Persistence in socialismSocialist movements around the world, as well as individuals or circles concerned with this question, experienced the most intense diversity of views and debates on socialism in the nineteenth century. The nineteenth century is marked as the century in which the main theoretical framework of socialism began to be constructed.
Those who study socialism generally converge on one common point: they take the “Enlightenment Period,” when the concept of socialism began to develop theoretically, as their reference. At that time, the viewpoints that prioritized social problems were accepted as the main starting point. In this regard, the views of Jacques Rousseau hold an important place. It is also necessary to mention that Pierre Leroux, assumed to be the first to use the concept of socialism at the beginning of the nineteenth century, as well as Marie Roch Louis and Robert Owen, were among the followers of Henri de Saint Simon (1760–1825).
The Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalist modernity intensified contradictions and conflicts, while thinkers of the time systematized their views on socialism and engaged in heated debates among themselves. As a result, a turning point emerged in the development of socialist thought, a new era, so to speak. Saint Simon, Robert Owen, and Charles Fourier began to be considered “Utopians” in this phase and were defined as “Utopian Socialists.” François-Noel Babeuf (1760–1797), who took a revolutionary stance against the Directory period during the 1789 French Revolution, was also included among those in this line. This did not stop there: those who developed views on socialism sought to systematize and conceptualize their ideas. Within this scope, those who embraced or sympathized with these views began to be referred to as followers. Intensifying social problems, class contradictions, and conflicts further expanded and spread these ideas. The fact that numerous ideas were defended in the name of socialism in the nineteenth century is itself evidence of this.
Proudhonian, Bakuninian, Blanquist, Lassallean, Bernsteinian, and Marxist interpretations and evaluations of socialism emerged and developed within such a historical process. By its nature, intense and relentless ideological struggle also occurred among these theoreticians and those who defended them. Arguments were developed and employed to refute one another’s ideas. Countless a
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