communist Regimes Emerged

• All were non-democracaies.

• The “typical” communist regime: one-party rule

  • Communist Parties as the “vanguard” running the “dictatorship of the proletariat”

  • Examples: USSR, most of Eastern Europe, China

• Other communist reinterpretations

  • Personal or monarchical rule (North Korea)

  • Military rule (Myanmar/Burma)

Key Features of Communist States

• Elite-based, centralized authority under Communist Party

  • Often written into constitution; state institutions mirrored in the parties

• Co-optation used to maintain control

  • Nomenklatura: politically sensitive or influential jobs in the state, society, or economy that were staffed by people chosen or approved by the Communist Party

• Monopoly of power and coercion

• Banning of “hostile” organizations

Key Features of Communist Party Structure

• Party structure often mirrors state structure.

• The party hierarchy

  • General secretary: chief executive

  • Politburo (“Political Bureau”): top policy-making executive body of a communist party

  • Central Committee: legislative-like body of a communist party

  • Local cells: basic party organizations to which members are assigned

Communist Political Economy

Main Features of Communist Political Economies

• Collectivization and nationalization

  • Private property eliminated

  • State-controlled industry and agricultural communes

• Markets replaced with central planning

  • Central planning: a communist economic system in which the state explicitly allocates resources by planning what should be produced and in what amounts, the final price of goods, and where they should be sold.

• Extensive public goods and social services.

The Major Flaws of Communist Economics

• Too many things for bureaucracy to plan

  • Regular supply shortages

  • Domino effect: shortages in steel → shortages in bolts → shortages in cars

• Government (planners) and free markets prioritize different things.

  • Government planning focused on military and industry; few consumer goods produced

• Lack of worker and business incentives

  • Factories and farms focused on hitting quotas rather than producing quality goods or profiting from surplus.

  • Workers did not fear losing jobs; businesses did not fear going bankrupt.

Consequences of Communist Political Economies

• Massive supply shortages

  • Included food shortages, sometimes resulting in mass starvation.

• Lower quality of life

  • Inequality low and extreme poverty eliminated, but benefits were unevenly distributed in society.

  • Fewer consumer goods that primarily went to nomenklatura.

• Economic stagnation: innovation and efficiency completely disappear.

  • Products that were produced were inefficient and often low quality.

  • Industry fell behind the West.

Wrapping It Up: Communist Political Economy

In Focus: Communist Political Economy

• Markets and property are wholly absorbed by the state.

• Central planning replaces the market mechanism.

• Individual property rights, individual profit, unemployment, competition between firms, and bankruptcy are all virtually eliminated.

• Most of the nation’s means of production are nationalized.

• The economy functions in essence as a single large firm whose sole employees are the public.

• The state provides extensive public goods and social services, including universal systems of public education, healthcare, and retirement.

• Inequality and poverty are reduced but not eliminated.

Societal Institutions under Communism

Societal Transformations: The Communist Goals

• Religion: eliminate the “opiate of the masses”

  • Places of worship were closed, converted to other uses, or destroyed.

• Gender and sexuality: eliminate exploitation

  • Promote equal opportunities for men and women.

  • Eliminate repressive institutions (such as marriage) in favor of “free love.”

• Nationalism and ethnic identity: eliminate mechanisms that “divide and conquer.”

Societal Transformations: The Reality

• Religion: goes underground

• Gender and sexuality: mixed results

  • More job opportunities and political rights for women

  • Traditional sexuality and familial roles remain very conservative.

• Nationalism and ethnic identity: strengthened

  • Nationalism actively promoted by the state.

  • Minority resentments fueled by unequal treatments.

Wrapping It Up: Societal Institutions under Communism

The Collapse of Communism

The Rise and Fall of Communism

• Communism was a major political force for most of the twentieth century.

• 1989-1991 Communism falls in many countries.

By 1980s, Leaders Recognize Need to Reform

• Economic problems

  • Stagnation; rising government debt

  • High inequality; rising food costs

• Politics: stagnant (and often old) leadership

• International crises

  • 1979: USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan exposes military weakness.

  • U.S./USSR rivalry heats back up under President Reagan.

• Social: civil society reemerges in Eastern Europe.

Reform Begins

• 1978: China begins “reform and opening” under Deng Xiaoping.

  • Economic (not political) reforms

• 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev takes power; seeks moderate reform.

  • Glasnost: free media and reduced censorship, making management and administration open to public debate.

  • Perestroika: introduction of some market reforms in agriculture and industry; preserves central planning

    • Struggled because of bureaucratic inflexibility

  • International reforms: loosens military control over Eastern Europe

USSR vs. China

• USSR and Eastern Europe

  • Attempts at economic reforms fail

  • Communist party government overthrown

• China

  • Economic reforms proceed (liberalization successfully pursued)

  • Communist party government maintained

Why Reform Failed in Eastern Europe and USSR

• Modernization created well-educated, professional class.

  • Noscent civil society emerges

• This civil society frustrated with centrally planned economy.

  • Triggers a crisis of legitimacy.

  • Chernobyl disaster worsens the legitimacy crisis.

• Nationalism reasserts itself.

  • Eastern Europe seeks a “return to Europe.”

  • Pro-independence movements in USSR seeks national self-determination.

How Did China Avoid the Fall?

• Economy: primarily agricultural

  • Weaker civil society

• Economy was improving

  • Bolsters government legitimacy

• International and identity motivators much weaker

Postcommunist Geography Changes

• The USSR becomes 15 new countries.

• East and West Germany reunite.

• Czechoslovakia splits.

• Yugoslavia fragments.

Czechoslovakia’s Split

• Peaceful split

• (Velvet divorce)

Yugoslavia’s Split

• Several conflicts

• Border disputes to this day

The Transformation of Political Institutions

Reorganizing the State and Building Democracy: The Challenges

• Establishing a rule of law

• Creating democratic “building blocks”

  • For example, political parties

• Writing new constitutions

  • Separation of powers

  • Executive and legislative design

  • Electoral laws

  • Civil rights and civil liberties

Common Features of Democratic Transition “Successes”

• More frequently located in Central Europe and Baltic.

• More favorable precommunist legacy

  • Greater economic development

  • Vibrant civil society

  • History of democratic institutions

  • Experience with rule of law

• Stronger ties to Europe and the European Union

Political Transitions: Successes and Failures

• Top 10 Most Democratic

  • Czech Republic

  • Estonia

  • Lithuania

  • Slovenia

  • Bulgaria

  • Latvia

  • Poland

  • Romania

• Top 10 Least Democratic

  • Uzbekistan

  • Turkmenistan

  • Tajikistan

  • Russia

  • Belarus

  • Azerbaijan

  • Kazakhstan

  • Kyrgyzstan

  • Bosnia-Herzegovina

  • Armenia

The Transformations of Economic Institutions

Economic Transitions: The Challenges

In Focus: Reestablishing Separation of State and Economy

• Privatization: the transfer of state-held property into private hands.

• Marketization: the re-creation of the market forces of supply and demand.

Paths to Privatization and Marketization

• Different paths to privatization

  • Option 1: small businesses sold to employees; large businesses to private investors

  • Option 2: distributed shared to firms to public as a whole

• Different speeds toward marketization

  • Option 1: gradualism; slow easing of price restrictions while maintaining some social safety

  • Option 2: shock therapy; process of rapid marketization

Authoritarianism in Russia: Why?

• 1990s: “Shock therapy” for economy: Markets quickly established, and rapid privatization of state-run industries

• Led to economic and political instability

• State-run industries sold to ruling class cronies (oligarchs)

• Sets the stage for the rise of Putin

The Unique Case of China

• China is still controlled by the Communist Party but should be considered a “postcommunist” economic system.

  • Pursued economic reforms to privatize business and agriculture.

• China’s reforms have fueled phenomenal growth and raised the legitimacy of the Communist Party government.

• However, there are some problems with the China model:

  • Inflation, corruption, unemployment, and growing inequality

  • Weak rule of law compounds these problems.

  • The China “miracle” covers up serious environmental damage.

• Upside of the Chinese model

  • Massive economic growth, millions lifted out of poverty

• Downside of the Chinese model

  • Massive repression and surveillance

Economic Transitions

• Different growth rate

• Differences in (in)equality and poverty

  • Most have seen increases in inequality, poverty, and unemployment.

• Economic frustrations fueling nostalgia on those left behind.

The Transformations of Societal Institutions

Challenging Identities: The Challenges

• Reemerging identities

  • Religion

  • Ethnicity/nationalism

• More complicated relations

  • Gender relations and women’s equality

  • Gender identity and sexual orientation

Comparing Social Transitions: Gender Equality

• A legacy of gender equality (when compared to similar states)

• Trend toward more divergence

Comparing Social Transitions: LGBTQ Rights

• Differences in government policies

  • Improvements in Central European states

  • Outright discrimination increasing in Russia and Central Asia

• Overall, homophobia in public is declining.

In Sum: The Legacy of Communism

• Marx saw history as a class struggle, with revolutions triggered by changes in technology.

• Communist systems sought to completely transform politics, economics, and society, but often fell short of their goals.

• By the late 1980s and early 1990s, most communist states collapsed or transitioned to new forms of government.

• Regarding political transitions, some communist countries transitioned to liberal democracy while others remain hybrid regimes or nondemocratic.

• Regarding economic transitions, communist countries took many paths and had varying degrees of economic success.

• Regarding social transitions, the postcommunist world varies significantly with regard to the expression to the expression of ethnic and national identity, gender rights, and LGBTQ rights.

Key Terms

1. Base - the economic system of a society, made up of technology (the means of production) and class relations between people (the relations of production)

2. Bourgeoisie - the property-owning class

3. Central Committee - the legislature-like body of a communist party

4. Central planning - a communist economic system in which the state explicitly allocates resources by planning what should be produced and in what amounts, the final price of goods, and where they should be sold

5. Communism - (1) a political-economic system in which all wealth and property are shared so as to eliminate exploitation, oppression, and, ultimately, the need for political institutions such as the state; (2) a political ideology that advocates such a system

6. Dialectical materialism - process of historical change that is not evolutionary but revolutionary; the existing base and superstructure (thesis) would come into conflict with new technological innovations, generating growing opposition to the existing order (antithesis)--this would culminate in revolution, overthrowing the old base and superstructure (synthesis)

7. Glasnost - literally, openness; the policy of political liberalization implemented in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s

8. Nomenklatura - politically sensitive or influential jobs in the state, society, or economy that were staffed by people chosen or approved by the Communist Party

9. Party state - a political system in which power flows directly from the ruling political party (usually a communist party) to the state, bypassing government structures

10. Perestroika - literally, restructuring; the policy of political and economic liberalization implemented in the Soviet Union in the 1980s

11. Politburo - the top policy-making executive body of a communist party

12. Proletariat - the working class

13. Shock therapy - a process of rapid marketization

14. Superstructure - all noneconomic institutions in a society (e.g., religion, culture, national identity); these ideas and values derive from the base and serve to legitimize the current system of exploitation

15. Vanguard of the proletariat - Lenin’s argument that an elite communist party would have to carry out revolution, because as a result of false consciousness, historical conditions would not automatically lead to capitalism’s demise