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137-563: The Convention People's Party ( CPP) is a socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana , Kwame Nkrumah . The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). The Convention People's Party is descended from a line of political movements formed in the early half of the 20th century to spearhead
274-547: A bourgeoisie indifferent to the proletariat . The history of socialism has its origins in the Age of Enlightenment and the 1789 French Revolution , along with the changes that brought, although it has precedents in earlier movements and ideas. The Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1847-48 just before the Revolutions of 1848 swept Europe, expressing what they termed scientific socialism . In
411-492: A neoliberal consensus replaced the social democratic consensus in the advanced capitalist world, while many former socialist politicians and political parties embraced " Third Way " politics, remaining committed to equality and welfare while abandoning public ownership and class-based politics. Socialism experienced a resurgence in popularity in the 2010s, most prominently in the form of democratic socialism. According to Andrew Vincent, "[t]he word 'socialism' finds its root in
548-471: A post-capitalist system based on some form of social ownership of the means of production. By the early 1920s, communism and social democracy had become the two dominant political tendencies within the international socialist movement, with socialism itself becoming the most influential secular movement of the 20th century. Many socialists also adopted the causes of other social movements, such as feminism , environmentalism , and progressivism . While
685-614: A social dividend as opposed to private capital owners. Variations of market socialism include libertarian proposals such as mutualism , based on classical economics, and neoclassical economic models such as the Lange model . Some economists, such as Joseph Stiglitz , Mancur Olson , and others not specifically advancing anti-socialists positions have shown that prevailing economic models upon which such democratic or market socialism models might be based have logical flaws or unworkable presuppositions. These criticisms have been incorporated into
822-420: A welfare state . The socialist political movement includes political philosophies that originated in the revolutionary movements of the mid-to-late 18th century and out of concern for the social problems that socialists associated with capitalism. By the late 19th century, after the work of Karl Marx and his collaborator Friedrich Engels , socialism had come to signify anti-capitalism and advocacy for
959-567: A Commission of Enquiry set up by the Governor under the chairmanship of Aiken Watson Q.C. After interrogating the accused, the Watson commissioners concluded that Nkrumah was mainly to blame for the disorders. In their words: "The U.G.C.C. did not really get down to business until the arrival of Mr. Nkrumah on December 16, 1947." They correctly detected that Nkrumah's political objectives were far more progressive than those of his colleagues. They recommended
1096-419: A conscious desire in the working class to establish collective ownership commensurate with the collective efforts their daily experience. Socialists have taken different perspectives on the state and the role it should play in revolutionary struggles, in constructing socialism and within an established socialist economy. In the 19th century, the philosophy of state socialism was first explicitly expounded by
1233-473: A constant rate of profit, causes problems if the earnings in the rest of society do not increase in proportion. Socialists view private property relations as limiting the potential of productive forces in the economy. According to socialists, private property becomes obsolete when it concentrates into centralised, socialised institutions based on private appropriation of revenue — but based on cooperative work and internal planning in allocation of inputs—until
1370-494: A diverse range of philosophies such as civic republicanism , Enlightenment rationalism , romanticism , forms of materialism , Christianity (both Catholic and Protestant), natural law and natural rights theory , utilitarianism and liberal political economy. Another philosophical basis for a great deal of early socialism was the emergence of positivism during the European Enlightenment . Positivism held that both
1507-407: A fully developed socialist economy, production and balancing factor inputs with outputs becomes a technical process to be undertaken by engineers. Market socialism refers to an array of different economic theories and systems that use the market mechanism to organise production and to allocate factor inputs among socially owned enterprises, with the economic surplus (profits) accruing to society in
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#17330944257341644-446: A hierarchy based on technical knowledge in the workplace remains. Every member would have decision-making power in the firm and would be able to participate in establishing its overall policy objectives. The policies/goals would be carried out by the technical specialists that form the coordinating hierarchy of the firm, who would establish plans or directives for the work community to accomplish these goals. The role and use of money in
1781-405: A hypothetical socialist economy is a contested issue. Nineteenth century socialists including Karl Marx , Robert Owen , Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and John Stuart Mill advocated various forms of labour vouchers or labour credits, which like money would be used to acquire articles of consumption, but unlike money they are unable to become capital and would not be used to allocate resources within
1918-497: A large CPP crowd at a public meeting in Accra, Nkrumah declared positive action. He called for a general strike to include all except those engaged in maintaining essential services such as hospitals and water supplies. Shops and offices closed. Roads and rail services came to a standstill. He travelled to Sekondi , Cape Coast and Takoradi to declare Positive Action there too. The colonial government responded on 10 January by declaring
2055-462: A meagre gratuity and were experiencing the same hardships as the general populace. Neither the chiefs nor the political class championed the growing disaffection in the country and it fell to Nii Kwabena Bonne II , Osu Alata Mantse, to lead the agitation against the growing economic hardship and especially the rising prices of consumer goods. Just over a month after Nkrumah's arrival in the Gold Coast,
2192-653: A meeting of the Legislative Council, the government passed three bills – the Sedition Bill, a newspaper registration bill and a Bill to allow the Governor-in-council to impose curfew in any part of the country without having to resort to emerging legislation. On 21 January, Kwame Nkrumah was arrested and tried for inciting an illegal strike and for sedition for an article in the Cape Coast Daily Mail. He
2329-596: A meeting of the UGCC executive in Saltpond , matters came to a head, with Nkrumah's private secretary being dismissed and Nkrumah himself demoted to the position of treasurer, which he at first refused but later accepted in November 1948. Nkrumah and his supporters became increasingly exasperated at what they saw as the timidity of the UGCC by mid-1949; with the mass of the people and the youth behind him, Nkrumah and his colleagues were in
2466-443: A rally in Accra on 20 February 1948. A petition expressing their grievances was drawn up to be presented to the Governor. Nii Bonne's boycott agreed new reduced prices that were to come into effect on 28 February 1948 and the boycott of the foreign trading firms was called off. As fate would have it, however, on that same day, 28 February, the ex-servicemen set off to march to Christiansborg Castle to present their petition. Their way
2603-406: A result of contradictions in society due to technological changes in the productive forces. Lenin theorised that under capitalism the workers cannot achieve class consciousness beyond organising into trade unions and making demands of the capitalists. Therefore, Leninists argue that it is historically necessary for a vanguard of class conscious revolutionaries to take a central role in coordinating
2740-562: A state of emergency, banned processions, imposed curfews, and ordered the disconnection of public services in certain areas. The offices of CPP newspapers were raided and closed. The CPP and TUC leaders, including Bankole Awoonor Renner, Tommy Hutton Mills, Pobee Binney and Kojo Botsio and Anthony Woode were rounded up and arrested. Two CPP newspapers – The Accra Evening News and the Cape Coast Daily Mail- were banned and their editors J. Markham and Kofi Baako arrested. On 19 January, at
2877-511: A strong position to split with the UGCC to form a new party. After a three-day meeting of the CYO in early June 1949, in Tarkwa , one faction led by K. A. Gbedemah and Kojo Botsio advocated for a clean break with the UGCC while another, led by Kofi Baako 's faction demanded Nkrumah's reinstatement as general secretary of the UGCC to enable them to capture the convention from within. The compromise reached
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#17330944257343014-666: A term of address and his continued connections with the West African National Secretariat in London. The UGCC leadership was determined to remove Nkrumah as general secretary. After the publication of the first issue of the Accra Evening News , founded and managed by Nkrumah and edited by K. A. Gbedemah in September 1948, UGCC's main financier affectionately known as Paa Grant demanded Nkrumah's removal from office. At
3151-412: A tremendous waste of material resources during crisis of overproduction . Excessive disparities in income distribution lead to social instability and require costly corrective measures in the form of redistributive taxation, which incurs heavy administrative costs while weakening the incentive to work, inviting dishonesty and increasing the likelihood of tax evasion while (the corrective measures) reduce
3288-522: Is alien to his work and only entered the lexicon of Marxism after his death". In Christian Europe , communists were believed to have adopted atheism . In Protestant England, communism was too close to the Roman Catholic communion rite , hence socialist was the preferred term. Engels wrote that in 1848, when The Communist Manifesto was published, socialism was respectable in Europe while communism
3425-405: Is the accumulation of capital for reinvestment in production, but this spurs the development of new, non-productive industries that do not produce use-value and only exist to keep the accumulation process afloat (otherwise the system goes into crisis), such as the spread of the financial industry , contributing to the formation of economic bubbles. Such accumulation and reinvestment, when it demands
3562-418: Is the belief that socialists should stand in parliamentary elections within capitalist society and if elected use the machinery of government to pass political and social reforms for the purposes of ameliorating the instabilities and inequities of capitalism. Within socialism, reformism is used in two different ways. One has no intention of bringing about socialism or fundamental economic change to society and
3699-453: 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 as it seeks to overcome
3836-712: The All-Russian Communist Party , interpreting communism specifically to mean socialists who supported the politics and theories of Bolshevism , Leninism and later that of Marxism–Leninism , although communist parties continued to describe themselves as socialists dedicated to socialism. According to The Oxford Handbook of Karl Marx , "Marx used many terms to refer to a post-capitalist society —positive humanism , socialism, communism, realm of free individuality, free association of producers , etc. He used these terms completely interchangeably. The notion that 'socialism' and 'communism' are distinct historical stages
3973-576: The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party stated that the development of the socialist workers' culture should not be "hamstrung from above" and opposed the Proletkult (1917–1925) organisational control of the national culture. Similarly, Trotsky viewed the party as transmitters of culture to the masses for raising the standards of education , as well as entry into the cultural sphere, but that
4110-798: The Evening News encouraged Nkrumah to launch the Morning Telegraph in Sekondi in 1949 with Kwame Afriyie, who later became party general secretary, as editor. This was followed by the Cape Coast Daily Mail edited by Kofi Baako. Also B. E. Dwira founded the Freedom Press and Publishing Company in Ashanti region, precisely Kumasi, and published the Ashanti Sentinel newspaper with the motto "We Speak
4247-770: The Front for Victory in Argentina, the PAIS Alliance in Ecuador, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front in El Salvador, Peru Wins in Peru, and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela , whose leader Hugo Chávez initiated what he called " Socialism of the 21st century ". Many mainstream democratic socialist and social democratic parties continued to drift right-wards. On the right of
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4384-593: The Hutterites are not usually called "utopian socialists", although their way of living is a prime example. They have been categorised as religious socialists by some. Similarly, modern intentional communities based on socialist ideas could also be categorised as "utopian socialist". For Marxists, the development of capitalism in Western Europe provided a material basis for the possibility of bringing about socialism because according to The Communist Manifesto "[w]hat
4521-470: The Industrial Revolution , including poverty, oppression, and vast wealth inequality . They viewed their society as harming community life by basing society on competition. They presented socialism as an alternative to liberal individualism based on the shared ownership of resources. Saint-Simon proposed economic planning , scientific administration and the application of scientific understanding to
4658-670: The New York Intellectuals . Prior to Stalin's rule, literary, religious and national representatives had some level of autonomy in Soviet Russia throughout the 1920s but these groups were later rigorously repressed during the Stalinist era . Socialist realism was imposed under Stalin in artistic production and other creative industries such as music , film along with sports were subject to extreme levels of political control. The counter-cultural phenomenon which emerged in
4795-520: The Paris Commune of 1871) are that the proletariat would control the means of production through a workers' state erected by the workers in their interests. For orthodox Marxists , socialism is the lower stage of communism based on the principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution ", while upper stage communism is based on the principle of " from each according to his ability, to each according to his need ",
4932-530: The Peruvian Aprista Party went from ruling party in 2011 to a minor party. The decline of these mainstream parties opened space for more radical and populist left parties in some countries, such as Spain's Podemos , Greece's Syriza (in government, 2015–19), Germany's Die Linke , and France's La France Insoumise . In other countries, left-wing revivals have taken place within mainstream democratic socialist and centrist parties, as with Jeremy Corbyn in
5069-533: The Riots of 1948 after three of the protesters, namely Sergeant Adjetey , Lance Corporal Attipoe and Private Odartey-Lamptey, were shot dead on 28 February 1948. In all, 29 people were shot dead and 237 were injured, leading to the looting of Association of West African Merchants shops. This event led to the declaration of martial law and to the arrest of the "Big Six" – the leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). The Watson Commission that followed led to
5206-598: The Soviet model of economic development and the creation of centrally planned economies directed by a state that owns all the means of production , although other trends condemned what they saw as the lack of democracy. The establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, saw socialism introduced. China experienced land redistribution and the Anti-Rightist Movement , followed by the disastrous Great Leap Forward . In
5343-596: The profit system. Market socialism retains the use of monetary prices, factor markets and sometimes the profit motive . As a political force, socialist parties and ideas exercise varying degrees of power and influence, heading national governments in several countries. Socialist politics have been internationalist and nationalist ; organised through political parties and opposed to party politics; at times overlapping with trade unions and other times independent and critical of them, and present in industrialised and developing nations. Social democracy originated within
5480-673: The 1960s shaped the intellectual and radical outlook of the New Left ; this movement placed a heavy emphasis on anti-racism , anti-imperialism and direct democracy in opposition to the dominant culture of advanced industrial capitalism . Socialist groups have also been closely involved with a number of counter-cultural movements such as Vietnam Solidarity Campaign , Stop the War Coalition , Love Music Hate Racism , Anti-Nazi League and Unite Against Fascism . The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion,
5617-514: The Bolshevik-led revolution in Russia, many socialists including reformists , orthodox Marxist currents such as council communism , anarchists and libertarian socialists criticised the idea of using the state to conduct central planning and own the means of production as a way to establish socialism. Following the victory of Leninism in Russia, the idea of "state socialism" spread rapidly throughout
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5754-520: The Colonies, asking for a Special Commissioner to be sent to the Gold Coast with power to call a Constituent Assembly. Leaders of the UGCC — J. B. Danquah, Ofori Atta , Akufo Addo , Ako Adjei, Obetsebi Lamptey and Kwame Nkrumah, subsequently known as The Big Six – were arrested and flown to the Northern Territories, where they were detained for six weeks before being taken to Accra to appear at
5891-586: The Convention People's Party (CPP). Kojo Botsio sent a telegram to the UGCC Working Committee informing them about the formation of the CPP under the chairmanship of Nkrumah with the aim of "Self-Government Now for Chiefs and People of the Gold Coast, a democratic government and a higher living standard for the people". The UGCC Working Committee responded with a statement on 15 June 1949 warning members that
6028-524: The Coussey Committee's constitutional proposals provided for very limited African participation in government and Nkrumah described it as ‘fraudulent and bogus’. The colonial government even sought to limit the proposals further by objecting to the committee's proposal that the Executive Council (i.e. the cabinet) be answerable to the majority African Legislative Council. In a memorandum anticipating
6165-561: The Coussey committee meetings. In August 1948, the "Committee on Youth Organizations" was formed with K. A. Gbedemah as chair and Kojo Botsio as Secretary. J.B. Danquah and his colleagues had become alarmed at the rapidly growing support of their members for Nkrumah and his dynamic leadership. They disapproved of his founding of the Committee on Youth Organisation (CYO), regarding it as a pressure group advancing Nkrumah's determination to speed up
6302-611: The German political philosopher Ferdinand Lassalle . In contrast to Karl Marx's perspective of the state, Lassalle rejected the concept of the state as a class-based power structure whose main function was to preserve existing class structures. Lassalle also rejected the Marxist view that the state was destined to "wither away". Lassalle considered the state to be an entity independent of class allegiances and an instrument of justice that would therefore be essential for achieving socialism. Preceding
6439-474: The Gold Coast a degree of self-government greater than accorded Jamaica where parties exist[ed] and where political life was more mature" The proposals of the Coussey Committee were published in October 1949 but it was clear from the outset that they were at variance with the CPP's campaigning objective of "self-government NOW". Worse still, it confirmed the CPP's suspicion that the colonial government wanted to delay
6576-464: The Gold Coast and for Africa. But after discussion with his colleagues he decided to accept, knowing that it might not be long before he would find it impossible to continue working within the UGCC. On 14 November 1947, Kwame Nkrumah set sail from Liverpool aboard the SS Accra , accompanied by Kojo Botsio, another friend from London who was also member of WASU and with that, the beginning of a new chapter in
6713-431: The Gold Coast establishment wanted to use the Coussey Committee on Constitutional Reform as a ruse to delay indefinitely progress towards independence. Anticipating that the Coussey constitutional proposals would be unacceptable, plans had been made for Positive Action which Nkrumah explained in a statement written in 1949 entitled "What I mean by Positive Action". He listed the weapons of Positive Action as: As expected,
6850-542: The Gold Coast had begun in earnest. Socialism Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production , as opposed to private ownership . It describes the economic , political , and social theories and movements associated with the implementation of such systems. Social ownership can take various forms, including public , community , collective , cooperative , or employee . As one of
6987-580: The Latin sociare , which means to combine or to share. The related, more technical term in Roman and then medieval law was societas . This latter word could mean companionship and fellowship as well as the more legalistic idea of a consensual contract between freemen". Initial use of socialism was claimed by Pierre Leroux , who alleged he first used the term in the Parisian journal Le Globe in 1832. Leroux
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#17330944257347124-542: The Positive Action campaign and accused Kwame Nkrumah of "letting the country down by his volte face in calling off positive action in return for empty promises from the Government". Needless to say, after several meetings with colonial authorities it became clear that no progress was being made on the central demand for a constituent assembly or the reinstatement of the meteorological workers. On 8 January 1950, in front of
7261-574: The Russian revolution. Soviet scholar Robert Bird considered his work as the "first systematic treatment of art by a Communist leader" and a catalyst for later, Marxist cultural and critical theories. He would later co-author the 1938 Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art with the endorsement of prominent artists Andre Breton and Diego Rivera . Trotsky's writings on literature such as his 1923 survey which advocated tolerance, limited censorship and respect for literary tradition had strong appeal to
7398-701: The Truth Without Fear". The paper was used to promote the CPP and Nkrumah's ideologies and vision for a better and prosperous Ghana and Africa. B. E. Dwira was the first Ashanti regional chairman of the CPP before the demarcation of the Brong Ahafo Region in April 1959. He also was the first Chairman of the Kumasi City Council (now called Mayor of Kumasi). The CPP suspected the Colonial Government and
7535-518: The UGCC had been established throughout the Gold Coast. At the time of Nkrumah's arrival in the Gold Coast in late 1947, there was growing discontent among ordinary people with the economy due to shortages of consumer goods and rising prices. Farmers were dissatisfied with the policy of cutting-out cocoa trees ravaged by the swollen-shoot disease with no compensation. Ex-servicemen who had fought in World War II "for King and country" had only been awarded
7672-471: The UGCC, youth groups and the CPP met in Saltpond. But it was too late: the CPP made a clean break with the UGCC at the conference when there was no agreement on the condition that a new Working Committee be elected following Nkrumah's acceptance to disband the CPP and resume general secretaryship of the UGCC. The foundation of the CPP marked a decisive turning point in the history of Ghana, for it led directly to
7809-570: The UK, Herbert Morrison said that "socialism is what the Labour government does" whereas Aneurin Bevan argued socialism requires that the "main streams of economic activity are brought under public direction", with an economic plan and workers' democracy. Some argued that capitalism had been abolished. Socialist governments established the mixed economy with partial nationalisations and social welfare. By 1968,
7946-617: The United Kingdom and Bernie Sanders in the United States. Few of these radical left parties have won national government in Europe, while some more mainstream socialist parties have managed to, such as Portugal's Socialist Party . Bhaskar Sunkara , the founding editor of the American socialist magazine Jacobin , argued that the appeal of socialism persists due to the inequality and "tremendous suffering" under current global capitalism,
8083-600: The United States. The leadership of the UGCC accepted Ako Adjei's suggestion and agreed to invite Kwame Nkrumah, who already had a wide reputation as an experienced political organizer with a gift for leadership. Together with George Padmore and others he had organised in 1945 the Fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester , England . Nkrumah personally drew up the dynamic Declaration to the Colonial Peoples of
8220-499: The World, approved and adopted by the Congress. He was an eminently suitable person to galvanize the mass of the Gold Coast people and the youth to play an active part in the national liberation movement. Initially, Nkrumah was hesitant about accepting the position, being aware that both the composition and objectives of the UGCC fell far short of the radical, political program he envisaged for
8357-453: The accumulation of capital generates waste through externalities that require costly corrective regulatory measures. They also point out that this process generates wasteful industries and practices that exist only to generate sufficient demand for products such as high-pressure advertisement to be sold at a profit, thereby creating rather than satisfying economic demand. Socialists argue that capitalism consists of irrational activity, such as
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#17330944257348494-409: The achievement of Ghana's independence on 6 March 1957. The colours of the party were to be red, white and green, the tri-colour flag in horizontal form with red at the top, white in the center and green at the bottom. Party motto: FORWARD EVER BACKWARD NEVER Its symbol: A red cockerel heralding the dawn. Party branches were to be established in every town and village, throughout the country. It
8631-501: The anti-colonial struggle in the Gold Coast . The movement that preceded it was the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) formed in August 1947 and led predominantly by members of the professional and business classes. To expand its support base and step up the struggle for independence, the leadership of the UGCC decided to appoint a permanent general secretary to lead its expansion and step up
8768-455: The basis of society. Literature and art will be tuned to a different key. In the Leninist conception, the role of the vanguard party was to politically educate the workers and peasants to dispel the societal false consciousness of institutional religion and nationalism that constitute the cultural status quo taught by the bourgeoisie to the proletariat to facilitate their economic exploitation of peasants and workers. Influenced by Lenin,
8905-539: The bourgeoisie produces above all is its own grave diggers", namely the working class, which must become conscious of the historical objectives set it by society. Revolutionary socialists believe that a social revolution is necessary to effect structural changes to the socioeconomic structure of society. Among revolutionary socialists there are differences in strategy, theory and the definition of revolution . Orthodox Marxists and left communists take an impossibilist stance, believing that revolution should be spontaneous as
9042-480: The boycott of European imports by Theodore Taylor, also known as Nii Kwabena Bonney III , an Accra businessman and chief and Osu Alata Mantse, with the slogan: "We cannot buy; Your prices are too high. If you don't cut down your prices then close down your stores; And take away your goods to your own country." The boycott coincided with the peaceful match to Osu Castle by war veterans demanding pension pay equal to that of their British counterparts. This event led to
9179-420: The campaign for self-government. The CYO adopted the slogan "Self-Government Now", in contrast to the UGCC slogan "Self-Government in the shortest possible time". They feared Nkrumah's policy might lead to further disorder and further arrests. Nkrumah was called before the UGCC Working Committee and suspended from his post as general secretary following questioning about his persistent use of the word "Comrade" as
9316-416: The community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society. Socialist economics starts from
9453-495: The context of a future socialist society would amount to a distortion of these concepts by using them out of context. Utopian socialism is a term used to define the first currents of modern socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon , Charles Fourier and Robert Owen which inspired Karl Marx and other early socialists. Visions of imaginary ideal societies, which competed with revolutionary social democratic movements, were viewed as not being grounded in
9590-447: The convention had nothing to do with the newly formed CPP, and that Paa Grant expects loyalty from all UGCC members and considers "formation [of a] new political party inimical to interests of [the] country". Wiser heads in UGCC understood danger ahead and appealed for a resolution of the conflict. On 26 June 1949, arbitrators were appointed to examine the dispute between Nkrumah and the UGCC Working Committee and an emergency conference of
9727-445: The county mobilizing support for Positive Action and issued an ultimatum to the government to reinstate the meteorological workers by 7 January 1950. On 15 December, the executive committee of the CPP informed the Governor, Sir Charles Arden-Clarke, that unless the legitimate aspirations of the people as embodied in the proposed amendments to the Coussey Committee's report were accepted, the CPP would declare Positive Action. The Governor
9864-473: The creation of state-owned enterprises , nationalisation , municipalisation or autonomous collective institutions. Some socialists feel that in a socialist economy, at least the " commanding heights " of the economy must be publicly owned. Economic liberals and right libertarians view private ownership of the means of production and the market exchange as natural entities or moral rights which are central to their conceptions of freedom and liberty and view
10001-567: The decisions and questioning the integrity of the Working Committee", he had undermined the convention, abused its leaders and stolen its ideas. A day later, on 12 June 1949, before a crowd of some 60,000 people which had gathered on the Old Polo Ground, the CPP was born and Kwame Nkrumah resigned as general secretary of the UGCC. He declared that the CYO had decided to break away from the UGCC to become an entirely separate political party,
10138-722: The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Socialists have adopted the causes of other social movements such as environmentalism , feminism and progressivism . In 1990, the São Paulo Forum was launched by the Workers' Party (Brazil) , linking left-wing socialist parties in Latin America. Its members were associated with the Pink tide of left-wing governments on the continent in the early 21st century. Member parties ruling countries included
10275-452: The drafting of a new constitution to replace the outdated Burns constitution. As a result, in December 1948, a constitutional committee was appointed by the Governor under the chairmanship of Mr. Justice Coussey. The leadership of the UGCC blamed Nkrumah for the riots and some, including Obestebi-Lamptey and William Ofori-Atta, ransacked his house looking for evidence that he was a communist. It
10412-557: The early 21st century. This phenomenon is known as Pasokification from the Greek party PASOK , which saw a declining share of the vote in national elections—from 43.9% in 2009 to 13.2% in May 2012, to 12.3% in June 2012 and 4.7% in 2015—due to its poor handling of the Greek government-debt crisis and implementation of harsh austerity measures. In Europe, the share of votes for such socialist parties
10549-478: The economic dynamics of capitalism as immutable and absolute, therefore they perceive public ownership of the means of production, cooperatives and economic planning as infringements upon liberty. Management and control over the activities of enterprises are based on self-management and self-governance, with equal power-relations in the workplace to maximise occupational autonomy. A socialist form of organisation would eliminate controlling hierarchies so that only
10686-482: The emergence of the Soviet Union as the world's first nominally socialist state led to socialism's widespread association with the Soviet economic model , academics have noted that some Western European countries have been governed by socialist parties or have mixed economies that are sometimes called " democratic socialist ". Following the revolutions of 1989 , many of these countries moved away from socialism as
10823-521: The existing economic system of capitalism while trying to improve the conditions of capitalism, thereby making it appear more tolerable to society. According to Rosa Luxemburg , 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
10960-405: The extension of freedom and equality in society. Many forms of socialist theory hold that human behaviour is largely shaped by the social environment. In particular, socialism holds that social mores , values, cultural traits and economic practices are social creations and not the result of an immutable natural law. The object of their critique is thus not human avarice or human consciousness, but
11097-543: The following resolution: "That the people of the Gold Coast be granted immediate self-government by the British Government, that is full Dominion status within the British Commonwealth of Nations based on the statute of Westminster. That the assembly respectfully demands the immediate grant and sanction of full self-government for the chiefs and people of the Gold Coast." Copies of the resolution were passed to
11234-497: The governing classes including the Governor, the Colonial Secretary, the Legislative Council and the three Territorial Councils of chiefs but they ignored it. In the meantime, there was disquiet among the trade unions who demanded the reinstatement of meteorological service workers sacked for going on strike on 5 October 1949 and threatened to call a general strike if their call was not heeded. The CPP leadership travelled across
11371-416: The greed of foreign merchants. Shops and offices owned by foreigners were attacked and looted. Violence spread to other towns. Faced with widespread disorder, the Governor, Sir Gerald Creasy , declared a state of emergency. Troops were called out, while police arrested so-called trouble makers. The executive committee of the UGCC sent telegrams to Arthur Creech Jones , the then British Secretary of State for
11508-492: The growing discontent found expression in a boycott of mostly foreign-owned trading firms organized by Nii Kwabena Bonne on 26 January 1948. The boycott continued for a month, while its leaders negotiated price reductions with the government and the trading firms in the Association of West African Merchants (AWAM). There was unrest also among the ex-servicemen and both Kwame Nkrumah and Dr Joseph Boakye Danquah addressed them at
11645-467: The growing number of elementary-school-leavers. In the beginning, the UGCC had only a handful of branches in the larger coastal towns and Kibi. It had no official presence in Ashanti and there had been no attempt to enlist support for the organization in the Northern territories. Nkrumah setting about to change this, travelled extensively and organized mass meetings and within six months hundreds of branches of
11782-408: The human spirit.", adding that "While it promised prosperity, equality, and security, it delivered poverty, misery, and tyranny." Some in the scientific community have suggested that a contemporary radical response to social and ecological problems could be seen in the emergence of movements associated with degrowth , eco-socialism and eco-anarchism . Early socialist thought took influences from
11919-554: The last third of the 19th century parties dedicated to Democratic socialism arose in Europe, drawing mainly from Marxism . The Australian Labor Party was the first elected socialist party when it formed government in the Colony of Queensland for a week in 1899. In the first half of the 20th century, the Soviet Union and the communist parties of the Third International around the world, came to represent socialism in terms of
12056-534: The local parlance, it was synonymous with " Kuluulu ". Membership of the Association of West African Merchants was made up of the United Africa Company , Union Trading Company ), and "Oliphant" (G. B. Olivant). The firms participated in merchandise agreements in Gold Coast. Their participation led to limited competition between in the retail sector by determining the minimum prices and commissions. There
12193-407: The logic of capitalism. French social theorist André Gorz criticized reformism by advocating a third alternative to reformism and social revolution that he called " non-reformist reforms ", specifically focused on structural changes to capitalism as opposed to reforms to improve living conditions within capitalism or to prop it up through economic interventions. Under Socialism, solidarity will be
12330-403: The long run. Marxists argue that the establishment of a socialist mode of production is the only way to overcome these deficiencies. Socialists and specifically Marxian socialists argue that the inherent conflict of interests between the working class and capital prevent optimal use of available human resources and leads to contradictory interest groups (labour and business) striving to influence
12467-539: The main ideologies on the political spectrum , socialism is considered as the standard left-wing ideology in most countries. Types of socialism vary based on the role of markets and planning in resource allocation, and the structure of management in organizations. Socialist systems divide into non-market and market forms. A non-market socialist system seeks to eliminate the perceived inefficiencies, irrationalities, unpredictability , and crises that socialists traditionally associate with capital accumulation and
12604-456: The material conditions and man-made social systems (i.e. the economic structure of society) which give rise to observed social problems and inefficiencies. Bertrand Russell , often considered to be the father of analytic philosophy, identified as a socialist. Russell opposed the class struggle aspects of Marxism, viewing socialism solely as an adjustment of economic relations to accommodate modern machine production to benefit all of humanity through
12741-488: The material conditions of society and as reactionary. Although it is technically possible for any set of ideas or any person living at any time in history to be a utopian socialist, the term is most often applied to those socialists who lived in the first quarter of the 19th century who were ascribed the label "utopian" by later socialists as a negative term to imply naivete and dismiss their ideas as fanciful or unrealistic. Religious sects whose members live communally such as
12878-434: The models of market socialism developed by John Roemer and Nicholas Vrousalis . The ownership of the means of production can be based on direct ownership by the users of the productive property through worker cooperative ; or commonly owned by all of society with management and control delegated to those who operate/use the means of production; or public ownership by a state apparatus. Public ownership may refer to
13015-635: The modern political history of Ghana begun. Kwame Nkrumah was officially introduced to the UGCC's Working Committee as their Secretary on 28 December 1947 and soon got to work seeking to expand the support base of the UGCC by mobilizing the youth through local youth societies in the Colony (e.g., Apowa Literary and Social Club) and the Ashanti Confederacy (e.g., Asante Youth Association- AYA), whose members were farmers, petty-traders, drivers, artisans, school, teachers, clerks and letter-writers, many of whom were
13152-411: The natural and social worlds could be understood through scientific knowledge and be analysed using scientific methods. The fundamental objective of socialism is to attain an advanced level of material production and therefore greater productivity, efficiency and rationality as compared to capitalism and all previous systems, under the view that an expansion of human productive capability is the basis for
13289-612: The organisation of society. By contrast, Robert Owen proposed to organise production and ownership via cooperatives . Socialism is also attributed in France to Marie Roch Louis Reybaud while in Britain it is attributed to Owen, who became one of the fathers of the cooperative movement . The definition and usage of socialism settled by the 1860s, with the term socialist replacing associationist , co-operative , mutualist and collectivist , which had been used as synonyms, while
13426-430: The overall efficiency of the market economy. These corrective policies limit the incentive system of the market by providing things such as minimum wages , unemployment insurance , taxing profits and reducing the reserve army of labour , resulting in reduced incentives for capitalists to invest in more production. In essence, social welfare policies cripple capitalism and its incentive system and are thus unsustainable in
13563-620: The pace of change. Ebenezer Ako Adjei , then a young lawyer, was offered the paid secretaryship of the UGCC but he declined the position and instead proposed Kwame Nkrumah, a political activist then in London, for the position. Ako Adjei had known Nkrumah as a fellow at Lincoln University in the United States and at the London School of Economics. He was also the past President of the West African Students Union (WASU) in London which first hosted Nkrumah when he arrived in Britain from
13700-416: The premise that "individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members". The original conception of socialism
13837-451: The process of artistic creation in terms of language and presentation should be the domain of the practitioner. According to political scientist Baruch Knei-Paz in his book The Social and Political Thought of Leon Trotsky , this represented one of several distinctions between Trotsky's approach on cultural matters and Stalin's policy in the 1930s . In Literature and Revolution , Trotsky examined aesthetic issues in relation to class and
13974-525: The production process. Bolshevik revolutionary Leon Trotsky argued that money could not be arbitrarily abolished following a socialist revolution. Money had to exhaust its "historic mission", meaning it would have to be used until its function became redundant, eventually being transformed into bookkeeping receipts for statisticians and only in the more distant future would money not be required for even that role. Association of West African Merchants The Association of West African Merchants ( AWAM )
14111-481: The productive forces and technology was the basis for the expansion of human freedom and that socialism, being a system that is consistent with modern developments in technology, would enable the flourishing of "free individualities" through the progressive reduction of necessary labour time. The reduction of necessary labour time to a minimum would grant individuals the opportunity to pursue the development of their true individuality and creativity. Socialists argue that
14248-442: The progressive reduction of necessary work time. Socialists view creativity as an essential aspect of human nature and define freedom as a state of being where individuals are able to express their creativity unhindered by constraints of both material scarcity and coercive social institutions. The socialist concept of individuality is intertwined with the concept of individual creative expression. Karl Marx believed that expansion of
14385-488: The prolonged Vietnam War gave rise to the New Left , socialists who tended to be critical of the Soviet Union and social democracy . Anarcho-syndicalists and some elements of the New Left and others favoured decentralised collective ownership in the form of cooperatives or workers' councils . In 1989, the Soviet Union saw the end of communism , marked by the Revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe , culminating in
14522-420: The public. At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production or—this merely expresses the same thing in legal terms—with the property relations within the framework of which they have operated hitherto. Then begins an era of social revolution. The changes in the economic foundation lead sooner or later to the transformation of
14659-447: The purchasing of commodities only to sell at a later time when their price appreciates, rather than for consumption, even if the commodity cannot be sold at a profit to individuals in need and therefore a crucial criticism often made by socialists is that "making money", or accumulation of capital, does not correspond to the satisfaction of demand (the production of use-values ). The fundamental criterion for economic activity in capitalism
14796-552: The radical " Verandah Boys ", on the other, who listened willingly to Nkrumah and were opposed to the convention. The appointment and acceptance of some UGCC members including J. B. Danquah as members of the Justice Coussey's "Committee on Constitutional Reform" enabled Nkrumah to organize the local youth societies on which the UGCC was based while lawyers of the UGCC, then on good terms with the Colonial administration were absorbed in
14933-411: The real source of the evil. ... I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilised in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of
15070-414: The recommendations of the committee, the colonial office argued that "collective responsibility of ministers to the legislature instead of to the Governor was only compatible with the final stage of internal self-government". Despite the existence of the UGCC and CPP, the colonial government argued there were no organized political parties in the Gold Coast and as such it would be "wrong for H.M.G. to grant to
15207-498: The role of the capitalist becomes redundant. With no need for capital accumulation and a class of owners, private property in the means of production is perceived as being an outdated form of economic organisation that should be replaced by a free association of individuals based on public or common ownership of these socialised assets. Private ownership imposes constraints on planning, leading to uncoordinated economic decisions that result in business fluctuations, unemployment and
15344-412: The role of the capitalist class leads eventually to a classless society in which the state would wither away . Marx and Engels used the terms socialism and communism interchangeably, but many later Marxists defined socialism as a specific historical phase that would displace capitalism and precede communism. The major characteristics of socialism (particularly as conceived by Marx and Engels after
15481-456: The social revolution to overthrow the capitalist state and eventually the institution of the state altogether. Revolution is not necessarily defined by revolutionary socialists as violent insurrection, but as a complete dismantling and rapid transformation of all areas of class society led by the majority of the masses: the working class. Reformism is generally associated with social democracy and gradualist democratic socialism . Reformism
15618-749: The socialist movement and eventually state socialism came to be identified with the Soviet economic model . Joseph Schumpeter rejected the association of socialism and social ownership with state ownership over the means of production because the state as it exists in its current form is a product of capitalist society and cannot be transplanted to a different institutional framework. Schumpeter argued that there would be different institutions within socialism than those that exist within modern capitalism, just as feudalism had its own distinct and unique institutional forms. The state, along with concepts like property and taxation, were concepts exclusive to commercial society (capitalism) and attempting to place them within
15755-422: The socialist movement, supporting economic and social interventions to promote social justice . While retaining socialism as a long-term goal, in the post-war period social democracy embraced a mixed economy based on Keynesianism within a predominantly developed capitalist market economy and liberal democratic polity that expands state intervention to include income redistribution , regulation , and
15892-664: The socialist movement, the Progressive Alliance was founded in 2013 by current or former members of the Socialist International . The organisation states the aim of becoming the global network of "the progressive , democratic , social-democratic , socialist and labour movement ". Mainstream social democratic and socialist parties are also networked in Europe in the Party of European Socialists formed in 1992. Many of these parties lost large parts of their electoral base in
16029-402: The state to intervene in the economy in their favour at the expense of overall economic efficiency. Early socialists ( utopian socialists and Ricardian socialists ) criticised capitalism for concentrating power and wealth within a small segment of society. In addition, they complained that capitalism does not use available technology and resources to their maximum potential in the interests of
16166-439: The term communism fell out of use during this period. An early distinction between communism and socialism was that the latter aimed to only socialise production while the former aimed to socialise both production and consumption (in the form of free access to final goods). By 1888, Marxists employed socialism in place of communism as the latter had come to be considered an old-fashioned synonym for socialism . It
16303-581: The transition to self-rule. The CPP and the Trades Union Congress organized a mass gathering of some fifty organizations drawn from various trade unions, farmers’ cooperatives and organizations and other educational, cultural, youth, social and women groups in what became known as the "Ghana Representative Assembly". The UGCC and the Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society were invited but they turned it down. The assembly passed
16440-617: The upper stage becoming possible only after the socialist stage further develops economic efficiency and the automation of production has led to a superabundance of goods and services. Marx argued that the material productive forces (in industry and commerce) brought into existence by capitalism predicated a cooperative society since production had become a mass social, collective activity of the working class to create commodities but with private ownership (the relations of production or property relations). This conflict between collective effort in large factories and private ownership would bring about
16577-406: The use of wage labor "which rests on the exploitation and domination of humans by other humans," and ecological crises, such as climate change . In contrast, Mark J. Perry of the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) argued that despite socialism's resurgence, it is still "a flawed system based on completely faulty principles that aren't consistent with human behavior and can't nurture
16714-443: The view that the consciousness of those who earn a wage or salary (the working class in the broadest Marxist sense) would be moulded by their conditions of wage slavery , leading to a tendency to seek their freedom or emancipation by overthrowing ownership of the means of production by capitalists and consequently, overthrowing the state that upheld this economic order. For Marx and Engels, conditions determine consciousness and ending
16851-518: The whole immense superstructure. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels argued that socialism would emerge from historical necessity as capitalism rendered itself obsolete and unsustainable from increasing internal contradictions emerging from the development of the productive forces and technology. It was these advances in the productive forces combined with the old social relations of production of capitalism that would generate contradictions, leading to working-class consciousness. Marx and Engels held
16988-441: Was a follower of Henri de Saint-Simon , one of the founders of what would later be labelled utopian socialism . Socialism contrasted with the liberal doctrine of individualism that emphasized the moral worth of the individual while stressing that people act or should act as if they are in isolation from one another. The original utopian socialists condemned this doctrine of individualism for failing to address social concerns during
17125-484: Was a trade association that sold European goods in the Gold Coast . It was originally formed in 1916 for European merchants to discuss problems relating to West African trade. The Gold Coast branch was formed during the late Second World War as suggested by the government to assist in the administration of the war-time economic controls. The acronym AWAM over the years became used to mean the manipulation of terms of trade to disadvantage customers in favour of traders. In
17262-443: Was agitation from the indigenes against foreign imports. The Association of West African Merchants was accused of conspiring with the colonial government to cut Africans out of wholesaling and retailing, of trade monopoly, and cheating customers. They were also involved in price-fixing and market-sharing agreements to restrict import-export trade in Gold Coast. The operationalization of the Association of West African Merchants led to
17399-447: Was an economic system whereby production was organised in a way to directly produce goods and services for their utility (or use-value in classical and Marxian economics ), with the direct allocation of resources in terms of physical units as opposed to financial calculation and the economic laws of capitalism (see law of value ), often entailing the end of capitalistic economic categories such as rent , interest, profit and money. In
17536-640: Was at its 70-year lowest in 2015. For example, the Socialist Party , after winning the 2012 French presidential election , rapidly lost its vote share, the Social Democratic Party of Germany 's fortunes declined rapidly from 2005 to 2019, and outside Europe the Israeli Labor Party fell from being the dominant force in Israeli politics to 4.43% of the vote in the April 2019 Israeli legislative election , and
17673-434: Was becoming clear that differences between Nkrumah and other leaders of the UGCC would soon make it impossible for them to continue to work together. Although the detentions increased the popularity of the UGCC leaders, it also led to infighting and finger-pointing among the UGCC leadership and created a split between the conservative intelligentsia of the UGCC who favoured a gradualist approach to independence on one hand, and
17810-479: Was blocked by armed police commanded by a British officer, Superintendent Colin Imray. When the marchers refused to halt, Imray gave the order to open fire. Three ex-servicemen – Sergeant Adjetey , Private Odartey Lamptey and Corporal Attipoe – were killed and many others were injured. News of the shooting sparked off days of rioting in Accra by already angry crowds incensed at the high price of food, which they blamed on
17947-415: Was concerned, there is nothing in principle in economic theory that precludes an economic order based on socialist policies" and promoted substituting capitalist businesses with worker cooperatives . While democrats looked to the Revolutions of 1848 as a democratic revolution which in the long run ensured liberty, equality, and fraternity , Marxists denounced it as a betrayal of working-class ideals by
18084-412: Was given two weeks in which to accede to the CPP's request for the calling of a Constituent Assembly. Nkrumah met the Colonial Secretary and on the basis of the assurance given that the CPP's. view would be considered by committees on constitutional reform, he agreed to recommend a review of the Positive Action policy to the party's executive committee. Dr J. B. Danquah seized upon this temporary hiatus in
18221-638: Was not until after the Bolshevik Revolution that socialism was appropriated by Vladimir Lenin to mean a stage between capitalism and communism. He used it to defend the Bolshevik program from Marxist criticism that Russia's productive forces were not sufficiently developed for communism. The distinction between communism and socialism became salient in 1918 after the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party renamed itself to
18358-713: Was not. The Owenites in England and the Fourierists in France were considered respectable socialists while working-class movements that "proclaimed the necessity of total social change" denoted themselves communists . This branch of socialism produced the communist work of Étienne Cabet in France and Wilhelm Weitling in Germany. British moral philosopher John Stuart Mill discussed a form of economic socialism within free market. In later editions of his Principles of Political Economy (1848), Mill posited that "as far as economic theory
18495-437: Was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Several thousand workers were dismissed from their jobs and many others lost their pension rights. Things would never be the same again. The CPP had shown that an unarmed people could demonstrate the effectiveness of unified effort in the form of Positive Action. Never again would they accept that it was hopeless to challenge a seemingly mighty power structure. The political revolution in
18632-519: Was that a new party be formed but should retain the name "Convention". On 11 June 1949, the Working Committee of the UGCC issued two resolutions declaring that membership of the CYO and the UGCC were incompatible and gave notice that Nkrumah was to be "served with charges" for disregarding "the obligations of collective responsibility and party discipline" and by publishing in The Accra Evening News , views, opinions, and criticisms, "assailing
18769-539: Was to be a mass-based party each branch of which was to be administered by an elected Branch Executive committee. There was to be a National Secretariat under the direct supervision and control of the Central Committee of the party. Members of the first Central Committee were: The Evening News became the party's mouthpiece and its full-frontal demands for self-government increased its popularity and demand rose dramatically. Its pithy mottoes were: The success of
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