:''International Socialism redirects here. For the journal of the same name see
International Socialism (journal)''
'Proletarian internationalism' is a
Marxist social class theory whose concept is that members of the
working class should act in solidarity towards
world revolution and support working people in other countries, rather than following their respective national governments. Proletarian internationalism is summed up in the slogan, ''
Workers of all countries, unite!'', the last line of
The Communist Manifesto. Early unionists learned that more members meant more power because by joining together the workers gained greater bargaining power. Thus, taken to an international level, it would further increase the power of the working class versus that of their bosses.
Proletarian internationalism also claims itself to be a deterrent against wars amongst nations, because people with a common interest are less likely to take up arms against one another, however they are more likely to do so against the
ruling class that Marxists believe oppress workers. According to Marxist theory the
antonym of proletarian internationalism is
bourgeois nationalism.
This is of course quite different from the view of some
democratic socialists, like
George Orwell, who has stated that "in all countries the poor are more national than the rich."
[1].
See also
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Marxism
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Communism
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Industrial Workers of the World
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Socialism in One Country
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Global Citizens Movement
References and external links
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Internationalism and Nationalism by Liu Shaoqi
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Marxism and Nationalism by Tom Lewis
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The Importance of Ideas in Party Building Marry Scully discusses proletarian internationalism
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Without anti-capitalist theory and practice no anti-capitalist victory is possible Ernest Mandel discusses proletarian internationalism