The Frankfurt Declaration is the general name that refers to the set of principles titled ''Aims and Tasks of Democratic Socialism'' issued on 3 July 1951 by the
Socialist International
The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations. ...
in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
.
[Lamb, Peter Lamb; Docherty, James C., eds. (2006). ''Historical Dictionary of Socialism'' (2nd ed.). Lanham, Maryland, United States; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Oxford, England, United Kingdom: Scarecrow Press. p. 125. .] The Declaration condemned
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
for placing the "rights of ownership before the rights of man", allowing
economic inequality
There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of we ...
and its historical support of
imperialism
Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
and
fascism.
It declared that capitalism has coincided with "devastating crises and mass unemployment".
It praised the development of the
welfare state as challenging capitalism and declared its opposition to
Bolshevik communism.
It declared that
socialism was an international movement that was plural in nature that required different approaches in different circumstances.
However, the Declaration stated that true socialism could only be achieved through
democracy.
According to the Declaration, the economic goals of socialism include
full employment
Full employment is a situation in which there is no cyclical or unemployment#Cyclical unemployment, deficient-demand unemployment. Full employment does not entail the disappearance of all unemployment, as other kinds of unemployment, namely Structu ...
, the
welfare state and achievement of
public ownership through a variety of means, including
nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
, creation of
cooperatives to counter capitalist
private enterprise
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
and/or securing rights for
trade unions.
The Declaration stated that economic and social planning did not necessarily have to be achieved in a centralized form, but it could also be achieved in decentralized forms.
The Declaration denounced that all forms of discrimination whether economic, legal, or political must be abolished, including discrimination against women, races, regions and other social groups.
The Declaration denounced all forms of
colonialism and imperialism.
The Frankfurt Declaration was updated at the 18th Congress of the Socialist International in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
in June 1989.
[Social International (20–22 June 1989)]
"Declaration of Principles of the Socialist International Adopted by the XVIII Congress, Stockholm, June 1989"
''Socialist International, XVIII Congress''. Stockholm, Sweden: Socialist International. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
Articles of principles of the Frankfurt Declaration
See also
*
Social democracy
References
{{reflist, 2
1951 documents
Social democracy
Socialism
Socialist International