Reformism

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.

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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.

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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.

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Society: :For the song by the California punk band Pennywise, see Society (song)....

Democratic socialism: Democratic socialism is a broad political movement propagating the ideals of socialism within the context of a democratic system. In many cases, its adherents promote the ideal of socialism as an evolutionary process resulting from legislation enacted by a parliamentary democracy. Other democratic...

Revolutionary socialism: The term revolutionary socialism refers to Socialist tendencies that advocate the need for fundamental social change through revolution by mass movements of the vast majority, as a strategy to achieve a socialist society. The term is used by socialist and communist tendencies in contrast to reformis...