Communism: The Origin and Development of the Concepts of Socialism and Communism: Qin Gang

December 2015

Source: Journal of Scientific Socialism, Beijing

Author Qin Gang is Executive Deputy Director and Professor of the Department of Scientific Socialism, Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (Beijing 100091).

Abstract: The concepts of socialism and communism have a long history. While people are using the concepts of socialism and communism, they are also constantly giving them new connotations. Marx and Engels used socialism and communism as synonyms. Their interpretation of socialism or communism laid the scientific foundation for socialism or communism. Lenin’s definition of socialism and communism provided a new perspective for the Communists to understand socialism and communism. The Communist Party of China has continuously deepened its understanding of socialism and communism, enriching and developing the connotations of socialism and communism.

Socialism and communism are both ideas that came first and concepts that came later. With the formation and widespread acceptance of the concepts of socialism and communism, various ideological propositions for criticizing and transforming capitalism ultimately shared or had similar attributes. The concepts of socialism and communism are both historical and developmental which develops by time. The specific ideological content they reflect is bound to continue to develop and change with the changes in social and historical conditions.

1. The Origin and Spread of the Concepts of Socialism and Communism

There are various opinions about the origin of the concept of socialism, but one thing is certain: as a social thought trend that criticizes and denies capitalism, socialism originated in the early 16th century, marked by the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia. And as a concept reflecting this trend, socialism was not widely used and circulated until the late 1830s. Before that, although some people had used the word socialism, as scholars have verified, Italian missionary Giacomo Giuliani used the word “socialism” very early, but his use did not reflect the socialist trend of thought and had nothing to do with what people call socialism. The three major socialist thinkers in the 19th century did not directly use the concept of socialism when explaining their own thoughts. It was only in his later years that Owen began to use the word socialism. Saint-Simon called the ideal society he pursued as “industrial system”, and Fourier called the ideal society he pursued “harmonious system”. Owen initially called the ideal society he pursued “rational social system”. In 1840, when Owen published a collection of speeches, he used the word socialism and the book was titled “Socialism or the Rational Social System”. ①

According to the British scholar H. Cole, the word “socialism” was first used by the French, and the word “socialist” was first used by the British. In his multi-volume History of Socialist Thought, Cole pointed out: “These two words first appeared in Italian publications in 1803, but the meaning at that time was completely irrelevant to the later ones. They never appeared again until 1827, when Owen’s socialist magazine “Cooperation Magazine” used the word “socialist” to refer to the believers of the cooperative doctrine.

As for the word “socialism”, first appeared in the French journal “The Globe” in 1832.”② The journal argued that both the words “socialism” and “socialist” are derived from the adjective “social”, the former refers to the doctrine, and the latter refers to the person who advocates this doctrine.

The “social” mentioned here is the opposite of “individual”. Early socialists used this word mainly to deny the individualism prevalent in capitalist society, hoping to realize and maintain the overall interests of society. In 1833, the word “socialism” was also used in the British Owen faction’s publication “The Poor’s Guardian”, which was more than a year later than France. At the same time, the term “socialist” was also used in France, several years later than in Britain. After that, the two terms became popular in Britain and France, and soon spread to Germany and other European countries.

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