Socialism a Transition Stage for Communism

“Communists work for the establishment of socialism as a necessary transition stage on the road to communism,” said John Strachey. A British Labour politician, Strachey wrote in The Theory and Practice of Socialism:

It is impossible to establish communism as the immediate successor to capitalism. It is accordingly proposed to establish socialism as something which we can put in the place of our present decaying capitalism. Hence, communists work for the establishment of socialism as a necessary transition stage on the road to communism.¹

Sources:

1. Strachey, John. The Theory and Practice of Socialism. London: Gollancz, 1936. 21. For a contemporary review of Strachey’s book - albeit from a Marxist point of view - see Mattick, Paul. “Strachey Confesses“. 1937. Marxists Internet Archive. 18 November 2008.↩

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