Social Sciences
Capitalism vs Socialism
Capitalism and socialism are economic and political systems with contrasting principles. Capitalism is characterized by private ownership of the means of production and a free market economy, where individuals and businesses compete for profit. In contrast, socialism advocates for collective or state ownership of resources and a planned economy, aiming to reduce inequality and provide for the welfare of all citizens.
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6 Key excerpts on "Capitalism vs Socialism"
eBook - PDF- David Jaffee(Author)
- 1998(Publication Date)
- Praeger(Publisher)
118 Levels of Socio-economic Development Theory Describing the fundamental characteristics of socio-economic systems, such as capitalism and socialism, is a difficult task for at least two reasons. First, there are no "pure" socialist or capitalist societies existing anywhere in the world. By "pure" we mean societies that conform to the abstract theoretical models of what capitalism and socialism are supposed to be. For this reason, as one lists the characteristics of these societies, many reservations and qualifica- tions are in order. A second, related problem that often emerges is the tendency, when comparing different societies, to select the ideal features of one society and compare these with the actual and often undesirable features of the other (see Burawoy and Lukacs 1985). This "selection bias" frequently is politically motivated because it is often the case that comparative analysts have a (un- spoken) preference for one or the other of the different systems. Students of comparative social science should be aware of this tendency and make efforts to present both the ideal-typical features of socio-economic systems and the day- to-day problems, inefficiencies, and inequities that emerge in all systems to one degree or another. In an attempt to follow this lofty advice, we shall consider some of the the- oretical arguments for the advantages of both capitalism and socialism, and then confront some of the real-life deviations from these abstract models. Capitalism in Theory and Practice Capitalism is a socio-economic system that allows the private ownership of productive property (property that produces goods and services). Individuals who own the means of production make up the capitalist class; those who work for capitalists make up the working class. Arguments favoring capitalism as the best socio-economic arrangement for development hinge on the role of markets and the concept of incentives.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Library Press(Publisher)
The designation is applied to a variety of historical cases, varying in time, geography, politics and culture. Some define capitalism as a system in which all the means of production are privately owned, and some define it more loosely as one in which merely most are in private hands — while others refer to the latter as a mixed economy biased toward capitalism. More fundamentally, others define capitalism as a system in which production is carried out to generate profit and is governed by the laws of capital accumulation; regardless of the legal ownership titles. Private ownership in capitalism implies the right to control property, including the determination of how it is used, who uses it, whether to sell or rent it, and the right to the revenue generated by the property. Economists, political economists and historians have taken different perspectives on the analysis of capitalism. Economists usually emphasize the degree that government does not have control over markets (laissez faire), and on property rights. Most political economists emphasize private property, power relations, wage labor, class and emphasize ____________________ WORLDTECHNOLOGIES ____________________ capitalism as a unique historical formation. There is general agreement that capitalism encourages economic growth. The extent to which different markets are free, as well as the rules defining private property, is a matter of politics and policy, and many states have what are termed mixed economies. Capitalism, as a deliberate economic system, developed incrementally from the 16th century in Europe, although proto-capitalist organizations existed in the ancient world, and early aspects of merchant capitalism flourished during the Late Middle Ages. Capitalism became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. Capitalism gradually spread throughout Europe, and in the 19th and 20th centuries, it provided the main means of industrialization throughout much of the world.
eBook - PDF- Alexander Moseley(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Continuum(Publisher)
The distinction is, however, academic. Control over a resource entails ownership: ownership is an economic concept, while control is a legal one defining who has access and rights to a resource which can only be recognized socially. Ownership AN INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 64 implies the power to exclude some from its use or distribution according to certain criteria. In the market-place, privately con-trolled resources are subject to the great nexus of the market – the millions of decisions that are subsumed in the price mechanism when people purchase (or fail to purchase) resources for production and consumption – but when resources are removed from private exchange and put into the hands of political deliberation, produc-tion, distribution and consumption are decided upon other criteria – ideally, according to rationally explicable means and ends, but more often according to interest groups and political factions. The social-ist welcomes such other criteria, either totally in the full abolition of private markets, or partially through social or political interven-tion in private exchange which in e ff ect forces a third-party wedge between traders. Socialism is thus logically anti-market, which means it seeks to replace the anarchic nexus of market coordination with commands. Marx was clear in his desire to eliminate market relations (as being necessary for the rise of socialism); he wanted money abolished and distribution of all produce to be entirely planned by o ffi cials – for Marx there could be no statist ‘mixed’ economy, nor any ‘market socialism’. Socialists also emphasize their revolutionary nature, for in con-trast to the other political philosophies, socialism does not seek to conserve traditions (with the possible exception of those that embrace its own ideas or institutions), socialism does not promote glorification or love of the environment, nor does it uphold power or individual spheres of sovereignty as primary political values.
eBook - PDFOrganization of Innovation
East-West Perspectives
- John Child, Paul Bate(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter(Publisher)
Its chief forms of production are socialist. Western capitalist societies have a quite different basis and dynamic: they are characterized by social classes which have rights over the disposal of property and of income from property; the capital market and the making of profit in the context of a more or less regulated economy are essential dynamics of the system (Lane 1977: 173). If this central assertion of the paradigm is correct and the basis and dynamic of capitalist and socialist societies are quite different, it should be reflected in the character of their constituent organizations, especially those concerned with economic activity. There should be contrasts in (1) the ideological basis for organization, (2) fundamental organizational objectives and relationships, (3) the nature and function of organizational hierarchies, and (4) the core process of planning, resource allocation, and control. 1.1.1 The Ideological Basis for Organization Capitalist ideology appeals to the notion of economic betterment through individual initiative. Its classic stereotype is the entrepreneur who is re-garded as the dynamic agent for the system and who furnishes a model for the ordinary person to emulate. The reward of successful entrepreneur-ship is personal profit which may be consumed or re-invested to provide further return. In Western neo-classical economic analysis the entrepreneur brings together the necessary factors of production on the basis of market-place contracts which are mutually calculative and involve no commitment beyond their legal terms. In the development of capitalism this appeal to instrumental individualism has been expressed through various forms of contracting between employers and labour, and in the case of Taylorism, through the internal contract of piecework (Littler 1982). Socialist ideology, in contrast, emphasizes collective ownership and iden-tity. The state or party is seen to represent the interests of the working
eBook - PDF- Andrew Leyshon, Roger Lee, Linda McDowell, Peter Sunley, Andrew Leyshon, Roger Lee, Linda McDowell, Peter Sunley, SAGE Publications Ltd(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
This chapter will consider the interrela-tions between capitalism and social justice, firstly considering the workings of capitalism before discussing the analytical critiques of capitalism articulated by the discipline of political economy, which has been a highly significant theme in the development of the sub-discipline of economic geography. The chapter will then discuss the contemporary capitalist processes of neoliberal globaliza-tion and follow this by considering geo-graphical research into these processes, in particular research on contemporary strug-gles for social justice. The chapter will con-clude with a consideration of contemporary political economic approaches to the issue of capitalism and social justice. THE SAGE HANDBOOK OF ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY 176 CAPITALISM Capitalism refers to a set of economic and legal institutions that together make the pro-duction of things for private profit the normal course of economic organization. It arose in Western Europe between four and six centu-ries ago, as a system marked by: (i) private property in the means of production, whether land, tools, machines, or ideas; (ii) a legal framework entitling the owner of those means to the profits they generate subject only to non-arbitrary taxation; (iii) a frame-work of contracts within which sales and purchases relevant to the production activity can be car-ried out, especially the right to hire and fire workers; and (iv) the legal right of the owner to dispose of the profits as well as the prop-erty generating those profits in any way he or she chooses, subject to well-specified and justifiable limits. The use of money and the existence of markets become ubiquitous as capitalism spreads, limited only by what individuals may hold property rights in (Desai, 1993). For its sustained growth capitalism requires investment on a continuing basis, either out of profits previously earned or from credit provided by financial intermediaries.
eBook - PDF- Harold Bolitho(Author)
- 1998(Publication Date)
- Yale University Press(Publisher)
Capitalism and Socialism We have examined the nature and characteristics of various factors of production. 1 Now let us investigate the impact upon them exerted by the fundamental economic principle, liberty. The effect of liberty upon natural resources is to subordinate them to human will, to permit their acquisition by an individual. This is the primary economic imperative, an imperative which, when sanctioned by law, gives rise to [the existence of] property. The elements of entrepreneurship and labor are both involved [in this process]. Both these elements arise from the economic activity of the individual and acquire their content from that activity. We have seen that there are resources and products of nature which exist in limited quantity and may be acquired by human beings in order to serve their needs. Who acquires them under the law of economic liberty? Obviously, they are acquired by those individuals who first make them objects of economic activity—that is, who use them to satisfy personal needs. A wild fruit belongs to the person who has picked it, an animal to the person who has killed it, a fish to the person who has caught it, the land to that person who has occupied it 406 Capitalism and Socialism 407 in order to cultivate it. Others may acquire these objects only from the original owners, either by voluntary agreement, as liberty and right demand, or through force, by enslaving the owners, or by crime. An economic objective can be achieved only by acquiring the resources necessary to achieve it, and these resources belong to the person who has transformed them into instruments for achieving the objective. If there should arise a new objective that requires use of resources already being employed to satisfy another persons objective, then according to the law of economic liberty, one must enter into a transaction with the first owner and must exchange something of equal value.
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