Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- 1 Yugoslav socialism: a critical introduction
- 2 The official ideology of self-management
- 3 Perceptions of society and politics
- 4 Political generations and political attitudes
- 5 The structure of political participation
- 6 Patterns of public interaction
- 7 Cultural parameters of Yugoslav society
- 8 Political and socialist development
- Appendix. Methodology and field work
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - Patterns of public interaction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 March 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- 1 Yugoslav socialism: a critical introduction
- 2 The official ideology of self-management
- 3 Perceptions of society and politics
- 4 Political generations and political attitudes
- 5 The structure of political participation
- 6 Patterns of public interaction
- 7 Cultural parameters of Yugoslav society
- 8 Political and socialist development
- Appendix. Methodology and field work
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Socialist humanism should be guided by a moral ideal — which was that of the early socialists — namely, the conception of a community of creative, equal, and self-governing individuals, on a world scale; and at the same time by a scientific and experimental attitude toward social problems and toward social policies for the reform or replacement of social institutions.
T. B. Bottomore, ‘Industry, Work, Socialism’Just as the ideology of self-management postulates an ideal of universal political participation, so its orientation toward socialist humanism presupposes a certain norm of social interaction. Originating in Marx's vision of future society, the norm of how communists treat their comrades is based on interdependence, mutual respect, and equality. In other words, this socialist ethic teaches both the collectivity and the objectivity of human relations. First, as a collectivity, all comrades share the social experience and hence the responsibility for its outcome. They are obligated to work for the good of all, and the group as a whole is obligated to take care of their individual needs. Furthermore, in all objectivity, the needs, desires, and opinions of one comrade count as much as the respective attributes of any other comrade. Following logically from this, comrades who have been reared by the socialist ethic should respect the persons and personalities of their comrades. Mutual respect and mutual responsibility should color all areas of social relations so that comrades indeed become, in Bottomore's words, ‘a community of creative, equal, and self-governing individuals’.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Beyond Marx and TitoTheory and Practice in Yugoslav Socialism, pp. 193 - 215Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1975