Reformist socialism

Reformism is a political position that posits that gradual changes within existing institutions can eventually change a society's fundamental aspects, such as its economic system and political structures. Within the socialist movement, reformism as a hypothesis of social change grew out of opposition to revolutionary socialism, which contends that some form of revolutionary upheaval is necessary for fundamental structural changes to occur in society. In contrast, reformism posits that a capitalist economy can be gradually transformed into a qualitatively different socialist system through political and economic reform.

Reformism is to be distinguished from pragmatic reforms: reformism is the assumption that an accumulation of reforms can lead to the emergence of an entirely different socioeconomic system than the present-day forms of capitalism and democracy, whereas pragmatic reforms represent attempts to safeguard the status quo from fundamental and structural changes.

There are two types of reformism. One has no intention of bringing about socialism or fundamental economic change to society and is used to oppose such structural changes. The other is based on the assumption that while reforms are not socialist in themselves, they can help rally supporters to the cause of revolution by popularizing the cause of socialism to the working class.

The debate on the ability for social democratic reformism to lead to a socialist transformation of society is over a century old.

Reformism is criticized for being paradoxical: it seeks to overcome the existing economic system of capitalism, but it tries to improve the conditions of capitalism thereby making it appear more tolerable to society. According to Rosa Luxemburg, under reformism, "(capitalism) is not overthrown, but is on the contrary strengthened by the development of social reforms." In a similar vein, Stan Parker of the Socialist Party of Great Britain argues that reforms are a diversion of energy for socialists and are limited because they must adhere to the logic of capitalism.

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