5.2 The Currents of Socialism

The currents of socialism share the same values, but they diverge about the model of society and the strategy to achieve socialism. Three historical divisions can be observed: the first between idealistic (or “utopian”) and rationalist (or “scientific”) currents, the second between anti-statist (libertarian) and statist (communist) currents, the third between revolutionary (Marxist) and reformist (social democracy) currents. To illustrate these divisions, this section will describe the four main historic currents: utopian socialism, libertarian socialism, communism, and social democracy.