International: Chai Shangjin: The Historical Course, Current Status Quo and Prospects of World Socialism

Translator: Deniz Kızılçeç

Introduction: Several Issues of Concern in the Study of the Current World Socialism

With the development of socialism from theory to practice, from one country to many, from construction to reform, from traditional one to contemporary, there are many important theoretical and practical issues that deserve our in-depth study.

How can we study and grasp the characteristics and laws of the development of socialism in the world today, and continue to promote academic research and the construction of disciplines and discourse systems on world socialism? How to grasp and respond to the new contradictions and challenges of the current international communist movement? How can we accurately identify changes, scientifically adapt to them, and actively seek them, so as to cultivate opportunities in crises, open up new situations in changes, and promote the revitalization of world socialism in the course of exploration? This is a theoretical and practical question that we cannot avoid in the study of world socialism.

I. How to understand the object of study of “World Socialism” Study

What kind of socialism is “world socialism”, or what is the object of study of “world socialism” as a scientific discipline?

What is the difference between “world socialism” and “international communism”?

In fact, people’s understanding of “world socialism” is ambiguous, with different meanings and contexts, naturally, there are only a hundred schools of thought rather than a convergence of ideas, and no theoretical consensus can be seen.

(i) What kind of socialism is “world socialism”?

What is socialism? Some people insist that socialism should be restricted to scientific socialism, and that the hallmarks of socialism are public ownership, planned economy, distribution according to labour contribution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, and that only such a society is socialism. Influenced by such thinking, some people tend to equate socialism with scientific socialism and communism.

The conflation of these concepts has led to a lack of clarity and ambiguity. Socialism in today’s world is threefold both an ideology, a movement and a system. It is a collective term for progressive ideas, movements and forces that transcend capitalism and achieve justice in the world, including various schools of socialist thought and left-wing forces.

Generally speaking, socialism in today’s world is a concept that encompasses the various schools of socialist thought and the different forces of socialism. The idea of opposing the domination of capital, highly valuing the interests of workers and realising the alternative to capitalism is the ideological basis of world socialism, and it is also the basic consensus of the various left-wing and centre-left forces which pursue socialism.

In the world socialist movement, only those who insist on Marxism as their guide, combine the basic principles of Marxism with the realities of their own countries, and firmly follow the path of socialism in their ideological ideas and revolutionary practices can be regarded as scientific socialism, while those who claim to believe in socialism, such as democratic socialism, national socialism and various schools of neo-socialist thinking, although they attack capitalism and advocate the realisation of the capitalist alternative, most of them are not committed to Marxism and therefore cannot be called scientific socialism.

Although the definitions of socialism, scientific socialism and communism are inconsistent, and there is no single uniform definition of socialism in the world today, there is a common understanding of the links and differences between socialism and scientific socialism in the world. Scientific socialism is the study of the basic theories and general laws of socialist revolution and construction carried out by communists in various countries under the guidance of Marxism, while world socialism is the study of the theories and practices of opposing capitalism and exploring socialism carried out by various left-wing and progressive forces in the world today. The communists are fighting against capitalism in accordance with the principles of scientific socialism, and their theoretical claims have gone beyond the general consensus formed by other left-wing forces. We must see the links and differences between the schools of thought of world socialism and the forces of the left, and we must not regard today’s world socialism as simply scientific socialism, nor replace world socialism with scientific socialism.

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