''The Two Souls of Socialism'' is a socialist

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

by the Marxist writer Hal Draper, in which the author posits a fundamental division in socialist thought and action between those who favor "Socialism from Above" and those who favor "Socialism from Below." The pamphlet was first published as a lengthy article in the journal '' New Politics'' in 1966, expanding upon an earlier version published in 1960 in the socialist student magazine ''Anvil''. It has been anthologized, reprinted, and reissued in pamphlet form many times since then. Socialism from Above is the name given by Draper to philosophies of collectivized property that envision administration from above by an elite, whether intellectual, political, or technical. Socialism from Below would proceed from a very different conception of common ownership, with power instead flowing from the workers themselves, with decision-making capacities broadly distributed. The divide between these two souls of socialism, Draper argues, underlies all other divisions such as "reformist or revolutionary, peaceful or violent, democratic or authoritarian, etc." Most of the pamphlet is a detailed typology and strongly worded criticism of various forms of Socialism from Above. Among the practitioners of Socialism from Above, Draper includes such varied forms of socialism as utopian socialism, Communist dictatorship and

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

, social democracy, and

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

. Confessing that Socialism from Below "has had few consistent exponents and not many inconsistent ones," he nevertheless identifies it with Marx, "whose notion was from the very beginning that the emancipation of the working class must be the act of the working class itself." The piece is organized primarily as a brief history of socialism and important socialist thinkers, beginning with a critical glance at "ancestors" such as Plato, Pythagoras and the

Gracchi The Gracchi brothers were two Roman brothers, sons of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus who was consul in 177 BC. Tiberius, the elder brother, was tribune of the plebs in 133 BC and Gaius, the younger brother, was tribune a decade later in ...

before turning to Babeuf, Saint-Simon, and utopians such as Fourier and

Owen Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

. Draper then lauds Marx as the first champion of Socialism from Below, "who finally fettered the two ideas of Socialism and Democracy together." The next sections of the pamphlet consider in turn subsequent manifestations of Socialism from Above, including anarchists (specifically Proudhon and Bakunin),

Lassalle Lassalle is a surname, originally a Gasconic patronymic. People with the name include: * Camille-Léopold Cabaillot-Lassalle (1839-1902), French painter * Ferdinand Lassalle (1825–64), German socialist * Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (born 1954), ...

, the

Fabians The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fab ...

Eduard Bernstein Eduard Bernstein (; 6 January 1850 – 18 December 1932) was a German social democratic Marxist theorist and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Bernstein had held close association to Karl Marx and Friedric ...

, and American socialists such as Edward Bellamy. The final sections separate out "six strains of Socialism from Above" (philanthropism, elitism, plannism, communionism, permeationism, and Socialism from Outside) and conclude with a call to intellectuals "to choose the road of Socialism from Below." Notably, the pamphlet does not devote consideration to the question of whether the

Soviet Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

at its inception was guided by the principles of Socialism from Below or Socialism from Above, although the entire pamphlet is implicitly guided by the moral and political opposition to

that shaped Draper's life work.

External links

''The Two Souls of Socialism''
at the Marxists Internet Archives Socialism Pamphlets 1966 essays Works by Hal Draper {{DEFAULTSORT:Two Souls of Socialism, The