Socialism and nationalism: ideological tensions and intersections

Nationalism & Democratic Socialism

The emergence of 20th century ideology of Socialism gave birth to two prevalent political philosophies that influenced the path of Europe towards modernization and becoming an industrialized society. Socialism, in general, considers industrialism, specifically its concept of free markets, as dysfunctional, and shall only lead to the perpetuation of economic complications such as maldistribution of goods, low wages, and an unregulated industrial system. Under the socialist system, two political philosophies emerged: democratic and authoritarian socialism. Democratic socialism carries with it the argument the essential role that the government plays in regulating and limiting the opportunities that capitalism has, which may in turn result to the occurrence of its dysfunctions. Primary proponents of this political thought are Saint-Simon, Robert Own, and Charles Fourier. Saint-Simonianism argues that a modern society brought about by a capitalist economic system will result to rational management, and like Fourier and Owen's concepts of a regulating body (phalanxes and communities, respectively), they assert the role of an ideal government to monitor the distribution of material wealth among members of the society in a capitalist system. Authoritarian socialism, meanwhile, does not take into consideration the role of government in eliminating the occurrence of the dysfunctions of capitalism. Instead, philosophers like Auguste Blanqui and Pierre Proudhon argue that the abolition of capitalism and state by "professional revolutionaries" and the promotion of peaceful cooperation among communities to benefit the small property owners and most especially, the poor sector of the society. These political thoughts influenced the Karl Marx's theory of dialectical materialism, which looks into the creation of class conflict within society based on the economic state and structure as well as historical materialism of the society under study.

Modern nationalism, which was developed in the early nineteenth century after the failure of the establishment of Communism in Eastern Europe, is a concept conceived to illustrate a nation composed of people who share cultural commonalities, such as common language, customs and traditions, and history. These commonalities encompass all aspects of the society, which includes the economy, the political structure, history and culture of the nation.