Libertarian socialism - Politics in Minutes (2016)

Politics in Minutes (2016)

Libertarian socialism

Within the socialist movement there are several different and often opposing views. There is, for example, the divergence of opinion between revolutionary and reformist socialism. And there are also those who reject the idea of state socialism and state ownership, which they see as creating a new, oppressive political and economic elite, little better than capitalism. These libertarian socialists call for an end to centralized control over the means of production, giving workers control of their own workplace through trades unions and workers’ councils, and introducing direct democracy in decentralized political government. Libertarian socialism is directly opposed to any authoritarian institutions, including the state, making its core philosophy very close to that of anarchism and, in particular, anarcho-syndicalism (see here). But where anarcho-syndicalists see the absence of the state as a necessary condition for achieving a libertarian socialism, libertarian socialists see the eventual disappearance of the state as a result of applying socialist principles.

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