Reformism - Definition and Overview

Reformism (also called revisionism or revisionist theory) is the belief that gradual changes in a society can ultimately change its fundamental structures. It is a key component of the movement known as democratic socialism. This movement is contrasted to "revolutionary socialism", which believes that there must be a revolution to fundamentally change a society.

Rosa Luxemburg was a prominent polemicist against reformism, with her essay Reform or Revolution?, written in 1900, where she assailed the "Evolutionary Socialism" of Eduard Bernstein. The Bolsheviks held a similar view, but Luxemburg died in the German Revolution while her counterparts won the Russian Civil War and founded the Soviet Union.

The term "Reformism" is usually applied to the political left. Reformists are seen as centre left. Some Social Democratic parties such as the Canadian NDP are considered reformist.

See also

• Karl Marx
• Communism
• Antonio Gramsci
• Fabianism
• Leninism
• Trotskyism
• Maoism
• Revisionism
• Cultural hegemony
• Evolutionary socialism

External links

• Reform or Revolution? by Rosa Luxemburg (1900) (http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1900/reform-revolution/index.htm)