section_heading: Uvod
paragraph_text: Središnje vrijednosti zajedničke svim oblicima socijalizma jesu kritika privatnoga vlasništva i njegovo socijaliziranje, tj. podruštvljenje (ili barem neki oblik društvene kontrole nad njim), te načelo društvene jednakosti.<ref>Brus, Wlodzimierz (5. 11. 2015). The Economics and Politics of Socialism. Routledge. str. 87. ISBN 978-0415866477. »This alteration in the relationship between economy and politics is evident in the very definition of a socialist economic system. The basic characteristic of such a system is generally reckoned to be the predominance of the social ownership of the means of production.«<ref>Michie, Jonathan (1. 1. 2001). Readers Guide to the Social Sciences. Routledge. str. 1516. ISBN 978-1579580919. »Just as private ownership defines capitalism, social ownership defines socialism. The essential characteristic of socialism in theory is that it destroys social hierarchies, and therefore leads to a politically and economically egalitarian society. Two closely related consequences follow. First, every individual is entitled to an equal ownership share that earns an aliquot part of the total social dividend…Second, in order to eliminate social hierarchy in the workplace, enterprises are run by those employed, and not by the representatives of private or state capital. Thus, the well-known historical tendency of the divorce between ownership and management is brought to an end. The society – i.e. every individual equally – owns capital and those who work are entitled to manage their own economic affairs.«<ref>"2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) any of various social or political theories or movements in which the common welfare is to be achieved through the establishment of a socialist economic system" "Socialism" at The Free dictionary<ref>Arnold, Scott (1994). The Philosophy and Economics of Market Socialism: A Critical Study. Oxford University Press. str. 7—8. ISBN 978-0195088274. »This term is harder to define, since socialists disagree among themselves about what socialism ‘really is.’ It would seem that everyone (socialists and nonsocialists alike) could at least agree that it is not a system in which there is widespread private ownership of the means of production…To be a socialist is not just to believe in certain ends, goals, values, or ideals. It also requires a belief in a certain institutional means to achieve those ends; whatever that may mean in positive terms, it certainly presupposes, at a minimum, the belief that these ends and values cannot be achieved in an economic system in which there is widespread private ownership of the means of production…Those who favor socialism generally speak of social ownership, social control, or socialization of the means of production as the distinctive positive feature of a socialist economic system.«<ref>Hastings, Mason and Pyper, Adrian, Alistair and Hugh (21. 12. 2000). The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought. Oxford University Press. str. 677. ISBN 978-0198600244. »Socialists have always recognized that there are many possible forms of social ownership of which co-operative ownership is one...Nevertheless, socialism has throughout its history been inseparable from some form of common ownership. By its very nature it involves the abolition of private ownership of capital; bringing the means of production, distribution, and exchange into public ownership and control is central to its philosophy. It is difficult to see how it can survive, in theory or practice, without this central idea.« Pojavni oblici socijalizma međusobno se razlikuju po načinu (sredstvima) kojim će se te vrijednosti postići. Iako se začetci socijalizma mogu pronaći u iskustvima čovječanstva već i u davnijoj povijesti (u starim etičko-religijskim naučavanjima,<ref>Cort, John C. (1988). Christian Socialism: An Informal History. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books. ISBN 978-0-88344-574-7. u praksi nekih religijskih zajednica, židovsko-kršćanskom mesijanizmu, odnosno u naučavanjima svih onih koji su bolje društvo pokušavali postići koncepcijama pravednosti temeljenima na jednakosti i bratstvu), socijalizam kao razrađeni koncept je ipak plod novijeg vremena.