Popular socialism or people's socialism is a distinct form of
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
in various countries.
Nordic countries
Popular socialism or people's socialism (
Danish: ''Folkesocialisme'') is a distinct socialist current in the
Nordic countries.
In that context the term can be said to represent a distinct ideological tendency, originating from
Aksel Larsen
Aksel Larsen (5 August 1897 – 10 January 1972) was a Danish politician who was chairman of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP) and chairman and founder of the Socialist People's Party. He is remembered today for his long service in the C ...
's split from the
Communist Party of Denmark
The Communist Party of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti, DKP) is a communist party in Denmark. The DKP was founded on 9 November 1919 as the Left-Socialist Party of Denmark (, VSP), through a merger of the Socialist Youth League and ...
in 1956. Larsen founded the
Socialist People's Party (SF), which placed itself between
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
and
social democracy
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...
. In
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
a similar party, the
Socialist People's Party, was formed by an anti-
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
/anti–
European Economic Community split from the
Labour Party and later became the backbone of
Socialist Left Party (SV). Today, both the Danish SF
and the Norwegian SV identify their ideological base as 'popular socialism'. In
Sweden the term has sometimes been used and there were at one point discussions within the rightist section of the
Left Party on forming a political project with the Danish SF as a model, but the split was eventually avoided.
Inspired by
green politics
Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It b ...
and
democratic socialism, popular socialism places emphasis on
grassroots democracy,
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...
, and
environmentalism
Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...
. Popular socialist parties participate in democratic elections to gain popularity and influence policy, but do not consider the power of government as their primary goal, preferring to work within
participatory systems on a local level.
United States
The American
People's Party was a populist farmer-labor movement that advocated a progressive income tax, federal farm credit, the communization of railroads, telegraphs, and banks, the eight-hour workday, the right to form labor organizations, and other demands typical of popular socialist movements.
Eastern European countries
People's socialism in Eastern Europe originated in the 1890s as an effort to differentiate from traditional
social democracy
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...
with basic ideological patterns modeled after those of the
National-Social Association
The National-Social Association (german: Nationalsozialer Verein, NSV) was a political party in the German Empire, founded in 1896 by Friedrich Naumann. It sought to synthesise liberalism, nationalism and non- Marxist socialism with Protestan ...
in
Imperial Germany
The German Empire (), Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditar ...
. The most prominent parties were the
People's Socialist Party in the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...
, the
Popular Socialists
The Popular Socialist Party () emerged in Russia in the early twentieth century.
History
The roots of the Popular Socialist Party (NSP) lay in the 'Legal Populist' movement of the 1890s, and its founders looked upon N.K. Mikhailovsky and Alex ...
in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, and the "National Socialist", understood as "people's socialist",
Czech National Social Party in
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
. This Eastern European form is less
leftist in ideological placement than in
Nordic countries' form of socialism, strictly refusing
Marxism
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
, with certain revisionist elements. During the 1920s and 1930s, they were active as observer parties in the
Labour and Socialist International but never became full members.
See also
*
Democratic socialism
*
Left-wing populism
Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often consists of anti- elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the "c ...
*
Nordic green left (disambiguation)
*
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...
References
{{Reflist
Socialism in Europe
Socialism
Nordic politics
Left-wing populism