Labour's Utopias - Peter

The collapse of communist rule in Eastern Europe has led to a widespread view that socialism is a dead, or at least a dying force. Peter Beilharz argues that this assumption is based on the popular, but misguided, conception that socialism's various traditions are simply different means to a common end. He looks at three strands of socialism - Bolshevism, Fabianism and German Social Democracy - in order to assess whether this argument is justified, concluding that, in fact, each has a distinct vision of an ideal future.;He also argues that, in the approach to the millenium, there is still a strong need for Utopian vision, a vision that Bolshevism was never really equipped to provide. Instead, Beilharz sees the reformist traditions as the most viable alternatives to capitalism.;Fabianism is introduced as a substantial independent alternative, albeit one that ultimately succumbed to Stalinism, whilst Social Democracy is revealed as an even richer source of inspiration for the future. The author asks not how Bolshevism failed us, but how socialism is to survive the triumphant but ethically-bankrupt capitalism of the 1990s.