InMarxist philosophy,revisionism, otherwise known asMarxist reformism, represents various ideas, principles, and theories that are based on areform or revision ofMarxism. According to their critics, this involves a significant revision offundamental Marxist theories and premises, and usually involves making an alliance with thebourgeois class.[1] Some academic economists have usedrevisionism to describepost-Stalinist, Eastern European writers who criticizedone-party rule and argued in favour offreedom of the press andof the arts, intra- and sometimes inter-party democracy, independentlabour unions, the abolition of bureaucratic privileges, and the subordination of police forces to the judiciary power.[2]
In Marxist discourse,revisionism often carriespejorative connotations and the term has been used by many different factions. It is typically applied to others and rarely as a self-description. By extension, Marxists who view themselves as fighting against revisionism have often self-identified as Marxist–Leninistanti-revisionists.Revisionism is most often used as an epithet by those Marxists who believe that such revisions are unwarranted and represent a watering down or abandonment of Marxism—one such common example is the negation ofclass struggle.[3]
Revisionism has been used in a number of contexts to refer to different or claimed revisions ofMarxist theory. Those who opposedKarl Marx's revolution through his lens ofclass struggle and sought out non-revolutionary or more conciliatory means for a change are known as revisionists.Eduard Bernstein, a close acquaintance of Marx andFriedrich Engels, was one of the first major revisionists, and was prominent in theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).[4]
In the late 19th century, the termrevisionism was used to describereformist socialist writers, such as Bernstein, who sought to revise Marx's ideas about the transition to socialism and claimed that a revolution was not necessary to achieve a socialist society.[5] The views of Bernstein gave rise toevolutionary socialism, which asserts that socialism can be achieved through gradual peaceful reforms from within a capitalist system.[6]
^Oxford English Dictionary Revisionism 1. "A policy first put forward in the 1890s by Edward Bernstein (1850–1932) advocating the introduction of socialism through evolution rather than revolution, in opposition to the orthodox view of Marxists; hence a term of abuse used within the communist world for an interpretation of Marxism which is felt to threaten the canonical policy." Cites the first use in English "1903Social-Democrat VII. 84 (heading) Revisionism in Germany."
^Steger, Manfred (1997).The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism: Eduard Bernstein And Social Democracy. Cambridge, England:Cambridge University Press.
^Eichhorn, Wolfgang, ed. (2002). "Über Eduard Bernstein. Gegensatz und Berührungspunkte zu Rosa Luxemburg und W. I. Lenin" [About Edward Bernstein. Contrast and points of contact with Rosa Luxemburg and V. I. Lenin].Jahrbuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung [Yearbook for research into the history of the labor movement] (in German).
