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| Communism is a political doctrine advocating common property, | |||
| In common usage, communism refers to ] | |||
| especially of means of production, and the abolition of the division of | |||
| the society in classes. It is a development of classical forms of | |||
| ] and ]. | |||
| The term is also used to refer to historical instances of ] | |||
| ] (as distinct from ]). Regimes | ] (as distinct from ]). Regimes | ||
| described as communistic have, according to most Western observers, | described as communistic have, according to most Western observers, | ||
| generally been despotic and extremely abusive of ]. Examples | generally been despotic and extremely abusive of ]. Examples | ||
| are the ], the [[Peoples Republic of China|People's | are the ], the [[Peoples Republic of China|People's | ||
| Republic of China]] and ]. | Republic of China]] and (in somebody's opinion) ]. | ||
| In ] theory, communism refers to the final stage of social | In ] theory, communism refers to the final stage of social | ||
Revision as of 12:05, 22 November 2001
Communism is a political doctrine advocating common property, especially of means of production, and the abolition of the division of the society in classes. It is a development of classical forms of communalism and socialism.
The term is also used to refer to historical instances of totalitarian socialism (as distinct from democratic socialism). Regimes described as communistic have, according to most Western observers, generally been despotic and extremely abusive of human rights. Examples are the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and (in somebody's opinion) Cuba.
In Marxist theory, communism refers to the final stage of social development. The term and ideology has a history that predates Marx, however, closely associated with (socialist) anarchism.
There are various kinds of communism or socialism; some kinds of communism are varieties of ideology, while others are terms for practices or styles of governance. Marxism holds--among other things--that human history has had and will have a developmental structure, alternating between slow development of technology/economy (and the according philosophy/religion) and a rapidly changing short period of technology/economy. Bolshevism and Menchevism were two early forms of communism-in-practice advocated by Russian (mainly ex-patriate) communists in the late 19th and early 20th century; the Mencheviks favored peaceful change, while Bolsheviks called for, and eventually organised, a revolution, putting power in the hands of the soviets of workers and peasants. Leninism is the name given to Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin's system of thought, which emphasises the need to spread the revolution to other countries, and to exclude any compromise with the bourgeoisie. Lenin's rule gave way to Joseph Stalin's and Stalin's style of communist dictatorship is known as Stalinism; Stalin's government was violently repressive of individual liberties and of political dissidents and featured more [[five-year plans]] as well as massive industrialization, under the un-Marxist pretext of constructing "socialism in one country". The practices of Mao Tse Tung are known as Maoism.
See also:
Opposing view: classical liberalism.