Socialism

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Socialism \So"cial*ism\, n. [Cf. F. socialisme.]
     A theory or system of social reform which contemplates a
     complete reconstruction of society, with a more just and
     equitable distribution of property and labor. In popular
     usage, the term is often employed to indicate any lawless,
     revolutionary social scheme. See {Communism}, {Fourierism},


     {Saint-Simonianism}, forms of socialism.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           [Socialism] was first applied in England to Owen's
           theory of social reconstruction, and in France to those
           also of St. Simon and Fourier . . . The word, however,
           is used with a great variety of meaning, . . . even by
           economists and learned critics. The general tendency is
           to regard as socialistic any interference undertaken by
           society on behalf of the poor, . . . radical social
           reform which disturbs the present system of private
           property . . . The tendency of the present socialism is
           more and more to ally itself with the most advanced
           democracy.                               --Encyc. Brit.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           We certainly want a true history of socialism, meaning
           by that a history of every systematic attempt to
           provide a new social existence for the mass of the
           workers.                                 --F. Harrison.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Socialism of the chair} [G. katheder socialismus], a term
        applied about 1872, at first in ridicule, to a group of
        German political economists who advocated state aid for
        the betterment of the working classes.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  socialism
       n 1: a political theory advocating state ownership of industry
       2: an economic system based on state ownership of capital [syn:
           {socialist economy}] [ant: {capitalism}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  50 Moby Thesaurus words for "socialism":
     Fabian socialism, Fabianism, Marxian socialism, Marxism, Nazism,
     Saint-Simonism, centralism, collective farm, collective ownership,
     collectivism, collectivity, collegiality, common ownership,
     communal effort, communion, communism, community,
     constitutionalism, cooperation, cooperative society, democracy,
     democratism, fascism, federalism, feudalism, feudality,
     governmentalism, guild socialism, imperialism, kibbutz, kolkhoz,
     monarchism, national socialism, nationalization, neofascism,
     parliamentarianism, parliamentarism, phalansterism, pluralism,
     political principles, profit sharing, public ownership,
     republicanism, royalism, sharecropping, state ownership,
     state socialism, statism, town meeting, utopian socialism