Every Type of Communism Explained in 11 Minutes

Summary

The video gives a brief overview of twelve communist or communist-related traditions, focusing on their ideas about class, ownership, revolution, political organization, and social change.

1. Marxism

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels argued that a society’s economic system—the base—shapes its laws, politics, and culture, or superstructure. Changes in technology and production can unsettle existing social arrangements and intensify conflict between classes.

The central conflict is between the bourgeoisie, who own productive property, and the proletariat, who work for them. Marxists argue that workers are exploited under capitalism. They envision collective ownership and production directed toward human needs rather than private profit. Marx expected capitalism’s contradictions to lead workers to revolution and socialism.

2. Leninism

Vladimir Lenin developed Marxist ideas for the conditions of Russia. He argued that a disciplined vanguard party should organize and lead workers in overthrowing capitalism.

After the revolution, workers would exercise power through the state and workers’ councils, with resources and production placed under collective ownership. The party would govern firmly to defend the revolution and move society toward communism.

Lenin also described imperialism as a stage of capitalism in which powerful countries exploit weaker ones for resources and markets, potentially provoking international conflict and revolution.

3. Stalinism

The video describes Stalinism as a Soviet synthesis of Marxism and Leninism. It calls for a one-party socialist state that controls industry, promotes state ownership, and suppresses opposition and counterrevolution.

This state is presented as a transitional phase on the way to a classless, stateless society. The video notes that Marxism-Leninism remains the official ideology of several ruling communist parties.

4. Trotskyism

Leon Trotsky emphasized international working-class solidarity and permanent revolution. He argued that socialism in one country could not endure without broader global revolutions.

Trotsky opposed Stalin’s authoritarian rule and argued that the Soviet Union had become a “degenerated workers’ state,” where class conflict had reappeared in another form. Trotskyists favor workers’ democracy and elected councils over centralized bureaucratic control.

5. Maoism

Mao Zedong adapted communism to agrarian societies, arguing that peasants could be the main force in a revolution. Its key ideas and strategies include:

• New Democracy: A popular, anti-feudal, and anti-imperialist revolution led by communists as a path toward socialism.
• People’s War: Build support among rural communities, use guerrilla warfare, and gradually surround and take cities.
• Cultural revolution: Challenge old customs and ideas and broaden political education, with the stated aim of preventing a new elite from forming.
• Self-reliance: Prioritize local industry and collective agriculture rather than dependence on foreign assistance.
• Mass line: Leaders learn about people’s needs, develop policies in response, and encourage collective action.

6. Anarchist Communism

Anarchist communism seeks a classless, stateless society based on collective ownership of productive resources, while allowing people to keep personal belongings. It rejects money, wages, and prices, and follows the principle that people contribute what they can and receive what they need.

The video presents mutual aid and fairness—not competition or greed—as the basis for work and cooperation. Anarchist communism favors decentralized, self-governing communes that coordinate and share resources rather than a centralized state.

Historical examples cited include anarchist areas associated with Nestor Makhno in Ukraine and revolutionary Catalonia during the Spanish Revolution.

7. Primitive Communism

Primitive communism is a term for the shared resource systems attributed to hunter-gatherer societies. In this account, goods were distributed according to need and private ownership was absent.

8. Religious Communism

Religious communism combines communal ownership and sharing with religious teachings, unlike Marxism’s generally secular orientation. Examples in the video include Protestant communal movements, the Shakers, the Hutterites, and early Christians.

The video cites Acts 4:35 as an account of early Christians sharing possessions. Christian communists interpret Jesus’ teachings and practices as supportive of communal principles.

9. Left Communism

Left communism is a critical tradition that claims to defend Marxist principles against what it sees as compromised socialist or communist practice. It emerged around World War I. Supporters often backed the October Revolution but criticized its later development, with some describing it as state capitalism rather than genuine socialism.

Left communists generally reject participation in parliamentary elections, trade unions, nationalist alliances, and parliamentary government. They emphasize autonomous working-class organization and direct confrontation, though the video notes differences over whether to form a separate communist party or rely on workers’ councils.

10. Communist Bundism

Communist Bundism was a secular Jewish socialist movement associated with the General Jewish Labour Bund, founded in the Russian Empire in 1897. It emphasized Jewish culture and community rather than establishing a Jewish state, and rejected Zionism.

The video describes the movement’s changing response to the October Revolution and its division into communist and social-democratic factions. It says the communist faction supported the Bolsheviks and later merged with the Soviet Communist Party.

11. Eurocommunism

Eurocommunism was a current associated with communist parties in Italy, Spain, and France during the 1970s. It favored democratic routes to socialism rather than revolution and supported democratic institutions.

Eurocommunist parties also embraced newer social movements, including feminism and gay liberation, and openly criticized the Soviet Union while moving away from some traditional Marxist ideas and party structures.

12. Autonomism

Autonomism is a Marxist-influenced anti-capitalist movement that developed in Italy in the 1960s from workerism. It broadens the idea of working-class labor to include paid and unpaid work, such as housework and child-rearing.

It argues that many forms of collective and social labor create wealth but are not recognized or adequately compensated. The video highlights feminist analysis of unpaid women’s labor and the concepts of immaterial and social labor.

Speakers and Sources Mentioned

• Speaker: An unnamed narrator; the subtitles present one continuous voiceover and no interviews or additional speakers.
• Thinkers and political leaders discussed: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, and Mao Zedong.
• Texts, organizations, and movements mentioned: Acts 4:35; the General Jewish Labour Bund; the May Fourth Movement; the Bolsheviks; the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; the Shakers; the Hutterites; early Christian communities; and the workerism movement.
• Historical examples cited: Anarchist territories associated with Nestor Makhno in Ukraine and revolutionary Catalonia during the Spanish Revolution.