5.2 The Diversity of Socialism

From this common basis, the currents claiming to be socialist have many differences. Three historical divisions can be observed: the first was between idealistic (or “utopian”) and rationalist (or “scientific”) currents, the second between anti-statist and statist currents, the third between revolutionary and reformist currents. To illustrate these divisions, this section will describe the four main historical variants or currents that have dominated the debates: utopian socialism, libertarian socialism, communism and social democracy.