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Simonde de Sismondi: liberaal, utopisch socialist, interventionist, wetenschappelijk socialist of romanticus?

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Abstract

Simonde de Sismondi, liberal, utopian socialist, interventionist, scientific socialist or romantic economist ?— Simondi de Sismondi is a difficult author to classify in a survey of the history of economic thought. Most economists belonging to the historical school of the 19th century considered Sismondi as a social reformer if not as an utopian socialist. Already in i860, however Albert Blanqui, a French author of a history of economic thought, insisted on the pessimism of Sismondi about the possibility of reforming capitalist society, a pessimism that was much akin to that of R. Malthus and D. Ricardo. Moreover, on political matters Sismondi defended liberal principles both in his papers and as a member of the legislative council of Geneva. So it seems quite natural that as an economic theorist he should be considered a liberal. His sharp criticism of the development of capitalist society and especially of the contradiction between the growing capacities of production and the declining level of prosperity of the mass of the population, however, makes it impossible to classify him as a member of the classical liberal school. He may be considered an „interventionist” who, although accepting the necessity of maintaining private property as the basic principle of the social structure, thinks that the state should intervene by promulgating legislation in order to counteract the growing antagonism between the capitalist and the proletarian social classes. However, the vagueness of most of his proposals and the lack of determination with which he defends them, may be considered as an indication that he had not much hope of being able to prevent a further evolution of the capitalist system towards more inequality and sharp antagonism between social classes. As was suggested in an article written in 1924 by the Polish marxist Henryk Grossman, Sismondi may be considered a precursor of the scientific socialism of Karl Marx. It can even be maintained that Marx found his main ideas about prospective capitalist development in the works of Sismondi. However, another prominent marxist, namely Lenin, was of a completely different opinion. He thought Sismondi was a forerunner of the Russian romantic school of the Populists, who were opponents of capitalism and dreamed of a return to the simple life of the Russian peasants. Although the theoretic contribution of Sismondi to scientific socialism cannot be denied, there is much to be said for Lenin’s interpretation. Sismondi advocates small agricultural and artisan enterprises as sources of human happiness, pleads for a slowing down of technological progress and opposes the creation of institutions designed for financing large enterprises.

How to Cite:

Vandewalle, G., (1982) “Simonde de Sismondi: liberaal, utopisch socialist, interventionist, wetenschappelijk socialist of romanticus?”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 27(3), 191–221. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.94823