Research On Crosland's Socialist Thought And Its Influence

After World War ?,with gradual recovery and development of British economy,the living standards of working class also gradually improved,which brought about changes in consumption area,such as the narrowed visible social gap and stable social groups.Politically,the Labour Party formed a majority government for the first time,established welfare state nationalized some major industries and made some achievements.But then the Labour Party lost two consecutive elections in 1951 and 1955,and the malpractice of nationalization began to emerge.The emergence of consensus politics meant that the Conservative Party and the Labour Party government converged in ideology and economic and social policy,and the boundary between socialism and capitalism is not the same as in the past.It is so clear that socialist criticism of capitalism was almost out of date,and the objectives of socialism itself needed to be re-examined.It was in this context that the revisionists with Crosland as the representative put forward a new social and economic system analysis.Crosland is an excellent revisionist of Labour Party,an iconic figure in the British social democracy.His theory of“post-capitalism”on the new changes of capitalism and new socialist outlook on welfare and equality made him one of the main sources of democracy socialism in Western Europe,and his time-space orientation and his role as the link between the past and the present theories made him the backbone in the transformation of Labour Party in post-war period.However,research on Crosland,an important figure in Labour Party's history,especially in the history of the Labour Party's political thought,is inadequate in our country.The study abroad is relatively rich and usually focuses on the study of his thoughts and the relationship with the "New Labour Party".But most of these researchers are theorists and politicians of Labour Party,or those who are closely linked with Crosland Limited by their position,much of the research speaks highly of Crosland and lacks criticism on him and his theory.Also,research on the background as well as the developmental track of Crosland's thoughts is not enoughBased on the existing research at home and abroad and following the logic order of“background-content-influence-evaluation”,this paper has carried on a more comprehensive and in-depth study of Crosland's socialist thought.In the first chapter,after a brief introduction of the life and the work of Crosland,the paper analyzes the background,the theoretical origin and the practical reference of the formation of Crosland socialist thought,which are divided into the preliminary forming period of the 1930s and 1940s,the maturity period from the 1950s to the early 1960s and the late reflection period from the late 1960s to the 1970s according to the developmental course.The third chapter introduces the main contents of Crosland's socialist thought,including the 'post-capitalism' theory as its logical starting point,the views on equality as the essence of his socialist thought,the means to realize his socialism,the re-understanding of nationalization and planning,the moderate and gradual political strategy and his unique cultural view.Chapter three and Chapter four analyzes the influence of Crosland's socialist thought on the Labour Party and the Labour government after the 1950s.According to time and its historical evolution,the development of the Labour Party is divided into two phases,from 1950s to 1970s the first phase and post 1980s the second phase,and the influence of Crosland's socialist thought is analyses respectively.The sixth chapter analyses the rationality and limitation of Crosland's socialist thought,and objectively evaluates the influence and value of his thought.Based on the above contents,this paper mainly expounds and demonstrates the following viewpoints and conclusionsFirstly,Crosland's socialist thought is the result of many factors.Although he was born into a middle-class family,his parents were both members of the Liverpool brotherhood.They believed that "all people are equal in the eyes of God”and advocated simple religious rituals and activities,which had a profound impact on Crosland.The changes in Britain and abroad also influenced and shaped Crosland's socialist thought.In addition,Bernstein's classic revisionism and the revisionism peculiar to the British Labour party also contributed to Crosland's socialism Keynesianism provided economic theoretical support for Crosland's revision of ownership theory,and Marxist scholar Lola confirmed the limitations of Marxist analysis of contemporary reality,which played an important role in Crosland's re-understanding of capitalism.The social and political changes in the United States and Sweden also provided a realistic reference for the formation of Crosland's socialist thoughtSecondly,based on the new changes of the British capitalist society,Crosland put forward the theory of "post-capitalism" as the logical starting point and theoretical premise,redefined the value target of socialism-welfare and equality,distinguished the socialist goal and means,which changed the way people used to judge the nature of society by ownership.In his view,nationalization was just one of the means of socialism and planning was not the core characteristics and attributes of socialism any more.He advocated a mixed economy,played down the importance of nationalization and advocated greater social spending to promote social equality.His cultural view which advocated freedom and happiness in private life and emphasized the social responsibility of culture was also refreshing.As for how to realize the classless and equal society he pursued,Crosland also proposed his own views,that was,to reform private education and establish a comprehensive education system;to change consumption concept and promote reasonable consumption;to reform tax system,and redistribute property and power and status within enterprises.In spite of his radical goals,Crosland was moderate and gradual in his approach to achieving them,mainly illustrated in his approach to tax reform,educational reform and attitude to democracy.Thirdly,according to the development of the Labor Party and the evolution of its political thought,the influence of Crosland's socialist thought on the Labor Party and its government is divided into two stages.The first stage was from the 1950s to the 1970s.At this stage,due to his increasingly mature socialist thought and his position in the Labor government,Crosland directly influenced the Party and the government in the ideological transformation of the Party,the struggle between the party's left and right,the election strategy,and social policies such as education and housing,social security,employment and so on.The second stage is the period of Labour modernization since the 1980s,including the Policy Review under Kinnock and Smith in the late 1980s,Blair's New Labour,and One Nation advocated by Ed Miliband in 2012.The conclusion drawn from the analysis above is that whether admitted or denied,every step of change or transformation of Labor Party is directly or indirectly influenced by Crosland's socialist thoughtFinally,the greatest contribution of Crosland's socialist thought lies in the emphasis on the core socialist values of welfare and equality,the distinction between means and ends,and the nationalization as one of the means to realize socialism.But there are also limitations in his thinking,and his analysis of society,economy and the state is flawed and inadequate.Such defects and shortcomings stem from his over-optimism about the political system and institutions of Britain after World War ?on the one hand and the inherent weakness of his academic views on the other.Moreover,Crosland's work rarely mentions the issues of gender,feminism,and legitimacy and identity that influenced the New Left and ultimately shaped New Labour in the 1990sNevertheless,Crosland is still of great significance to current Labour politics,because while advocating the combination of political principles and political power,he also left behind a methodology to practice social democracy in the new society.On the one hand,he stressed there was no internal conflict between political principles and political power and the Labor Party could come to power through democratic election process without giving up its core beliefs.On the other hand,he advocated the separation of institutional means and ideological ends,and emphasized this was necessary for revisionism.He believed that the Labour party must always be a class-based socialist party and must become a national party to win voters' support in the name of a truly classless society.He emphasized that socialism was a moral enterprise-not only the production and distribution of material goods,but also the promotion of the right of individuals to enjoyment and self-actualization.He argued that the Labour Party must fully understand the complexities of social and cultural change in Britain and embrace and adapt to them.This realism means accepting social change and abundance,that is,adapting Labour to society rather than society to Labour.At the same time,we should also be soberly aware that Crosland's democratic socialism disregards class struggle in capitalist society and negates the elimination of capitalist private ownership,which is fundamentally different from scientific socialism.In his view,capitalism had overcome its inherent contradictions and there was no tension in class relations and sharp class contradictions predicted by Marx However,these changes are only within the framework of the capitalist system and do not mean the essential changes of the capitalist relations of production and class.His view that ownership is not a decisive factor to social properties and equality is the goal of socialism is the betrayal of Marxism.