Socialism

Abstract

Anglo-American socialism has reached a curious impasse. Levels of economic inequality not seen since the nineteenth century would lead one to anticipate an upsurge in socialist affiliation and activism. Nevertheless, socialism has stagnated as a political force. This essay argues that, as a collectivist ideology, socialism demands a degree of communal identification that modern individuals find uncomfortable, even threatening, to the integrity of the self. Investigating this discomfort leads me to argue that, while socialism is not a religion (pace the claim of Gareth Stedman Jones), it nonetheless flourishes in eras of spiritual and societal foment. In such periods, communal effervescence softens the boundaries of the self, rendering collectivist ideologies like socialism more intuitive and appealing. Given desacralizing trends in Anglo-America, a contemporary socialist revival would seem unlikely. Consequently, I argue that it is time for progressives to embrace, rather than critique, the strong sense of individual autonomy and deep subjectivity that characterizes bourgeois individualism. The Victorian socialist canon provides many resources for a reconciliation of individualism and collectivism, which I illustrate via reference to H. G. Wells, John Stuart Mill, and Oscar Wilde.