I'm just starting to read up on 19th century labor movements and socialism, and I've come to the realization that it's damned confusing stuff, with an awful lot of petty factionalism. There's a couple of personalities that seem to represent different schools of thought, but it's hard understanding exactly what they are.
Help me out here:
Karl Marx(1818-1883): His ideas are probably closest (among the thinkers listed here) to what we probably think of as "Communism". The Workers (and thus The State) must control the means of production, and current bourgeois governments must be overthrown by the proletariat. Half of you have probably read up on the history of the Soviet Union and at least vaguely know of the intellectual background that it was based on.
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon(1809-1865): Anarchist, Mutualist, maybe Libertarian Socialism. Promoted limited government, believed that the 'means of production' ought to be controlled individually, rather than collectively by 'The People' or 'The State'.
Mikhail Bakunin(1814-1876): Collectivist, Anarchist. Both he and Proudhon represent strains of the International that opposed state control and (to varying degrees) promoted the overthrow of government to achieve the workers' aims, while Marx and Lassalle (see blow) wanted for workers to seize the government to achieve their aims.
Ferdinand Lassalle (1825-1864): Kind of a moderate Marx-lite. While Marx wanted revolution to seize the government and topple the bourgeoise, Lassalle pushed for reform and cooperation with the government. Marx wanted the workers to gain power from the outside, while Lassalle wanted power to be gained through the system. Lassallist thought was popular amongst American socialists towards the end of the First International.
What'd I miss? Any good books out there about it all? I'd like to be able to have a somewhat clear understanding of the First International and the foundations of it all.
Help me out here:
Karl Marx(1818-1883): His ideas are probably closest (among the thinkers listed here) to what we probably think of as "Communism". The Workers (and thus The State) must control the means of production, and current bourgeois governments must be overthrown by the proletariat. Half of you have probably read up on the history of the Soviet Union and at least vaguely know of the intellectual background that it was based on.
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon(1809-1865): Anarchist, Mutualist, maybe Libertarian Socialism. Promoted limited government, believed that the 'means of production' ought to be controlled individually, rather than collectively by 'The People' or 'The State'.
Mikhail Bakunin(1814-1876): Collectivist, Anarchist. Both he and Proudhon represent strains of the International that opposed state control and (to varying degrees) promoted the overthrow of government to achieve the workers' aims, while Marx and Lassalle (see blow) wanted for workers to seize the government to achieve their aims.
Ferdinand Lassalle (1825-1864): Kind of a moderate Marx-lite. While Marx wanted revolution to seize the government and topple the bourgeoise, Lassalle pushed for reform and cooperation with the government. Marx wanted the workers to gain power from the outside, while Lassalle wanted power to be gained through the system. Lassallist thought was popular amongst American socialists towards the end of the First International.
What'd I miss? Any good books out there about it all? I'd like to be able to have a somewhat clear understanding of the First International and the foundations of it all.