We explain what scientific communism is, what this set of theories consisted of and what its foundations were.
What is scientific communism?
The term scientific communism or scientific socialism is used to distinguish the political theories enunciated by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, whose theoretical foundation lay in the doctrine of historical materialism, from the rest of the socialist currents that existed in the 19th century, whose lack of "Scientific" bases, as understood by these two thinkers, made them unviable projects, worthy of the title of "utopian socialism".
The historical materialism proposed by Marx and Engels proposed that the reality of societies was the consequence of the eternal struggle between the classes that compose it to control the means of production, called “class struggle”. This conflict mobilized the society towards change (it was the “engine of history”) and had to lead towards Dictatorship of the proletariat, that is, the control of the means of production on the part of the proletariat, the industrial workers.
Scientific communism, thus, differed from the other currents in that they did not propose a way of overcoming the capitalismbut were content with a critical reading of the system. However, Marx and Engels recognized in their work the importance of “utopian” antecedents such as Robert Owen, Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Luois Blanc and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, among others.
At present, there is no need for a distinction between scientific and utopian socialism, since Marx's work forever changed the critical way of interpreting capitalist society, beginning the different aspects of the Marxism. For example, the one that prevailed in the Soviet Union It was Vladimir Ilyich's interpretation of “Lenin”, which is why it was renamed “Marxism-Leninism”.
Foundations of Scientific Communism
The foundations of communism proposed by Marx and Engels can be summarized as follows:
- The class struggle as the engine of history. As has been said, Marx understood social change as a consequence of the tensions inherent in this confrontation between the social classes, to see which one was left with control of the means of production of the time.
- The exploitation of man by man. According to Marx, capitalism as a system operated on the basis of taking advantage of the prevailing social class, the bourgeoisie industrial, of the labor power of the proletariat. This is possible thanks to the fact that the former control the means of production and in exchange for a salary monthly, they buy from the worker his effort to produce marketable goods, keeping for himself the surplus of the worker's labor (the capital gain), since a worker produces more per day than he consumes per month.
- The dictatorship of the proletariat. The advent of a classless society, the communism, It was possible according to Marx only after going through the dictatorship of the proletariat, that is, a revolutionary transition in which the structures of oppression would be destroyed and progress would be made towards communal property, community production and the injustices of capital would be overcome.
- Collectivization. Overcoming the private property and from the selfish and accumulating principles of capitalism would lead to a more just and plural society.