The introductory part of this chapter discusses the internal tensions of socialism—on the basis of practical application, at the conceptual level (as conflicts in value), at the temporal level (as the dualism of a world that ought to be and can be), and as an alternative social future based on largely untested hypotheses of human nature and associated social arrangements. It points out that socialism offers a permanent reminder that political theory emanates from practice, and that practice itself is an embodiment of conceptual structures, so it is less easy to draw up an agreed cluster of...

The introductory part of this chapter discusses the internal tensions of socialism—on the basis of practical application, at the conceptual level (as conflicts in value), at the temporal level (as the dualism of a world that ought to be and can be), and as an alternative social future based on largely untested hypotheses of human nature and associated social arrangements. It points out that socialism offers a permanent reminder that political theory emanates from practice, and that practice itself is an embodiment of conceptual structures, so it is less easy to draw up an agreed cluster of core socialist concepts. The eight sections of the chapter are: (a) Pre‐ and proto‐socialisms; (b) The socialist core; (c) History: the fifth core concept; (d) Socialism and democracy; (e) Socialism and power; (f) The ‘Socialist Clause’ and the state; (g) Class and property; and (h) The socialist periphery.