Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
What is Democratic Socialism? What makes it different than Socialism, Communism, Marxism or Social Democracy? As self-described democratic socialists, like Mayor Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bring the term to the mainstream, it felt like a good moment to dive into the history of the term, and to explore the central tension to be found in any social democratic movement: reform or revolution?
★Support on Patreon: patreon.com/williamcfox
Social Media ▼
Twitter➜ @williamcfox
Instagram➜ @williamcfox
TikTok ➜ @williamcfox
00:44 Manifesto for 1848
40:13 Interlude: Inevitability
01:29:15 Marxism to Orthodoxy
02:27:23 Revisionism
02:56:54 Reform or Revolution
03:22:50 Social Democracy vs Democratic Socialism
04:03:18 Defining the 'types'
Sourcing
Ascher, Abraham (Ed.). 1976. _The Mensheviks In The Russian Revolution_.
Berman, Sheri. 2006. _The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe's Twentieth Century_.
Bernstein, Eduard. 1899. _Evolutionary Socialism_.
Buhle, Paul. 1987. _Marxism in the United States_.
Draper, Hal. 1987. The ‘Dictatorship of the Proletariat’ in Marx and Engels. Chapter 1.
Eley, Geoff. 2002. _Forging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000_.
Engels, Friedrich. 1880. _Socialism: Utopian and Scientific_.
Gay, Peter. 1952. _The Dilemma of Democratic Socialism: Eduard Bernstein's Challenge to Marx_.
Gramsci 1917. The Revolution against ‘Capital’
Guttsman, W. L. 1981. _The German Social Democratic Party, 1875-1933: From Ghetto to Government_.
Kolakowski, Leszek. 1978. _Main Currents of Marxism Volumes 1-3_
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich. 1905. _Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution_.
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich. 1917. _The State and Revolution_.
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich. 1918. _The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky_.
Luxemburg, Rosa. 1908 (Second Edition). _Reform or Revolution?_.
Martov, Julius. Essays from 1919-1921. The State and the Socialist Revolution. (accessed via 'whatnextjournal')
Marx, Karl. 1875. _Critique of the Gotha Programme_.
Marx, Karl & Engels, Friedrich. 1848. _Manifesto of the Communist Party_.
Modern/Critique:
Brooks, David. 2026. Democrats Became Great by Fighting the Left.
Flynn, Daniel J. 2008. _A Conservative History of the American Left_.
Fortgang, Tal. 2026. Radicals Are at the Door.
Sunkara, Bhaskar. 2019. The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality.
Michael Harrington. American activist and author by Markku Ruotsila. Britannica Editors
Misc:
The Erfurt Program 1891. Translated: by Thomas Dunlap
& Das Erfurter Programm (1891)
Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images.
What is Democratic Socialism? What makes it different than Socialism, Communism, Marxism or Social Democracy? As self-described democratic socialists, like Mayor Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bring the term to the mainstream, it felt like a good moment to dive into the history of the term, and to explore the central tension to be found in any social democratic movement: reform or revolution?
★Support on Patreon: patreon.com/williamcfox
Social Media ▼
Twitter➜ @williamcfox
Instagram➜ @williamcfox
TikTok ➜ @williamcfox
00:44 Manifesto for 1848
40:13 Interlude: Inevitability
01:29:15 Marxism to Orthodoxy
02:27:23 Revisionism
02:56:54 Reform or Revolution
03:22:50 Social Democracy vs Democratic Socialism
04:03:18 Defining the 'types'
Sourcing
Ascher, Abraham (Ed.). 1976. _The Mensheviks In The Russian Revolution_.
Berman, Sheri. 2006. _The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe's Twentieth Century_.
Bernstein, Eduard. 1899. _Evolutionary Socialism_.
Buhle, Paul. 1987. _Marxism in the United States_.
Draper, Hal. 1987. The ‘Dictatorship of the Proletariat’ in Marx and Engels. Chapter 1.
Eley, Geoff. 2002. _Forging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000_.
Engels, Friedrich. 1880. _Socialism: Utopian and Scientific_.
Gay, Peter. 1952. _The Dilemma of Democratic Socialism: Eduard Bernstein's Challenge to Marx_.
Gramsci 1917. The Revolution against ‘Capital’
Guttsman, W. L. 1981. _The German Social Democratic Party, 1875-1933: From Ghetto to Government_.
Kolakowski, Leszek. 1978. _Main Currents of Marxism Volumes 1-3_
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich. 1905. _Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution_.
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich. 1917. _The State and Revolution_.
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich. 1918. _The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky_.
Luxemburg, Rosa. 1908 (Second Edition). _Reform or Revolution?_.
Martov, Julius. Essays from 1919-1921. The State and the Socialist Revolution. (accessed via 'whatnextjournal')
Marx, Karl. 1875. _Critique of the Gotha Programme_.
Marx, Karl & Engels, Friedrich. 1848. _Manifesto of the Communist Party_.
Modern/Critique:
Brooks, David. 2026. Democrats Became Great by Fighting the Left.
Flynn, Daniel J. 2008. _A Conservative History of the American Left_.
Fortgang, Tal. 2026. Radicals Are at the Door.
Sunkara, Bhaskar. 2019. The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality.
Michael Harrington. American activist and author by Markku Ruotsila. Britannica Editors
Misc:
The Erfurt Program 1891. Translated: by Thomas Dunlap
& Das Erfurter Programm (1891)
Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images.
