What is Collectivism?
Collectivism is a philosophical position that defends the superiority of the collective over the individual. Thus, it assumes that the public good comes before the personal good.
Thus, it justifies the establishment of regimes of high government intervention, in which individual rights are of little importance. Therefore, from a political and economic perspective, collectivism could be defined as the doctrine that assumes that goods and means of production should be owned by the state or the community.
The characteristics of collectivism
To better understand this perspective, its main characteristics are outlined below. These are the most important ones.
Superiority of the collective
Collectivism will always place collective interests above the personal interest of each individual. The same occurs in the case of two groups of different sizes; in this case, the one made up of the largest number of people will be favored over the other.
Therefore, in the collectivist discourse, the sacrifice of the individual is often present since the collective is considered the morally priority.
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A use of language that alludes to a conglomerate of people
In collectivist language, it’s common to find a series of words that allude to groups of people, such as society, nation, community, brotherhood, sisterhood, comradeship, collectivity, guild, corporation, union, and social class, among other similar terms.
The frequent use of these words and their derivatives represents a reliable indicator of a collectivist mentality, especially in political or organizational discourses.
Collectivism is common among a variety of ideologies
Collectivism is a generic category that, in turn, includes a variety of perspectives and ideologies. All of them share the exaltation of the collective.
Some of these positions are the following:
- Socialism
- Communism
- Nationalism
- Corporatism
- Fascism
It needs a strong central power
For collectivism to function, it needs a powerful entity that has the capacity to represent the collective and act on its behalf. To do this, it must be able to impose measures that sacrifice the smaller group for the benefit of the larger one.
Some collectivist policies involve interventions, such as price controls in defense of the majority, legal biases in favor of unions, state ownership of enterprises for the good of society, and media censorship to prevent disseminating of ideas that might disturb public harmony.
However, it’s also important to note that this brings with it the risk that powerful entities will take advantage of their position to act for personal gain. This is what happens in the case of totalitarian regimes, for instance.
Social division
Another characteristic feature of collectivism is the tendency to distinguish between social classes. For this purpose, it usually resorts to dual classifications, such as rich-poor, proletarians-bourgeois, and owners-destitute.
It’s opposed to individualism
Individualism is the social, political, and economic doctrine that defends individual needs and welfare above those of the group or community. It also promotes independence and self-reliance.
In individualistic cultures, decisions, achievements, goals, and desires are usually defined as personal rather than collective. Therefore, people in this type of culture tend to consider social prestige, success, dominance, and personal wealth as their priorities.
When it comes to collectivist cultures, on the other hand, people tend to define themselves in terms of their ties within the group. In other words, there’s a greater interest in the welfare of others, concern for social justice, and commitment to traditions.
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Criticism of collectivism
Like all philosophical positions, collectivism has its defenders and opponents. One of the major criticisms of collectivism is directed at the worth or dignity of the individual defined in terms of how he or she contributes to society.
For example, a person is often considered superior if he or she belongs to a labor union. However, that same subject then automatically loses value if he or she leaves this collective and becomes an entrepreneur.
For its part, collectivism has been strongly criticized for its tendency to establish authoritarian systems that violate freedoms and human rights. In this case, the most affected are usually the minority groups or individuals who don’t share the ideals of the larger collective.
The collectivist position has also been criticized for being against personal initiatives and their achievement. After all, these are often ignored or put aside if they’re not compatible with or don’t benefit the collective.
The importance of human rights
There are very many redeemable ideas that come with collectivism, such as the notions of solidarity, social justice, and equality among the members of a group. However, we must not forget that each person has human rights, and under no circumstances should they ever be violated. That’s why it’s pertinent to be critical and careful with any systems or beliefs that pose a risk to them.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Cienfuegos Y, Saldívar A, Díaz R, Avalos A. Individualismo y colectivismo: caracterización y diferencias entre dos localidades mexicanas. Acta de investigación psicol [Internet]. 2016 [consultado 12 abr 2022]; 6( 3 ): 2534-2543. Disponible en: http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2007-48322016000302534&lng=es.
- García T, García L, Correa F, López A. Individualismo-colectivismo y su efecto sobre la autoeficacia en jóvenes. Revista Mexicana de Psicología [Internet]. 2016 [consultado 12 abr 2022]; 33(1): 71-79. Recuperado de: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=243056043008