Reformist Socialism

Reformist socialism

The first modern socialists of the 19th century followed utopian socialism. Rather than advocating for revolution, thinkers such as Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen believed they could convince the governments and ruling classes in England and France to adopt their schemes through persuasion. Reformism has expressed itself in socialism through a willingness to challenge revolutionary tenets of Marxist orthodoxy and through objections to aspects of scientific socialism, being broadly labeled as reformist socialism or progressive socialism. 19th-century economist G. A. Kleene referred to progressive socialism as containing Eduard Bernstein's position against "'Old-School' Marxism". Reformist willingness to challenge scientific socialism, such as through critique to the law of increasing misery, has been historically connected to the concept of progressive socialism.