Socialism of The 21st Century

Socialism of the 21st century is a political term used to describe the unique interpretation of socialist principles purported first by Heinz Dieterich in 1996 and later by Latin American leaders like Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and Evo Morales of Bolivia. Socialism of the 21st Century seeks to address the failures of both industrial capitalism and twentieth century socialism to solve urgent problems of humanity, like poverty, hunger, exploitation, economic oppression, sexism, racism, the destruction of natural resources, and the absence of a really participative democracy.” Therefore Socialism of the 21st Century is distinctly different from previous applications of socialism such as Marxism–Leninism or Maoism in that it rejects authoritarianism and centralized planning for a decentralized, participatory planning process. Socialism of the 21st Century is a type of Democratic socialism; Chávez, Morales, and Correa have all been elected democratically. Applications of Socialism of the 21st Century in Latin America have typically been anti-imperialistic and directly challenge U.S. hegemony in the Americas.