Revisionism (Marxism)

In Marxist philosophy, revisionism is a pejorative label given to various ideas, principles, and theories that are based on a fundamental reinterpretation of Marxism. According to critics of revisionism, this involves a significant deviation from mainstream Marxist tendencies, such as classical Marxism and orthodox Marxism, or a specific ideology held by the accuser, such as Marxism–Leninism, Maoism, or Trotskyism. The characteristics most attributed to revisionist Marxisms are the formation of an alliance with the bourgeoisie and rejecting the centrality of revolution in favor of reformism.^[1]

The term has been applied by various Marxist tendencies to others, often with varying meanings. By extension, Marxists who view themselves as fighting against revisionism have often self-identified as anti-revisionists. Revisionism is most often used as an epithet by those Marxists who believe that such revisions are unwarranted and represent a watering down or abandonment of Marxism—one such common example is the negation of class struggle.^[2]

Some academic economists have alternatively used revisionism as a neutral descriptor of post-Stalinist writers in Marxist–Leninist countries who criticized one-party rule and argued in favour of freedom of the press and of the arts, intra-party and sometimes multi-party democracy, independent labour unions, the abolition of bureaucratic privileges, and the subordination of police forces to the judiciary power.^[3]

Revisionism has been used in a number of contexts to refer to different or claimed revisions of Marxist theory. Those who opposed Karl Marx's revolution through his lens of class struggle and sought out non-revolutionary or more conciliatory means for a change are known as revisionists. Eduard Bernstein, a close acquaintance of Marx and Friedrich Engels, was one of the first major revisionists, and was prominent in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).^[4]

In the late 19th century, the term revisionism was used to describe reformist socialist writers, such as Bernstein, who sought to revise Marx's ideas about the transition to socialism and claimed that a revolution was not necessary to achieve a socialist society.^[5] The views of Bernstein gave rise to evolutionary socialism, which asserts that socialism can be achieved through gradual peaceful reforms from within a capitalist system.^[6]