Socialism with a human face
Socialism with a human face (Czech: socialismus s lidskou tváří, Slovak: socializmus s ľudskou tvárou) was a slogan referring to the reformist and democratic socialist programme of Alexander Dubček and his colleagues, agreed at the Presidium of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in April 1968,[1] after he became chairman of the KSČ in January 1968.
[citation needed] While it never intended to bring back market capitalism, Alexander Dubček proposed trade with both Western and Soviet powers and a ten-year transition to a multiparty democratized Socialism.
The programme was based on the view that "Socialism cannot mean only liberation of the working people from the domination of exploiting class relations, but must make more provisions for a fuller life of the personality than any bourgeois democracy.
[8] The programme also covered foreign policy, including both the maintenance of good relations with Western countries and cooperation with the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc nations.
Reform was needed for the Czechoslovak economy to join the "scientific-technical revolution in the world",[11] rather than relying on Stalinist-era heavy industry, labour power, and raw materials.
The Programme suggested it was now necessary to ensure important positions were "filled by capable, educated socialist expert cadres" in order to compete with capitalism.
[12] Radical elements became more vocal: anti-Soviet polemics appeared in the press on 26 June 1968,[10] the Social Democrats began to form a separate party, and new unaffiliated political clubs were created.
[23][24] Discussions on the current state of communism and abstract ideas such as freedom and identity were also becoming more common; soon, non-party publications began appearing, such as the trade union daily Prace (Labour).
[25] The press, the radio, and the television also contributed to these discussions by hosting meetings where students and young workers could ask questions of writers such as Goldstücker, Pavel Kohout, and Jan Prochazka and political victims such as Josef Smrkovský, Zdenek Hejzlar, and Gustáv Husák.
[22] Most importantly, this new freedom of the press and the introduction of television into the lives of everyday Czechoslovak citizens moved the political dialogue from the intellectual to the popular sphere.
