collectivism

Do you ever wonder what the world would be like if everything were owned collectively? Where everyone drove the same kind of car, earned the same amount of money and agreed that working together on the same project was better than each person pursuing their own interests? This is what a world based on collectivism looks like. In this article, we will learn what collectivism is, its history, how it compares to some other key schools of thought and who some of the main collectivist thinkers were.

Collectivism definition

Collectivism as a core concept is the basis of major political systems such as Socialism, Communism, and Fascism. Collectivism prioritises the needs of the collective over the needs of the individual and supports the idea that everything within society is shared equally amongst its members. This includes the goals people work towards and the wages they get for their work.

Collectivism also believes true social transformation can only be achieved through a collective effort.

Pros of collectivism

Collectivism has some positive sides. In theory, it can lead to a safe and stable society: everyone shares the same objectives, works towards the same goal, and therefore aims to avoid conflicts. Collectivism can also be quite efficient; it allows for one or one shared authority to control the production and distribution of work and property within the entire society. Also, in a collectivist society, it is easy to get help when needed: if one person's problem is everybody's problem, everybody is motivated to fix it as quickly as possible. Lastly, collectivism encourages selflessness for the sake of benefiting the collective.

The History of collectivism

The British philosopher Thomas Hobbes, having lived during the English Civil War (1642-1651), argued that people were guided by self-interests that would lead to violence and conflict if left unchecked. He believed that individuals should give up their freedom to a central authoritative figure who would keep them safe from individual conflicts and feuds. This is one of the first examples in history of the idea of putting individual goals to one side for the betterment of society as a whole.

Collectivism was then developed by the French enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In his work "The Social Contract¹’ he argued against the idea of class divisions. He believed that every individual held a social contract, a deal with the rest of society. This ‘contract’ makes people always consider the group's shared interests and work collectively to achieve these. Rousseau believed this would improve the lives of all within society.

Karl Marx further developed this argument by reflecting on the ills of the industrial revolution and solidified the concept of collectivism in the 19th Century. Marx’s "Communist Manifesto²" argues that Capitalism led to the exploitation of the working class for the economic benefit of the few.

Fig. 1 Karl Marx

Marx argued that workers should organise and overthrow the bourgeoisie to own collectively, manage and benefit from the businesses they worked for, and avoid future exploitation.

Marx's thought dramatically impacted the development of collectivist ideas and led to the communist revolutions in Cuba, China, North Korea, and Russia.

The collectivist principles of redistribution of resources for the benefit of the many can also be seen at work in less politically dramatic situations. For example, the New Deal in America (1930s) and the welfare reforms in post-war Britain increased state intervention in raising the worst off in society out of poverty.

Since Marxism, collectivism has managed to keep up with the changing times of society, focusing more on the development of economic collectivism and materialism in the form of more moderate political philosophies such as modern liberalism and revisionism socialism.

Collectivism as a political system

How do you think collectivism works in practice? Let's have a deeper look.

A social system based on collectivist ideas will allow for a fair amount of government intervention. The government will own and manage housing, services and industries and ensure all are fairly and equally distributed. The government will also be responsible for welfare programmes such as education, healthcare, benefit and pension systems.

Regarding social dynamics, collectivism calls for a high level of cooperation amongst its citizens: people are expected to support government intervention and pool together to achieve the social and economic programmes everyone can benefit from.

In terms of interpersonal relationships, in collectivist cultures, people are expected to be helpful, dependable and attentive to the needs of others.

Fig. 2 Map of global individualism vs collectivism, Green = individualist culturesRed= collectivist cultures

Collectivism vs Individualism

Collectivism is the opposite of individualism: one is about prioritising the needs of the collective, whereas the other is about prioritising the needs of the individuals themselves. Individualism, a concept that appears within liberalism, focuses on the following ideas in direct opposition to collectivism.

• Promoting individual goals: people have their own goals and interests and should be allowed to pursue them. This goes against collectivism as they share their goals collectively.

• Promoting individual ownership: Unlike the collectivist concept of shared ownership, liberalism promotes that individuals own what they have earned. If one member of society works extra hard to earn more money, then they deserve it, right? Would you rather earn the same as your peers regardless of your work ethic? Or would you rather have the choice to work harder and earn more money?

Collectivism vs Communism

Collectivism and Communism are tightly linked together as collectivism is a central concept within the economic and political theory that is Communism. However, collectivism is a principle and not a political theory. Communism holds collectivism as the core to develop its best economic and political system based on everyone working towards one goal equally. At the same time, Communism is centred around its opposition to the capitalist economic system of private property based on the pursuit of profit.

Collectivism Example

Let's conclude by looking at two examples of collectivism in history. Below we explore the Soviet Communist revolution and life on the kibbutzim. While reading, notice how the elements in bold connect to the concepts we have been exploring through the article.

The Soviet Union: According to the Russian revolutionary politician Vladimir Lenin, the very definition of a capitalist was anyone who employed anyone else. In the context of early 20th century Russia, this was any land owner who employed farm-hands.

At the end of WWI, Lenin started a policy collectivising all agricultural land to:

• eliminate private agriculture, which was seen as where Capitalism originated.

• feed the urban population with the produce grown.

• modernise agriculture.

• fund a process of industrialisation with the profit of the now state-owned agricultural land.

This process, in reality, meant the land was forcibly taken away from farmers who, if resisted, would be killed, deported or sent to labour camps. The land was then staffed by inexperienced but "socially conscious" (meaning in agreement with the process of collectivisation) people who were made to move there from the cities. It led to a very unproductive agriculture system which the state compensated poorly. The system ended in famine and led to an estimated 5.7-8.7 million deaths.

The Kibbutz (plural=kibbutzim) are communities based on socialist and Zionist principles. The Kibbutzim emerged at the beginning of the 20th century. They were traditionally agricultural communities that started very small. Thanks to their success, their modern-day numbers exceed 100,000 people, and their economy has diversified to include modern business. The history and international politics of the kibbutzim are complex, and their early commitment to the original ideology has somewhat become diluted. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on the collectivism they embodied in their early days.

Fig. 3 Harvesting cotton by hand in a kibbutz

The Kibbutzim were founded on shared ownership and equality, with a strong focus on gender equality. To allow women the freedom to pursue the goal of the Kibbutz, the children were educated collectively and lived in children's houses. Nothing was individually owned, the members worked and lived together, and all major decisions were reached through consensus.