HIST 6161 - Socialism: A History

Credit Hours: 3

Description This course represents a historical overview of the history of socialism from its birth in the early nineteenth-century at the age of industrial revolution to the present. Although united by their quest for social justice, like any world-wide ideology, socialism should not be treated monolithically. I will focus on the diversity of socialist movements, from such reformist projects as social democratic “welfare socialism” in Sweden, Israeli kibbutzim, and Tanzanian ujamaa to such radical versions as Soviet Communism, Maoism in China, and Cuban Socialism. We will explore the historical split of socialism into social democracy and communism in the beginning of the twentieth century and examine the link between two world wars and the popularity of statist mobilization versions of socialism. We will also explore the transformation of the Left at end of the last century and attempts to regenerate the socialist creed. Last but not least, this course does not represent an endorsement of socialism or its debunking. Instead, I invite students to approach the subject historically and explore how and why this secular “faith” emerged and developed, why it captivated and inspired millions of people, why it eventually experienced a crisis, and how it has been readjusting itself to the challenges of past and present time.